data usage

[yanney]

hi, im planning on buying the aria soon but i have a quick question.

how much data do you guys use a day? i plan on surfing the web a bit and checking facebook every once in a while( when i dont have wifi) and i was wondering how close i would be to the 200mb limit for the 15 dollar att plan.

can anyone help me out?

 

[Cronis]

hmm thats hard to estimate... and the lame data usage meter on AT&T site isn't that great either lol. I would say though if your just browsing the net a bit using facebook and maybe DL a couple smaller apps you should be fine with 200 megs... anymore then that though and its not enough. video streaming is pretty much out of the question.

 

[kirbo20]

If you can manage to be on WiFi a majority of the time then the 200MB might work. I am on unlimited but I am testing this theory. I am 8 days into my bill cycle and I have only used 15MB. I am on WiFi all day at work and at home. Last month I used 1.8GB on 3G only and no WiFi. So it is definitely possible you just need to have WiFi around.

 

[Graceflanger]

When I had my iPhone I only went over 200Mb once in 6 months. I decided to keep unlimited data since I got tethering on my Aria, O I also kept it cause of the GPS.

 

[nb_mitch]

I average about 250MG a month on my blackberry that doesn't have Wifi. If you can stay on the Wifi hotspots most of the time you should be ok. For me, I do mostly Email, WunderRadio, Google Maps, and a little browsing. I expect to do allot more browsing once I get the Dell Streak, but I also have Wifi at home and work, so my only 3G time should be while I travel.

 

[Ambictus]

My wife has a Backflip(I'd give my usage but I use wifi and haven't had my phone a month yet) and does quite a bit of web browsing, facebook, some minor video streaming and checks gmail. She doesn't use any wifi at all. Her first month of use she hit 408MB(the whole try every feature on the new phone thing). Since then she's used 284MB and 296MB. Take the video streaming out of that and you'd probably be within the 250MB range but it's pushing it.

 

[whitenack]

I am going to try the 200mb plan too. I am on wifi 95% of my day. The only time I will be off wifi is when I am driving and want navigation or mowing the grass and want pandora or something. If I ever do go over 200mb, I think it will be rare, and will just pay the extra fee on that particular month and still come out ahead in the long run.

Does the FM radio use data or is there an FM tuner built in?

 

[Ambictus]

I am going to try the 200mb plan too. I am on wifi 95% of my day. The only time I will be off wifi is when I am driving and want navigation or mowing the grass and want pandora or something. If I ever do go over 200mb, I think it will be rare, and will just pay the extra fee on that particular month and still come out ahead in the long run.

Does the FM radio use data or is there an FM tuner built in?

The tuner is built in. The reason it requires you to have a headset is because it uses the headset as the FM antenna

 

[whitenack]

The tuner is built in. The reason it requires you to have a headset is because it uses the headset as the FM antenna

Great. So, if streaming pandora while mowing in the summertime blows the doors off my data plan each month, I'll just switch to the radio.

 

[yanney]

yeah im on wifi 90% of the day as well. either at home, at work, or at the girls house. i should be fine, if not then ill just shut off data and only use it when necessary.

 

[Ambictus]

Great. So, if streaming pandora while mowing in the summertime blows the doors off my data plan each month, I'll just switch to the radio.

There was some discussion regarding streaming Pandora in the AT&T forum(on this board). I had researched it and found that Pandora seems to use around 28.5MB/hr. So if your data usage is ONLY Pandora you'll get about 8hrs 45min of streaming a month on the 250MB plan.

 

[whitenack]

There was some discussion regarding streaming Pandora in the AT&T forum(on this board). I had researched it and found that Pandora seems to use around 28.5MB/hr. So if your data usage is ONLY Pandora you'll get about 8hrs 45min of streaming a month on the 250MB plan.

Thanks. Actually, the lower plan is 200mb, which would equate to 7 hrs of Pandora streaming. Either way, it isn't much. My mowing consists of about 2-1/2 hours per time, so it won't be long (especially in the spring) before I bust through 200mbs.

However, I wonder how far outside my house I can still get wifi?

 

[Ambictus]

Thanks. Actually, the lower plan is 200mb, which would equate to 7 hrs of Pandora streaming. Either way, it isn't much. My mowing consists of about 2-1/2 hours per time, so it won't be long (especially in the spring) before I bust through 200mbs.

However, I wonder how far outside my house I can still get wifi?

You're totally correct on the data plan, for some reason I've been thinking it was 250MB.

Wifi all depends on your access point and how strong it transmits(also how well the Aria receives). I can get about 150ft from my access point before I drop the signal.

 

[Dlarat]

So, how do you go about getting the tethering on the Aria?

 

[Mythic]

So, how do you go about getting the tethering on the Aria?

there are apps that i know of ...easytether and pdanet...i use pdanet and it works perfect on my laptop... you won't be able to find them on the market unless you follow this procedure as at&t has blocked these apps and im sure many others but there is always a away around everything...must be in a wifi area

1.hold power button down
2.select airplane mode (will shut off all wifi,data and cellular access)
3.turn wifi back on manually-settings/wireless and networks -if you don't use a widget
4.open up market and search...d/l install....etc...when finished turn off airplane mode and your all set

Or if you can get them from some place else then you can side load them

 

[strose09]

Anyone know if you use Instant messaging like AIM, Windows Messenger, via Meebo, Nimbuzz if thats through Data Usage or your text messaging plan?

 

[Griffeycom]

Anyone know if you use Instant messaging like AIM, Windows Messenger, via Meebo, Nimbuzz if thats through Data Usage or your text messaging plan?

When I had my Moto Q they assured me that AIM/MSN/Yahoo Instant Messengers were covered by my unlimited texting plan. Not sure about with my Aria or 3rd party apps.

 

[strose09]

OK thats good to know since I was going to drop my texting plan to 1500 but I'll keep it at unlimited. I'm going over my data usage so I'll have to upgrade to 2gb's. I used 208mb last month.

 

[dh4645]

hi, im planning on buying the aria soon but i have a quick question.

how much data do you guys use a day? i plan on surfing the web a bit and checking facebook every once in a while( when i dont have wifi) and i was wondering how close i would be to the 200mb limit for the 15 dollar att plan.

can anyone help me out?

as long as i dont watch video or stream too many songs from last.fm, i am easily under my 200 MB.

i just use 3g watchdog app to keep track. this month i only used like 60 MB surfing and facebooking and downloading a few apps. (but i also use my wifi when i am home, so it doesnt cut into my 200 MB).

since i only have a few days left, i will be listening to last.fm to use up my data which uses 2-3 MB per song.

i watched 20 min of a low video quality podcast at the end of last month and it used up 80 MB.

 

[dh4645]

OK thats good to know since I was going to drop my texting plan to 1500 but I'll keep it at unlimited. I'm going over my data usage so I'll have to upgrade to 2gb's. I used 208mb last month.

what do they do when u go over by 8 MB?

u need to get 3g watchdog, so u can keep an eye on ur usage.

 

[strose09]

They just charged me for the overage but it wasn' t that bad. I went back to 2gb's I used 3d watch dog but I didn't set the date right to coincide with the billing cycle. I can't get wifi at work since its secure so that doesn't help me much. I work out a lot and enjoy running with the phone having Pandora on.