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1GB/month enough?

R

RobLikesBrunch

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
170
0
So, unlike all you guys living in the states, I'm stuck with crappy Swiss plans that limit you @ 1GB/month of data (but then again, the iPhone is only $80 here, and the plan is cheaper). So here's the thing- I've never had a 3G phone, never had a phone that can be practically used to browse the web, and considering my data use @ my computer, I'm doubting whether or not 1GB will suffice for my needs.

Say I'll be browsing the web one hour each day, with say...one to two 5 minute YouTube videos each day. Other activities will include email and blog browsing and maybe some Pandora (although I don't know if it will work- I can download apps from the American store as I have an American credit card...). Do you think 1GB will suffice for my needs?

Also, does anyone know of a program that can tell me how much I've downloaded on my PC? I want to test data usage by setting safari to it's iPhone mode for developers and doing some browsing.

Thanks everyone :)
 
I used 15MB in two days surfing the web for a good 2-3 hours a day and watching about 2 videos from youtube.
 
I've had mine for about 3 weeks. The reality is you will probably play with it way more in the beginning than you will once you get used to it and its not a "new toy" anymore. For about the first week, I was browsing, watching videos, and using GPS/Maps (which has to download the maps on the fly) probably at least 3 hours a day. Maybe 5 hours on the most use ever. I have probably downloaded 25-30 apps including updates. This is my personal phone, so it doesn't get hit with the amount of email traffic that my work blackberry does, but maybe about 10 emails a day on average.

Now that the novelty of the "new toy" is over, I do web browsing on a regular computer like normal when its available as opposed to the phone. As good as browsing on the iphone is (and it is incredible for a mobile device), its not a real computer and doesn't quite offer that ease of use and experience that a regular computer does.

All that being said, so far I have only used 46.8 MB downloaded and 2.1 MB uploaded. Although, I must point out that I do have access to wifi alot (but nowadays who doesn't), so that probably helps. 1 GB will probably be more than enough.
 
I've used 600MB this month, but I am on EDGE 100% of the time. This is streaming Pandora for about 1hr per day. I expect that usage to go up since I didn't start streaming till after the app came out.
 
I have had mine since July 11 and have used 700mb of data. I use YouTube only on wifi because of the poor quality over 3g. I however stream hours and hours of aol radio everyday at work and in my car. 1gb while not enough should be adequate.
 
eplchamps0304 said:
I use YouTube only on wifi because of the poor quality over 3g.
Click to expand...

That's actually a good point and something that surprised me a little. I only discovered it about a week ago. The general browsing experience on 3G is a little slower than wifi. Its definitely noticeable but not horrible. Its still very usable and far, far better than browsing over edge. However, I was surprised to discover how bad video streaming is over 3G. Pretty much unwatchable and I had full 3G bars. I had tried on YouTube and FunnyOrDie.com. Not a major issue, since wifi is somewhat easy to find and video streaming is generally just a luxury.
 
since the 11th of July, I've used 200 mb. 1gb should be enough for most people (not psychologically though)
 
The battery on your phone will die before you're able to use up all your data.

Seriously, 1 gig is roughly 1000 megs, which leaves you about 30 megs of data per day. If you're using 30 megs of data a day, you'll be lucky to have any battery life at the end of the day! :D

I have 6 gigs of data here in Canada a month, so I vow never to use wifi again, no matter what. And I use my phone pretty religiously, and since July 14th, I've only used 180 megs of data. barely over 1% of my monthly data allowance!!
 
1Gb should be fine, the average user uses less than 400 Mb. Since July 11 I've used just about 400 mb. It's not like you are going to be downloading movies on it. I do have the 6Gb data plan in Canada but it's more for piece of mind. The nice thing is that it's easy to monitor your data usage and I don't know about Switerland but in most urban areas of Canada there's lots of free wifi too.
 
Since July 11 I've used 235megs. I think 1GB is pretty decent and I don't think most users would go over that or even approach it. Also consider that if you have a wifi hookup you'd use that whenever that's available for obvious reasons. You should be fine.
 
I didn't hit 300MB of cell network data in almost 3 months on my EDGE phone. I don't know how much this would change with a 3G phone, but I doubt I'd go crazy. I mainly wanted to look at news-type stuff, which is mostly text. If you use the MLB At Bat app (which I doubt you do in Switzerland), that may do it if you look at a bunch of videos. But 1GB isn't bad.
 
profetto said:
The battery on your phone will die before you're able to use up all your data.

Seriously, 1 gig is roughly 1000 megs, which leaves you about 30 megs of data per day. If you're using 30 megs of data a day, you'll be lucky to have any battery life at the end of the day! :D

I have 6 gigs of data here in Canada a month, so I vow never to use wifi again, no matter what. And I use my phone pretty religiously, and since July 14th, I've only used 180 megs of data. barely over 1% of my monthly data allowance!!
Click to expand...

I am in Canada as well, and we have alot of cellphone company's offering data plans to try to keep in competition with the others, with that being said, I have been a long subscriber with a certain company, when I first signed on, they had a mega promotion that was with unlimited dated per month, unlimited calling, incoming, outgoing, with free texts incoming, outgoing as well as international texts, they have since gotten rid of the unlimited data and as long as I never switch that option, I will never lose it, I even use wi fi even though no matter what, the data is always unlimited, just as they had a promo for unlimited texts, plus international, and ive had it for over 10 years.. just a little input
 
most of the time you will use your iPhone from your home, and you have wi-fi, I suppose. Just do the majority of home surfing thru your wi-fi, it. I never exceeded 500Mb/month while using it outside the house, and I dont watch that many video on youtube...
 
If you have reliable wi-Fi at your place or residence or work, then yes it should be plenty. If not, I'd say after the 4th month or so, you will begin to want more data per month. I've never hit cap of 2.0GB and that's using my phone alot without wi-Fi on.
 
It's fine as long as you don't stream video (and maybe music to a lesser extent). I've blown through a gig or so a day watching live coverage of CES at work.
 
If you visit American mobile carrier websites such as at&t, Verizon, t-mobile, etc. They generally have a data calculator which helps you find out approximately how much data you will use doing various things with your smartphone. For your needs, 1 gig may be enough if you are around a wifi source at home.
 
used 7GB this month:D on a fresh new cycle :D i dont use wifi at work anymore att 3G my area is faster:D i cant survive 2GB data a month i stream pandora like crazy at work and driving:D
 
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