# iPhone data usage



## infantryian (31 Aug 2011)

Hey everyone.

My wife and I were considering getting iPhones, but the different data plans I was finding a little confusing. To any iPhone users out there how much data would you use in an average month.

Telus has a flex plan that includes 100mb for $10, but if you use more can automatically bump up. Would you say that 100mb a month is too small?

Thanks for letting me pick your brains.


----------



## armybuck041 (31 Aug 2011)

My Wife and I share 1 GB per month (iPhone 3GS and a BB Curve). Neither of us are teenaged "Power Users", and we have never come close to hitting the 1 GB mark. My use consists of streaming music while sitting at my desk using some of the radio station apps, and settling the odd Cliff Claven argument over a Beer with Wikipedia, or checking the weather etc. The BB is much more data efficient than the iPhone mind you, but IMO, the BB Curve is pure crap compared to the iPhone. With 2 x iPhones however, that 1 GB would still cover it, but with a bit less breathing room. If you have the option of getting 100mb increments as you go you'd probably be way better off than having a chunk you never use.


----------



## Romanmaz (31 Aug 2011)

Sapperian said:
			
		

> Hey everyone.
> 
> My wife and I were considering getting iPhones, but the different data plans I was finding a little confusing. To any iPhone users out there how much data would you use in an average month.
> 
> ...


It depends alote one how you use your phone. Do you have WiFi at home? You can tap into your WiFi if indoors instead of using your data plan. Do you watch YouTube/movies on your phone? If so, no, it's not enough. If it's mostly used for Facebook and social media 100mb/month should be fine. I personally have a corporate package on my iPhone which gives me 6Gb/ month for 25$. Not sure who's ripping you off for 10$/ 100Mb, I'd say look for a deifferent carrier.


----------



## armybuck041 (31 Aug 2011)

Oh, and an OT point. Mods, when is the Mobile version of this site gonna come?

Lots of good and easy to implement apps like Tapatalk etc out there. As I find myself using my iPhone more and more around the house to surf, I visit "pinch and zoom" Forums like this less and less.


----------



## Scott (31 Aug 2011)

armybuck041 said:
			
		

> Oh, and an OT point. Mods, when is the Mobile version of this site gonna come?



*After* Mike's divorce. 

 ;D


----------



## Mike Bobbitt (31 Aug 2011)

Heheh, good answer Scott. 

There is already a basic mobile version here:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php?wap

However the normal version works fine on an iPhone. To prove that point, I used my iPhone to post this.


----------



## Nfld Sapper (31 Aug 2011)

Full site works on BB's running OS 6.....


----------



## Rheostatic (31 Aug 2011)

I prefer this one: http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php?wap2


----------



## Fishbone Jones (31 Aug 2011)

armybuck041 said:
			
		

> Oh, and an OT point. Mods, when is the Mobile version of this site gonna come?
> 
> Lots of good and easy to implement apps like Tapatalk etc out there. As I find myself using my iPhone more and more around the house to surf, I visit "pinch and zoom" Forums like this less and less.



Don't forget, all the stuff Mike does for the site doesn't come cheap. If you would like to see special apps and features, you can always pony up and buy a subscription or some swag.


----------



## Redeye (31 Aug 2011)

100MB with an iPhone is likely not going to do the trick for you, even if you don't stream a lot of video and so on - UNLESS you have Wifi at home and make a point of using it wherever available. iPhones are definitely data-heavy.  Blackberry has a compression system that cuts down a lot of its data usage, but iPhones do not.


----------



## LOLslamball (1 Sep 2011)

I have 500mb on my iphone plan and I was right up against it in the first few months I had it.  Now I'm using it a bit less not downloading any more apps, and making a point to try and be on wifi when possible and I am around 250-350mb per month.  Mostly use it for checking emails, some facebook and reading army.ca fourms along with some other random surfing.  Also listen to an AM radio app, but it doesn't seem to use too much.


----------



## Mike Bobbitt (1 Sep 2011)

I think the big question around data usage is... how often will you be using wifi? Unless I'm on the road, I'm pretty much always connected to a wireless hotspot, and so my data usage is low. I originally had the 6Gb/mo plan from Rogers when it came out... it's laughable, as you could never realistically use that much data. I'm now on a 500Mb/mo plan and have never exceeded it, though I use my iPhone many times in the run of a day. Again, this is because I am on wifi most of the time, so YMMV.


----------



## infantryian (1 Sep 2011)

Well I will be using WiFi more often then not, but I would also like to be able to google at any time to prove people wrong and the such. Thanks for the advice though, I am hearing that while you don't need an astronomical amount, 100mb would probably be a little too low.

Thanks for the help.


----------



## Sigger (1 Sep 2011)

I have a company iPhone with 500Mb. I use the phone constantly(on the road google maps, email and logging into dispatch software/ticket management). When I download apps and the like, I am usually on some WiFi connection. The only time I came close to hitting my cap was when I spent half the day streaming radio at a cottage. 

Oh, and I installed the Tapatalk plugin on a few SMF forums I run. Seems to work great. The iPhone app is a couple bucks however.


----------



## captloadie (1 Sep 2011)

Geez, I'm not looking forward to going back to Canada and signing up for a plan that limits your usage. I pay about the equivalent of $40 CDN here in the Netherlands, which gets me 150min/mth that can roll over one month, plus unlimited data usage in the Netherlands. If I paid $14 more, I could get unlimited throughout western Europe.


----------



## aesop081 (1 Sep 2011)

captloadie said:
			
		

> Geez, I'm not looking forward to going back to Canada and signing up for a plan that limits your usage. I pay about the equivalent of $40 CDN here in the Netherlands, which gets me 150min/mth that can roll over one month, plus unlimited data usage in the Netherlands. If I paid $14 more, I could get unlimited throughout western Europe.



Yeah, its a well-known fact that we  get screwed here in Canada.


----------



## Ayrsayle (1 Sep 2011)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Heheh, good answer Scott.
> 
> There is already a basic mobile version here:
> 
> ...



Same here. Never had issues viewing or reading.


----------



## cphansen (1 Sep 2011)

Sapperian said:
			
		

> Hey everyone.
> 
> My wife and I were considering getting iPhones, but the different data plans I was finding a little confusing. To any iPhone users out there how much data would you use in an average month.
> 
> ...



Please remember that there is an eight time difference between mB and mb.

MB refers to mega bytes while mb refers to mega bits. A byte is 8 bits, so a byte is 8 times larger than a bit.

Be careful when you read the claims they can be misleading


----------



## infantryian (1 Sep 2011)

I promise you that it was MB, not Mb. I didn't capitalize out of plain laziness. Mb is usually used for transfer speeds anyway. I would highly doubt a company would be able to get away with megabits as that is rarely used for data amount.


----------



## Mike Bobbitt (1 Sep 2011)

...and the good news to the OT conversation is that I have now installed the Tapatalk back-end package, so you can now browse in mobile style. I checked out the app and it's pretty decent.


----------



## Good2Golf (1 Sep 2011)

I'm on Rogers and started with the 500MB data pack for $25.  I have a mix of wifi and 3G data usage and would normally sit in the 350-400MB zone with a combination of streaming music, e-mailing .pdf's, and mapping apps.  A couple of times I came close to 500MB and I actually ended up going to the 1 GB package ($5 more at $30) because I needed to tether my Macbook to my iPhone for data when I wasn't in a wi-fi zone, which has been more often, and tethering wasn't available with the 500MB package.  Since upgrading, I bounce between about 400-700MBs with the same kind of usage as before. 

Cheers
G2G


----------



## Rheostatic (1 Sep 2011)

SherH2A said:
			
		

> MB refers to mega bytes while mb refers to mega bits.


 If you want to get technical, mb would be millibit, a thoroughly useless unit of measure.  8)


----------



## armybuck041 (1 Sep 2011)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> ...and the good news to the OT conversation is that I have now installed the Tapatalk back-end package, so you can now browse in mobile style. I checked out the app and it's pretty decent.



Damn!!

I come back today for a "Pinch and Zoom", and bam. Tapatalk enabled. Awesome!! Who's divorce lawyer do I need to Paypal a donation to?


----------



## Scott (1 Sep 2011)

armybuck041 said:
			
		

> Damn!!
> 
> I come back today for a "Pinch and Zoom", and bam. Tapatalk enabled. Awesome!! Who's divorce lawyer do I need to Paypal a donation to?



Make it payable to Mike's bar bill.

Or you could just get a subscription to the site...


----------



## cphansen (1 Sep 2011)

Sapperian said:
			
		

> I promise you that it was MB, not Mb. I didn't capitalize out of plain laziness. Mb is usually used for transfer speeds anyway. I would highly doubt a company would be able to get away with megabits as that is rarely used for data amount.



I beg to differ with you, AT&T and Cingular and Bell Canada used to, 5 years ot so ago,   transfer in Megabits. Unfortunately for them most people thought they were transfering megabytes, which just made more sense. But the agents when contacted were trained to refer to Mb as megabits. Its amazing how many people can't hear the difference betwwin a byte and a bit.

People couldn't understand why if they were to transfer 3 MB of data, that the transfer rate should be mega bytes not mega bits.

Lets face it, it was cheaper and more profitable to use a transfer rate of mega bits, then to provide a new network vapable of transfer at megabytes.

Just follow the money


----------



## Sigger (2 Sep 2011)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> ...and the good news to the OT conversation is that I have now installed the Tapatalk back-end package, so you can now browse in mobile style. I checked out the app and it's pretty decent.


Fantastic! I just might subscribe after all


----------

