Phone Plans

[warzouing]

My plan is saying :

-100 min Canada wide outgoing calls

-250MB of data usage

-unlimited incoming calls without specifying from where

-unlimited textos to/from anywhere

My questions are :

Are the textos part of data usage especially with MMS (pictures, music, documents) ?

Can I assume that I can text (SMS) a friend living far away, ask him to call me (if he has an advantageous plan in his country) and talk for as long as we want without worrying about any extra cost on my part ?

[darlicious]

@dust2dust 

The bf runs out of data within a week of renewing.....and sends a lot of MMS the rest of the time. Data usage is recorded in the daily usage pages but it has no plan data to be taken from so I imagine those amounts appear but are reset.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[esjliv]

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How big was the picture (bytes)? 

117 kB outgoing / 118 kB incoming

I assume you refreshed the overview each time.

Yes. I did a log out and log back in, just to be sure a refresher was happening. 

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@dust2dust 

[dust2dust]

@esjlivExcellent testing. The logging out of the account isn't really necessary though. But interesting findings. How big was the picture (bytes)? I've only ever checked it out with just turning on data. Which is how I discovered the buffer. But not fully testing MMS. Maybe I'll do that later.

That last part going in and out of airplane should have set the counter back. I assume you refreshed the overview each time.

Adding - you had turned off data before that airplane right?

I wouldn't complicate things with the wifi factor but also interesting findings.

[esjliv]

Okay, i've tried further testing as per your suggestion @dust2dust 

1-In WIFI

• Toggling to airplane mode, a minute, back to regular.
• Log out of self serve. Log back in.
• Equals = 162.514 still.

2-In WIFI

• Then powered off, it's been a while, so needed to power down anyhow 🙂.
• Logged out of self serve.
• Two minutes later, powered phone back on.
• Logged back into self serve, through a different browser, just because.
• Equals = 162.514 still.

3-Next, WIFI disabled,

• Logged out of self serve
• Toggled on data to send / receive an MMS from and to myself.
• Logged into self serve.
• Equals = 163.315. So used up 0.801 MB
• Toggled to airplane mode then back again. Still 163.315.

So in summary, with the settings I have on my device, and the apps that were currently running,

1. if I am in WIFI, turning Data on to send MMS does NOT appear to use up my data allotment.
2. if I do NOT have WIFI enabled, and I do the same, it will use up..to quote @hairbag1 "some of my data". 

Perhaps, this is a YMMV situation on phone type, settings and connectivity. 

[dust2dust]

The above test did not mention resetting the counter by way of airplane mode or restarting the device. Even now, turn on airplane, refresh overview. Turn off airplane, refresh overview. When was the last time you had turned on data?

[esjliv]

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@hairbag1 wrote:

I do note a reduction in my data after I've sent a MMS.

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@hairbag1  that is interesting, because this isn't the first time I tested this. But, then again who knows how our phone settings are different.

I am in wifi right now. And if I tested this while not in wifi if may have resulted differently if I had any apps running in the background.

[esjliv]

@warzouing - sending and receiving MMS will not consume your data plan amount.

I just did a test.

Here is was my data line item a few minutes ago:

Then I sent and received MMS messages. Log out of self serve, logged back in, and my consumption and remaining data amount is the same.

[hairbag1]

I do note a reduction in my data after I've sent a MMS.

[dust2dust]

Both. The act of turning on cell data with a cell data bucket available will use a tiny amount by way of the device doing some syncing (depending on device settings). The amount of data used by the picture (size/resolution) will not count towards the consumption of the cell data bucket.

Adding - you can be out of all data buckets (or no data) and still use MMS.

[esjliv]

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@warzouing wrote:

It started getting clear then I'm now confused.  One mayor (hairbag1) is saying MMS does use up some plan data, another mayor (darlicious) is saying does not use plan data.  Who is right?

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I noticed that discrepancy between mine and @hairbag1 post too @warzouing  🙂

[warzouing]

It started getting clear then I'm now confused.  One mayor (hairbag1) is saying MMS does use up some plan data, another mayor (darlicious) is saying does not use plan data.  Who is right?

[JL9]

Welcome to PM 😎

[darlicious]

@warzouing 

Just to be clarify @hairbag1 's post. MMS requires data to be toggled on but does not use your plan data. MMS is sent thru a separate server. Go thru each of your apps in the data setting and turn off the background data to prevent unwanted data wastage.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[warzouing]

Thank you so much for both hairbag1 and esjliv ! It's now perfectly clear to me !

[JL9]

no sms will not use up any data (if it is truly just sms)

[esjliv]

You do not need your data option turned on for sending SMS @warzouing 

Now, if you are an iphone user and like to use iMessage often then, this requires data when not in wifi areas.

So, if you do not want to use data, go into the settings of your iphone and ENABLE SMS and MMS.

Similar for android. If you have Chat Features / RCS turned on in your settings this requires wifi or data usage.

So I would suggest to turn this feature off to limit data requirements.

[hairbag1]

Another suggestion...if you have the $15 plan with 100 mins of Canada wide calling, consider getting the $5 / 500 minutes of Canada wide calling add-on. For $5, you get 500 additional minutes that get used whenever your regular plan minutes get used up. Any unused add-on minutes will keep rolling over until you do use them...even if that takes several months or more.

[warzouing]

I understand for MMS (image size, documents size, file size) but how about regular,plain and simple textos (SMS) ?

[esjliv · Accepted solution]

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@warzouing wrote:

My plan is saying :

-100 min Canada wide outgoing calls

-250MB of data usage

-unlimited incoming calls without specifying from where (edit....incoming from anywhere, as long as you are in Canada)

-unlimited textos to/from anywhere

My questions are :

Are the textos part of data usage especially with MMS (pictures, music, documents) ?

*SMS textings does not require data to send/receive these types of texts

*MMS does require your Data option setting to be on in the settings of your device, but it does not consume your data plan. So best to toggle it on when sending/receiving MMS, then remember to turn it off (so no background data gets used up.

Can I assume that I can text (SMS) a friend living far away, ask him to call me (if he has an advantageous plan in his country) and talk for as long as we want without worrying about any extra cost on my part ?

*Yes. As long as you are in Canada you can send and receive texts from anywhere.

If someone calls you, it will not take from your 100 plan minutes.

Note, calling your voicemail from your device, does use your plan minutes. So a workaround some people do is to call your voice mail from another phone or a voip app...this way no outgoing plan minutes are used.

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@warzouing  - see responses above.

[hairbag1]

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@warzouing wrote:

My plan is saying :

-100 min Canada wide outgoing calls

-250MB of data usage

-unlimited incoming calls without specifying from where

-unlimited textos to/from anywhere

My questions are :

Are the textos part of data usage especially with MMS (pictures, music, documents) ?...yes...MMS will consume some of your data.

Can I assume that I can text (SMS) a friend living far away, ask him to call me (if he has an advantageous plan in his country) and talk for as long as we want without worrying about any extra cost on my part ?...you're correct

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