Did I really use that much data?

[michasmac]

Hi there, New to PM and I have a couple of questions:

1. I was testing my throttle speed from Peterborough to Toronto maybe every 10 min or so, just to see how the network is and it says on my profile that I used 1.1 Gig of my 5 Gig of data already.....is that possible?  I was not watching video or anything else. strictly using "speed test" off of google.  This is all in 1 day??

2. What happens if you go over your alloted amount of data in your month, and when does the cycle refresh?

Thanks

[srlawren]

@michasmac yes.  To do that, you make do a manual top-up (payment) in your self-serve account, to load enough to pay for your next cycle, and then send a private message to the moderator team to request the early renewal.  You can learn how to message them here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/How-to-Get-Help/ta-p/251745

[hairbag1]

You sure enough can...only trouble is, you'll sacrifice whatever else is left on the existing plan.

[michasmac]

My friend was informing me that if you use up all your data, rather than purchasing a 1Gig add on..you can renew your plan if you wish.....instead of having to wait 30 days.....is that correct?

[srlawren]

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@michasmac wrote:

Hi there, New to PM and I have a couple of questions:

1. I was testing my throttle speed...

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@michasmac I'm not sure how recently you activated, but it can take up to a few days for the throttling to apply on a new activation.  When you first activate, even if you pick a "3G" speed plan, you start out at the full, unthrottled speed until [I'm not sure if it's an automated process or a manual process someone does] kicks in and the throttling starts.  This means you may well have been doing speeds tests at full speed, which can consume a LOT of data, very quickly.  As noted by the previous responders, this is just how the speed tests work--they try to download and upload as much data as possible over a period of time.  They are hogs.

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@slash407 wrote:

all of these posts about dubious data usage, is making me wonder if cellphone companies are doing alil hanky panky lol i hope not.

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@slash407 I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny or not, but there's nothing untoward happening when people are throwing away their data to speed tests.  It's just the nature of the beast and there's nothing the carrier can or should do to stop it.

[computergeek541]

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@michasmac wrote:

Hi there, New to PM and I have a couple of questions:

1. I was testing my throttle speed from Peterborough to Toronto maybe every 10 min or so, just to see how the network is and it says on my profile that I used 1.1 Gig of my 5 Gig of data already.....is that possible?  I was not watching video or anything else. strictly using "speed test" off of google.  This is all in 1 day??

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1.1GB over 10 minutes is very possible.  I've used about 0.5GB on a single test before that takes less than a minute.  Speedtest.net is a data hog. The faster your connection is, the more it decides to download to run the test.

[Dunkgirl]

@michasmacNothing uses more data than a speed test. It tests your absolute maximum possible speed.

LTE advanced can be up to 225Mbps (28.125megaBYTES per second) 5GB = 5120 megabytes. Therefore at max speed you could potentially use your entire 5 gigabyte plan in 182 seconds (3 minutes). Obviolsy LTE Lite / 3G would be less, and depending on network congestion and quality, phone hardware, etc that time to use 5gb could increase as speeds drop.

As for going over, impossible. Once you reach your term limit data is cut off. No overages at public mobile. If you have 5gb per 30 days it will reset at each renewal. Once your data is used up instead of showing 5GB/5GB it will dissapear completely from self serve and return on your next renewal (when you pay each 30, or 90 days depending on your plan term)

[NDesai]

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@michasmac wrote:

Also,  How do I know if my refer a friend code went through?  The agent at WOW boutique was pretty awful, and she tried to enter some extra discount code, but it just seemed like she messed something up.  I hope myself and my buddy still get the friend referral.

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To see if the referral went though correctly, your friend should've received the regular $1 rewards in his account and your number should be in his referred list. I think you missed the fine print; "Tell your friend that they need to successfully activate online". Since you activated at the store, you and your friend will not get the $25 credit. 

[stonechucker]

If the clerk at the store activated your service, the $25/$25 referral will not go through.  You will get the $10 for yourself, and $1 for your friend.  You should also get your next 30 day service free.

[hairbag1]

You're only going to be able to use up to 5 gigs of data as that's your plan. You can't go over..you'll get a warning when you approach 5gigs. You can't use more than you pay for. If you run out before your 30 days are up you can get an add-on but it's costly. Those speed-test apps are data hogs...just saying. Good luck and welcome to PM.

[michasmac]

Also,  How do I know if my refer a friend code went through?  The agent at WOW boutique was pretty awful, and she tried to enter some extra discount code, but it just seemed like she messed something up.  I hope myself and my buddy still get the friend referral.