What does 500MB or 1GB internet actually mean? Explaining mobile data limits
February 13th, 2013
Most mobile phone contracts come with a limit on your internet usage. But what do terms such as 500MB or 1GB limits actually mean in the real world?
When using a smartphone, you’ll normally need a smartphone tariff to get online. This is a tariff that has an “inclusive data allowance”.
Almost all of the functionality on a modern smartphone requires an internet connection to work properly. For example, you’ll need data when browsing the web, sending e-mails, watching YouTube videos, updating Facebook and Twitter, making Skype calls and navigating using maps. All of these activities consume different amounts of data.
All of the mobile phone networks have a range of tariffs with different data limits. Typically you’ll get 500MB or 1GB each month but it really depends on the tariff that you choose. Some tariffs offer all-you-can-eat data with no download limits whereas other tariffs offer download allowances as low as 100MB per month.
There’s a great deal of confusion about what figures such as 500MB and 1GB actually mean in the real world. In this article, we want to reduce the confusion. We’ll outline exactly what you can do with your download allowance, how you can avoid going over your download limit and how to decide how much data you need.
How much data is included on my mobile contract?
The standard data allowance in the industry is 500MB per month. This is the amount included on most mobile phone tariffs. As a notable exception, Three offers unlimited internet as standard on The One Plan (from £25/month) and on their Ultimate Internet plans (from £11/month). As there are no download limits, there is no need to worry about the risk of incurring extra data charges. Unlimited internet is also offered on T-Mobile’s Full Monty plan (from £26/month) and giffgaff’s goodybags (SIM only, from £12/month).
On the other end of the scale, there are many entry-level plans with just 100MB or 250MB of internet each month. These plans are suitable only for light users.
Please select your chosen tariff to view more information on the inclusive data allowance and what it corresponds to:
For Pay Monthly tariffs, download allowances are as follows:
| Network | Typical Download Allowance | Other Tariffs |
|---|---|---|
| 3 (Three) | The One Plan: No download limit (more info) Ultimate Internet: No download limit (more info) |
Essential Internet: 250MB |
| EE | 500MB | 4G tariffs: Up to 20GB |
| giffgaff | 1GB | £10 Goodybag: 1GB £12+ Goodybags: Unlimited Gigabags: 500MB/1GB/3GB |
| O2 | 1GB/2GB (On & On) | The Basics: 100MB The All Rounder: 500MB/750MB The Works: 1GB On & On: 1GB/2GB |
| Orange | 500MB | Animal Plans: Between 100MB and 1GB iPhone Plans: 1GB, 2GB or 3GB |
| Tesco Mobile | 500MB | Selected Devices: Up to 2GB |
| T-Mobile | 1GB | Basic: 250MB Standard: 750MB/1GB The Full Monty: Unlimited |
| Vodafone | 500MB | Standard Plans: 100MB/250MB/500MB Vodafone Red: 1GB or 2GB |
Please note that these are the typical download limits found on tariffs available today. If you’re on an older tariff which is no longer available, there may be a different download allowance or fair usage policy.
For more information on the download allowance included with your specific tariff, consult your mobile network’s webpage: 3 (Three), EE, giffgaff, O2, Orange, Tesco Mobile, T-Mobile or Vodafone. Alternatively, use the form above to select your network and tariff.
What is the relationship between KB, MB and GB?
There are 1,000 kilobytes (KB) in 1 megabyte (MB) and 1,000 megabytes in 1 gigabyte (GB).
This means that if you see a tariff advertising a 1GB limit (1000MB), you can download twice as much every month as on a tariff advertising a 500MB limit.
You may occasional come across terms such as terabyte and mebibyte. These terms are rarely used in the mobile industry but Wikipedia has a good explanation in case you ever come across them.
What activities will count towards my download limit?
Most activities on a modern smartphone will consume data – the main exceptions being making a phone call and sending a text message.
Activities that consume data include: browsing the web, reading and sending e-mails, browsing Facebook and Twitter, sharing photos, updating your status, downloading applications, downloading music, listening to online radio and watching videos on YouTube. Instant messaging and voice over IP (VoIP) applications such as Skype, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, ChatON and Facebook Messenger also consume data when in use.
Your phone will consume data in the background even when you’re not using it. For example, the weather widget on your home screen will update itself periodically by download the latest forecast from the internet. Your e-mail application will check for new messages in the background. Your phone could also be downloading application updates automatically.
Is 500MB enough for day-to-day use?
Yes. In general, 500MB should be enough for day-to-day use. This is providing that you do not use your smartphone for data-intensive things such as:
- downloading music or listening to online radio
e.g. using apps such as Spotify or Last.fm - streaming or downloading video
e.g. using apps such as YouTube, TVCatchup, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Sky Go and Ustream - tethering your phone to a computer
e.g. using your phone’s 3G connection as mobile broadband for your PC - using P2P applications
e.g. using BitTorrent applications - using voice-over-IP applications
e.g. using apps such as Skype, FaceTime, Google Talk and Hangouts
A typical smartphone user in the UK will consume around 10MB of data per day. This is equivalent to 300MB per month. For this reason, a 500MB plan should be suitable for most consumers and will give you an adequate buffer against additional data consumption. On a 500MB plan, it is recommended to connect your smartphone to your home wi-fi network when possible. This will significantly reduce your data consumption and keep it below 500MB.
For power users, data consumption can be substantially higher than 500MB. In fact, it’s not uncommon to use more than 1GB of data each month – particularly if you use your smartphone for data-intensive activities such as those listed above. If you’re likely to fall into this “power user” group, we recommend unlimited internet plans such as The One Plan and Ultimate Internet from Three. T-Mobile’s The Full Monty and giffgaff’s goodybags (from £12/month) are also a good bet. These tariffs allow worry-free smartphone usage: you can happily use the full functionality of your phone without the worry of download limits and extra charges.
What do 500MB and 1GB actually correspond to in real life usage? For example, how many web pages, emails or videos is this?
It’s hard to give an exact figure – for example every web page differs in size depending on the amount of text, images and other multimedia content within it. Also, whilst most e-mail messages are small in size, they can also be fairly large if they include attachments such as photos. In the following table, we’ve taken “typical” values as provided by O2:
| 500MB corresponds to… | 1GB corresponds to… | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic webpages (mainly text) | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| Rich webpages (with multimedia, e.g. BBC) | 1,500 | 3,000 |
| Basic e-mails | 500,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Rich e-mails (with attachments) | 1,000 | 2,000 |
| Downloading/streaming music | 100 songs | 200 songs |
| Downloading/streaming video | 1 hour | 2 hours |
| Skype voice call | 15 hours | 30 hours |
| Skype video call | 2 hours | 4 hours |
| Listening to online radio | 8 hours | 16 hours |
| Downloading/updating apps | 80 apps | 160 apps |
Source of estimates: O2 [1, 2]. Our testing found a Skype mobile voice call consumes around 0.55MB/minute (70kbps). Skype video call uses 4MB/minute (500kbps). Online radio calculation assumes 128kbps bitrate. Average size of app is 6.1MB (based on a sample of the top 20 Android apps).
Note that we’ve listed what 500MB and 1GB correspond to: this is not a shopping list of what you can download with a 500MB allowance. In other words, viewing 5000 web pages, watching 1 hour of video or downloading 80 apps would use up the entirety of a 500MB allowance (a 500MB allowance does not allow you to do both in the same month). Realistically, you’ll do a bit of everything in a month and so each activity would contribute towards your data usage.
To see the download limits for your chosen tariff and what they correspond to, please select your chosen tariff:
Where can I get a smartphone tariff and how much data would it come with?
All of the major networks offer tariffs which are suitable for use with a smartphone. You can either choose a tariff which comes with a smartphone or you could choose an airtime-only tariff (a SIM-only tariff).
| Select a tariff for more information and to see which phones are available: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Three (250MB – Unlimited) |
O2 (100MB – 2GB) |
Orange (100MB – 1GB) |
T-Mobile (100MB – Unlimited) |
Vodafone (100MB – 2GB) |
| Other Networks: EE (500MB – 20GB), giffgaff (1GB – Unlimited), Tesco Mobile (100MB – 2GB). | ||||
For a comparison of SIM-only smartphone tariffs see our guide to the best value SIM-only tariffs.
What are the charges for exceeding the monthly download limit?
If you’re approaching your monthly download limit, you’ll normally be informed in a text message from your operator. To continue using the internet, you may need to pay some additional charges:
- Three: No charges on The One Plan and Ultimate Internet. For Essential Internet: £2 for an additional 250MB or £5 to upgrade to “all-you-can-eat” for the month (see Three website).
- EE: £6 for additional 500MB or £15 for additional 2GB (see EE website).
- giffgaff: 20p per additional 1MB
- O2: £5.11 for additional 500MB or £10.21 for additional 1GB of data (see O2 website).
- Orange: £5 for each 250MB, up to £20 for 1GB. An additional £20 is charged if you’re more than 1GB over the limit. Charges are capped at £40 per month for 2GB. If you’re under 24, you can get an extra 1GB data for free.
- T-Mobile: £1/day once your data limit has been reached.
- Vodafone: £5 for each 250MB. Alternatively, £10 for 2GB with Vodafone Boost add-on.
I’m worried about incurring extra charges for exceeding my download limit. Are there any tariffs with no download limits?
Yes. If you enjoy downloading apps, listening to music, watching videos and browsing the web, consider opting for a tariff with no download limits. Often, an unlimited data tariff will cost little more than a standard 500MB tariff. This frees you up from worries around download limits.
The most well-known unlimited internet tariff is Three’s The One Plan. It has no download limits: as such you’ll be able to use your smartphone to your heart’s content without any worries. The One Plan features all-you-can-eat data and additionally allows you to tether to a tablet, iPod or PC. This means you essentially get free mobile broadband too: all of your devices can go online without limits. It’s available from £25/month as a traditional mobile phone contract (with a new phone) or as a SIM-only contract (without a new phone). You’ll also get a monthly allowance of 2000 minutes, 5000 Three-to-Three minutes and 5000 texts.
- Apple iPhone 5 with no download limits - £36/month on The One Plan (£49 upfront charge)
- Samsung Galaxy S3 with no download limits - £31/month on The One Plan (£29 upfront charge)
- Apple iPhone 4S with no download limits - £34/month on The One Plan (£29 upfront charge)
- £25/month SIM Card with no download limits
- £20/month SIM Card with 2GB download limit
Aside from The One Plan, you could also consider the following tariffs for unlimited internet:
- Three’s Ultimate Internet: Unlimited internet from £11/month. No tethering (only permitted on The One Plan).
- T-Mobile’s The Full Monty: Unlimited internet from £26/month. Speeds are capped at 4Mbit/s down and 1Mbit/s up. Also no tethering.
- giffgaff’s Goodybags: Unlimited internet from £12/month. SIM only and no tethering.
Do I need to pay more for unlimited internet?
No, not necessarily. Unlimited internet offerings are often comparable in price to those with download limits. For example, take the iPhone 5:
| Network | Allowance | iPhone 5 Price |
|---|---|---|
| 3 (Three) | 500 minutes, 5000 texts & unlimited internet | £49 plus £34/month |
| EE | Unlimited calls, unlimited texts & 500MB internet | £180 plus £36/month |
| O2 | Unlimited calls, unlimited texts & 1GB internet | £180 plus £31/month |
| Orange | Unlimited calls, unlimited texts & 1GB internet | £70 plus £36/month |
| T-Mobile | 2000 minutes, unlimited texts & unlimited internet | £100 plus £36/month |
| Vodafone | Unlimited calls, unlimited texts & 1GB internet | £109 plus £37/month |
Does listening to radio count towards my download allowance?
Yes, but only if the audio stream was transmitted over the phone’s data connection. If you’re listening to music through an application or through the web browser, it’ll have been transferred over a data connection and will therefore count towards your download limit. Meanwhile, if you’re listening to radio via a FM broadcast, it won’t count towards your download limit.
The iPhone does not have a FM radio tuner. This means that if you’re listening to radio on the iPhone, you’re consuming data. This will count towards your download limit with 8 hours of radio consuming 500MB of data.
How do I find out how much data I currently use?
The most reliable indicator of data consumption is the statistics reported by your mobile network. You can usually find these statistics by logging in on your mobile network’s website:
Your mobile operator may also provide an official application. This will usually have the same information.
As an alternative, many smartphones also keep track of your data consumption. iPhone users can find their data usage stats under Settings > General > Usage whereas Android users can navigate to Settings > Data Usage (you’ll need Android 4.0 or later). If you’ve got an older version of Android, try the free 3G Watchdog application instead.
If you’re buying a new phone, your current data consumption may not be a good indicator of how much data you’ll use on your new phone. Newer smartphones tend to use more data than older feature phones. You should keep this in mind and refer to the above statistics when purchasing your new smartphone.
How can I reduce my data consumption?
If you’ve received a notification message to say that you’re approaching your download limit, you can restrict your data consumption by following these tips:
-
Data transferred over wi-fi does not count towards your download limit.
Use Wi-Fi when you’re at home. Whenever you’re at home, connect to your wi-fi network. This will route your data through a home broadband connection allowing you to save your precious download allowance for when you’re out and about. You can also use wi-fi hotspots at local coffee shops and restaurants.
- Refrain from using bandwidth-intensive apps. If you’re not connected to a wi-fi network, refrain from streaming music or video content from the internet. Applications such as Spotify, iPlayer, YouTube and TV Catchup will eat up your download allowance very quickly. You should also avoid tethering and using voice-over-IP or P2p applications.
- Disable automatic application updates. Application updates can use up a large proportion of your monthly download allowance. If you receive 10 application updates per month, this would be equivalent to about 60MB data usage. Within Google Play (Android), press the menu button and select the Settings menu item. Uncheck the box for “Auto-update apps”. To further restrict data consumption, you can also tick the box for “Update over Wi-Fi only”.
- Use bandwidth saving apps. Applications such as Onavo and Opera Mobile can reduce your data consumption. This is achieved by compressing data before it is transferred to you.
- Disable bandwidth-hungry apps. On Android, it’s possible to see how much data each app is consuming. To do this, navigate to Settings > Data Usage. Consider uninstalling bandwidth-heavy applications or restricting their ability to use background data.
How much data do I need when tethering?
Tethering means sharing your phone’s 3G connection with other devices such as a tablet, laptop, iPod or Kindle e-book reader. It’s essentially a mobile broadband service that is routed through your phone.
Data usage tends to be much higher if you’re tethering to a PC or laptop. Although the figures in the table above are still accurate when tethering, we wouldn’t recommend tethering unless you have a large download allowance (at least 1GB per month). People tend to consume data much more quickly when they’re using a laptop. For example, you’re likely to view a larger number of web pages and you’re more likely to use data-intensive apps such as online radio, video, photo-sharing and Skype calling. Automatic updates can also use a large amount of data.
For laptop PCs running Windows, consider using the tbbMeter application to monitor your data consumption. You should also consider disabling automatic software updates as this can consume a large amount of data very quickly.
Can I use my download allowance abroad?
No. Your inclusive download allowance can only be used within the UK. If you’re travelling within Europe, you can get 25MB of data for £2/day. Outside of Europe, you’ll normally pay around £6 per megabyte when using the internet. See our in-depth guide to using your phone abroad for more information.
Does data transferred over a wi-fi network count towards the download limit?
No. Data transferred over a wi-fi network does not pass through your mobile operator and will not be counted towards your monthly download limit. We recommend connecting to a wi-fi network whenever you’re using a bandwidth-intensive application (e.g. listening to online radio, making calls over Skype and watching TV online). You should also use wi-fi when you’re abroad.
Note that your home broadband connection may have it’s own download limit. If this is the case, consider whether wi-fi usage on your smartphone could affect this. As the majority of home broadband connections have download limits of 10GB or more each month, it’s likely that using wi-fi is still a good option.
| Select a tariff for more information and to see which phones are available: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| Three (250MB – Unlimited) |
O2 (100MB – 2GB) |
Orange (100MB – 1GB) |
T-Mobile (100MB – Unlimited) |
Vodafone (100MB – 2GB) |
| Other Networks: EE (500MB – 20GB), giffgaff (1GB – Unlimited), Tesco Mobile (100MB – 2GB). | ||||
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About Ken
I'm a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology. I've been blogging at Ken's Tech Tips since 2005 with the aim of demystifying mobile technology for the rest of us.
Before writing about mobile technology, my background was in space & atmospheric physics. I have also worked in software development. Nowadays, I help companies to explain mobile technology to their customers. Please check out my portfolio or get in touch for more information. I'm also on Google+.
This is really useful information. Does anyone do the same for Australian smart phones?????
Hi Mella,
Greetings from the UK!
I’m afraid I don’t know of any Australian sites, though the information above about what 500MB/1GB correspond to should be the same everywhere. You can apply this information to your cellphone plans in Australia (multiply/divide the figures as required).
Cheers,
Ken
Helpful stuff, thanks
Thank you so much. This is information much needed and easy to understand.
your information is incorrect. 1024 kilobytes make a megabyte, & 1024 of those make a gigabyte.
Hi there,
Thanks for the comment! According to the IEC definition, a megabyte is 1000 kilobytes whereas a mebibyte is 1024 kilobytes. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebibyte for more information.
Unfortunately, usage of 1000 and 1024 is inconsistent within the industry and many people use a megabyte to mean 1024 kilobytes. For the purposes of mobile data, I use the IEC/ISO definition of 1 megabyte = 1000 kilobytes and 1 gigabyte = 1000 megabytes. The reason being that it's better to err on the side of caution and to choose the smaller definition. This should reduce the probability of exceeding your download limit (however your network operator chooses to define it). In practice though, it's probably an academic argument as the probability of data usage being exactly between 1000MB and 1024MB in a given month is quite small.
Many thanks,
Ken
hi there i had 2 gb on at&t up too 15 gb at&t offers up too 50 gb per month if you want too pay a premium
Thanks, this article was very informative and helpful, in plain speaking terminology, probably saved me a packet, just received a new phone and did not realise all the additional costs, download caps etc.
There are 1,000 kilobytes (KB) in 1 megabyte (MB) and 1,000 megabytes in 1 gigabyte (GB). This is not true there are actually There are 1,024 kilobytes (KB) in 1 megabyte (MB) and 1,024 megabytes in 1 gigabyte (GB).
Hi there,
The SI definition is to have 1000KB in 1MB and 1000MB in 1GB. There are binary prefixes for the 1024 definition – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix although you’re right in that most people don’t follow this. In terms of data allowances, I think it’s better to use the lower definition just to be safe.
Ken
I’m on o2. MMS messaging.. Does it get subtracted from my date allowance. Your site is ace.
Hi Elv,
As far as I know, MMS messages do not get subtracted from your data allowance. However, you will need a data connection in order to send a MMS message.
Ken
Thanks so much for your straightforward explanations. Soooo helpful. I feel much better equipped tomake the right tariff decision for my needs..
Annie B
There are not 1000kb in a mb there are 1024 and there are1024mb in a gb. Computers work in binary which is powers of 2. 1000 is not a power of 2 which is why it is 1024. This is also why typical memorys for phones are 8,16,32 and 64 – they are powers of 2. Otherwise this website is very helpful
Thanks for the heads up Samantha! Have a look at this webpage – it should clarify the 1000 vs 1024 argument: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix
Ken
Ditto – thanks for clear and concise explanations
Brilliant clear information. I am just about to get my first smartphone and was going to go for the Full Monty with T-Mobile. I am currently with Orange. Orange has now offered me 900 mins, unlimited text & 1GB data for £26 to retain me as a customer. Until I read your article I was unsure if 1GB was enough for me………….it definitely will be. Thanks
This information has been a great help. Thank you!!
Very helpful!
Thank you… so Helpful for a new smartphone owner like me… Great explanation and love the chart…!!! God bless you…
"Unlimited" doen't mean unlimited.
Orange has a limit for "UNLIMITED" calls with Magic Numbers for 3000 min. per month, and some of my friends mentioned, that "Unlimited" internet has a limit of 3 GB per month.
It is good to ask what exactly "unlimited" means to avoid some surprise.
Love this article as it helped me, But you need to update Vodafone now, I have 2G internet and free tethering with my package
What an excellent article! Thank you very much for the information.
Well done, this answered exactly what i wanted to know. Thank you.
Fantastic guide and made this subject very easy to understand. Thank you.
Thanks for the reply Ken, really appreciate it! Great site!
Hello Ken, great article! Was very confused about all this for a while, but it's now very clear, thanks!
BUT (there's always a but) I'm wondering about apps, in particular Viber. You listed skype voice calls as being quite intensive on the limit, with about 30hours per month. Is it any different for Viber? Sorry if this is a silly question!!
Hi Jim,
The figures listed for Skype should be fairly representative for other VoIP applications such as Viber! Bear in mind these figures are rough however: it depends on things such as the quality of reception and the bitrate of your phone call.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Thanks Ken, it is really helpful. after reading your article, I become confident to decide.
thanks alot
Michael
say i had the twitter app logged on and in use alot would that use/effect my data allowance?
What a great article! Very useful thanks very much
Thanks I'm such a techno phobe! Your site is really imformative and you have been really helpful in responding so quicky. A huge thank you and please keep this information site going!
I have just got a Samsung Galaxy 11 and have broadband is it just a case of switchinbg the wi-fi on and then does all downloading and internet usage go through the wi fi and not the internet provider? I'm a bit confused with how it works.
Hi Kat,
Yep! When you're connected to a wi-fi network (there will be an indicator in the notification bar at the top), all downloading and internet usage will go via wi-fi rather than your mobile internet connection.
Hope this helps!
Ken
I have a question I can't find answered anywhere. Next week (5 and 6 June, 2012), we want to broadcast a live event for 24 hours via the Livestream website. We did this last year for 12 hours and it was brilliant. We did that one from our house, over our own broadband with a dinky webcam. This year we are doing the event from a public place where there is no internet available, so we are considering a dongle. However, we can't work out how much MB's this will use and we do not want to pay a lot. We only want the dongle for one day, so were considering a one-month plan, but the usages they offer seem so low.
Any suggestions (rather quickly!) what we can do? Thanks!!!
Hi there,
It very much depends on the bitrate that you choose to broadcast with! My recommendation is to download a bandwidth metering programme for your PC (e.g. tbbMeter) and then doing a test run for 15-20 minutes. Multiply this up to find out the amount of data that it'll consume. As a rough guide, you could use the figure for Skype video calls in this article, though this isn't reliable as it'll be substantially more if you're doing HD video streaming.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Thanks for a fantastic website. Very straightforward, understandable and informative. My teenage son has just discovered the wonders of Skype and I was concerned about the cost of it eating away at our internet usage. I didn't understand how it all worked until I viewed your site. What an education! Thank you so much for putting my mind at rest.
what is the best phone make. i think blackberry, but they are all too expense, what is the best and cheapest smartphone manufacture
why dont mobile companies charge internet usage by the minute? this would be far easier to keep tabs of your usage? surely there would be no additional cost to them, after all connecting to the internet is just a phone connection! If i make a voice call & dont speak but remain connected I am charged the same as if Im talking all the time!
jono again. oops sorry forgot to say i will be using my phone as hot spot for laptop whilst camping
htc wildfire . i will be using phone to watch bbci player and sky go. i have 1 gig. how long will i get before the gig expires. i have unlimited browsing and the gig is for download.
thanks
Hi Ken, great article!
I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Ace from vodafone with 250mb limit. (however, they did say I will have it 'unlimited' for the first three months…) I've only had it for about a week and a half, two weeks top, and they already texted me that I've used up all my allowance! (even though it was supposed to be unlimited!) I was really surprised because all I did was watch a few videos on the 'Workout Trainer' App, update some of the present built-in apps and software (apart from the workout one, I haven't downloaded any new apps to the phone), played with the google maps for 5 minutes and then just used google talk to chat with my friends. I know it's not nothing but I'm still surprised at how quickly this has, apparently, run out. I realise videos and updates might have played a vital part but what about google talk? How much data does it approx use when it's on 24/7? I don't chat that often but even if I exit it, it still stays on so my friends can see me as available or idle. I was convinced this shouldn't take much of the data also as I don't seem to be able to completely switch it off so I'd really appreciate if you could roughly estimate how much data such an IM would use? thanks,
Mal
Hi Mal,
IM shouldn't really use very much data at all – off the top of my head I'd say a maximum of 0.5MB per day even if you're using it very heavily. This assumes you aren't doing things such as sending voice messages, sharing photos and other files through IM, etc. I suspect that the videos and perhaps automatically updating apps could be leading to the heavy data usage. I don't know what the quality of the videos on Workout Trainer are like, but the figures for YouTube videos in the article above should be roughly comparable.
Ken
hi Ken, nice info.
My wifes plan says this:
Your Price Plan:
Your Plan comes with 300 minutes, 500MB mobile internet, 1GB BT Openzone Wi-Fi and unlimited texts, whats the difference between 500mb mobile internet and 1gb BT open zone? i thought it was the same thing.
Hi there,
Thanks for your comment! 500MB mobile internet refers to data transferred over 3G whereas 1GB BT Openzone refers to data transferred when connected to a public wi-fi hotspot maintained by BT Openzone. Typically you'll be making use of the 500MB over 3G: the separate 1GB allowance only applies when you deliberately connect to an Openzone hotspot.
Hope this helps!
Ken
this is an excellent site for senior citizens like me.i have learnt a lot so thank you.i do have a question for you,Ken.i wanted to tranfer my treasured txt msgs from nokia c3-01 to my first smartphone.i txted some and then deleted them by mistake as i didnt understand threading.so i researched the net and found that simple way was to email them to myself.i noticed that my txt msg changed to MMS.so i rang virgin to check if this comes out from my data allowance.they said yes.i sent some and found out that i was being charged for this.have you any suggestions for me. i have txt msgs that i want to keep forever.how do i do this. i just want to read them now and again.also how do i save my msgs on my phone.its galaxy ace
Hi there,
Thanks for the message. Unfortunately, MMS messages will be charged individually and are not included in your allowance. You can copy your text messages to the SIM card on your Nokia C3-01: see this article for more information. Text messages saved on your SIM card should then appear on your new Galaxy Ace!
Hope this helps,
Ken
Thanks this was really useful. I am new to getting internet on my phone and when I recently upgraded I negotiated unlimited internet with T-mobile. However it turns out that actually they mean unlimited browsing and 250mb download limit. I have spent ages trying to work out if this will be enough for me. It is so irritating that they just wont be upfront about these things right from the start.
Very helpful! Thank you.
Thank you for making sense of data allowance. Very informative and explained very clearly. Excellent article.
Thanks for clarifying this, I understand it now. And thanks for the link to the Watchdog app. I’m not rich, so need to keep my spending to a minimum. Cheers, K
Excellent advice, thank you very much. I wanted to know if the free web access I just got from Vodafone would interfere with my wi-fi (home) usage and found the answer I needed (no, it won't!)
O2 do not automatically charge you a pound a day if you exceed you allowance, the £1 a day charge is for pay and go customers who don’t have any data bolt-on. The allowance with pay monthly is capped, if you reach 80% of your data o2 will send you a text, if you run out of data you will not automatclly be charged, you can add a one off monthly bolt on to keep you going. Otherwise use wi-fi whenever you can, if you get into the habit of connecting to wi-fi this will save you monthly data for when your out and about, 1GB is a lot of data 100,000 web pages roughly.
Hello, could you tell me if I were to watch live TV on my iphone at home via my wi-fi would it still use my 3G allowance? Thanks a lot
Hi there,
No – this would not count towards your 3G allowance. Any traffic transferred over your home wi-fi does not go through your mobile operator at all
Hope this helps,
Ken
Ken? Thank you very much indeed. And congratulations on a fantastic page. You anticpated my every question and with time-saving links.
Hi Stephen,
I'm really pleased that the page was useful!!
Ken
Just got off the phone to a Vodaphone sales person, although he was very friendly, I knew he just wanted the sale! I did upgrade to 500mb (after being ripped off last upgrade) So this site was extremly helpful! Thank you for breaking it down into words we can all actually understand and trust!
By the way, bartering works! I got a good deal!
Very helpful, thank you! :0)
Hi. I'm planning on buying the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S White, as I'm using my current phone mostly to take pictures and it's dying. I'll use my new phone mostly to call/text and I will be editing documents. This is going to be my first smartphone. Can you pease help me work out the data I need? I usually check my emails about 4 times per day, go on facebook 4 times/day and upload 5-10 videos and 20-30 pictures every week. I google information, looking at maybe 50 pages/week. I don't know yet if I'll use any apps, I don't think I'll be interested that much in them (say I'll get 2-5 apps a month on average). I'll also use some sat-nav on it (same 2-3 times per month for 15-30min each). There are plans out there for 100Mb, is that enough or should I get more? I've never been on contracts before and am a bit worried I might not get the right level. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Flo,
I'd recommend getting more than 100MB – this may not be enough for your usage. Try a 500MB data plan – this should probably be OK unless you upload a lot of photos and videos. If you upload *a lot* of photos and videos, I'd recommend having a look at Three's all-you-can-eat data plans!
Ken
this was very helpful. thank you
Thanks Ken you are a great big light in a mobile world of darkness.
Very Good article, I am about to get a smartfone contract in Spain, and dont speak
much Spanish , reading through the smallprint, it states via google translate..?
Voice interpersonal 24h: Includes 300 min / month, unlimited calls and call set free.
After all the bonus:
Rate per minute: 18 cts. / Min
(21.24 with tax).
Of call: 15cts.
(17.70 with tax).
Interpersonal SMS to all operators at any time
FREE
Internet
UNLIMITED (500 MB at maximum speed)
Traffic is priced in seconds from the first second.
Rates valid to and nationally.
So question? am Limited or not? it states max speed????
Confused old man]
Thanks for any help
My partner has just received a mobile phone bill for £9316.84 in VAT from vodafone. It turns out his 15yr old son was streamlining youtube without realising how much it cost.
There was no attempt from vodafone to contact the bill payer at any stage. What do you think would be the best course of action in this case. He has had the phone since May without ever once going over the limit. We are very, very worried. Thanks for any advice.
Hi Oonagh,
I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. I'm afraid I can't really comment as I don't know the details of the situation nor am I a lawyer, but I'd say the best immediate course of action is to contact Vodafone – I'm surprised that the credit limit on the account was high enough for the bill to be able to reach £9,300. The next step would be Ofcom and consumer rights organisations such as the CAB if there is no luck pleasing your case with Vodafone.
Ken
Thank you for de-mystifying this subject for a non-techie!
Hi sorry to be stupid but am unsure has to how wifi which we have in the house to use our computer can be an advantage or not too my smarphone
By popular demand, this post has just been updated with two additional stats:
1. Many people ask about Skype calling. According to Skype, a typical call has a 50kbit/s bitrate. Our testing on a Galaxy Nexus showed it showed it used around 70kbit/s. A bit rate of 70kbit/s would amount to 0.55MB/minute and hence 500MB = 15 hours.
2. Many people ask about downloading applications. Applications vary in size quite a lot, but we downloaded the 20 most popular free applications on Android. In total, they came to 121MB. For this reason, we've taken the average app to be 6.1MB in size. Hence 500MB = 80 apps.
Ken
Good article but one small thing that always annoys me when I see it, it's actually 1024 Killobyte and 1024 Megabytes in a Gig.
Hi Ankh,
Thanks for the comment! It's a little known fact that the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standardised on 1MB = 1000KB and 1GB=1000MB in 1998. They also defined some binary prefixes so 1024 bytes = 1 kibibyte, 1024 kibibytes = 1 mebibyte, etc. Though you are correct in saying that usage isn't consistent across the industry so it could actually mean either! I'd say the definition of 1,000 is more useful for this purpose – sticking to 1000 rather than 1024 means you won't inadvertently exceed your download limit!
Hope this helps,
Ken
My son has just got a blackberry on talk talk with 1GB data allowance. He has set up his wifi connection at home,however on the phone it had the wifi connection "ticked" and the talk mobile connection ticked" I assume so he can still pick up phone calls . My question is if he is on the Internet how do we know it is using our wifi connection and not the talk mobile connection as I don,t want hike to be eating into his day allowance at home
Thanks
Hi Sue,
You'll get an icon in the notification bar at the top of the screen to show when wi-fi is connected, and also the signal strength. As well as this, the name of the wi-fi network should be displayed on the home screen. If you see this, you can rest assured the internet traffic is going over wi-fi rather than 3G.
Hope this helps!
Ken
Thanks for this clear, succinct article. I'm hoping to switch to a smartphone soon and found this article, and the comments and your response to them, extremely helpful.
for the new HTC sensation is 500MB a substantial amount, for a girl who like facebook reads emails and just wants fast internet (checking train times, cinema)
Hi Nicole,
I think 500MB should be fine providing you don't use your phone for downloading music, videos or for voice over IP (e.g. Skype). For Facebook, email, train times, cinema, etc. you should be absolutely fine with 500MB!
Hope this helps,
Ken
Hi
I have a Xperia Ray on pay as you go t-mobile. I was thinking of taking out the interent booster for £20 for 6 months, from your article can you tell me what my limit will be, 500mb or the 1gb you mentioned
Hi there,
T-Mobile's £20 for 6 months deal comes with 500MB allowance per month.
Hope this helps,
Ken
I'm rubbish at this stuff sorry
So if I got a contract iPhone 4s and got the 500mb how many hours roughly a day could i spend on the internet without being charged and going over at the end of the month? x
Hi Hannah,
The link between time online and data usage isn't exact but I'd say you should be fine with 500MB/month unless you download/stream music or video or make voice over IP calls (e.g. Skype). The average user consumes around 250MB per month.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Thanks for the article man, helped me a lot
hi ,is it possible to trace where you have used all your mobile data on …put my works sim card in a htc desire smartphone and it rack a bill up of 600 pounds
Thank you!! I also thought that the usage was a bit high for a week but i turned it off for a few days and now its gone back to 0mb usage so i'll check when my bill comes through if it was for that or not! Thanks so much again!
Thanks for all the easy to understand information in your article and for getting back to me so quickly. I'll keep a close eye on it over the coming weeks and stop the kids from playing on it.
Hi, I am on orange dolphin 25 with 500mb and unlimited emails. I took the contract out with a htc wildfire s. After a few months of using the phone I grew to dislike it more. I purchased an iPhone 4s from apple, telephoned orange and got them to send me the micro sim. I wonder if could advise, does the iPhone use up more mobile data than an android phone? My normal usage for a month on the htc was just over 100mb I noticed on checking my usage on the iPhone after 3 days that I'd used 70mb. Does it matter that I don't have wifi bt openzone when out and about. Thanks for taking the time to read my comment/questions. SP
Hi there SPaterson,
No, there shouldn't be any substantial differences between iPhone/Android – it's more what you do with your phone that counts. So the increased usage is probably due to the fact your iPhone is so new and you're spending a lot of time playing with it and downloading new apps (whereas most people settle down after a while of having the same phone and download fewer apps).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Hi, I hope you can help clear some things up for me as i'm a little confused!
I got a samsung galaxy on my first ever contract (with orange) last week with 750mb internet usage. ive mainly used the internet for facebook, twitter and the occassional browse but not constantly or for downloading music, watching youtube videos etc. (Luckily) I thought I should see how much i've used and found that i've already used up the allowance and my usage now totals £2.75. I don't think I've used the internet that often to use it all up but what i wanted to check is whether the additional charges are, for example, an additional £1 per day if I continue to use the internet or if i stopped using it until it resets, whether it will add on a £1 a day regardless?
So in other words, is it £1 per day charge for going over the allowance and therefore a massive charge at the end of the month on top, or a £1 per day extra on top of the normal monthly charge to use the internet if you wanted to once the allowance is reached?
I'd really appreciate some advice on this, and also how not to go over the allowance again!!
Many Thanks!
Hi Kingfisher,
If it is indeed data usage you're being charged for (I'd be surprised if you managed to go over 750MB in a week with that usage pattern), it's a charge of £1/day for the days which you use the internet. If you turn data off on your Galaxy, there will be no charge.
Ken
Simple and to the point very good site I will pass it on.
how many time taken for completing 1gb in our pc
thanks for this info!! just what I needed to know
Is 5 gig a month enough, just for browsing the net for about 5 hours a day, whats apping constantly, msning and emailing? I just want to leave the 3g connection on permanently. How much data would that eat?
Hi momo,
5GB should be more than adequate for those things!
Ken
If I buy into a prepaid plan that offers 750 minutes of talk, text, and data, am I correct in assuming that however long any internet page takes to download will be how many minutes is subtracted from the plan?
Joe
Hi Joe,
Nope. Internet pages will be subtracted from the data part of your plan (however much data it takes to download that webpage)!
Ken
how about 1 gb internet sim card how many hours if i use on vedio call on skype
Many thanks for clear and concise article.
if you want a bargain use giffgaff(02) network £10 per month pay as you go 250 mins unlimited texts,and unlimited internet no download limit AND NO FAIR USE POLICY AT ALL…………..
thanks………i was considering which monthly plan to get (500MB vs 1GB), and now I know, very well explained.
Can anyone help , Im on o2 100mins unlimited uk texts for £15.32 per month. When i log onto "My o2" it tells me that my daily limit (Data Usage) is 100MB it also says that i can use data at my standard rate (What is this?) but i will never be charged more than £1 per day. Yesterday i deleted all my APPS, turned off background Data Usage in the settings and finally turned off my phone. When I checked at 11pm last night I had used 1.4MB of Data and had been charged 85p. Today I have already been charged another 85p (Phone is turned off exept when checking data) my Bill for last month was £52 ? Does this sound excessive. The phone is an LG Optimus. If i am going to be charge 85p (+vat I expect) for not using anything then why is this offered as a £15p/m tarriff?
Hi there,
It sounds like you don't have a data package with your contract which explains why you are being charged up to £1/day for internet usage. Best thing to do would be to call up O2 and switch to a tariff with inclusive internet!
Ken
Thankyou for your helpful advice! A good deed indeed!
This is an amazing easy to understand web site! Thank the lord someone has taken the time to do this!
Cheers Ken!
I am considering upgrading to my first ever smartphone from a VERY old Nokia 1100 so this article has been extremely useful.
Thanks a lot!
Paul,
There is some info here regarding SKY, these are for Anytime+ downloads but should be good indicators:
http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/tv/anytime-plus/set-up/usage-caps-for-broadband-and-anytime-plus/
At best you're looking at an hour's viewing for 500MB, they may compress the signal somehow for mobile but personally I wouldn't be using SKY Go on a mobile device, except over WIFI.
Mike
my contract is supposed to be £20 a month but for the last 3 months it has come in at £60. I rang vodafone up to ask why it was this price and they said my blackberry makes an update every night at 12 and becuase internet wasnt a part of my contract i was having to pay 89p every time. I was not made aware of this when i brought the phone..am i entitled to ask for the money back?
Hi Robert,
I'm afraid I'm no expert on consumer law – sorry. Vodafone have a valid argument in that your phone was using data services and so you should be charged. You may also have an argument in that you never authorised the use of the data service and that you were unaware of the use. My suggestion is to disable the automatic update at midnight to prevent further charges – whether you want to go further and to dispute the additional £40 worth of charges is something I cannot advise on!
Ken
thanks for taking the time to reply
if you downloaded a free app and then you go on to play it then it wouldnt take your megabites off , will it ?
and if you hook it up the the wifi it wont take megabites off will it?
thankyou
Hi Amelia,
It might or it might not – it depends on the game! If you're connected to wi-fi, it definitely won't come out of your mobile internet download allowance.
Ken
thanks alot of help
Thank you for this, very helpfull!
hi just got an iphone 3 with 500mb got it connected to sky go when not at home how long would 500mb of viewing last
thanks for this but im still insure – im getting a phone in a few days and theres this deal on an android phone which gives me 250mb free of internet a month. if i do get this phone i will only be on facebook and downlading free apps , will 250mb be enough??
also when you download free apps and then u go on to play it , it wont take ur megabites off ,, will it ???
please help me
any help will be apperciated
thanks.
Hi Amelia,
I'm afraid it's so hard to say – every single app will use different amounts of data so there isn't a universal answer. Do you have a specific one in mind?
Ken
ken,
thankyou for that but im more to the question : if you download a free internet app will it take off your megabites or not plus when you hook it up to the wifi and you are on apps or facebook that wont take away megabites will it ?
amelia
hi im getting the samsung galaxy ace , and when i top up £10 i get 500mb internet and i am at home alot of the time , i have wi-fi so when i connest to it will that 500mb decrease ???
thanks max
Hi Max,
Any downloads over wi-fi will not count towards your 500mb allowance.
Ken
I know this is an old article but I'd just like to point out that O2 customers are only charged up to £1 per day if they do NOT have an internet allowance (bolt on). Once the monthly limit is reached your mobile data speed is simply slowed down until the next month. Otherwise, great article, very useful thanks!
Hi Juliet,
Many thanks for your comment! The article should say that the excess charge on O2 is £1/day although it's possible something has been left out – if you can spot anywhere in the article with the old prices please let me know!
Ken
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the kind words! It shouldn't do no: GPS positioning alone shouldn't use up any data – that said if the application does things such as automatically downloading maps of your current location that would eat into your allowance. For a sports tracker application I'd say it would be very unlikely to use very much data!
Ken
Hi Ken
Brilliant article, I understand so much more now!
Just 1 quick question, will using a sports tracker/sat nav type application eat into my allowance considerably?
Lynn
Hi Ken, I've recently got a contract phone, £20 per month with 250 mb. My monthly bill was over £41 last month but I barely use it. I do receive about 25 emails a day but have only ever replied to one and have looked at FaceBook and internet a couple of times. Not sure why my bill is so high, perhaps I have something switched on that is using up all my mbs? I checked my usage this month after one week and had already used up my allowance!
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Sorry to hear about the problems you're having. My first recommendation is to make sure you use wi-fi at home: this should cut your data usage substantially. Secondly, monitor your data usage using something like 3G Watchdog (for Android devices). You can set up this application to alter you or automatically disable your internet connectivity when you reach a certain point (e.g. 225mb). Hopefully this application will help you to work out why you exceeded your data allowance last month: for example it could be that you've downloaded a software update or several large applications from App Store/Android Market over 3G.
Ken
I just got my new phone and i have 750mb data allowance a month,
Am i right in thinking this will be ok to use Facebook daily, read the few emails i get and occasionally check cinema times?
I have wifi in my home so at home it will connect to that. But out and about will it eat into my allowance as its a smart phone?I.e, be connected to the internet all the time, or will i have to keep turning it off and on again?
Hi Meme,
Yes you can… if those are the things you use your smartphone for, and especially with wifi at home, no need to worry about a 750mb data allowance. Things like online radio, YouTube, music downloads, etc. are the only things you really need to worry about – those are the things which eat up your data allowance very quickly!
Ken
Yeh really helpful, good to get some figures actually in front of you and in black and white.
I'm planning on upgrading to an I-Phone with 750mb allowance but just need to make sure im not getting conned. My current contract for my vivas is consistantly high but i reckon this may be down to the fact that no data charges are even considered in my contract, and standard data charges are given? I only really use the internet for facebook and football scores, so i'm slightly puzzled as to how my bills are often quite expensive.
Thanks, Stu
Hi,
If you don't have an inclusive data allowance in your package this would mean you're paying standard rates for data – it could be as high as £4/MB in some cases – or sometimes £1 or £2 per day depending on your tariff. If you've got an inclusive data allowance, you shouldn't have to worry about data costs providing you keep within the 750mb allowance
Ken
Hi Ken. Really helpful articale.
would like to bounce a few questions off you if that is ok. My 14 year old daughter has a SIM ONLY Orange 12 month contract for £10 a month giving 300 minutes plus UL text per month, She wants to buty a Blackberry Curve (has an LG350 currently) but i am a little out of my depth re data (i have a company iphone so do not get any costs). So after speaking to Orange i am not able to change her current contract for another 7 months(seemed like a good idea at the time). The only option i think i have is to add a £5 per month 500MB bundle to her current contract and buy a Blackberry. thats the story so far the questions i have are. Can BBM only be sent to other Blackberry users and are they FOC. She is an strong user of TEXT messaging but i do not believe that BBM is a full replacement of this. In the house she can use the WiFi FOC but will stream data for Facebook, tumblr Utube and Skype when out an about. After reading your article FB is ok however Skype and Utube are an issue due to data use. can you confirm all this for me please? any advise is greatly recieved. Thanks Bill
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your comment. Adding a data bundle sounds like a reasonable solution – however make sure it's a BlackBerry data bundle. BlackBerry devices cannot be used with any old data bundle – more info here.
BBM messages can only be exchanged between BlackBerry users. They are free of charge. SMS messaging is still important for contacting friends who don't use BlackBerry. An alternative application called WhatsApp is similar to BBM but can be used on Android and iPhone devices too.
And you are correct
Skype and YouTube will use up 3G data allowances *very* quickly; but Facebook and Tumblr should be fine. If Skype and YouTube are used over wi-fi, it doesn't count towards the 500MB limit on 3G.
Hope this helps,
Ken
I'm thinking about swapping to '3' but concerned about coverage. I'm based on the south coast in Sussex but regularly travel into Wiltshire, Hampshire & Yorkshire. Anyone experienced any problems.
this is helped a lot I am look at changing my contract & will use to info from this to choice what I need
This is a brilliant article!
But I've just bought a blackberry on virgin with 1GB of internet a month and I'd like to know if there's any way in which I can check to see how much internet connection I've got left. Is there a way??
Thanks,
Hannah
Thanks Hannah!
I've never tried it myself, but there is an application called "Network Traffic Control" in the BlackBerry App World which promises to measure the amount of data you use.
If you give it a go, please let us know what you think!
Ken
yikes – I had no idea radio would use up so much… won't be using that again without wifi! Glad I hadn't yet sent that angry email to Three!!
Really useful article – thank you so much
how easy is it to switch between data usage and wifi at home? does an iphone do it automatically when in range of home wifi? thanks.
Hi Chris,
If you leave wi-fi turned on then your phone will automatically connect to a wi-fi network. However, many people choose to disable wi-fi functionality when they're not using it to extend battery life.
Ken
wow! This article is amazing. much better then standing in a shop for hours on end asking all of my questions and remembering nothing when i come out.
Would just like to ask, i have been thinking about getting the i phone 4 on a 3 mobile contract and unsure if 500mb would be enough. as im going to uni in september i can easily connect to the wi-fi on campus and also connect to the wi-fi at home and therefore not use up and of my 500mb a month. The only places i would use my MB up would be on a bus or out and about where wi-fi isnt available. Is this correct? And do you think in my case, it would be wise to go for 500mb?
Thanks a lot
Gemma
Hi Gemma,
Thanks for the kind words! In general, 500MB per month should be plenty providing you don't download/stream music or video over 3G – you'll need to save those things for when you have wi-fi on campus or at home. Things like Facebook, Google Maps and browsing the web alone shouldn't take you anywhere close to 500MB so I would say it's fine! That said, it might be worth looking at The One Plan if you're looking for some reassurance with no download limits.
Ken
Thanks Ken.
Just got my new i phone 4
and i got the one plan as they did me a good deal. and just to let others know i am on three mobile and on the one plan "unlimited" actually means unlimited so i am very happy 
Thanks again ,
Gemma x
When you say downloading video (example iTunes, not watching streaming video such as YouTube) does 1 hour mean the download time or the length of the video? Thanks.
Hi Carla,
The figures in this article refer to the length of the video as opposed to the download time. Note that we made assumptions on the bitrate(quality) of the videos.
Ken
Great post, thank you, quick question – To send an SMS message on a Blackberry curve 8520 I turn on my mobile wireless setting – as I have no reception otherwise… does this use my internet allowance of 500mb up? Is it ok to leave the wireless setting on, so I can send SMS messages? Or do they send without this? Any suggestions asap would be so so so much appreciated as I need to use the phone ASAP!!! Thank you.
Hi Bella,
Many thanks for your comment. Are you sure you're sending an SMS message and not WhatsApp/BBM/MMS or SMS through some application? You shouldn't need to enable data to use SMS!?
Ken
Hi I found this article really helpful! Can I ask a quick question? – even when i have a wifi connection (at home) it still comes on my bill as using the mobile internet usage,when I know for a fact I have down all my internet browsing through our wifi connection…. do you know why this is? is there a setting on my phone where i need to turn off mobile internet, or should it happen automatically. my phone is set to automatically use wifi when available….
Hi Billie,
Yes – your phone will have an option to turn off "mobile network data" or something. Turn this off if you are billed for mobile internet – typically your phone will automatically switch to 3G for data if it loses the wi-fi connection (e.g. you stray outside the range of the wi-fi hotspot, connection temporarily lost due to microwave interference, etc.)
Ken
I've just got my 1st smart phone today and am just getting to grips with it. You're advice has been really helpfull as I am so new to using the phone for internet and many people have been telling me to watch out for this and that, so I'm a bit nervous about using it. I have unlimited internet and I need to know if the apps continue downloading (and thus eat up my usage) even when i'm not using it. I will mainly be going on facebook, twitter and my emails. If they do is there a way to stop this or turn them off when i dont want to use them? I really dont know what I'm doing with this do I?
Hi Susan,
Facebook/Twitter/E-mail probably will use some data even when you're not using it (e.g. your phone might automatically download new e-mails). That said, I really wouldn't worry about Facebook, Twitter or E-mail taking you anywhere close to your download limit if you only use your smartphone for these things. It's only really things like music, video, downloads, radio, Skype, etc. where you need to worry about download limits.
Ken
Hi Ken
Great article and very helpful (even to an ex-IT guy!)
Having worked in the industry for many years I'm appalled that there is still confusion about GB as Giga Bytes and GB as Giga Bits/Sec. I'm never really sure myself when the mobile providers (or general ISPs for that matter) quote GB whether they are talking about bits or bytes!
What's your understanding?
Also, on a related subject, many mobile Internet users can log into office systems at their place of work using Citrix (or GoToMyPC). Since these systems only transfer changes in the bit patterns of the office screen (or it's pseudo version in a server) down the line and mouse movements, etc up the line wouldn't it be cheaper to access the Internet this way (always assuming their company policise allow them to do this)?
What do you think?
Hi Dick,
Given the overhead of creating the session – I strongly suspect this would be much more bandwidth intensive. However, I recommend investigating applications such as Opera Mini which can compress webpages. This is probably along the same lines as what you're suggesting but with a lot less overhead!
Cheers
Ken
hi there i am going to go away to tenarife in 1 months time to celebrate my Th and was wondering my hotel has wi-fi but will it still charge me even if im picking up a wi-fi signal
Hi Lily-Rose,
You'll be pleased to know that you won't be charged when using hotel wi-fi. However, please make sure you've disabled data roaming to avoid large charges which could be incurred if you accidentally connect to a 3G service (see our top 10 tips for using your phone abroad).
Cheers
Ken
Hi
Thanks for this article. I am a bit of a technoilliterate and it has been hugely helpful in explaining some basic terms. I want to upgrade my phone to an iphone 4. However, I want a £35 tariff that I currently am on and I really don't want to pay very much for the phone. I notice that Three is offering a 1GB deal on an iphone 4 for £35 a month and only charging £35 for the phone which looks pretty good to me. I wonder if there is a catch – what do you think?
Also if i download applications such as games and have them stored on my phone – will I use up any MB's when I play games etc.. etc..
Thanks
Hi Anna,
Thanks for your comment! For a review of Three's £35 tariff (called The One Plan), see our review here.
With regards to games… *normally* they don't use very much data. Some games will use data but this varies depending on the game and what kind of features it incorporates. However, I would say that you most certainly shouldn't worry about data usage from playing games stored on the phone – it won't eat up a significant amount of data. Probably 1MB tops.
Ken
1megabyte is actually 1024 kilobytes. If you didnt know that then i am skeptical about what else you may be wrong about in this article
Hi Connor,
Technically a megabyte is 1000 kilobytes whereas a mebibyte is 1024 kilobytes. More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebibyte. However, usage is inconsistent within the industry and many people use a megabyte to mean 1024 kilobytes. For the purposes of mobile data, we suggest using the ISO definition of 1 megabyte = 1000 kilobytes and 1 gigabyte = 1000 megabytes. The reason being that because it's ambiguous what your mobile operator actually means, confining yourself to the lower limit will ensure that you don't exceed your download allowance & incur extra charges. In practice, this is mostly an academic argument as the probability of data usage being between 1000MB and 1024MB in a given month is very small.
Ken
So I'm looking at getting a blackberry with 1GB of mobile web it doesnt have 3G so will I be able, with this, to go on facebook and few times a day and possibly twitter and some other websites without going over my limit
I might be getting a Samsung Galaxy Ace and wondering if 500mb is enough. For Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and maybe an occasional photo upland. Enough?
Hi George,
For Facebook and Twitter – 500MB is more than enough. Occasional photo uploads should be OK (I presume you won't be uploading more than 40-50 per month). For YouTube videos, it might not – see the figures for online video in the table above.
Cheers
Ken
OK I know I'm a bit thick but age is against me so please be gentle. If I use my mobile for navigation York to London over a period of four hours. How much of my download allowance will I have used?
Hi Pippin,
Very difficult to tell – is this Google Maps on Android? To be honest I wouldn't worry about data usage for navigation – it certainly isn't a lot! Maybe a megabyte – probably not even that much but I don't have any hard figures I'm afraid…
Ken
i am thinking about getting a iphone 4 on three and i dont know what data useage to get as i want to use apps facebook occasionally google and msn chat wondering if you recomend the 500mb or unlimited as there is a slight price difference. also i was planning to get the £30 a month one with unlimited but i cant find it it says it would run out on the 31st of may do you know if it has stopped
thank you
Hi Becca,
500MB should suffice for Facebook and instant messaging applications. If you're looking to listen to online radio or watch online video, it might be worth considering the all-you-can-eat package instead.
Ken
hello to all! first sorry for my bad English but i`m from Bulgaria! i have a one question! in my home me need from internet but we don`t have BT-line! and to make BT line is to expencive! that`s why i search a lot of deals in internet for offer and i think i found the right one! this is on 3 all-you-can-eat-data we will use my phone like HOT SPOT (like router) and the question is "we have 3 laptops and i must to know the speed for the internet from 3 Mobile? are the speed is good for us? thanks in advance and have a nice day all
Hi,
For more info on mobile broadband & using The One Plan for mobile broadband see my write-up here.
On the whole, home broadband will offer a much better speed – you will probably find it cheaper to take line rental at roughly £11/month plus a basic broadband package at ~£7.50/month. This adds up to £18.50/month which compares well with mobile broadband given you'll get much better speeds & download limits with home broadband. The One Plan is £25/month.
Ken
Ken
I may sound really dumb by this but my partners sister has the HTC wildfire and her phone often shows a little 3g symbol near her signal bars (she is on tmobile). I myself am on 3 but get the letter 'R' showing, and as far as I am aware have the data roaming settings turned off. How do I know when my phone is connected to the mobile internet? (how do i do this even?) As I am paying monthly for threes text 500 (500 mins, 5000 text, 1gb internet), so far I have only connected to my home WI-Fi but am now worried that i'll get charged a lot extra due to this 'R' symbol which I am presuming means roaming, yet as mentioned I have turned off the data roaming facilities. I have downloaded various free Aps, visited websites using the browser and have my two email accounts setup, as far as i know using wifi only. I have the HTC Desire. Help! – thanks in advanced!
Hi Marie-Louise,
Thanks for your comment. I'm unsure about the exact reason – but does the R symbol correspond to the fact you're roaming on Orange 2G? Although they've begun turning it off in some areas, there are still many places where it's active.
Ken
when it says 500mb mobile web does it mean that you can have unlimited time on the internet until the 500mb runs out or you have to pay for the internet ?
Hi Tony,
Mobile web is charged by the amount you download rather than the time you spend on it. So the amount of time you spend on the internet doesn't directly affect your data usage: only what you do in that time.
Hope that helps,
Ken
looking to get htc hd7 from o2 with a 500mb bolt-on then also offers me moblie boardband at
500MB + Unlimited Wi-Fi (30 days) £10.21 per month
2GB + Unlimited Wi-Fi (30 days) £5.11 per month
1GB + Unlimited Wi-Fi (30 days) £15.32 per month
is this different to the data package or the same thing ??
thanks
Hi Ray,
This is indeed different from a data package for your phone – I believe you're looking at mobile broadband (USB dongle) tariffs.
Ken
What would be really interesting is to correlate speed of downloads along with data limits. All the major networks 'throttle' their networks according to the price you pay, although none of them publicize their actual or even theoretical 'Upto' speeds.
Hi. Can someone help me. I have just got the new I phone 4 and within the network section there are options to enable 3G, mobile data and data roaming. Can someone tell me what these are and the differences between them?
Thanks
Hi Mark,
The 3G toggle determines whether you can use 3G/HSDPA high-speed data on your phone. This sometimes uses more power than 2G but you'll get much better download speeds.
The mobile data toggle determines whether you can use data over the mobile network at all – I'd turn this off only if you were on a tariff without inclusive data (otherwise you can still use wi-fi networks)
Finally, the data roaming toggle determines whether your iPhone can connect to the mobile networks whilst abroad. Be aware that this will often cost ~£6/MB so it's strongly recommended you have this OFF.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Great article, I've been flirting with my data plan limit (1GB) and now realize it's probably those short YouTube videos I peek at here and there. Guess they all add up! Thanks for giving it all some parameters, I'm sharing this with my colleague.
Hi found the article very helpful, just have one question. Checking useage on iPhone under Cellar Network Data it has 'Sent' and 'Receive', do I add the two of these together to work out my current usage?
Hi Rachel,
Yep, exactly! Not sure if all networks will count "sent" data towards your download limit but usually it's pretty small compared to data received anyway!
Ken
Interesting piece of article..very informative
hi friends
please can you help me, 1Gb internet , how many hours i can chat or PC to PC calling.
Hi Zameer,
Standard chat shouldn't use up very much data at all – they're just text-based messages so you don't need to worry about it. For PC-to-PC calling, do you mean voice/video calls whilst tethering?
Ken
Thanks for the very useful guide. I'm a low user on 02's Simplicity 100MB a month tariff. You didn't mention using Google Maps as a satnav – how much data would that consume on, say, a one hour journey?
Hi Gerry,
Thanks for your question. As I understand it, Google Maps GPS navigation on Android downloads road information in vector format (e.g. it just downloads the route and information on where the roads are, rather than image files of the map itself like some older version of Google Maps do. Hence I wouldn't expect it to use very much data – maybe a rough on-the-order-of estimate 0.1MB per mile. You could download the 3G Watchdog application for your phone, run it on a journey and let us know what you find out though!
Cheers
Ken
Hi everyone,
Thanks for all of your fantastic comments and suggestions. The entire article has just gone a rewrite to try and answer some of the most commonly asked questions: also I've added a dropdown where you can view download allowance information specific to a certain tariff (e.g. for O2 you have the choice between 100MB, 500MB and 1GB when you order your tariff so our dropdown will show you exactly what these terms correspond to).
Please feel free to drop us a further comment if you have any questions about download limits!
Ken
Great article. I just got a new blackberry with a new network, it has a 1gb data allowance. My old BB had BB unlimited, but I only use my mobile for emails and occasional facebook/twitter. I have connected to my home wi-fi and the wi-fi icon is on my mobile. I decided to download the apps I used on my old BB, had a few emails and tried a bit of web browsing, and afterwards I checked my allowance and it says I have used my whole 1gb in 1 day, even though I have been at home and connected to my home wi-fi. I tried calling the network up but after being on hold for 15 minutes and having my call answered by someone who couldn't understand my query, I gave up. Is it correct that my allowance is all used up in one day while connected to my home wi-fi?
Hi Jen,
This is very strange: data through your home wi-fi connection won't count towards your 1GB data allowance. The data allowance applies only to downloads over the mobile network. Please do let us know if you find out what caused your entire download allowance to be used in a day: I don't have any ideas at the moment.
Ken
does streaming radio go heavy on usage.i luv my internet trance radio.
Hi Paul,
Unfortunately it does yep. You should assume that streaming radio uses roughly the same amount of data as downloading music – around 1MB per minute of online radio.
Online radio is encoded in 128kbit/s = 16kbyte/sec = 960kbytes/min = approx. 1MB/minute
Ken
What a brilliant article.
Everything I've been searching for and summarised really well.
Thanks a lot
Excellent article. 5 stars! *****
Hi, i have 500mb of usage on my iphone 4 and wondered what this means in terms of downloading apps? does this mean im using up all my data allowance on apps alone??
Also I bought a tv episode last nights and didnt realise it was 693mb but i was on a wifi network so does this count??
Im a bit worried now about costs!!
Thanks!
Hi Hannah,
Hard to tell as applications can vary in size a lot – Angry Birds is 17MB for example whilst many other apps are <1MB. Data downloaded over a wifi network doesn't count towards your 500MB data limit so you're in luck!
Ken
I've just upgraded to my first smartphone, a BlackBerry with 500 MB of data usage. Your table suggests this equates to anywhere up to 500,000 emails a month, but does this mean both incoming (which I can't control) and outgoing mail (which I can)? And if I receive a mail with an attachment but don't open the attachment, does that save some capacity? Sorry to be so ignorant – I'm new at this game!
thanks
Hi Susan,
Yes, this refers to both incoming and outgoing mail. However, chances are your phone won't automatically download every single e-mail – spam e-mail will probably be in a different folder for example and won't automatically be downloaded onto your phone. With regards to the attachment, the attachment isn't normally downloaded unless you open it. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on how your phone & e-mail application is configured.
Hope this helps,
Ken
very helpful thanks Ken. I haven't got as far as email folders yet and assumed they would be identical to those on my computer. I'm also most grateful for your tips about data roaming – that's something I would never have thought of and for obvious reasons the mobile companies don't advertise it!
I have just got a galaxy samsung with 1GB of internet, and this has really helped!
at least now i know, i shouldn't have to worry about how much i'm using it etc …
although i would like to know the same as Flynn – will staying logged in to a site mean i am using the internet constantly?
Thanks
Hi Jane,
No. Staying logged into Facebook or another website does not mean you'll constantly be using internet – you only use internet when you access the website
Ken
Excellent info.
My question is,: I have facebook and MSN messenger 'logged on' all day on my pc, if I have them 'logged on' on my Blackberry 9700, is this going to use up much data? (I would log them off at night obviousley). It would be cool to see the little red messege alerts as and when they come in on my Blackberry when I'm out and about.
HI just want everyone to be aware ,. the platform that is used to update your device will use diffrent amounts of data to some extreme and can be over the top of data 500mb usage for windows vista and less for xp version , so i have been told by (big pond ) Dose this problem also affect
these phone type applications programs ?
So if i get a Galaxy S with 500mb of internet, i will be able to access facebook and other webpages like that with no limit in my monthly contract? or could i only visit so many times in a month?
Hi there, I'm getting A blackberry torch on o2 500. In this package I have 500mb allowance and just wondered if I eat into the allowance when streaming or using messenger through wi-fi? My current phone doesn't but it'payg. Is it the same on contract? Thanks
A brilliant piece of straight talking, it's exactly whatI wanted to know in a very easy to understand way , Thanks.
i want to browse FB, occasionally google and use BBM-contract on vodafone would only cost me £20/month with blackberyy internet service-would 1 gb be enough to cover as this is the max allowed?i'd rather pay for more and not use it tbh as then i would feel safer knowing i wasnt running up a massive bill!
Cheers for the helpful site, i think i'll just get 500mb now not 1gb so it will save me £6 a month on 3
i was told i only had 2 GBs of internet on my smartphone. i wanted to know how much internet service i had and this helped alot
i have ordered blackberry torch 500mb usage will that be enough to browse face book (upload my photos) and download the free apps such as wasap and idioet tests??? thank you xx
Hi Rosie,
Yep, I think 500MB should be more than suffice for Facebook and apps!
Ken
i have taken 1gb so for this day how much it has charged to me can u reply for this plzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hi soumya,
Which network and tariff are you on?
Ken
Hi Ken
Great article….all the answers I have been looking for on one page. I just have one last question. If I downloaded an App of a radio station is listening to that station classed as usage? I have a 2GB limit but only got it yesterday so weary of doing anything at the minute.
Thanks a million
Claire
Hi Claire,
Yes, radio station apps will typically stream audio through the internet connection and this will count towards your download limit. There is a great discussion of radio stations & data usage at James Cridland’s blog. In short, 2GB would allow you to listen to a 64kbps stream for 64 hours a month.
Ken
thanks guys this really helps 500mb it is for me then
my daughter is using a virgin blackberry 9780 for 3 days and has a 1Gb allowance. she has downloaded 13 songs maybe over the 3G and not wi-fi. Could this take her over her 1gb as i have a bill for £70 in 3 days. Is this possible?
Hi Goldie,
Sorry to hear about the huge bill… but 13 songs alone would not have taken her over the 1GB allowance. One song is roughly 4MB to 5MB so I would expect 13 songs to weigh in at around 65MB absolute tops – a long way from 1,000MB (1GB). Is this definitely a data charge as opposed to an expensive phone call?
Ken
I have just purchased an iphone 4 and have downloaded an app called tunein radio which cost me 0.59 which is no problem as I always listen to the radio but I am worried that if I'm listening to the radio on it that I am using internet data.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Hi Robert,
I've had a quick Google around – it looks like TuneIn radio is an internet radio application so the answer is yes it would. The data usage would be in the order of that for downloading music tracks (listed above)… maybe slightly less depending on the quality of the streams that TuneIn uses. Bear in mind that when you're at home and connected to wi-fi, it doesn't count towards your download allowance… only when you're on 3G.
Regards
Ken
Thank you so much for the help, I am currently looking at the Three plan right now. Thank you so much, happy new year!
Pleased to be able to help Boz! I hope you have a happy new year!
Wow, so helpful, thank you so much! Unbelievably helpful! I have an iPhone 3GS right now with unlimited internet from a contract I got a year ago, I think that I may use over 500MB per month so my iPhone is absolutely perfect at the moment, I watch BBC iPlayer before I go to bed every night. I want the HTC Desire so badly though! Maybe I should just wait because my iPhone contract I think is 18 months so I should enjoy it for now! It's so annoying how you can't get unlimited internet on ANYTHING now! Very frustrating! I use the internet more than calls and texts! Anyway, what do you think I should do? Thank you so much for the help Ken!
P.S. Just another quick question, I want a Phone for music, internet, facebook, streaming and apps etc (like an iPhone). Although I'm bored of the iPhone and am really concentrating on HTC'S, which HTC do you think is the best for me? Or any other Phone you think would suit me best? Thank you so much!
Hi Boz,
You'll most definitely go over your 500MB allowance if you watch iPlayer over 3G but you should be OK if you use it over wi-fi.
You might be interested to hear that Three have just scrapped download limits and fair usage limits on "The One Plan". They now provide all-you-can-eat data. The HTC Desire is available for free on a £30/month tariff and I think it's a great phone
Ken
Hi
I am thinking of purchasing from Tesco Mobile a Blackberry Curve and like that you can get it on a 12 month contract and not the usual 24 months. Do you have any feedback on this as I believe this is new Tesco Mobile offering Blackberry. It says 1 GB data, 250 minutes and unlimited text and feel that is ample for my usage. Unsure whether to get or not!
Hi can i ask ive just got a new HTC wildfire with 300 minits and unlimited tex the lady at Vodafone told me to take out 500mb of internet so i didant get a big bill so i told here i dont go on my phone on the internett she said it dosent matter as your phone uses internett all the time so i saide you had better put it on is this right and have i have i done the right thing thanks not very good at this sort of thing so hope you can help thank you Ken
Hi Floss,
With a smartphone such as the HTC Wildfire, you'll need an internet package to be able to use most of the features on the phone. For example reading your e-mail, updating Facebook, downloading and using applications, using the maps functionality and the turn-by-turn GPS navigation which is included in your phone. So even if you never open a web browser, you'll still need an internet package.
If you really don't use any of those functions, you could disable internet connectivity on the device but you should be aware that most of the functions which set the Wildfire apart from a cheaper handset will not work correctly.
Hope this helps
Ken
Hi Ken Thanks for the info so ive just put 500mb on will that be ok i dont do Facebook or gps as own sat nav i dont do email i dont look at eney thing on my phone as will use my computer at home for all that i dont trust Facebook and Twitter at all im not good with all that stuff so i only Tex and Make calles but i liked the look of the phone and its there if i do wont it so could you just tell me will 500mb be ok for me miss borring thanks Floss
Hi Floss,
If you don't use any of those features, you can disable data usage through the mobile network. There is more info over at on My Digital Life – this will save you from having to pay for the 500MB data package. Otherwise, yes, 500MB will be more than enough for you
Ken
Thank you Ken as i find this most confussing so a big thank you for all your help and info thank you and Happy New Year Floss .
Thanks for the kind words Floss. Happy new year and enjoy your new HTC Wildfire!
Ken
I have a 1GB data allowance on my mobile plan and have never gone over it until last month. I use my home internet for most things, only use my phone occasionally for checking bank balance, maps (very rarely), checking sports scores, etc… Youtube and facebook are free (not counted towards the data allowance) and I dont download apps (at least not in the past 4 months) or use skype. I dont use email on my phone, dont stream radio…
Could anybody tell me how i could possibly have used over 400mb in one go, on three seperate occassions?? I'm adamant that there is no way it happened but my phone company reckons it did. I wasn't doing anything new or unusual so i dont understand how this is possible..
In the 3 weeks since my last bill i have been tracking my usage closely and only used a total of 140mb. Is it possible the phone company screwed up? And any ideas on how i could prove that i didnt?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Jimmy,
Sorry to hear about your situation but unfortunately it would be difficult for you to prove so now afterwards. If you've got an Android phone, download the "3G Watchdog" app (a similar app should be available for other platforms). It will allow you to view information on how much data you're using from your phone. You can set it to notify you when you reach a certain threshold, compare the stats from that with your networks stats and diagnose any problemaic apps.
My inclination is that it might be to do with your YouTube usage… as far as I'm aware all networks count YouTube usage towards the data allowance and it's possible this could have pushed you over the 1GB allowance. And whilst Three allow free Facebook but this is only to 0.facebook.com… all other Facebook usage is metered. However, Facebook usage alone is unlikely to use up very much data.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Jimmy500 ask your phone company to itemise your bill that way this is proof of the useage.
I just ordered a internet stick, Rogers Rocket in Canada.
Because my only other option in my area is dial up, I am giving this a try. Just going to use the internet stick in my home PC, I signed up for 1 GB.
Does Magic Jack require a lot of data?
Thanks
i bought 1GB of internet, n quite expensive……….. but its not frm these mentioned networks
it finished in a week………… didnt watch movies……….
i used skype however, n facebook…….. tell does skype use that much of the internet that i buy??? it was a normal call, not even a video call…… plz help me i, need to buy it again……….
Hello Ken
Just wondering, I have 500 MB and would like to know how much do Skype calls use?
why doesnt anyone answer the skype question??? i am desperate to knw…. but no one seems to know or answer???
Hi twilight,
Sorry for the slow response… I was taking some time off for Christmas! Skype is a real bandwidth-hog. I'm not sure what the bitrate of Skype calls (and I've struggled to find a definitive answer anywhere). The audio quality of Skype calls is lower than that of music but bear in mind that during a phone call you are transmitting audio data both from the internet and to the internet. As a good approximation, you should consider Skype usage to be about the same as downloading music (maybe a bit less). My quick guesstimate is that an hour of Skype calls would use about 100MB so using Skype for even 10 hours a month would use up the entirety of your download allowance. This probably explains why you ran out of internet so quickly.
Bear in mind that using Skype is also against the terms of use of most UK networks. The only exception is Three.
Hope this helps,
Ken
since i needed the info sooo badly……….. i searched n the conclusion of the search was that 1GB gives about 40 hours of skype calls………this apparent rule of thumb ppl have made up….!!!!!??
……… now i dont knw whats true n whats not,………..
(more confused)
i hope u can help
will wi-fi connection abroad count as "roaming" and be chargeable? thanks i think you have answered most of the questions i had.
Hi gunzter,
No. Data downloaded over the wi-fi connection doesn't go through your network operator at all. There are no charges for using wi-fi from your phone except from the normal charges you incur for your home broadband service. If you use a public wi-fi hotspot, same again… no charges except from any charges which might be charged by the hotspot provider.
Ken
you might want to change the 3 internet useages as they have now changed to 500 mb
Hi Craig,
Three changed the "unlimited" internet definition to 500MB in May and June of this year. Some customers who signed up in May/June can ask to have their internet allowance raised to 1GB. Three no longer sell packages with "unlimited" internet – all packages are now advertised with the actual limit (usually 1GB).
Ken
I work at Three and the reason for the change is not that the limits have changed but instead a decision to stop using the word unlimited when it is subject to a fair use policy. Text 300 and talk plans include 500mb, Text 500 and above include 1gb while the one plan includes All you can eat data with no fair use policy at all.
sprint has a deal for a laptop that has 500mb and i feel like one trip on the internet with use that up for the month. and considering california doesnt have 4g 'yet' im slightly worried about doubling my monthly bill. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you very very much !!!
And I really appreciate the fact that the person who wrote this is still replying
I want to ask one question that has been asked before but no one answered it
I really would like to know how skype calls affect your data allowance
How much does an hour of skype calls use ?!
And if ou know the answer to this it would be appreciated too
… How much does Internet radio use
Thanks for your help
I have 1gb internet usage and i frequently – stream Youtube, watch tv via BBC i-Player, stream worldwide internet radio, use google maps, google street maps, check google for quick answers, wikipedia, about 5 push emails per day, download music tracks, heck oi networks in the day time and once tethered (use mobile as a modem) for about 5 hours and didnt go over.
I’d recommend 250mb for light users, 500mb for regular and 1gb for heavy users. if you’re unsure just ask before you sit down and agree to anything.
500mb gets refreshed every month. general internet and facebook will be fine. be carefull with games you download as 1. you have to pay for the actual game itself. If its £3.00, add £3 onto the bill. if the game is free thats ace! 2. Downloading a game will use more data than normal because your downloading it to your phone. 3. some games you can download BUT they connect to the internet to work, even tho you’ve downloaded it you wont physically have it. Just be carefull, read everything before you click on something.
Nothing wrong with 500mb on an i phone 4 at all. If there was, a mobile provider wouldnt give you an i phone with 500mb of internet in certain package (usually occasional to frequent users) Ive worked in a phone store for 2years.
bbc website is light usage. internet radio is streaming. depends on how often you’d be doing it. to be safe you’d need 500mb. you’re network should provide 500mb, 750mb or 1gb depending on your provider.
Guess i cant be seen as being ‘too’ helpful lol.
Thanks for your contributions – we really appreciate it! Yes there is definitely a lack of knowledge about download limits here in the UK and I commend you for outlining to your customers what they mean. It's a shame that not all mobile phone salesmen do the same!
Thanx for ur useful info!! Has helped me alot!
I once worked in a store where 1GB (1024mb) package was available for £5 ($8) on top of a monthly contract but many people didnt want it as facebook and youtube wasn't the "in thing". We pitched it to most customers because it was part of our job. Low and behold a customer ran up an EXTRA £75 ($119) on their bill for about 300mb of usage because they didnt want the add-on. They came in to complain but the customer was responsible for their own usage.
I would just like to add that as a mobile phone sales person, i have (for the past 2years) broken down what 500mb, 750mb 1gb internet usage actually entails then relating it to that customer asking what they may use the internet for so they know what they can/cant use and what they will be limited to. I too find it strange when instore colleagues and other phone store staff dont know this info. I found it out off my own back, we've had this product in the U.K for about 2 years.
Hi – thanks for the very informative article. Currently I spend a fortune monthly on internet usage and all i actually do is browse facebook. I never spend long on there and can't actually get much of the app up – it's just really status updates etc. I also have 300 mins and unlimited texts in my contract and i stay within these limits. Now i want to go over to an iphone and am wondering if 500mb will be enough. like i say – all i do is browse the odd page or two of facebook a few times a day. i very occasionally look up something on google. that's it. at the minute it's extortionate the extra i pay so i want to make sure i'll be covered. any ideas anyone?
Hi Aileen,
Yep – 500mb should be plenty for you if you only check Facebook and use Google occasionally. It's usually pretty difficult to exceed 500MB unless you download music, videos or a lot of photos.
Ken
I bought a prepaid vodafone internet package that allowed me up to 1GB over the course of 90 days. I bought it 2 weeks ago and it told me I had no more time left and had used my GB. I am abroad in Spain so I Skype with my parents a lot and watch TV on the internet and do research, but it seemed a little ridiculous. I went to ask the people at the department store I bought it at and they didnt really have any idea. Is it possible its incorrect or did I go through my 1GB using roughly 5 hours of skype and 10 hours of television and more hours of internet? Thanks for all the info!
Hi Annsley,
Yep – if you're doing phone calls and television, you'll use up your data allowance really, really quickly. See the guide above, and our article about watching online video from your mobile.
I must say though… if you're abroad in Spain I would have thought that your internet allowance probably wouldn't cover data usage in Spain anyway.
Ken
Thanks Ken – this is really useful – actually very reassuring as starting a new contract and was told about the 1GB limit which was concerning at the time, but now it's not!!
I dont seem to have any mention of limits on my contract with orange but when I returned from a US trip recently i saw my bill mentioned £3.80 for internet data usage. I queried this & said I have never connected to the internet via a mobile phone. they told me I may have accidentlly pressed a wrong button! And this resulted in a £3.80 fee? YIKES! ( they did refund the money)
How can anyone afford to do internet stuff by mobile? It could cost me £150 to check my emails!
I have a Nokia 6700 BTW, maybe smart phones are much cheaper to connect?
Hi Simon,
The chances are you probably do have fair usage limits on your contract but this is not why you've been charged this time. It's more likely that you've been charged for roaming internet which costs a fortune. We've got some more info over here and info about how to stop it happening.
Ken
Hi, thanks, this is very helpful. But I have one more question… How does 1GB correspond to skype calls? I.e. How much of my 1GB allowance is used in a one-hour skype call? And is this different depending on whether I am using WiFi connection or a 3G connection? Thanks very much!
It's about 2 hrs of Skype = 500MB of your data
Hi Andriy,
2 hours of video calling on Skype will use up approximately 500MB. Voice calling should use up a lot less
Ken
Really good article, now I know what the figures actually mean it will help me alot.
Hi, I'm only 17 (new to tariff phones and just bought one last friday) and my dad pays for my tariff but i'm scared to use my internet cos i might over use it. My tariff is 300minutes calls, unlimited texts and unlimited internet (but it came up to be 500mb monthly). Now, i've read what it says above but i'm still a little confused about the 500mb internet part. Is this means i can use my Facebook/Internet/Games i downloaded, for 'free' for a month (everyday) and when my first monthly tariff bill is payed i can use it again for another month for free and so on?
Plese could somebody reply to this! Thanks!
You can use up to 500mb of data every month,check list above for what you can downlaod.
Thanks fr ur article. I have few questions. I just got a new blackberry 8520 contract, the data usage allowance is 500mb.
If I turn off Mobile O2 Network in my Manage Connection settings and turn on wifi instead, and use wifi to browse and download webpages, will that also contribute to my monthly 500mb allowance ?
Are there ways in which I could track my internet usage ? like, just to check how much MBs do I have left to use?
thanks much.
cheers
Hi mazel,
If you connect through your wi-fi network, it won't count towards your 500MB download allowance. With regards to your second question, you can find out by logging in to the "My O2" section of the O2 website.
Hope this helps,
Ken
In your third question, there is a app you can download called 3G Watchdog, it lets you know how much you are using.
Hope this helps.
When you actually watching the stream video you downloaded, will it separately use up your free GB for downloading and then for watching it?
When we say that "download", simply think of that as "data transferred". If you're streaming video from the internet, data is being transferred from the internet onto your mobile phone. This counts towards your data usage limit regardless of whether you are streaming the video or saving it to memory.
Thank you very much for this! I had no idea that when it says 'unlimited' there is still a secret limit on usage….i was going to take a more expensive contract as i thought 'unlimited' meant just that. I definitely wont be doing that now! Cheers for really good article!
ok, i hate to be so dumb and i know that it sais that with 1GB corrisponds to 3,000 rich web pages. but i am not downloading the web pages so why 3,000, is it a restriction or something?
Hi,
When you browse a web page your computer/phone must download it before it can view it.
Ken
Theoretically whenever you load a web page you 'download' the content so that you can see it, so you are downloading it. I hope i helped a little bit
Excellent article. Saved me a trip to the phone shop to no doubt be confused by a sales person!
500MB a month will be terrible for the iphone 4 i think! does it affect if u want to download apps
download them on itunes on your PC then sync them onto iphone would do the trick
or you could use a wi-fi connection to do all of your downloading and streaming and save your 3G for when you cant remember whats-his-faces name from that film you saw and get that strange urge to find out that instant…. tehe
yh i know what you mean – that always happens! a lot of the time, if you are around a town or city, you can usually connect to a nearby wi-fi hotspot in a coffee shop or something for 'emergency googling'
What about opening say BBC website and then listening to the radio over the net? How much does this use?
Hi Richard
The article has been updated with statistics about listening to online radio!
This was extremely helpful, thanks!
brill. thanks for this article!
i just browse the web on a 1gb a month what dose it mean /.
have you not just read the above, it explains that
that you have more than enough data
This is really helpful. Thanks
Thanks for this. I've spent a frustrating day trying to get salespeople to explain to me what they mean by "unlimited", but they failed. Now you've told me what I need to know. Ta