Entertainment For Lively Minds
Getting my first smart phone today
Posted by geedubyapee on 14 March 2011 - 11:17am.
and it comes with 500MB web access. I've absolutely no idea if this is a lot or a little. I don't want to get a huge bill in my first month for excessive usage, so can anyone give me an idea whether I should try to control my instincts to use this a lot? I also get 200 minutes of calls, which is approx 195 more than I need. Do you think they'll swap some minutes for data? I'm going to ask later on today.
TIA
- More from geedubyapee.
- Login or register to post comments
-
I find that's enough
I'm a bit of a Twitter fiend, so I'm often using my 3G to check Twitter and occasionally do some browsing. I've never gone over my 500MB limit though. You'll want to steer clear of using it for video though; that'll rinse it. That said, 3G signal isn't normally good enough for video streaming.
One thing I would say is make sure you set it up to automatically connect to your home wi-fi network. That way, when at home, you can browse to your heart's content without eating into your monthly data allowance.
What he said
I have a 1GB/month limit and I don't think I've ever been anywhere near it. If you use it for normal stuff -- email, maps, web-browsing, Facebook, Twitter and the like -- you're very unlikely to go over it.
Thanks
Yes, I'll be using wi-fi at home, and won't be looking at video.
Sounds good to me - thanks for the info (I'll ask if I can swap some minutes, though, just to be on the safe side).
I have a 6G plan
Use it all the time (inc much internet radio) and have been above 500MB once in 6 months.
Don't swap
Unless you go mad then you're unlikely to ever come close to your limit. I was very careful to start with but I don't even check these days. The rule is to keep it to web browsing only (plus email etc) and strictly no downloads (including podcasts). I'm far more likely to encounter some unforeseen circumstances that means I need a lot of phone minutes one month than to go over my 500M data allowance.
Podcasts
Assuming you're buying an Android phone, install Google Listen (free), which will automatically download your podcasts over wifi.
New iPhone 4
And my company pays for the unlimited plan - which is lot more common here in the states anyway. I did download an episode of Fawlty Towers to a parking lot in Indiana last week. Now THAT is what the Internet was invented for !
500mb
Don't look at videos or any site that is photo heavy; use WiFi wherever possible and you should stay under your limit.
If it's an Android phone
you can download a very handy little app called "3G Watchdog", which will sit in the background and quietly count every bit of data you send or receive over 3G (i.e. not wifi), and keep a monthly totals for you, so you can see exactly how much you've used from your allowance at any given time.
That sounds good
Is there anything similar for iPhone? Although I'm yet to go over my limit, it'd certainly be handy to keep track.
Brilliant!
Just what I need. I've often had warning texts from my provider that I'm close to my 500MB limit (I really don't know why, I don't watch video on my phone).
Yeh
- this sounds just the job. Thanks!
I made this mistake
Got an Android phone recently and, having just moved house and still without a phone line, used the phone as a Wi-fi hotspot so we could get on the internet. Without realising, I racked up tons of usage and got lumped with a big bill.
Just make sure only to switch on your phone's internet connection when you need it, and keep it turned off at all other times - unless there's a wi-fi signal handy, then you're laughing.
Is there really such thing as
unlimited 3g? I thought they were all capped at around 1gb ' fair usage'?
Orange
on Orange at least if you got 'unlimited' before a certain date it still is unlimited in reality. After that date it's a case of read the small print, you probably aren't getting what was described.
I have real unlimited, at least for now.
Ditto me and O2.
I've been on the same O2 iPhone package since 2008, and I'm bloody well sticking to it!