Data usage per month

[Thors Gal]

Hi,
How much data are these phones using a month with light usage? I want to get by as cheaply as I can in this ecomomy and I can't get unlimited plan anyway. I plan to hook up Wifi at my house. I work so I would only be using my data on my 30 min lunch (CNN, yahoo, facebook, check emails) weekdays. Weekends out I would probably use GPS and Google places to go in the city. (once or twice a month) If needed, I could find a starbucks or hotspot there. The AT&T store by me said that they had H+ up on their towers now even though the map on the web site doesn't show it. (oregon)

As you know, I can't get unlimited and I am miffed about the texting up charge. (I don't text but my nieces do and I want to stay in touch with them) I would be happy to pay 20 dollars a month if it did texting.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[tallal565]

Hi,
How much data are these phones using a month with light usage? I want to get by as cheaply as I can in this ecomomy and I can't get unlimited plan anyway. I plan to hook up Wifi at my house. I work so I would only be using my data on my 30 min lunch (CNN, yahoo, facebook, check emails) weekdays. Weekends out I would probably use GPS and Google places to go in the city. (once or twice a month) If needed, I could find a starbucks or hotspot there. The AT&T store by me said that they had H+ up on their towers now even though the map on the web site doesn't show it. (oregon)

As you know, I can't get unlimited and I am miffed about the texting up charge. (I don't text but my nieces do and I want to stay in touch with them) I would be happy to pay 20 dollars a month if it did texting.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

i think if you dont stream any videos or do any apps and just emails and facebooking, 200 mb should last you with wifi. if you want to get apps and stream videos and with wifi , 2GB should be good.

i use around 5gb a month because i rarely use wifi and stream youtube alot. i do a lot of browsing and app downloading

 

[Thors Gal]

Thanks! When you say do any apps, you mean downloading them or using them? I don't have a smart phone yet so I know I am asking silly questions.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[Hypnopottamus]

Hi,
How much data are these phones using a month with light usage? I want to get by as cheaply as I can in this ecomomy and I can't get unlimited plan anyway. I plan to hook up Wifi at my house. I work so I would only be using my data on my 30 min lunch (CNN, yahoo, facebook, check emails) weekdays. Weekends out I would probably use GPS and Google places to go in the city. (once or twice a month) If needed, I could find a starbucks or hotspot there. The AT&T store by me said that they had H+ up on their towers now even though the map on the web site doesn't show it. (oregon)

As you know, I can't get unlimited and I am miffed about the texting up charge. (I don't text but my nieces do and I want to stay in touch with them) I would be happy to pay 20 dollars a month if it did texting.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

My advice is that if you plan on getting this phone, the 1st thing I would do is to change your sync settings to better fit your needs/wants. I believe that everything is turned on by default. This will absolutely run through 200mb in a month if you let this go! Figure out your schedule when you're not on WiFi and only sync things every so often or manually (depending on your needs). This can be done by doing the following:

Menu--->Settings--->Accounts & sync

It sounds to me that since you only plan on using data on your lunch, you should probably have most things sync manually. Hope this helps.

 

[tallal565]

Thanks! When you say do any apps, you mean downloading them or using them? I don't have a smart phone yet so I know I am asking silly questions.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

ive had smartphones for a while and know for a fact they GO through data. i have unlimited data so i dont really care. phones that have widgets also use data, like the guy above me said, you should manually update news and weather widgets. i meant downloading apps in general because some run about 5 megabytes and installing updates also uses data. androids are notorious for using a lot of data along with iphone. if you get a blackberry, you wont even reach 50 mb if all you do is email and little browsing.

 

[Thors Gal]

Thanks for the Syncing advice, that makes what the girl at the AT&T store make more sense. She said the phone easily ran through 200mg data plan but she could not tell me why. Now I completely get it. I would totally sync manually while at work. There is no real reason why the phone even needs to be doing anything but getting calls while I am on duty. (and I have to have the ringer off anyway) So, I can data sync on my breaks and lunch and that is the only time I can really check it anyway. I can change that setting on the weekends or when out of town. At home the computer is on and I have fiber internet so I would stream video's or music on the computer more likely than not. As well as download my phone apps in my own wifi. I don't have time at work to fool with that anyway.

Thank you so much for the help. I think I can live with the cheap plan now.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[clintrojan]

Thanks for the Syncing advice, that makes what the girl at the AT&T store make more sense. She said the phone easily ran through 200mg data plan but she could not tell me why. Now I completely get it. I would totally sync manually while at work. There is no real reason why the phone even needs to be doing anything but getting calls while I am on duty. (and I have to have the ringer off anyway) So, I can data sync on my breaks and lunch and that is the only time I can really check it anyway. I can change that setting on the weekends or when out of town. At home the computer is on and I have fiber internet so I would stream video's or music on the computer more likely than not. As well as download my phone apps in my own wifi. I don't have time at work to fool with that anyway.

Thank you so much for the help. I think I can live with the cheap plan now.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

I am in the same situation and use the 200mb plan. You can always turn mobile networking off when you aren't using it. I am almost always on wifi because I am on a college campus. When im out and around I only turn it on if I need it. You can turn data off and leave wifi running.

I use 3g watchdog and it keeps track of my data usage.

Also it is smart not to download/update apps while on data network. It can wait until your on wifi.

 

[pazzo02]

I just checked my bill. I would consider myself a moderate to heavy user. I used 1.7 GB last month and 810 MB the month before.

 

[dcdenonda]

Keep in mind that a lot of people, including myself see the bigger data plans as a security blanket, because they know they are not running the risk of going over and paying for overages.
When deciding on a data plan keep in mind that these smart phones wirelessly sync with any email/contacts/calendars service that you may be subscribed to, yes i know you can shut these services off, but to keep having to go in and turn off and on the sync services manually might get tiredsome.
"AT&Ts data plans are $15/ month for 200MB or $25 for 2048MB (2GB), so for the $10 extra bucks, you get 10X more data allowance than with the smaller plan." This is what i say to all my customers that come to my store to upgrade to smartphones, especially if its their first smartphone. If you go over the 200MB, even by 1 MB, AT&T charges you an extra $15 to give you an allowance of another 200MB as overage. Thats already more than the 2GB plan! I would hate for a customer to be all happy with their new smartphone and then get a high bill for data overages.

Bottom line is, I think you should start with the $25 2GB for 2 to 3 months and then refer to your bill. In the bill details, you can see how much data you have used for the month. Then, adjust your plan accordingly. Remember, when you get a phone, you sign a contract for service, not the plan, you can change your data plan up and down all you want, what ever suits your needs.

just my 2 cents lol

 

[ednygma]

I had dropped my unlimited on my iPhone because I was never coming close to 2G. I averaged for over a year about 500M. In my first month with the Inspire I shot up to close to 1G. I don't think I will surpase the 2G limit but it is shocking to see how much more this thing chews up data compared to the iPhone I had.

 

[KCMike]

I checked yesterday and in 25/30 days I'd used 950 mb's. I'm really diligent about the sync options and also making sure my apps are hitting their persepctive servers every 3 minutes.

At home I use Wifi but while at work I stream MLB At Bat 2011 and ESPN Radio quite frequently.

 

[Thors Gal]

Thanks for this, all this advice is really going to help when I get my phone on tues. I can't believe they are making me wait till tues.... oh well.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[berdinkerdickle]

Right now, the $45 tether plan is 4gb, and then $10 for every gb over.
I say that is comparable to their 2gb for $25 plus 2gb @ $10 per gb = $45.
In this case, you're not getting hit with overages, but rather $10 a gb.

I hear some squeak about ATT pricing, but I say they aren't really bad.

What are people paying with Verizon?
And Sprint doesn't even have a tether plan.

 

[rocketry876]

I heard that if you previously had an unlimited data plan with ATT, you can ask for unlimited 4G also?

 

[pazzo02]

I heard that if you previously had an unlimited data plan with ATT, you can ask for unlimited 4G also?

Yes, if you were on an unlimited plan, you're supposed to be "grandfathered" in. If you lost it when you upgraded, call customer service and tell them you weren't told that you could keep it and you want it back. Otherwise it will be gone forever.

 

[Hypnopottamus]

Another thing you should be aware of is the use of widgets. Since certain widgets give live updates, they can REALLY eat up alot of data. My advice would be NOT to use widgets, particularly the Friend Stream, calendar, or weather widgets. If you do use them, make sure you adjust their sync times. Each widget should have a settings option. Just wanted you to be aware of this.

 

[Thors Gal]

Hi,
thanks for all the input. I got the 2g package for a month or 2 to see what my usage will be. I have had my phone for 2 days and I figure I can do 6.5 megs a day for 30 days and stay under 200. I went over the first day by double but it looks like I have only used 1 meg today or maybe 1.5. I have just turned the internet off while I am at work and turn it on at breaks/lunch. They can't update at all if they can't connect. My battery life has been better than I expected too.

Thanks everyone.
Thor's Gal

 

[mandar_h]

Hi,
How much data are these phones using a month with light usage? I want to get by as cheaply as I can in this ecomomy and I can't get unlimited plan anyway. I plan to hook up Wifi at my house. I work so I would only be using my data on my 30 min lunch (CNN, yahoo, facebook, check emails) weekdays. Weekends out I would probably use GPS and Google places to go in the city. (once or twice a month) If needed, I could find a starbucks or hotspot there. The AT&T store by me said that they had H+ up on their towers now even though the map on the web site doesn't show it. (oregon)

As you know, I can't get unlimited and I am miffed about the texting up charge. (I don't text but my nieces do and I want to stay in touch with them) I would be happy to pay 20 dollars a month if it did texting.

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

I usually check my yahoo and gmail, occasionally chat on gtalk and Yahoo Messenger, read news and occasionally surf web or search maps.

No media streaming on mobile network.

I leave Auto-sync on all the time. And also use 3G Watchdog to keep track of my data usage.

With all this my usage is well under 200MB.

I also have Google Voice installed on my phone that lets me send text messages using my data.

Hope this helps you.

 

[pazzo02]

You can also turn of "always-on mobile data". Go into menu>settings>wireless & network>mobile networks

 

[Hypnopottamus]

There are several free apps that can allow you to control certain things like data connection, wifi, screen brightness, volume, etc. The one I use is called "Quick Settings". If you put this app (or others like it) on your homescreen you can just open it and quickly turn on/off Mobile data. Like I said, there are similar apps like this one other people may/may not prefer, but you've got options. Hope this will help in your quest to control your data usage!