Questions for people with data plans on their phone

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  1. How much data (GB's) do you use a month?
  2. What data plan do you use to make sure you don't go over?
  3. Other than unlimited, would 10GB be a good plan when most of what you would do is surf web (and I think the speech to text, text messaging uses data, doesn't it?)?
  4. What do you do on your phone?
  5. T-Mobile has a 2 GB plan I would be interested in, and it looks like about 200 web page views a day would work just fine for that, as long as I didn't do anything else. Is that good for web viewing on a phone (I would most likely only be looking at THP).
  6. How much data do you think you use on viewing web pages, sending a few emails each day, per month.



I ask because I am thinking of getting a data plan and a smart phone (finally) and want to hear what others use in data each month, and don't want to spend a ton doing it. Is there anything else to think about?
 
Wife and I split a 2 GB per month plan. We average somewhere between 0.7 and 1.2 GB used per month. Both of use check email/Facebook/Twitter fairly often on our phones, but don't stream music or videos on our phones. 10 GB seems like a tremendously high amount to me. One thing I can tell you is that if you have wifi set up in your home, you can set up the phone when you're home to use the wifi connection so that everything that comes to your phone comes via that connection instead of the data plan through your cellphone provider. That helps me cut down on the amount of data use.
 
I'm not sure if it's the same in the states but my carrier in Canada gives me the option for unlimited texting, double minutes or a third option and then 1g of data on top of that
 
I can just tell you now, we've been with t mobile for over 7 years and they suck sometimes, they are affordable Though. But the 2 Gigabyte plan should be fine



Tapping & autocorrecting

"Life is short, Drive fast and leave a sexy corpse."
-Stanley Hudson
 
Smalls, just go with the 2gb at first and if you end up going over move up to the next tier.
 
Smalls, just go with the 2gb at first and if you end up going over move up to the next tier.

I agree with WessCook. When you do get a smartphone Just turn off or set manually push notifications and location services apps has. I barely even go over 1g a month on my phone and I use my phone a lot, surfing, gps, etc. I have been with Verizon for a while now.
 
I agree, 2GB is a good starting point. As long as you use WIFI for any large downloads, the wireless data piece should suffice. I don't talk much on the phone and I've never come close to 1500 minutes since cell to cell is included. Text msg'g should be all inclusive in a plan that includes 2G of data. Watch out for 4G though, it is faster than most WIFI spots and could get you in trouble since most newer phones automatically switch to 4G. Simple fix...normal use (stay on cell), heavy use (get on wifi), everything else will fall into place. Enjoy the selection...
 
2gb is a great starting point.


Tapping my way forward as a MC hopeful
 
If you have WiFi at home the 2GB should be plenty.

Posted via tapatalk.
 
As Wess said, the carriers will always let you increase your plan to a more expensive version (i.e. more data). If you are close to reaching your cap for the month, most carriers will also send you a text or something letting you know so that either you can buy more data or slow down on your usage. If you're not streaming video and audio much, I'd agree that 2 GB is probably a fine starting point.
 
Smalls I have 4 GG shared between my mom in law and wife. We average around a GB since we do all of our downloading of apps with wifi on somewhere and at home. I think 2 gb is a good start
 
Had 2GB for a year now and barely use half of it. I am constantly getting emails/text messages and use the phone an awful lot for surfing/watching videos/ect. I am on wifi just about everywhere I go though(work, home, friends houses, bars and cigar shops).
 
I have unlimited and i never even use 2GB. Start low, you can always upgrade.
Several times with verizon, I have gone over my minutes, called them upgraded my minutes just for that month and was never charged fees for the overage.
They do the same if you go over in data.
 
How much data (GB's) do you use a month? 700mb to 1.5gb

  1. What data plan do you use to make sure you don't go over? US Cellular really only offers 5gb plan
  2. Other than unlimited, would 10GB be a good plan when most of what you would do is surf web (and I think the speech to text, text messaging uses data, doesn't it?)? that is a ton of data limit for mostly web surfing, text messaging doesn't use data, but picture messaging does
  3. What do you do on your phone? primarily work related, emails, some apps that don't use data, basic web surfing, the occassional IHeartRadio streaming.
  4. T-Mobile has a 2 GB plan I would be interested in, and it looks like about 200 web page views a day would work just fine for that, as long as I didn't do anything else. Is that good for web viewing on a phone (I would most likely only be looking at THP). As long as your not streaming music a lot or watching a bunch of youtube videos, 2gb is more than safe for simple web surfing. I'm not saying you couldn't stream any music or videos at all, but in heavy IHeartRAdio months for me, I can reach 2gb.
  5. How much data do you think you use on viewing web pages, sending a few emails each day, per month. Less than 1gb, because that's most of what I do with my phone.

On a side note, if you get a smart phone, I recommend a free app called Call Meter NG. With a little bit of a hassle putting in the initial settings, it will keep track of your 3g (or 4g if your lucky enough to have it) usage every month. Anytime you want to see how much you've used so far in a month, just click the app, and it'll show you. Saved me from going over my limit once.

Good Luck!

~Rock
 
I use about 4 - 5 gigs a month. I have an unlimited plan that I have had forever with AT&T. I listen to a lot of Pandora and watch a good amount of YouTube.

posting from my S3 so please excuse my spelling mistakles.
 
I am on my phone surfing the web a lot, and I stream music sometimes. The wife doesn't use a ton of data. But between the two of us we have only gone over 2GB once and we have a 4GB plan. One thing to keep in mind is that smartphones have WiFi so any time you are at home or somewhere in a WiFi area you will not be using data. So if most of your browsing time is at home it may not use data, or also if your work has WiFi you wouldnt be using data
 
Not sure if you are on value or classic plan but getting the unlimited is only a difference of $10 compared to 2gb plan. Then again I've been with TMo when they were called Voicestream. Before jumping got upgraded to unlimited I was on the 5gb plan and only used 2 or at most 3gb due to music streaming. Without music, barely topping 1gb.

Hope this helps. Noticed you said you were on ATT. Are you planning on using an ATT unlocked phone?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
I've had unlimited on my phone for several years since that was the best option at the time so I've just kept it. I don't think I ever use more than 1 or 1.5 though. I think I use it quite a bit, but maybe I'm just not using the the big data eaters. My wife has 2 on here phone and never goes over. Our son has 3 and he pushes it some months, but he uses Spotify in his car. I don't know how T-Mobile works specifically, but you could easily start with 2 then change at any time. I know with AT&T you aren't locked into a specific plan so if you feel you use too much or too little you can change it if you need to. As many others have said, if you have wi-fi in the house and/or office/workplace you won't be using any data there no matter what you do.
 
Like everyone has said, thats a great starting point. I use anywhere from 3-5 GB a month, but I travel a lot and really work my phone for a ton of stuff, plus will use it to create a hot spot if the hotel wifi sucks.
 
Thanks everyone. It looks like 2 gigs is the way to start.

I appreciate all the replies.

I was also with T-Mobile when they were VoiceStream. In fact, for the first year, it still said Arial on my phone screen! Been with them since 1999.
 
Great thread Smalls, I've been considering upgrading to a smart phone myself and this gives me the info I need to help make the decision
 
Thanks everyone. I ended up getting a MyTouch Q (it's an Android but somewhat outdated OS - 2.3, but it's my first one and it was free). Got the 2 gig data plan and a two year contract with the upgrade.

Got it from Best Buy. But they can only carry three carriers, and they had AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. So I will be getting my phone shipped to me since I have T-Mobile.
 
Thanks everyone. I ended up getting a MyTouch Q (it's an Android but somewhat outdated OS - 2.3, but it's my first one and it was free). Got the 2 gig data plan and a two year contract with the upgrade.

Got it from Best Buy. But they can only carry three carriers, and they had AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. So I will be getting my phone shipped to me since I have T-Mobile.

Interesting choice Smalls. My cousins have that phone and think it's ok. What made you choose that over the Relay besides being free? I ask because we almost got the since my wife and I didn't want to give up a physical keyboard. In the end we made the leap and for S3's but also asking because one of our lines still have an upgrade and may get the Relay if my wife gets frustrated with the S3

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
It was all about the cash, threshold. It was a matter of $0 for the MyTouch or $149 for the Relay. I would have preferred the Relay, but I don't like to pay for phones.

My wife has an upgrade coming too, but she is going to use my old phone for about 6 more months until we use it. Then she said she would take the phone I just got and then I would get something new. I love my wife!
 
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