Data throttling starts 3/23

[jelecly]

VM provides no way to determine how much data usage one has used inside one billing cycle.. How can you intelligently monitor your usage without the proper tools.They set up a bar and then blindfold you so you can't tell how close to the bar you are.

I asked VM that same question. Here is the response I received...

You will be able to keep track of your data usage throughout the month by logging into "My Account" and will be notified by Virgin Mobile via text message when you have reached the 2.5GB threshold with the following message: "This will serve as notice that your throughput speeds beyond 2.5 GB may be temporarily limited. Throughput speeds will be restored when a new Beyond Talk monthly plan cycle begins."

I hope that there will be some way that the Minutes Checker: Virgin Mobile app will be able to be modified to include this information.

 

[Dannemand]

^^Great, sounds like VMU is finally giving us a way to monitor data usage on our account. I was thinking when they first announced the delay of throttling, that they probably hadn't gotten this feature working yet - and as others have posted, they cannot realistically roll out usage-based throttling without giving users a monitoring tool.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

 

[anon283326]

I always used (and still use) this app to monitor my data usage. I used to monitor my data regardless of whether or not there was a cap on it:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm&hl=en

It's free, it's extremely effective, uses no battery whatsoever, you can set your monthly limit, plan cycle refresh day, plan type, etc.

It shows all the apps on your phone that use data, and creates a bar- and pie graph of the amount of data each app uses and the total percentage of all data used that each app has burned up. It's a great app, better than anything I think VM could ever whip up, and it's accurate (measures down to <0.1 MB). Even comes with a handy 4x1 widget ?

There's also a pro version if you hate ads, but who wants to pay an extra $4 for no ads when you can just edit your hosts file...lol.

P.S: This app is also helpful in that it saves your previous month's usage statistics for another month afterwards, so you can compare month to month data usage within the app for all the apps at once or for individual apps. Of course, you can choose in the settings whether you want it to do that or not...

 

[Dannemand]

^^ I understand, there are some fine monitoring apps. Problem with those is they are not automatically in sync with your monthly account usage as seen by vmu. If you wipe your phone mid month, you won't know your balance. You'd have to time ROM updates with monthly rollover. I much prefer just going to the vmu website and check my usage - that is if I ever get close to the 2.5GB.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

 

[stevek28]

There aren't any tools at the present time to monitor your data usage

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[Dannemand]

There aren't any tools at the present time to monitor your data usage

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

<Sigh> read back a few posts and you'll understand.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

 

[anthonycr]

<Sigh> read back a few posts and you'll understand.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

Hahaha, back a few posts... I said to do what he just said... I had forgotten about wiping data... which I do everytime I flash a rom which is very often

 

[anon283326]

^^ I understand, there are some fine monitoring apps. Problem with those is they are not automatically in sync with your monthly account usage as seen by vmu. If you wipe your phone mid month, you won't know your balance. You'd have to time ROM updates with monthly rollover. I much prefer just going to the vmu website and check my usage - that is if I ever get close to the 2.5GB.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

True. There are some, however, that let you back up your data information to your SD card. This one even gives the option to add pre-used data information from the month to your already accumulated data. Pretty nice feature, actually.

But true, VM probably has a more convenient method of MEASURING data usage (if you periodically wipe everything from ROM flashes, etc.), but I'd assume they're not going to make it convenient to CHECK data usage, like with an app. They're probably going to stick with making all of us go to their website, log in, get to our account page, and look at our data usage from there. Not exactly an easy task, so I think I'll stick with this app for now

Sent from my Motorola Triumph using Tapatalk

 

[Dannemand]

^^
OK, so in this app you can resume counting data usage after a wipe. I didn't know that. That is admittedly a great feature.

It was suggested that Minutes Checker could pull the "true" usage number from vmu. That would be ideal to me.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

 

[stevek28]

<Sigh> read back a few posts and you'll understand.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO

For those that think that the VM website allows you to check your monthly data usage.

You're in for a surprise. Here's what shows on the appropriate page

MOBILE WEB USAGE:


Data Allotment: Unlimited MB

 

[Eollie]

For those that think that the VM website allows you to check your monthly data usage.

You're in for a surprise. Here's what shows on the appropriate page

MOBILE WEB USAGE:


Data Allotment: Unlimited MB

Boy your just the smartest cookie here. I dont know what we have done without your knowledge..


/end sarcasm

Stevek28 think about this, how many companies will limit what you can use without giving you a way to monitor it? I could be wrong but I think the FCC mandates a method to track how much you use so if you dispute it or feel you are being overcharged you can file a official complaint.

 

[Dannemand]

For those that think that the VM website allows you to check your monthly data usage.

You're in for a surprise. Here's what shows on the appropriate page

MOBILE WEB USAGE:

Data Allotment: Unlimited MB

I'll help you out here:

1) Everybody knows that vmu doesn't have a monitoring feature at present (as you've pointed out repeatedly).

2) It is obvious that vmu can hardly launch the cap-throttle without such a feature.

3) jelecly quoted a response from vmu in which they claimed that such a feature would indeed be made available when they roll out throttling.

4) I responded "that would be lovely", which led to a discussion of the pros and cons of app based monitoring vs using a vmu web feature.

5) That web feature still has yet to be rolled out by vmu, we all know that it isn't there yet, but it sounds like it may be coming.

Hope that helps.

Sent from my LG Optimus V CM7/IHO