Mobile internet

[cuddlybum]

Hi, Can anyone tell me whether I should leave my mobile permanently connected to the Orange mobile internet or should I disconnect it? I get 500mg (think that's right) of internet per month. I use my wifi whenever I'm at home but elsewhere it's Orange. I wondered if leaving it connected uses up the allowance? Thanks.

 

[El Presidente]

It depends on your sync settings. For general use, 500MB should be fine.

I'm on the same package and I've not gone above it yet. I use Wireless at home or work, and I'll switch 3G on when I need it. The closest I got was when they took away the wireless router at work and I was forced to use 3G for youtube etc. I used something like 380MB that month, but most of the time I'm lucky if I touch 100MB.

You can use an app like 3G Watchdog or Netcounter to track usage if you get worried.

 

[daveybaby]

First up, i recommend installing 3G watchdog (or similar) to keep track of your mobile data usage.

As for the phone using data, it will use small amounts of data depending on what apps you have running. Some examples of this would be periodically checking for email, twitter and facebook updates. Also the phone will periodically check for market updates, and attempt to sync data with google servers if you have that set up.

But to be honest this sort of thing will barely dent your allowance. Unless youre streaming audio or video then 500MB is actually one hell of a lot of data.

[edit] goddamn it, i keep starting a reply, getting distracted, then completing it to find that someone else posted the same thing while i was faffing

 

[takeshi]

None of the OP's questions have one-size-fits-all answers. Analyze your data usage and adjust accordingly. Watchdog is a handy tool for this.