How fast will Sky Go eat your data plan?

For anyone with an iPad and Sky, last night was really fun. Sky's programming team forced through an update, which didn't work, and services across the land were severely disrupted. One reader send us an interesting screen grab and we'd like to share the contents with you.

Sky Go runs as an application, for example on your iPad, and allows you to watch TV shows live – or from a big library – at little or no extra cost to your standard subscription.

When it works well, it's a bit like having the worlds best in-flight entertainment system available.

Content is streamed by connecting your in-house wireless router to the back of your Sky box. Limited content from the Sky box is then available around your home. Simples.

But in its latest incarnation, Sky is also pushing people to download content and to be watching stuff ‘on the move'. The download part is good enough, but the ‘watching streaming TV on the move' could have serious implications.

How so?

Well let's hit you with an anecdote from a few years back, when a Taiwanese national arrived in the UK to take over sales for a technology company. BT told him that he would have to wait around 2 weeks for a hard line into the new flat. To get around the problem of ‘What do my 2 young children do for entertainment', he purchased a pre-paid data dongle – installed it – and left for work.

Before lunchtime, he had his first tech support call, but could not resolve it over the phone.

When he got home, he realised that his kids had burnt through the entire month's data allowance in a morning. And that was YouTube quality.

Sky broadcasts a much better signal.

If you use products like Sky Go when you're out – and you do not have the right data plan – then the Pacman munching sound you hear will be your bank balance. Remember T-Mobile and co want to charge for everything you use and everywhere you go.

KitGuru says: We all need to be VERY CAREFUL on the new data plans – especially those surrounding 4G. You can stream through your data plan in no time at all – and the cost to over-run will be prohibitive.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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