Rcoonce

Q: Keeping Apple TV plugged in uses 40GB daily

If my Apple TV is plugged into a wall outlet it will use around 40GB of data on my ATT U-verse internet only plan, per day.  The TV is not on except for maybe an hour or two a day and even then not necessarily watching the Apple TV.  ATT can't explain why this happens; hopefully someone on this forum can recommend a solution.

 

There is am iPad and Windows based PC using the ATT U-Verse connection in addition to the Apple TV, but in turning each off in turn it is apparent the 40GB per day usage is from leaving the Apple TV plugged into the wall outlet.

Apple TV

Posted on Jun 29, 2016 7:57 PM

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Q: Keeping Apple TV plugged in uses 40GB daily

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  • by Diana.McCall,Helpful

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 4:23 PM in response to Rcoonce
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 4:23 PM in response to Rcoonce

    That's very odd. Please identify your ATV version, see Identify your Apple TV model - Apple Support.

    Is the ATV sleeping when not in use, or is it always on?

    Try turning off automatic updates for the system and apps (if ATV 4), and set the screensaver to none. If that stops the flow, then turn them on one at a time, to identify the culprit.

    By rhe way, do you mean 40 Gigabits or 40 Gigabytes?

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 6:52 AM in response to Rcoonce
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 6:52 AM in response to Rcoonce

    Also, if it's an ATV 4, try force quitting all the apps when not using it, to eliminate them as possible culprits. See https://help.apple.com/appletv/#/atvbbcec4f4e for the how-to.

  • by Rcoonce,

    Rcoonce Rcoonce Jun 30, 2016 4:27 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 4:27 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    Diana,

     

    Thanks for responding.  I will test out your suggestions.  Mine is an ATV 3 and it uses around 40 gigabytes daily.  I must admit I don't know if the ATV is sleeping when not in use.  Is it safe to assume if the little light on the front of the ATV is lit then it is on?

     

    Richard

  • by Diana.McCall,Solvedanswer

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 4:55 PM in response to Rcoonce
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 4:55 PM in response to Rcoonce

    Yes, if the light is lit, it's on. I assume you can put it to sleep from the remote, or that there's a sleep after time setting. Since there are no apps, there's nothing to force quit. I expect that it's either playing through some series, or intensively interacting with photos in the cloud. 40 Gigabytes per day is a pretty decent data rate. I expect the internet light on your router/modem must be flickering continuoisly.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jun 30, 2016 5:24 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 5:24 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    By my rough calculation, 40 Gigabytes/day is about 3.7 Mbps continuously over 24 hours. That's consistent with a medium resolution compressed video stream. Which is very strange, since you're not actually watching anything.

  • by Rcoonce,

    Rcoonce Rcoonce Jun 30, 2016 7:30 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 30, 2016 7:30 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    Diana,

     

    Thanks very much for your comments.  I think have nailed my problem.  The remote will turn the light off so this will help.  Also I have a lot of pictures in the Cloud.  And, I did notice earlier the internet flickering while I had the ATV on.  This all pretty much makes sense.

     

    Thanks again.

    Richard