How much data would you use?

[Jonavin]

Since some of the recent larger data plans from various carriers have popped up some people question why you would need, 10GB, 12GB or even 16GB a month. I’d like to poll the community on how much data do you really want to use? I’m talking about how much data is in your plan but your actual and preferred usage if there were no limits.

If you were given an truly unlimited plan with no throtlling, and it was priced affordability for you, how much data would you use per month on your mobile device?

EDIT: Just noticed some carriers now have plans as high as 42GB and unlimited calling for $410/month. 

[ckl]

@JarvarHave a great time! Your kids will thank you in the future. When I was younger, my parents bought an RV and drove all over the west coast from Victoria all the way down to San Diego and back through the mid-west. We also drove to Toronto from Vancouver, but we took the US route (as gas is cheaper). At the time, I didn't really think much of it, but in hindsight, those were one of the best times in my life...

I did go to Boston, Bar Harbor (Maine), Sydney, Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec City, and Montreal last month. It was a blast. I wouldn't hesitate to go back if the finances permit it.

[fonzy35]

I used to have magicjack app for long distance call back in the days.

Used it too with facebook, email.. no video streaming

And 2GB per month, was enough for me..

So if Canada wide calling, texting and 1GB/2GB for $25/$30 per month come along,

I would be an happier camper 😄

just my 3 cents 

[Jarvar]

Thank you @ckl for all those tips.

I was hoping someone like Koodo would come along and offer me 8GB LTE for $45, but no dice.

I will defintely try to load up my devices using before the trip. Just sometimes the kids start something and don't finish and it expires requiring me to redownload it. However, I think I will still try to load up wherever we stay for the night in preparation for the next day. The data is mostly for the looking up attractions, maybe making some reservations and maps. Things like that.

We won't be flying, we will be driving this time. We've been to Gaspesie before, but this time we are planning to turn south and checkout the other Atlantic provinces.

At first we were planning on going west, but after wanting to see everything from Banff to Victoria we also wanted to go south to California. It ended up being an epic road trip that would take too long. We are in Toronto so it would take a while to drive back, and we have small children and a new born. I don't know how long they could travel in a car for long stretches everyday.

We don't use Spotify so it's not a big deal. Our kids have certain things they want to listen to and we are also planning on doing some audio books so they can catch up on their homeschooling while we are on the road.

I'll keep everything you've shared with me in mind and try to plan accordingly. I'm defintely looking forward to the drive, I hear it's beautiful along the coast.

If you're really fond of all the seafood, we had a great time when we went down to the states a while ago too, through Maine over to Boston down to Cape Cod over to Washington DC and back up again. Not just the seafood, but it's a different vibe in the states compared to Canada.

[ckl]

@JarvarMy grandfathered plan is LTE data, not 3G. Although, for my needs, I would be fine with with 3G speeds.

I strongly suggest, for your trip, that you use WIFI to download your Netflix movies before you leave. This is because if you watch in HD, the average downloaded size of a movie is 400-500MB - so you will definitely eat into your 5.5GB if you did it through your PM plan. The other thing is that during your flight (assuming you're on the west coast and need to fly there) you can watch Netflix if you don't find the inflight entertainment adequate.

Another tip in preserving mobile data would be that if you are using the free option for Spotify, is that you can sign up for premium for free, as in a trial period, for 30 days. Some offers go for 3 months if you're lucky. But the advantage of that is that you can download your playlists onto your local device as opposed to streaming it. The other advantage is that it eliminates the skip and rewind restrictions associated with the free account.

Have fun on the east coast! When I was there last month, I ate so much lobster that I believe they are on the endangered species list now... j/k

[mimmo]

---

If I renew my plan early, can I do that on my own or do I have to contact a moderator for that?  renewing early requires you to add funds then contact the mods unless you want a different plan then you simply do an immideiate plan change. 

And if I renew early, what does that do? do I start with a new billing cycle from the date I am renewed?  yes basically you reset teh billing cycle to day 1 of 30

I think 4.5GB is typitcally enough, but for this month I would rather pay $5 more for the extra security rather than pay $30 for an extra 1GB or renewing early if I get close to the max. I would  do teh same, i didnt realise you had  futuredated teh 4.5gb plan.

happy travels

I don't know if 4.5GB or 5.5GB will be easy for me to get close to if I am using LTE Lite though. I am used to LTE before this.

---

[Jarvar]

@mimmo

Thank you for the suggestion. I was on a 4.5GB plan, but I asked out of a courtesy the next day after activating and the moderators helped me put it ona 5.5GB plan for this month. I set the renewal to be the 4.5GB plan when this month ends because my travelling will be over.

If I renew my plan early, can I do that on my own or do I have to contact a moderator for that? And if I renew early, what does that do? do I start with a new billing cycle from the date I am renewed?

I think 4.5GB is typitcally enough, but for this month I would rather pay $5 more for the extra security rather than pay $30 for an extra 1GB or renewing early if I get close to the max.

I don't know if 4.5GB or 5.5GB will be easy for me to get close to if I am using LTE Lite though. I am used to LTE before this.

[mimmo]

@Jarvar  dont forget you can always renew your plan early or do an immideate plan change to reset data.  if you think you will typiclaly only uses 4.5 gb of data i would take that plan and renew early when needed. 

[Jarvar]

@ckl

Thanks for sharing. What speed is your 12GB/ 3months? I know there was some promotions running not too long ago.

I am planning on doing an east coast trip soon. I originally signed up for a $40/4.5GB but I switched it to a $45/5.5GB plan for now. Both plans are running through LTE Lite so I might not be using up data as fast coming previously from a 5GB LTE plan on a different carrier.

I was averaging 2-3GB/ month the past couple months, but in foresight of the upcoming travels I thought it would be better to have a bit extra cushion. I don't upload my pictures immediately since I try to wait until I have wifi to do it. Though we may need the extra data for looking up accomodations and attractions or if someone wants to share data from a hotspot while driving. I don't know how long it will take for videos to download from Netflix, either using wifi in the evening to reload some films or maybe some streaming while driving. I guess I can monitor the usage and reasses if there needs to be during the trip.

The $40-$45 plan with data allows me to put another family member on a smaller plan with less data to try it out for a while. Previously with Rogers, my data plan was around $59 for 5GB LTE and less minutes for talk, it seemed like a deal compared to their other plans, but not the best deal if I looked at their competitors. The other number on the account was on a $23 plan with the same minutes as I, but no data. Now I put that number on a $30 plan with 500MB data just to try it out.

So it's a trade off for now and we'll see how much services we truly need and address it according in the months going forward. With Public Mobile right now we're saving some cash for both lines and some better services in comparison to what we had before. The other line is a little more expensive and my line is a little cheaper.

[ckl]

@JarvarI've been on that plan for a couple of years and it was a (now grandfathered) promo for $40.

My usage varies monthly which is why Iike the 12GB bucket of data for every 3 months. Last month I was on an east coast vacation and was taking pictures and uploading and sharing them like crazy. So if I was on a strict 4GB/month plan, I would have blown through that.

My average data consumption is about 2GB/month since I don't stream Spotify as much anymore. I download the songs onto my device and play it locally. Other than that, the most data used is Netflix (which I don't use as often), followed by the browser, then youtube, android auto, playstore, reddit, whatsapp, etc.. So 4GB/month is adequate for the majority of my needs.

$40 is also the sweet spot of what I'm willing to pay since I have 2 other family members with similar needs. If you're by yourself, $40 may be cheap, but when you have to pay for other people, it adds up.

[Jarvar]

@ckl How long have you been on that plan and how much did it cost you?

If you have been on the plan for a while, how much data do you usually end up with after the 3 months time period is up? It's an interesting concept pooling things together for 3 months instead of 1. It would be difficult for me to plan ahead exactly how much data I would be using 3 months down the road. I am going to try month by month for a bit and then I might jump on a 3 month plan when during the time when life patterns seem more stable. For example, summer for me I tend to be out more and do more things, hence more data use. During the other times of the year routine usually dictates how much data I can actually use and it's more consistent than when the whole family is in summer mode and off from school and work.

[ckl]

"unlimited plan with no throtlling, and it was priced affordability"

Unfortunately, this would get shut down within the first few months because people would be replacing their home internet with this plan.

Personally, having a larger data bucket would enable me to do things without thinking about whether I would hit the cap.

I have 12GB per 3 months plan. Thinking that this is plenty, I streamed Spotify everyday on my way to work and back and performed app updates without waiting for wifi. I hit the cap in 2 months and 3 weeks leaving 1 week of no data.

4GB/month seems like a lot, but with today's apps including Spotify, Netflix, Youtube, and games (supplemental data files can be hundreds of megabytes), it's not a lot. It all depends on what you do with your phone and phones are doing a lot more than they used to.

For myself, I would think about 6-10GB per month would be adequate.

[ty_89]

Ive used upto 87GB streaming 480p video with WIFI and now i have a phone that has a screen of 1080p so with my phone alone i would say 150-200gb of data i would use on my phone alone

[Jarvar]

it's difficult to say how much data I would actually use. I used to be on a 6GB plan, and then they changed it to a 5GB plan. It didn't make much difference, but I have never been close to the limit. I think only once was when internet service in my house was supposed to be setup but it took maybe a week longer than it was supposed to and I had to rely on my mobile data plan to pull double duty at home and out. Recently I have been using about just over 2GB a billing cycle. I don't frequent too many places that offer Wifi regularly so I rely on my mobile data plan for it. If it's a time when we are out and about travelling or doing a day trip with the family, the data tends to be higher. However if things are pretty regular and I'm not travelling out of the house as much, some months has been maybe 500-600MB a month. Unfortunately it's hard to estimate exactly how much I would use each month long term so I tend to overbuy instead of pay whatever the per use rate is if I go over since it's in 100MB increments and is quite expensive.

Lately I am trying out using 3G speed instead of LTE for a lower price with more data. It's data when away from home. Not the fastest but it seems adequate for my needs so far. Haven't done too much intensive stuff like music or VOIP but I haven't done much of that anyways outside the home. I look forward to the day when LTE will be the new 3G. I remember when they used to offer 3G and Edge as the fallback.

[stonechucker]

As I’m not authorized to use WiFi at work for my personal device, I’d probably use about what I currently use, 2.5 GB per month.

Home WiFi is stable, and unlimited at 30 Mbps Down, 5 up.

Download for offline streaming on WiFi high quality audio and maybe video.  Any cellular streaming at lower quality.

[mynamejc]

Realistically, if unhindered I'd probably use 10-30gb a month. I wouldn't have to hold back if I want to stream some video and large gifs. I'd let things stream in the background. I will still prefer to use WiFi over data because of latency and since I have wifi most of the time I likely won't hit those big numbers.

With the internet getting more and more bloated we really need the big gigs.  Of course, to hit those numbers I'd probaby need full speed LTE or else I'd spend a lot of time waiting for things to load.

[austinhuang]

I don't use data at all. Places that I frequented most all offer wifi.

If you live in urban areas, ditch data. Get add-ons when you travel.

[Jonavin]

---

@will13am wrote:

I would do the same and forgo a home internet plan.  My usage would be in the order of 500 GB per month.  Right now with limited use plan, around 3 gigs is sufficient.

---

Would you forgo home internet, in this imaginary world, if the home connection was free.

[Jonavin]

I have 6GB but I would use 12 if it didn’t cost me much more. I think a lot of user self-limit their usage due to costs, which is the responsible thing to do but image the freedom to just use data anytime you wanted.

[Effort]

The only time I actually use data is when I'm commuting. When I had 6GB with Chatr, I used about 1-2 GB a month. With Public right now, I would say I'm at 1GB if it weren't for the bunch of speed tests at the beginning of the month.

In a perfect world with unlimited data, I would still use a similar amount. Maybe a little bit more because I would just keep the hotspot on for friends/colleagues to connect to. I will not stop using home cable internet because of stability.

[will13am]

I would do the same and forgo a home internet plan.  My usage would be in the order of 500 GB per month.  Right now with limited use plan, around 3 gigs is sufficient.

[Jonavin]

---

@RobertQc wrote:

---

@Jonavin wrote:

Since some of the recent larger data plans from various carriers have popped up some people question why you would need, 10GB, 12GB or even 16GB a month. I’d like to poll the community on how much data do you really want to use? I’m talking about how much data is in your plan but your actual and preferred usage if there were no limits.

If you were given an truly unlimited plan with no throtlling, and it was priced affordability for you, how much data would you use per month on your mobile device?

---

500-800GB per month which is my average monthly combined internet usage. I would have my laptop tethered to my phone instead of using wifi.

However since mobile data is extremely expensive I stick with 500mb per month and don't even use it.

---

Think of it as if the cost of home internet and mobile data is $1. Now woud you still tether your laptop to your mobile or just use the home wifi?

The question is if data costs didn’t matter and was truly unlimited, how much MOBILE data would you use? I bet it’s a lot more than 500MB but not 800GB either.

[RobertQc]

---

@Jonavin wrote:

Since some of the recent larger data plans from various carriers have popped up some people question why you would need, 10GB, 12GB or even 16GB a month. I’d like to poll the community on how much data do you really want to use? I’m talking about how much data is in your plan but your actual and preferred usage if there were no limits.

If you were given an truly unlimited plan with no throtlling, and it was priced affordability for you, how much data would you use per month on your mobile device?

---

500-800GB per month which is my average monthly combined internet usage. I would have my laptop tethered to my phone instead of using wifi.

However since mobile data is extremely expensive I stick with 500mb per month and don't even use it.