Universal Media Server | Forum

Hi, so I've been using UMS for a while now but I noticed its data usage is extremely high (I use it to stream anime on my ps4 using media player, and an episode alone takes up like 1 gb of data) I have a limited data package so this is quite the problem. Is there any settings I can change to fix the data usage? I also read a post about someone saying it doesn't take any bandwidth at all which I didn't understand, is there something I'm missing in order to do this?

Depending on what you watch and what is supported on PS4, the file will have to be transcoded which can take up a lot of bandwidth.
Having a limited data package for internet has no affect on the data usage of your network.

Might sound like a dumb question but I'm a bit confused on that last statement. After I use UMS to watch whatever media, I check my ISP's website which shows consumption and its always increased by quite a bit (due to UMS I had assumed), is there something I'm missing?

UMS only streams over the local network. It does not work over the internet so does not use up any of your data allowance.

It does have some features to get subtitles or metadata online if you use those features, but the amount of data used is negligible. You can completely disable those features by
unchecking the "enable external network" option in the general settings

It is possible that the data usage is due to updates on your PS4, it will automatically update programs unless you turn that option off.

As long as the media you're playing is stored locally, UMS shouldn't use your Internet bandwidth except for the "external API" they have added to recent versons, which tries to look up and find information about the media in your "library". There should be a way to turn this off, although I'm not sure what the option is called (disable IMDB or something unintuitive like that).

If you play media that is stored somewhere on the Internet, data will be consumed during playback.

So, if you're playing local media, disable the API and UMS still "consumes" your ISP quota, something is seriously wrong with the version of UMS you're using.

Oh, I see! I didn't know that, I guess I'll check the data consumption again to check what's going on. I usually use the "transcoding" folder for my files though (FMPEG I think) does that also not count towards data consumption?

@mik_s I think we're giving contradicting information here UMS can stream from "web" sources, so it doesn't just serve local media. Regarding "enable external network" this used to be true, but I know that several of the more recent "features" (like the "API") don't respect this setting.

@MD500000 If doesn't matter if you transcode or not, as long as the source files are stored locally there is no reason to transfer them to/from the Internet.

Alrightys, thank y'all so much!

@Nadahar I always forget that you can stream from web sources, just assumed that most people are using to stream from a local source.
If it was from online source then it would be obvious that it would use up data allowance.

To use most of the newer features though you need to use the web browser, which is not great on PS4.