If your home PC is watching a YouTube Live property-tour loop, it uses download bandwidth for as long as the video plays. A practical estimate is about 0.45 decimal GB per hour for every 1 Mbps of sustained video bitrate. YouTube’s recommended playback connection speeds can help with rough planning, but they are not promises of the stream’s actual bitrate or data use.
Estimate data use from the stream’s bitrate
Use this conversion for viewing or broadcasting: data in decimal GB ≈ bitrate in Mbps × hours × 0.45. It follows from converting megabits per second into megabytes over time. It estimates video traffic; other network activity on the PC can add to total usage.
| Bitrate | Approximate data per hour | Example for two hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mbps | 0.45 GB | 0.9 GB |
| 2.5 Mbps | 1.125 GB | 2.25 GB |
| 5 Mbps | 2.25 GB | 4.5 GB |
These are arithmetic examples, not measurements of a particular property-tour stream. At a similar bitrate, twice the viewing time uses roughly twice the video data.
Use YouTube’s playback speeds as planning proxies, not exact totals
YouTube Help lists recommended sustained connection speeds for playback by resolution. Applying the conversion above gives approximate hourly equivalents, but the recommendations describe connection speed, not a guaranteed playback bitrate or data allowance. Actual data depends on the video and playback conditions.
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| Playback resolution | YouTube-recommended sustained speed | Approximate equivalent per hour |
|---|---|---|
| 360p | 0.7 Mbps | 0.3 GB |
| 480p | 1.1 Mbps | 0.5 GB |
| 720p | 2.5 Mbps | 1.1 GB |
| 1080p | 5 Mbps | 2.25 GB |
| 4K UHD | 20 Mbps | 9 GB |
Source: YouTube Help’s supported devices and system requirements. The hourly figures are calculated planning proxies, not YouTube data-use measurements.
Playback quality can change during the loop
YouTube says video quality may vary with internet speed, player or screen size, the original video quality, and browser. On a computer, viewers can manually select quality in the player. If quality changes, the bitrate—and therefore data use—can change too. See YouTube’s instructions for changing video quality on a computer.
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- Dual-band Wi-Fi with 5 GHz speeds up to 867 Mbps and 2.4 GHz speeds up to 300 Mbps, delivering 1200 Mbps of total bandwidth¹. Dual-band routers do not support 6 GHz. Performance varies by conditions, distance to devices, and obstacles such as walls.
- Covers up to 1,000 sq. ft. with four external antennas for stable wireless connections and optimal coverage.
- Supports IGMP Proxy/Snooping, Bridge and Tag VLAN to optimize IPTV streaming
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A long-running loop continues to use download data while it plays. If you need a close estimate for a particular tour, play it for a timed interval at the intended quality and check the PC’s or router’s network-usage counter before and after. That practical measurement reflects the stream and settings you actually use; it is not a YouTube-prescribed procedure.
Watching and broadcasting use bandwidth in opposite directions
When the PC watches a tour, the video is downloaded. If instead the PC is sending a live tour to YouTube, the encoder uploads video. Do not estimate a viewer’s download by simply using the broadcaster’s encoder setting: YouTube says it transcodes live streams into output formats for viewers.
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For creator-side planning, YouTube’s recommended H.264 encoder settings include 3 Mbps for 720p at 30 fps and 5 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps. These are ingestion recommendations, not the exact bitrate every viewer receives. YouTube also advises leaving 20% headroom in outbound bandwidth; on a shared network, the connection available to one device can be limited. See YouTube’s live encoder settings and streaming tips.
Why the 10 MB-per-minute tip is not a PC viewing rate
YouTube Help gives a rule of thumb of about 10 MB per minute in its mobile live-streaming guidance. That advice appears in the context of mobile streaming; it should not be treated as a fixed data rate for a computer watching a live property tour. The same guidance distinguishes inbound from outbound bandwidth and recommends Ethernet for computer live streamers. See YouTube’s filming tips for Live.
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Keep a property-tour loop running without leaving a home PC on
If your goal is simply to watch the loop at home, the estimates above apply to that viewing session. If you are the channel owner and want uploaded property-tour footage to stay live on YouTube around the clock, a home PC that broadcasts must remain online and upload continuously. StreamNeo is a cloud option for that separate use case: upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live. It loops the uploaded videos from the cloud, so your computer and home connection do not have to stay on.
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StreamNeo keeps an uploaded-video YouTube stream running from the cloud. The video is sent as uploaded, up to 4K 60fps, for one flat price per slot; there are no quality tiers or re-encoding. It automatically recovers if YouTube drops the stream. The first day is free with no card required.
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