How much data do you use?

[sifi]

I've got a desire on orange UK. I opted for the unlimited data option with them which has a fair usage policy of up to 750mb per month. When I queried this with them they told me I could do unlimited email, facebook etc browse forums and I would need to be doing it all day every day to use the 750mb.

What a load of garbage. I use facebook and a driving instructor forum. I have sky news and BBC news apps and a world cup app. I probably use the above mentioned 3 or 4 times a day. I do not download any video or image content whatsoever. I also do not download any music.

Based on the above I would consider myself a light to medium user at the most, however, I use on average around 40 to 50 mb per day!!! How can this be when they say I must be on it 24/7 to use so much. My 750mb will be gone in far less than a month at that rate.

How do other people find the amount of data they use? Is it just me? Is something eating my allowance that I am not aware of?

I'd be interested to hear what others think of this.

 

[tulip2185]

Hi mate, I cant really answer you question as I have only just upgraded to a desire myself (last fri at carphone warehouse !) but what plan do you have on orange ? I changed mine from dolphine 35 to panther 30 (for the 750 mb FUP) only for an orange customer service women to tell me half an hour ago that my data plan is 500mb !!!!!!! ive been told that orange customer service is pretty poor tho so im thinking the woman might be wrong, the guy that sold me the desire said it comes with a 750 mb fair usage policy.

after reading round the forums the best advice about using your phone would be to connect it to your home wi-fi (if you have home broadband) and also change the frequency you update bbc, facebook, world cup apps etc ... say from every 1hr to every 4 or once a day to save your data.

 

[Schwin97]

I use WAY more than 750mb per month... I don't have wifi access at work, so everything I do is on the 3g network for the most part. Normally I am using my phone throughout the day to listen to podcasts, listen to pandora, or other live streaming media (tv shows mostly). Everything is normally downloaded during the day or on my drive into the office - therefore on the 3g network. My normal network usage is between 3-6Gb per month, luckily I am on AT&T's unlimited plan so I have yet to be throttled.

 

[t0ph0id]

I'm on UK Vodafone and have unlimited which is apparently 500mb, I use my phone regularly at work browsing the net, even sometimes downloading some music but no more than 10mb a month. I never get near my 500mb limit.

I don't even always use my wifi when I get home.

How you're using 40-50mb a day just browsing a forum and looking at facebook I have no idea!

 

[TruFatty]

i used to use an Iphone before i switched over to android ( loving android, BTW). i used to use almost 4-5 gigs a month on AT&T unlimited plan.

on my android, my usage is about 82.8mb so far this month, also still on a unlimited plan.the difference in usage is not because my android can't do what the Iphone can, far from it, since i was paying 30 bucks a month to get unlimited data i felt like i needed to abuse the service. now that i'm paying much less i find a lot less need to abuse it.

 

[sifi]

my data plan is 500mb !!!!!!!

You are quite right. I've just remembered I was told that the iPhone has 750mb FUP but any other phone is 500

I've just checked on net counter and I've used 31mb today already and only done what I've said above. Me and orange are going to be having a chat!!!

I have read that netcounter over reads by about 10 times, but upon checking with orange it is quite similar to what I am using.

 

[sunny5001]

im so with you on this, im with orange same deal, told id find it impossible to use it all.

i went through 23mb in a 24 hour shift at work with me not using the phone and turning network off when i realised how much it was using.

500mb isnt seeming like anywhere near enough right now.

im going to try turning airplane mode on when at work and off when i want to go online, it should work to save on the mbs?

 

[Al_Jolson]

What BBC News app are you using? One of the first apps I downloaded when I got my Hero last year was the BBC News Widget by Jim Blackler (or something like that). I had several calls to Orange (UK) to investigate what could be causing me to have used almost 500Mb in 2 weeks. Eventually, through basic trial and error, I uninstalled the BBC News widget and the problem disappeared. The issue must have been that it did not permit you to choose the refresh rate for the feed updates. For all I know it might have been checking every minute.
Hope this helps in some way.

 

[thepinkc]

I've used about 204mb of data this month - and I still have a week and a half to go. That's with surfing the net, downloading apps, listening to Pandora, email, mms, etc. 4-5 hours a day.

 

[dan44762000]

if your not using a music streaming service or a video streaming service..and only using facebook,,a news feed,,web pages,,and updating apps 4 times a day there is no way on earth your going to use 40mb a day. i do all the above and listen a bit of radio and only use 34mb a day...so something is taking the rest of your claimed usage..

 

[sifi]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've got the BBC news feed mentioned above but have just uninstalled it to see what difference it makes.

I also have facebook set to auto sync but surely that cannot use so much data.

Will see how i go without the Beeb news site.

 

[Cajun83]

Cycle ends on the 7th and so far I have used .97 Gigs...

Verizon Unlimited here...

 

[cornbreadfarts]

cycle ends 7/2

1829042.91KB

 

[Branndon]

1568356.10KB which is 1.49570093 gigabytes and my cycle isn't over for another 15 days. I don't use facebook, or any social networking. I browse the net, have a weather widget and use email. Some pandora not too much. I don't have working wifi so it's all 3g.

 

[gwlaw99]

I was shocked to see that I use 1.7 GB of data per month. I really don't download anything except apps.

 

[sifi]

SInce I deleted the BBC news app I have used 14mb.

Still no joy in finding where it goes. I have used facebook heavily tonight but thats all.

 

[bfreddyberg]

Wow, I think I'm going much more bezerk than I have to. 13 days left in this cycle and Im already at 3,745,194KB (3.7GBs). Thats with lots of streaming pandora, plenty of app downloads, video watchin etc...but I expect it to be much lower next month when I get everything the way I like it...

As far as the 14MB goes, that's really not much at all even with just heavy fb usage. If each page you download is, let's say 50KB or so, just by flicking through a hundred pages (which can happen faster than you think) there's 5MB.

 

[sonmica]

im going to try turning airplane mode on when at work and off when i want to go online, it should work to save on the mbs?

Careful with turning Airplane/Flight mode on! It will turn your connected phone into an offline handheld computer ... ie you won't be using the mobile internet but you also won't be able to receive/send/make calls and sms.

With the Desire, I've found a good way to stop the phone from accessing the web is to set up the toggle widgets on one of the homescreens.

Add to Home > Widgets > Settings > Mobile Network

This will add a toggle widget on your homescreen to turn off/on the mobile internet. When it's off, you can still receive calls and texts.

I use this in conjuction with the Power Control (from Android) widget that came with my phone, as the power widget also has a toggle for Sync - so you can still use the mobile internet without having the phone pull down data in the background for various apps. With Sync off, you can still go to each app and refresh them manually.

 

[hood420]

I use about 1.5 GB a month. Mostly just web browsing and using apps. Very, very little Pandora or videos.

 

[loick]

Sili,

have a look to "menu/settings/about phone/battery use" (sounds strange but it's where you can see data used by any application)
Then select one app in the list and you'll see how much in and out data each app uses.
Once you plug your phone the data infos are reset so try it unplugged.

If it's not enough, try 3G Watchdog application ;-) It's available in French and English

 

[sifi]

Thanks for the tip loick but when I do that there is no way of looking at different apps. Just cell standby, idle, android and display. I've been through all of them but there is no way to look at apps.

Bfreddyberg, 14mb may not sound a lot but I'm using about 50mb per day in total and when the fair use policy says 500mb is unlimited it presents a problem.

Marketing unlimited but having FUP of 500mb is pathetic in my opinion.

 

[loick]

Thanks for the tip loick but when I do that there is no way of looking at different apps. Just cell standby, idle, android and display. I've been through all of them but there is no way to look at apps.

Bfreddyberg, 14mb may not sound a lot but I'm using about 50mb per day in total and when the fair use policy says 500mb is unlimited it presents a problem.

Marketing unlimited but having FUP of 500mb is pathetic in my opinion.

Sifi,

The problem with the battery procedure is that it's reset every time you plug your phone so to try it unplug, play with apps, wait a bit and you'll see info for apps you launched ;-)

That's why I'm using 3G Watchdog so see how much data I use per day and per month.

 

[dajomel]

Have to say that I don't really know what everyone does with their phones. Admittedly I am in reach of Wi-fi for a large chunk of the day but I am regularly using sms, facebook, twitter, browsing websites, going on the Market etc though I don't really stream anything as I see no point and I use about 30Mb a MONTH!!!! Therefore the 500Mb FUP of Orange is plenty enough for me.

I am sure most people do not NEED to be using 1, 2, 3GB a month and easily could use less if managed their usage better It's seemingly a typical psychological "trick" in that because you CAN use that much you feel you MUST use that much

Anyway, each to their own and just a general thought to throw in

 

[sifi]

Have to say that I don't really know what everyone does with their phones. Admittedly I am in reach of Wi-fi for a large chunk of the day but I am regularly using sms, facebook, twitter, browsing websites, going on the Market etc though I don't really stream anything as I see no point and I use about 30Mb a MONTH!!!! Therefore the 500Mb FUP of Orange is plenty enough for me.

I am sure most people do not NEED to be using 1, 2, 3GB a month and easily could use less if managed their usage better It's seemingly a typical psychological "trick" in that because you CAN use that much you feel you MUST use that much

Anyway, each to their own and just a general thought to throw in

Just like you I use facebook a little browsing and a sky news app. I use 30 to 50 mb a day. I don't know why. It has nothing to do with pshycology whatsoever, Ijust want to know where my usage is going!!!

 

[loick]

Just like you I use facebook a little browsing and a sky news app. I use 30 to 50 mb a day. I don't know why. It has nothing to do with pshycology whatsoever, Ijust want to know where my usage is going!!!

Last evening I was at 20Mb before going to sleep and when I had a look in the morning it was 22Mb.

I have Wifi at home and I don't know why Android took these data from 3G. I discovered that in sleep mode wifi was disabled and market accessed the net to check updates but 2Mb sounds a lot !!!