Tracking Data Use And Choosing The Right Smartphone Plan

Megalith

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How conscious are you of your data use? Do you limit your data usage to keep costs down/avoid overcharges, or are you lucky enough to be on an “unlimited” plan?

I recommend checking data use at the end of your billing cycle several times a year. After you upgrade to a zippy new phone, also check your data patterns after the first three months of use. The first month with a new phone will probably be the honeymoon phase, with data gorging likely, but data use should settle in the following months.
 
Eh, I just tap the settings button on my phone, and then find "data usage" and adjust the slider bars (not sure why it defaults to a 3 day window) and voila! I know my data usage.
 
I try to be pretty conscious of it and frankly when I'm away from wifi I tend to not do a lot that would use a lot of data. Not streaming a lot of video, and I tend to download music and podcasts for offline playback so they don't use data.

I do miss having unlimited data and not having to think about data use but in practice it hasnt been a huge problem.
 
Well, I don't own a smart phone, so my plan is pimpin'! ;)

Seriously though all I do is on my home PC. Otherwise I just transfer some music/videos to my wifi tablet. Or, bring my laptop along if I'm staying with friends/family because I hate tablets. I guess I'm not popular enough to need data while I'm on the road, or feel the need for it when when I buy milk at the store.
 
I have one of those old unlimited plans. VZW just gouged with a price hike, but I've never paid full price (company discounts for days) and I'm still under $100/mo. It's like Google Music--once I leave I can't come back with the same pricing (no more unlimited data from Verizon, and no more $8/mo from Google Music) so because of that I'll tolerate shenanigans more than if I could get equivalent quality elsewhere.

And no, TMobile doesn't count--spotty network in places (friends lose signal, I don't).
 
I don't stream videos on a tiny ass 5" mobile device.... Soooo, I never come close to our 6GB shared amount. Shit I give not. I can hold myself to get to a reasonable sized screen from a reasonable comfortable place before wasting my time to watch stupid YouTubes.

Honestly, that is the heart of the issue. People that stream GBs of movies while driving and people that tether as their normal connection. Not that I don't believe you are entitled to such... but god people stream too much. Isn't Netflix up to 1/3 of all Internet bandwidth?
 
And no, TMobile doesn't count--spotty network in places (friends lose signal, I don't).

T-Mobile works fine for me, as I have good coverage where I live and work.

It's only $90 ($103 with taxes/fees) for 3 phones on tier family plan. Unlimited calls, Unlimited texts and 2GB data. I rarely hit 1GB since I'm usually on WiFi (same as rest of the family), so it works fine for me. Even if I go over the 2GB, I prefer the way T-mobile handles it, by just slowing down the data, with no overage charges.
 
Honestly, that is the heart of the issue. People that stream GBs of movies while driving and people that tether as their normal connection. Not that I don't believe you are entitled to such... but god people stream too much. Isn't Netflix up to 1/3 of all Internet bandwidth?
For a while now I've been putting Android car stereos in my cars cause I thought, why the hell would I put a regular stereo. Just a few weeks ago I put this in my sedan and it's freakin amazing to have, but there's a catch in that it needs wifi or a USB 3G dongle for an internet connection. But I'm on T-Mobile with unlimited data so screw it, I tether to my phone through wifi.

So when I drive I tend to crank up YouTube and listen to either Tek Syndicate or some other YouTuber like vlogbrothers or Reviewtechusa. But sometimes I have my niece and she watches whatever crap she likes on YouTube, and of course I have an Emby server which gives me access to all my media on my home HTPC.

I am paying for it so I am entitled to use it. Mind you I can do the stuff I do without streaming but it would be very difficult and painful. I would need to bring USB memory sticks full of my media and pre download YouTube I want to watch in advance. No thanks, unlimited data works for me.
 
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For a while now I've been putting Android car stereos in my cars cause I thought, why the hell would I put a regular stereo. Just a few weeks ago I put this in my sedan and it's freakin amazing to have, but there's a catch in that it needs wifi or a USB 3G dongle for an internet connection. But I'm on T-Mobile with unlimited data so screw it, I tether to my phone through wifi.

So when I drive I tend to crank up YouTube and listen to either Tek Syndicate or some other YouTuber like vlogbrothers or Reviewtechusa. But sometimes I have my niece and she watches whatever crap she likes on YouTube, and of course I have an Emby server which gives me access to all my media on my home HTPC.

I am paying for it so I am entitled to use it. Mind you I can do the stuff I do without streaming but it would be very difficult and painful. I would need to bring USB memory sticks full of my media and pre download YouTube I want to watch in advance. No thanks, unlimited data works for me.

I personally don't care to pay for unlimited data, but that's actually kinda cool how you use your unlimited data :)
 
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Very rarely away from wi-fi, I also have access to to a public network through my home internet provider that hooks me into thousands of public hotspots.

I mainly use my data for just picking up a few emails when I'm not in range of wi-fi. I only use around 150MB of my 500MB allowance a month. I also get 300 mins of calls and 2000 texts for $10 a month.

Data is not really a worry for me.
 
I have gone through 30+ GB more than a few times with Sprint. No data limit. No issues.
 
I work from home most of the time so I'm usually on Wifi. When I am at a client's place I can usually go on their Wifi. When I had an expensive plan I found that I used 50-150 MB a month. When my contract was up and my phone was paid off I moved to a prepaid plan. I pay $15 a month for unlimited texts and then have to buy blocks of minutes and data. 1 GB of data and 500 minutes costs me about $50 and lasts me about six months. So my cellphone costs about $23 a month instead of the $50 I was paying on the old plan.

That works very well for me.
 
At what throughput, 100Kbps? Before I dumped Sprint I was getting slower than dial-up.

You may have been. I could say the same about Verizon before I dumped them :eek:

I have never had an issue with Sprint and their LTE service any where in my area. No complaints from me.
 
The wife and I use Cricket's 20GB plans...and use it all each month. We just use My Data Manager to keep us apprised of data usage. I ran out of port in and referral credits in November, so we had to pay for one line for December - the rest of the year has been 'free'. It is about time to start seeking out new deals, at least for the old lady...I'm getting my friend's Verizon UDP in a couple of months when the cable company finally finishes the build out on his road.
 
I originally had AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan, but I switched to Tmobile since I would get throttled to hell after 3GB of use...couldn't even browse the internet.

I probably use around 10-15 GB a month on Tmobile, but haven't gotten any throttling that I can feel. Regardless I still use wifi when I'm near one, but mainly for longer batter life vs. streaming over LTE.

In the Bay area there are some areas where I notice less coverage than when I had AT&T, but I also know spots where AT&T had problems that Tmo has no issues. But I saw a huge difference when I went back to the East coast earlier this year. When driving around the south east between towns I either had "no service" or I had a signal but no data coverage. My friend who had Verizon who was with me basically was covered almost the entire time.

But the biggest benefit to me for Tmo is the free international data roaming. I go to Asia about once a month and having free internet on the phone is soooo nice, even if it is 2G speeds. I'm not streaming videos when I travel, but it is perfect for email, maps, and some quick internet searches.
 
For a while now I've been putting Android car stereos in my cars cause I thought, why the hell would I put a regular stereo. Just a few weeks ago I put this in my sedan and it's freakin amazing to have, but there's a catch in that it needs wifi or a USB 3G dongle for an internet connection. But I'm on T-Mobile with unlimited data so screw it, I tether to my phone through wifi.

So when I drive I tend to crank up YouTube and listen to either Tek Syndicate or some other YouTuber like vlogbrothers or Reviewtechusa. But sometimes I have my niece and she watches whatever crap she likes on YouTube, and of course I have an Emby server which gives me access to all my media on my home HTPC.

I am paying for it so I am entitled to use it. Mind you I can do the stuff I do without streaming but it would be very difficult and painful. I would need to bring USB memory sticks full of my media and pre download YouTube I want to watch in advance. No thanks, unlimited data works for me.

That's pretty badass.
 
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I have unlimited Tmobile Deutschland plan. Unlimited data in Europe. It's very nice, but pretty much useless for my yearly Asia trips. At 3 Euro ever 50 megs which expires after 24 hours, it becomes a whole lot cheaper to just rent a Wifi biscuit at the airport and tether my phone to it or get a SIM card.

Anyways, under my normal usage, I rarely go over 2 gb of data.
 
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