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2GB Data Plan...Is It Enough

A

antnie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2010
23
0
Hi everyone. I am getting an iPhone 4 in about a week. I am new to AT&T. But what I really need help on is this, is the 2 GB Data Plan enough data? Because it doesn't seem like alot to me.

My primary uses of the phone over 3g would be:
Checking email ( Every hour)
Web Browsing( Lets say 15 minutes a day over 3g)
Youtube ( Lets say 1 -2 videos a day over 3g)
Maps (once every week)

I have WiFi at home so that is the primary place my Iphone will be used.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
In the month Ive had my iPhone 4 I have sent 101 MB
And recieve 1.6GB.

So, I would be ok if I had a 2GB plan, but I have unlimited from a previous iPhone.

I think since you have WIFI at home, which I do as well, and I have similiar usage needs as you, you should be fine. I also heavily use Pandora vai 3G, and I still dont break 2Gb because of my WIFI.

Seeing as 2Gb is really your only option (aside from going lower) as a new contract, I suggest during your first month being more cautious with your usage. Remember what you did to reach that usage. Then when the first bill comes recall what you used the phone for, and go online and review what your usage was. If you used what you would normally in a month, and youre significantly under your limit, continue down that path. :)
 
2gb is completely doable. I was being completely wasteful my 1st billing cycle to get a feel for how much I can go thru and I hit 2.3gb, so it's totally ok with the 2gb plan. Thank god, I was able to get the unlimited, when I could
 
Yeah, is manageable, specially if you are sometime around wifi (like home or office) I usually use somewhere around 300MB and I used my phone quite a lot.

You can use the 2GB plan for 2 or 3 months and see your usage, them change to the 200MB if you see you are within range. it will only cost you additional $10 a month (so $20 or $30 for those 2 or 3 months just to make sure you are cover)
 
Just look at my data usage since 09. I think you're more than ok with 2GB.

4840590305_4f3c0d476e_o.jpg
 
Well I can get the unlimited because some one in my family has unlimited right now. So if I were to make a family plan with them I would be able to get unlimited right?

Also I think I under estimated my usage over 3g.
I have an itouch right now and I use it alot!!!

So do you guys thinks it is safer to just go with a unlimited family plan? But then if I do that my bill will get more expensive. Right??
 
antnie said:
Well I can get the unlimited because some one in my family has unlimited right now. So if I were to make a family plan with them I would be able to get unlimited right?

Also I think I under estimated my usage over 3g.
I have an itouch right now and I use it alot!!!

So do you guys thinks it is safer to just go with a unlimited family plan? But then if I do that my bill will get more expensive. Right??
Click to expand...

I dont think you can get unlimited if you're not grandfathered in
 
As others have said your usage shouldn't be a problem with a 2 GB cap. If you start video calling over 3G or streaming lots of video outside of youtube you may run into a problem. I would recommend you keep your eye on it and make sure you use WiFi more if you approach the limit.
 
antnie said:
So do you guys thinks it is safer to just go with a unlimited family plan? But then if I do that my bill will get more expensive. Right??
Click to expand...

If you have the option go for it. It is only $5 more per month. If you ever go over 2GB it would be cheaper. I hit 2.7 GB my first month and I was surprised. I had never used over 400MB on my 2G iPhone before.
 
I am going to ask someone at AT&T and see if I can get the family plan unlimited since someone in my family already has unlimited.
 
antnie said:
I am going to ask someone at AT&T and see if I can get the family plan unlimited since someone in my family already has unlimited.
Click to expand...

No you can't, I got a family plan with 4 iphones, i got 2 lines with unlimited, but the last iphone i got couldn't add the unlimited (since that line didn't have it before)
 
lilo777 said:
Well, it's not that simple. According to just published Gizmodo article: "Something weird is going on at night with your iPhone: Large quantities of data are being transferred without any authorization. It's not just a few bytes. It's dozens of megabytes, and nobody knows what's happening, but it's a problem."
Click to expand...

Nice fear-mongering w/ the selective copy-n-paste job...

per Gizmodo:

So even while you may have transfers listed during the day and then
these transfers at night, your iPhone is not really uploading data to the
internet at night. Good. Nothing to see here, folks, drive through.
 
maturola said:
No you can't, I got a family plan with 4 iphones, i got 2 lines with unlimited, but the last iphone i got couldn't add the unlimited (since that line didn't have it before)
Click to expand...

Same here -- wife has unlimited, and we just ordereded two ip4s (upgrade for her, new for me) for a family plan, and I'm not eligible for the unlimited, but she gets to keep hers.
 
Should be fine. If you don't want to tether, it is pretty easy to stay under 2GB--and conversely, if you do tether, it's tough to do.
 
huskerchad said:
Should be fine. If you don't want to tether, it is pretty easy to stay under 2GB--and conversely, if you do tether, it's tough to do.
Click to expand...

As things get increasingly mobile though, this will change. Eventually there will be a wider selection of online music and video streaming, and that pretty much guarantees you'll pass the 2GB limit.
 
For me, yes. I'm using a 3GS with a 1GB data plan and have used under 500mb so far with a few days left in my billing cycle. I haven't been restricting my usage at all either. This being said, I don't stream music, which would use more data (but it sounds like you don't either, so you should be fine).
 
Is there any reason to think that data usage on a 3GS would be lower than on a 4? For example, do they both require the same amount of data for websurfing, or does the 4 somehow take advantage of its higher resolution and consume more data for a higher resolution display????
 
cz9h3d said:
Is there any reason to think that data usage on a 3GS would be lower than on a 4? For example, do they both require the same amount of data for websurfing, or does the 4 somehow take advantage of its higher resolution and consume more data for a higher resolution display????
Click to expand...
Not necessarily, but over time as new applications and ideas are developed people's bandwidth usage will increase. The front facing camera adds a lot of possibilties. Also streaming is becoming more common.
 
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