Help data usage

[loony]

To keep it simple i have a choice of 2 plans, one has 500mb and the other 1.5gig data allowance. (both similar price, but 500 has more calls/texts and few bucks less)

Im always for just go bigger and better but is 500mb more than enough for general usage? as in, a daily usage of 1 or 2 apps installs/utube clips and 1/2 hrs worth of web browsing.

those who use more than 500mb, what do you do that pushes it up? whats a "general" months usage for most?

cheers.

 

[Beards]

500MB doesn't give you much leeway should you have a heavy session.
Each user will have different views so I wouldn't go on what member A/B/C says.

As an example on my Tab I use somewhere around 60 to 200MB daily when away from a wireless connection whereas on the SGS2 it's anything between 30 to 80MB daily.
Either way my totals exceed your 500MB limit.

However, most plans allow you to switch after 30 days so you could try one and change as your usage dictates.

 

[loony]

without getting too personal, what in particular sucks the usage the MOST?
is it from downloading music and videos lots? or just general surfing?

 

[Beards]

Depending on how much you surf, surfing will only account for around 5 to 20MB daily.
No, what will eat into your bandwidth is downloading music & movie data.
A typical music file could be 5MB and a movie depending on length and bit size could be 100MB min.

Basically, if you use your phone for anything other than surfing then you are going to eat into a lot of data.
I've just checked my usage for today which has been from 8am til now at 4pm, I have done nothing but have my Apps updated, about an hours worth of Google Maps and the rest surfing/email replying and I've used over 16MB in that short 8 hours.



Sent from Galaxy S2

 

[xmjox]

I went for 500mb data plan as, like you, i wasnt sure whether it would be enough or not. I got a text from o2 after 10 days saying i had used 80% of my allowance and 2 days later i had exceeded it! I don't think i'm a heavy user, mostly download apps via wifi. I always have push gmail & twitter auto updates every 2 hours. I do check apps and use the net a bit but i was shocked to find i had used all 500mb in 12 days!

 

[Beards]

I went for 500mb data plan as, like you, i wasnt sure whether it would be enough or not. I got a text from o2 after 10 days saying i had used 80% of my allowance and 2 days later i had exceeded it! I don't think i'm a heavy user, mostly download apps via wifi. I always have push gmail & twitter auto updates every 2 hours. I do check apps and use the net a bit but i was shocked to find i had used all 500mb in 12 days!

Doesn't surprise me....

 

[loony]

that updating every 2 hours i thinkn would be a killer. its using the net and looking around, alot of traffic there...but still 500mb worth daym! a friend got back to me and stated he never went over his 700mb allowance (he works in IT so faily heavy user)but im starting to lean on the 1.5 plan. i still dont trust the "infinite" plans.

 

[Beards]

that updating every 2 hours i thinkn would be a killer. its using the net and looking around, alot of traffic there...but still 500mb worth daym! a friend got back to me and stated he never went over his 700mb allowance (he works in IT so faily heavy user)but im starting to lean on the 1.5 plan. i still dont trust the "infinite" plans.

As I mentioned earlier loony, can't you take one plan, run it for 30 days then change if things dictate?
At least that way you get to see which plan will suit your needs the best.

 

[lotus49]

I was interested to see the views on this.

I am a very heavy internet user. I have a 50Mbps connection at home and make full use of it. On my phone though, even though I have used it a few times as a hotspot, I haven't even used 200MB in a fortnight.

If I were away from my laptop for a while, I might think of downloading music or videos directly to my phone, but normally I would do any downloading on my home connection, doing it on the phone is just too slow. Consequently, my phone's internet connection is used for email, web browsing etc only and I would have no use for a 1.5GB plan.

I'd go for the cheaper plan first. It's usually easy to upgrade to a more expensive plan but less easy to downgrade. Just keep an eye on your usage in case your provider is one of those that charges

 

[loony]

thanks guys,

a hidden catch WAS tethering was NOT included in the usage but it turns out they changed that quickly once the public found out. something i might keep my eye out for in future.