Data Usage - Galaxy S II General

Hey!
Quick question.
I've had a HTC Hero for ages on a T Mobile Unlimited Data Plan. Cos it was unlimited I never bothered to check how much I use data wise. Now I am going to be getting a new phone, probably on a different provider I realise that Unlimited is no longer an option.
Since my Hero gave up the ghost a few weeks ago, I can't check what data useage I use.
So - kind of a generic question - for the average user (few emails a day, bit of mobile internet, download a few apps, Spotify Premium (so songs are cached once downloaded once) etc), is 1Gb a month enough?
I know that is a really broad question - but any help would be great!

thenoble06 said:
Hey!
Quick question.
I've had a HTC Hero for ages on a T Mobile Unlimited Data Plan. Cos it was unlimited I never bothered to check how much I use data wise. Now I am going to be getting a new phone, probably on a different provider I realise that Unlimited is no longer an option.
Since my Hero gave up the ghost a few weeks ago, I can't check what data useage I use.
So - kind of a generic question - for the average user (few emails a day, bit of mobile internet, download a few apps, Spotify Premium (so songs are cached once downloaded once) etc), is 1Gb a month enough?
I know that is a really broad question - but any help would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can check it with "Network monitor" . It gives you a daily, weekly and monthly data usage.

Related

Orange 250MB data finished in 20 days only !!!

When I got "unlimited data" bundle with fair usage policy of 250MB, i thought it should be more than enough for a month. However, just checked my online orange account and i have already used all 250 mb with 10 days before the start of new month/bundle.
Used phone for browsing and youtube + emails. However, didn't anticipate that it will take 250mb. Now it seems a very small allowance. Any idea if I can still increase my package to 500MB ? (contract already 20 days old now - it was month 15 upgrade). or may be Orange will increase all unlimited bundles in near future ?
Secondly, is there a GPRS monitor for HD? I mean is there a way to monitor how much MBs of data has been used so far or being used by an application like youtube or during browsing? So that one can monitor his use.
Thanks
SPB have a GPRS monitor
http://spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/wirelessmonitor/?en
EDIT : I don't know if it works with the HD though - I assume it does.
omg that is really much.
i just upgraded my german vodafone tariff to 200 mb for the next month.
i hope that will be enough.
i think youtube takes a lot of traffic. especially when you activate high quality.
The reason I wanted to stay with T-Mobile UK.... it's 1GB fair usage policy.
The phone cost me more to get it on T-Mobile (Thru Expansys) but the 1GB was more valuable to me.
Paul.Ferrari said:
SPB have a GPRS monitor
http://spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/wirelessmonitor/?en
EDIT : I don't know if it works with the HD though - I assume it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SPB GRPS Monitor is now called SPB Wireless Monitor and works perfectly on the HD.
I used up 45mb in just a week with just basic browsing and emails, didnt even download anything yet.
I would cut down on YouTube, that's where the big usage goes. General browsing and stuff is generally next to nothing.
I just upgraded to this bundle. I was never sold it as 'unlimited' though? The lady explained it was a 250 meg package for £7.50, the next package down was 4 meg for £4!?!? bit of a difference!
After the 250 meg, what happens? You carry on with standard usage, £1.50 cap a day?
I use Opera mini on my M700/P3600 and so far in the last 3 weeks I've only used about 70Mb. I've probably browsed every day, sometimes for up to 4 or 5 hours constantly but mainly on forums and phone review sites. Does Opera Mini compress the pages more than the version that ships with the WM 6.1 phones?
1 youtube 2-3min video is about +/-10mb, that's a lot! i stopped watching youtube on my HD
I used 50MB in a couple of days after watching a couple of things on YouTube. Since then though I've only used around 10MB in email in occasional browsing.
Spb wireless monitor is brilliant. shows the breakdown of all data used through different channels. Ideal to monitor how much data ie being used. It showed em how much YOUTUBE cost. I guess that was the reason I managed to finish 250MB in 20 days.
Have to cut down on youtube now , though it is very addictive and I wish , Orange had a better data package with atleast 1gb.
luckey me i have 5gb free and after that they just cap the speed it still dosent cost anny extra
but i have used 3gb now since the 1st dec
i have questioned orange re exceeding fair usage and was informed on many occasions that i wont be charged but warned if im constantly exceeding my limit.
with o2 free unlimited web bolt on..... free unlimited land line bolt on...
happy days...
orange do an unlimited evening and weekend package for £5 a month with 1gb fair usage. also the £1.50 daily cap.
the unlimited 250 usage package they are offering at the moment is a joke. they sell the hd with this package but it expires after 3months anyway and then automatically puts you on the unlimited evening and weekends package.
i have my emails updating every two hours and am signed into msn most days, outside of the evening and weekend package with the daily cap my gprs charges have only been about £12 in a month.
From the day I got the Touch HD (Wednesday) to the Monday just gone, (so about 4 days), I have used 0.075MB.
Anyway, I asked and the guy said the 250MB is a guide. I suggested that if I used 260MB they wouldn't charge me, but a big excess in data usage would result in a flag of your account.
However, "excessive" hasn't been quantified yet.
davgom said:
orange do an unlimited evening and weekend package for £5 a month with 1gb fair usage. also the £1.50 daily cap.
the unlimited 250 usage package they are offering at the moment is a joke. they sell the hd with this package but it expires after 3months anyway and then automatically puts you on the unlimited evening and weekends package.
i have my emails updating every two hours and am signed into msn most days, outside of the evening and weekend package with the daily cap my gprs charges have only been about £12 in a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WHAT ???? Y would it expire after 3 months? 250MB/unlimited data bundle is part of the contract on Panther 45. (choice b/w Unlimited Landline, Unlimited Txts or 250MB Data). It is supposed to be for the whole length of the contract i.e., 18 months.
Are they using 250MB for guide only? But I have checked my online account on Orange and I am already been charged for like £1.6 + approx. for data use outside my package. I guess they are using 250MB limit strictly. However, to compete with other networks, they should really increase it.
orange are lame and stingy when it comes to data, i mean they got/had exclusive rights to the Touch HD: a multimedia communication device, designed to keep you connected, informed and updated; all of which require a data connection.
Yet their measly fair usage policy limits the potential of the device itself and disables you from using it for its true designed purpose.
My brother uses, youtube, internet (and many things that require a data connection) without even thinking about data usage and fair crappy usage policies on his iphone, o2 provide users of the iphone with an all you can eat buffet (another reason why iphone is doing well)
Orange is like those cheap short-haul airlines, everything extra costs you extra extra
Excuse me drifting off-topic ever so slightly, but can anyone tell me:
How fussy are Orange about the use of their 1GB off-peak service?
The small print seems to prohibit instant messaging, any kind of non-orange streaming etc.
Do they really make a fuss or block users for small amounts of such usage?
Do they block any ports?
- Steve
marcopolo007uk said:
The reason I wanted to stay with T-Mobile UK.... it's 1GB fair usage policy.
The phone cost me more to get it on T-Mobile (Thru Expansys) but the 1GB was more valuable to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto.
Loving the HD on T-Mobile.

500 Meg... It won't last very long, will it?!

Had my Hero on Orange for a few days now, and used loads of megabytes already! I installed NetCounter, and I'm using around 30 meg a day! Not sure what to do to be honest, installed Opera Mini and am using that for now, which saves a few meg, but I may need to get an additional bolt on! Any suggestions on how to save the megabytes? It would be silly to turn off all the widgets, as they'd half of what makes this phone so cool but there might not be much choice if you want to keep inside your allowance!
I find that I'm using 50-100 MB/day. Maybe it'll be less once the novelty wears off ;-)
You can switch off the "Always online" mode in the wireless settings. Or pay another 10GBP/mo for unlimited internet access...
I know its not very helpful...
I know its not very helpful, but that is half the reason I took my orange one back and got an upgrade on my T-Mobile contract which has a 3GB limit.
I did ask the Orange store guys and they said that you can buy extra 250MB allocations, can't remember exactly how much it was, but I don't remember it being that bad.
Also its worth bearing in mind that your data usage is likely to go down as you are likely to install less apps as you go. Of course I guess it depends on how often the authors update the apps that you have installed.
I would definitely keep a close eye on usage though, you don't want to start paying the £3 per MB tariff. And I guess trying to hookup to WiFi as often as possible would be a good idea.
I'm sure that if you get enough orange users together you might be able to pressure them into extra allowances as it could definitely hurt their sales if they get a bad rep for selling a phone without enough data allowance to use properly (this is why T-Mobile force you to take the upgraded data allowance package, less headaches for everybody all round).
Remember if you got an upgrade over the phone or online you have 7 days to return it (and swap to T-Mobile). If not I would start a new thread as a petition to Orange.
500Mb is not enough. I called Orange about this and said 500Mb is not a reasonable level of data with modern data based phones. She said she was unable to help and couldn't increase the amount of data on my account. So I'm using the recent T&C changes to get out of the Orange contract early and going to T-Mobile to get a Hero.
you can always ring Orange and check what they say in terms of the data you have used, mine is wildly under what my data counter is showing
you can get ann additional 1Gb bundle on orange, its £10 a month
think that's what I'm going to have to do... Disappointing that they don't sell a larger add on so I can use it as a modem too and not worry, eg a 3 gig bundle add on for £15.
you guys need to relax, lol the first few days i used a scary amount of data, but the novelty definately wears off now im uisng about 60mb a week as i mostly used wifi at home and i can steal carphone wearhouse wifi while im in work hehe. tbh i think 500mb is enough, altho 1gb would be nice and safe amount!
also ive heard that orange will let you off if you got over the 500mb they dont start charging right away. itso nly if you take the piss and go over by say 500mb evey month htye might charge you.
incorrect I'm afraid. Since Orange stopped advertising it as unlimited subject to fair use and started calling it 500mb they will charge you as soon as you go over.
I was concerned that 500MB was not going to be enough. T-Mobile offers 3GB. Much better.
TheBrit said:
I was concerned that 500MB was not going to be enough. T-Mobile offers 3GB. Much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note sure if its 3GB maybe 1GB????
100 meg in an hour if you like to stream music to your phone. 200meg a day of you tether. 500 doesn't make me feel comfortable.
robboy said:
Note sure if its 3GB maybe 1GB????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was told 3GB in the shop. I will check the T&Cs.
TheBrit said:
I was told 3GB in the shop. I will check the T&Cs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't have a limit now, its just "Unlimited". When I spoke to T-Mobile, they removed the cap, but do have a fair usage amount, "within reason" what ever that means.
In the small print, the fair use is defined as 3GB, but if you somehow manage to go over that they won't do anything unless you constantly do or by a really excessive amount.
Ok. I checked my T&Cs and I have w&w+ which is 3GB and also allows tethering. Standard w&w says tethering is against T&Cs and is 1GB.
Or you have an unlimited data plan... I kept my plan after returning my Touch Diamond (introduced for a short while to counter iPhone madness) due to too may issues... Orange changed my handset and I kept the call plan.
Unlimited data is very relaxing to use... especially for tethering my then Nokia and using as a modem for my MacBook Pro.
Shame the Hero won't tether with my Mac
Benji Lad said:
500Mb is not enough. I called Orange about this and said 500Mb is not a reasonable level of data with modern data based phones. She said she was unable to help and couldn't increase the amount of data on my account. So I'm using the recent T&C changes to get out of the Orange contract early and going to T-Mobile to get a Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, what T&C changes - i would love to get out of my orange contract early - i have had a constant nightmare with them the last 6 wks over data charges on my hd touch phone
I've been on Vodafone for a week, and according to a text they just sent me, I have only used 30 MB of data. I'm pretty happy with that to be honest and might just ramp up my mobile usage. On the website however they do list every little fart you make. I have some things on the my Vodafone page where there is a usage of 9.1 KB.
supadupahands said:
you can always ring Orange and check what they say in terms of the data you have used, mine is wildly under what my data counter is showing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you tell me how to do this?

wifi tethering data usage

I have used about 700mb tethering my mt3g to my laptop. And need to tether about 1gb more. Am i going overboard? This is my first month having the phone so i dont have a pattern of internet useage yet. I really just want to know if this much useage will draw attention to my account. If this isnt considered alot what is? Thx.
I am pretty sure that T-Mobile is out of the "Stone Age" with their charging of serious usage. Lol.
Figuratively, the cannot charge for anything too significant. Especially considering, UNLIMITED actually means unlimited! Lol. You're in the clear, I use tethering all the time.
thank's dude thats what i was hopeing to hear. Didnt want to go overboard and get a massive bill.
rialsi6 said:
thank's dude thats what i was hopeing to hear. Didnt want to go overboard and get a massive bill.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.. Unlimited suppose to mean unlimited but many times it's not such a clear as it seems. Many offers with unlimited options has a little text with * "fair policy apply" or sth like that or unlimited but only within their network/services. Once upon a time my uncle in England had unlimited internet in his mobile phone so via bluetooth i connected it to my laptop and using normally browsing web with very little downloads cuz I was careful and wanted to check it first. After about 2 weeks suddenly his phone has been blocked. He called asking WTF is going on. They sad his bill exceeded a limit. We had to pay 200 pounds (400$) bill for a stupid internet usage!!! It was my most expensive Internet browsing.... So if I were you I would stop for now and wait for the bill first to check is everything ok or call your operator asking for the balance..
PS. It was about 2 years ago but even now I see many offers for a wireless internet (usb dongle) via GSM that says UNLIMITED DATA TRANSFER only 35F/month but always at the bottom is very small "fair policy apply"...
read the terms and conditions, it states specifically what they are going to do if you exceed a limit.
The fine print does not state a limit. Only something along the lines of "unusual usage". It is ultimately up to them, but there wirelsess laptop stick data plan has a 5 gig cap on it, so 700 megs does not sound too bad to me.
the latest t&c states 10 gigs, and after that they slow your speed down.

What sort of usage will eat up my 500MB data plan?

Hello all,
Firstly, thanks for putting together and supporting such a fantastic resource for the HD2 (xda-developers)
Secondly, with all the debate on the worth of the HD2; I've had mine nearly a week and it's been an absolute joy so far. Only problem has been some audio/picture syncing issued on MP4 video. Best phone I've ever owned.
My main question: I have a Vodafone data plan with a fair usage policy of 500MB. What activities will cause me to chew that up fast. I understand that streaming Youtube is probably a big no no. I also read somewhere that the sattelite images on Google maps will eat a chunk. Whar about stuff like constant GPS positioning, does this sort of thing count? Any info appreciated.
Sam
1 - any video downloaded or streamed to your device (any)
2 - any audio downloaded or streamed to your device (purchases, internet radio etc)
3 - a somewhat distant third... regular visits to very large websites - not mobile optimized (full load of engadget 10+ times a day for example)
As said above- large media files streamed or downloaded are the biggest culprits.
All other stuff is small by comparison- Google Maps pages are around 100-300KB so you'd have to go some to use 500MB!
GPS positioning uses negligible data, though keeping GPS on would hammer the battery. Email polling only uses about 4MB per month in addition to the emails themselves. Graphics heavy web pages might use a bit, but even then you are unlikely to exceed your limit.
I don't use mine for any streaming or media downloads but do use it heavily for a lot of other online stuff and I've never used more than 100MB per month.
why dont you just get unlimited data? its only £5 a month.
paulking said:
why dont you just get unlimited data? its only £5 a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's on Vodafone. Even their so-called Unlimited data is capped at 500MB
I have 200MB a month until my speed is capped but I never managed to reach 200MB (ok I don't use youtube or other streaming via my data-plan) but with normal usage (surfing, mails, rss, weather, quickgps) my plan is enough.
Thanks for the advice. Looks like, as long as I don't stream or download, I shouldn't have any trouble.
Slightly derailing the thread, but how do I turn off the GPS?
Actually, from what I've observed so far, you don't have to turn off the GPS. It goes to sleep by itself when you don't use it and wakes up when you need it (launch a program that requires it) that's when it will make a data connection and as said before the data exchanged with the server is very limmited (less than 1kb)
NeilM said:
He's on Vodafone. Even their so-called Unlimited data is capped at 500MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so its being mis-sold then? hmm
It's in the small print.
I kicked up a bit of a fuss when I spoke to Vodafone about their Limited/unlimited data plan. They said you can go over, but don't do it on a regular basis.
You'll get a few 'yellow cards' first.
You can YouTube some stuff, but don't make it habitual.
I'm on Vodafone Ultd internet, i use youtube and BBC iplayer a fair bit. no problems so far.. Had it month and a half.
im on vodafone business, im on 500MB capped, (although they didn't re-apply it properly when i upgraded my phone so ive been charged £380 on my last bill!! Ill be claiming that back) Its a bit of a rip off., £7.50/mnth for 500MB (extra charged at 60p/MB!!) or £20 for 5GB
I Just changed to Tmobile who have a 1gb max on the unlimited. I stuck to my guns saying that I made heavy use of you tube etc, they upgraded it to 3gb maximimum with no extra charge.
Unusually helpful for a mobile company, must have got them on a good day.
BTW it is on one of their new 30 day contracts and I was arranging three of them for me and two friends. The extra 2gb was only offered on one of the phones (mine of course!!!)

Bell users: Question about data /data usage

I noticed something a little odd the other day. Since flashing CM& I had to re-install the Bell Self Serve app. I have done a bunch of downloads and for some reason, my unbilled data usage is only 6.8mb. I am sure I am using more than that. Its almost like is only registering what I use while in browser, not app or file downloads. Does the 500mb data plan I have only cover browser usage and the rest is unlimited ??
What plan do you have?
I have noticed the same thing. Download a 300mb file and at the end of the month its a 10mb on my bill. (along with self serve and tcare)
I'm on last year's student special plan.
sent from my Atrix via XDA premium
Be happy your self serve app works. Mine keeps saying it's not compatible with my account.
You can always send a text to 82273, and use the mobile menu system to check your data.
Or login to bell.ca, link your account to your bill, and then you can check your unbilled usage and compare the two.
Note: Bell now has a 55 Plan (fab 10 instead of fab 5, 200 minutes I believe, unlimited texting, and 1GB data for $55). Well worth the $5 difference compared to their 50M plan they had (fab 5, 200 minutes I believe, and 500MB data) I upgraded to it and it just took affect on next billing cycle.
Just use netcounter
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Its called Corporate Basic 36M. Here's a screen shot
I've noticed the same sort of thing. I recently switched from a 1GB plan to a 6GB plan. I was going slightly over my 1GB plan before but since I changed my plan to 6GB I've noticed on my self serve it's showing far less than I am using and because I have switched to 6GB I have been using a lot more than I would have previously. I am using the onavo data tracking app which told me I used 6GB total for last month yet my bill says I have only used 171mb total. This is with me tethering my phone to my laptop and using it for facebook, msn, research for school, youtube videos, several full length episodes of tv shows, downloaded a few small programs and so on. I am tempted to go by what selfserve says that I am using vs what I know I am using and onavo says I am using but I am afraid of getting a huge bill at the end of the month. Anyone know what might be going on?
Same here, Bell says I used 30 megs of my 500 meg plan, whereas ZDbox or other apps have me well over 500 for my bill date *shrug*
As far as i can tell, google Market doesn't count against the limit
As far as I know, if download an App or do anything, has been counted towards my 1GB bandwidth, cause within a week or so I see that I have already used up about 200MB.
BTW is there an app, which shows which app is using how much data from my connection.
mumbhai55 said:
As far as I know, if download an App or do anything, has been counted towards my 1GB bandwidth, cause within a week or so I see that I have already used up about 200MB.
BTW is there an app, which shows which app is using how much data from my connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ONAVO. It's really good and gives you 3 widgets. One is app watch which will tell you how much data each application has been using. Then it gives you a widget that shows your total data usage for your billing period and then there is live data usage which tells you how much data each app has been using in the last several minutes. It also offers a feature to disable your data once you have reached a certain limit to prevent you from getting charged for going over your data limit.
using 3g watchdog
Using 3g watchdog, pretty happy with it.
On a 500M plan, I have 200M on 3GWD and 164 on SelfServ. The truth is not much download.
I've been noticing this for the last 3 years. I had a 500mb data plan on my old HTC Touch Pro. I did not have any data monitoring apps installed on that phone, but my usage was always around 10-15mb per month, regardless of how much I used. I would download complete roms to flash on my phone over 3g, and still only have it show 10mb usage for the month.
Looking at billing details, each data session maxed out at a very low number, I forget how much, but like .091mb or something like that... but the data sessions would stay active for hours and hours so it all added up to not too much.
I then bought a sim card and a Nexus one a few years ago, and my data usage all of a sudden matched exactly what I was using.
When I upgraded(?) to the Atrix, I upped my data plan to 1gb, and have been experiencing the same data usage problems I had with the Touch Pro years ago. Monitor it with 3g watchdog, Onavo, or the built in data monitoring in ICS, and I always use over a gig, yet my bills and self serve always only report 15mb usage or so over a month. Somethings wrong with the data reporting, but Im not about to inquire about it, as I seamingly have unlimited data because of this. I do, however, still check self serve routinely just in case they fix the problem someday.

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