Just how fast is Vodafone's 1.5Mbps unlimited data when you've used your plan's data.

I use Vodafone as my mobile service provider and my internet service. Gone is the landline, ADSL2+ and no need for the NBN. With a bit of planning, patience and a bit of luck, I managed to get 100GB of data allowance. That's plenty for my needs. Yes the plan also includes unlimited national calls and text, and some 2,000 minutes of overseas calls. Vodafone even offers $5 per day where you can use your allowance when overseas at selected locations. Overall a pretty good plan for $50 a month.

However, and there's always a however, once the data allowance is up the speed drops to 1.5Mbps. At least you don't get charged (unless overseas). The real question is just how fast is 1.5Mbps. I decided to use up all my data for the month and test a range of commonly used services with the restricted speed.

First general internet usage for a single user you're probably going to feel everything is OK. Writing this post for example really doesn't use much data. Browsing the web, sending emails, no real problem. It's when you want to use a lot of data such as watching videos, that's when you may find the service not good enough. Of course if there's multiple users sharing the data, that could make a considerable difference.

How much data do you get at 1.5Mbps?

At 1.5Mbps there's 8 bits per bytes and 3600 seconds in an hour. Thus in an hour at 1.5Mbps you'll be able to download around 675MB of data.

Now if you're only interested in the results jump down to the conclusion section for a summary. If detail is your thing, the following lists the tests I performed. Not quite scientific, but should give you a guide in terms of performance.

Let's see how we go.

Initially did a few tests and the results were better than expected. However as I used the service for longer I found there were more delays and pauses. I decided the best way to test was to get a feeling for each service over time.

Samsung Galaxy S7 - mobile phone

10 app for catch up TV. Works well. No stuttering.

YouTube. Works great. No stuttering or delay.

9 app watching live. Works well. Short pause.

7 app watching live. Works well at first but then fails with audio only and a white triangle with an exclamation for video stating there was a technical issue. In other words doesn't work.

Acer notebook computer. Not very powerful but usually fine.

Watching my YouTube video (https://youtu.be/E2c36V6c5OM) of the red light camera on Warrigal Rd and Batesford Rd. Works OK but quality seems a little low. Checked and the speed was auto giving 360p. 

Changed the setting to 720p HD and the video frequently paused and parts were jumped. Not really usable at all.

10 catch up. Started with jumping, stuttering, adjusted fairly quickly with lower quality. Then streamed OK with the noticeably lower quality.

7 catch up. Started lower quality, paused a few times then OK. Pauses every now and then for more data.

9 catch up. Paused every now and then. Skipped some parts.

Older Apple TV (2nd version).

 The Apple TV was set to 720p HD.

Watching 10 Play. Selected Seal Team. Watched for five minutes worked well.

Watching movie trailers many ended to pausing to get more data. Could become annoying if this happens during a movie.

The Apple TV for a movie will download a considerable amount, perhaps 10-20 minutes before starting the movie. However you never know if movie will end up pausing to get more data.

Watched a TED episode. No issues.

Set resolution to 576p. Watching trailers paused multiple times to catch up.

Watched 10 Play. Selected Seal Team episode. Watched for 5 minutes no issues.

Google Chromecast 2nd Edition - cast from mobile

YouTube videos from app. Worked without a problem.

Hayu. Very poor quality at start but quickly came good. Then performed very well. No delays.

9 app. Cast live TV. Works well.

7 app. Cast live TV. Worked well.

10 app. Cast live TV. Worked well.

Conclusion

Overall you can't be sure which services will work and which won't. It really is a matter of testing each service you use. Even different shows on the same device produced different results.

With the reduced 1.5Mbps speed it can help if possible to reduce the resolution you're using. Less data increases the chances of a good streaming experience.

Keep an eye on other devices that you may be sharing the data stream with. Other devices or people sharing your data allowance could cause issues with streaming.

Before completing this testing I felt theoretically, if the video was streaming at SD quality, the chances would be good it would work. In general this has been the case, but not necessarily with all services.

Video streaming uses the highest amount of data. If video streaming works then other services that use less data should work as well.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Update: 8/8/2019
Watched another movie yesterday, (The Ninth Gate) and worked well using Google Chromecast.

Update: 9/8/2019
Tried watching a movie (Robin Hood) on Apple TV. Took far too long to begin (much more than the 10-12 minute the message said on the screen). Time to load quickly dropped, then went up, then just went up and down and took a long time around the 8 minute mark. Decided to give up and watch using full speed.