Use Zoom for Free on Thanksgiving As Long As You Want
Zoom lets you use its Thanksgiving video chat service for free. What’s more, Zoom is going to lift all restrictions on video chat this day so you can talk to your loved ones – remotely – all day if you want. Of course, you still need to stay within your ISP’s data limit if you decide to host a huge gathering with your family on Zoom, but I wouldn’t worry about that.
Typically, here’s how much data your big day of calls will take, courtesy of Reviews.org :
Looks scary, right? But assuming you’re getting terabytes of data every month from your ISP, then losing your temper – even on Thanksgiving and even with a 1080p group call – shouldn’t be a problem. Since we live in a pandemic, you still wo n’t get 1080p video no matter what you do . Zoom restricts group chats to regular users to simple “high quality” or “standard video” video whenever you are talking to three or more people at the same time. (Even one-on-one conversations only go up to 720p.)
I still wouldn’t start a Zoom daytime chat with my family if I didn’t have Wi-Fi. Cellular data limits can be much less generous. Even if you have a 15GB per month plan, you’ll lose a significant chunk of your data if you set up your phone in the kitchen and let it stream your boiling mixes to Zoom all day long. The same is true if you open your phone as a hotspot for others to use Zoom. (I almost mentioned the “less tech-savvy family members you visit,” but that would be silly because you stay safe and quarantined for Thanksgiving.)
As for the Zoom offer, you get a full day (and then several) of free unlimited chat:
You will need an account to host any virtual Thanksgiving gatherings you wish to organize, so make sure you set them up ahead of time in case the digital race starts on Thanksgiving or worse, Zoom somehow turns out to be. unable to cope with all the people gathered. turkeys with their loved ones from afar. Otherwise, joining someone’s Zoom call is as easy as clicking the link they provide.
Of course, there are tons of settings you can tweak to get the best Zoom experience , whether you’re on a virtual Thanksgiving day or just sit down at your table. However, I would stick with my original advice: turn off video when you’re out of frame, and perhaps consider not using it to broadcast your potentially stressful cooking day. Ask everyone in your family to point their devices to the dining table as soon as you’re ready to go, and you can enjoy each other’s company without juggling one more thing before eating.