Next month the new I-Phone comes out and I'm going to switch over to The Square. Currently, I do not have a smart phone and I was wondering how much bandwith do you use each month. A friend of mine who has an I-Phone used 25 Gigs in the past year. He uses his extensively for email etc. I would not use mine that extensively. I was wondering if I could get away with paying the $10 for the 75 MB's.
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I should make myself clearer. While I will primarily use the I-phone for a phone, music player, audiobooks, and podcasts that I transfer from my computer, not download, and The Square, I was trying to get an idea as to how much bandwidth I might use. Of course, I will not know what that number is until I start using it, I was just curious as to what everyone else uses, which is stored either somewhere on the gadget or at your phone account online. The 7.4 gigs gives me a good estimate of what I can expect. Jim, I'm sure you are at the high end of the use spectrum considering all you do with your device. I prefer to use my laptop with wifi in my hotel or at Starbucks or Panera Bread for all the things you use your I-pad/I-phones for. What I'm thinking of doing is start out with the 75 mgs and when I go to Florida I can boost up my usage to the 2gig price. My friend uses his for strictly his IT business. So, he is not accessing FB or downloading Netflix. I still would like to hear exactly what other people use as a matter of course. I already talked to someone who uses less than 75mb, but, what about you people who are checking the weather and using the gps? How much bandwidth do you use?
Jim Parker > Barry BernsteinAugust 13, 2011 at 7:51pm
I thought it useful to mention all this for neophyte iPhone/iPad users; Barry, you probably got all this down already!
Verizon has both tethered and untethered plans. These are the three untethered plans:
Data
2GB
5GB
10GB
Additional data
$10 per GB
$10 per GB
$10 per GB
Per Month
$30.00
$50.00
$80
Not sure where you're getting the 75Mb plan. 200Mb is the lowest of the AT&T data plans. You will most likely be fine with 200Mb starting out, even checking weather and using the GPS.
The GPS doesn't use the cellular radio or signal to locate you, unless it has to (via tower triangulation). There are four separate radio transceivers in an iPhone: the cell signal (3G) which handles both voice and data, the wireless (for networked data) , the GPS, and Bluetooth (for connected devices such as headphones). For a GPS app, most will use the 3G (when there is no wireless) to download the maps, but use the separate GPS radio to locate the geo-satellites. Some apps (like Apple's Compass or FocalWare) still work fine when there is no cell signal. If the GPS app has downloaded maps (like the dedicated GPS units), it won't use the cell signal, either. But Google Maps and most iPhone GPS apps will need cell data to bring in the appropriate maps as you travel. Many will use Google Maps or Bing and overlay the current GPS location on top of that. It's a clever implementation.
It's also worth it to note that 3G data plans for the iPad are different than the above. AT&T starts out at $15 for 250Mb of data; Verizon starts at $20 for 2Gb. That's a monthly recurring fee, but it will automatically kick in once you go through the amount of data you contract for, if you use it faster. Obviously, the 2Gb/$25 plan on AT&T is a better deal, but costs more per month.
I've been using Verizon for a long time. I checked their data plan for 4G and there is a 75mb plan for $10 per month. Then it is $30 for 2gb. Perhaps, it's different for new customers but that is what I get when I get my new phone.
Jim Parker > Barry BernsteinAugust 13, 2011 at 10:24pm
Verizon doesn't list it on Apple's rate plan. It's probably a legacy plan, like mine. Original iPhone owners have unlimited data rolled into the package plan. New owners don't get that privilege anymore. It's certainly worth a shot til you see what you actually use. $30 for data is a lot, especially if you only go over the 75Mb a little byte. LOL.
Barry, are you sure he used 25 Gigs in the past year? That's practically impossible with an iPhone. Maybe with an iPad if you're watching movies and other data-intensive content, but you'd be hard pressed to download that much data on an iPhone as an average user.
The Square won't use a lot of bandwidth -- it's just passing text data in those batches. You can always start with 75Mb and move up.
I have an iPad and an iPhone, and on the road I use about 2Gb about every 24 days or so. That's with 6 email accounts, browsing artfairinsiders and my other newsgroups every day, showing people work on my web site, looking for stuff on the interwebz, buying things from Amazon, watching the occasional movie on Netflix streaming...
I'm an old iPhone user so still have the unlimited data plan from the early days. I've had my 3GS for almost two years, and I've used 7.4Gb of data received, and 638Mb sent in that time. Divide by 24. That's cellular data, not WiFi. WiFi won't count against your 3G/EDGE data usage. YMMV.
While I have unlimited data and use the square, I can tell you it is far less than email/map/browsing. If this is the only thing you use you are probably fine.
Replies
I thought it useful to mention all this for neophyte iPhone/iPad users; Barry, you probably got all this down already!
Currently, AT&T has three data plans (iPhone 4):
$45
Verizon has both tethered and untethered plans. These are the three untethered plans:
$80
Not sure where you're getting the 75Mb plan. 200Mb is the lowest of the AT&T data plans. You will most likely be fine with 200Mb starting out, even checking weather and using the GPS.
The GPS doesn't use the cellular radio or signal to locate you, unless it has to (via tower triangulation). There are four separate radio transceivers in an iPhone: the cell signal (3G) which handles both voice and data, the wireless (for networked data) , the GPS, and Bluetooth (for connected devices such as headphones). For a GPS app, most will use the 3G (when there is no wireless) to download the maps, but use the separate GPS radio to locate the geo-satellites. Some apps (like Apple's Compass or FocalWare) still work fine when there is no cell signal. If the GPS app has downloaded maps (like the dedicated GPS units), it won't use the cell signal, either. But Google Maps and most iPhone GPS apps will need cell data to bring in the appropriate maps as you travel. Many will use Google Maps or Bing and overlay the current GPS location on top of that. It's a clever implementation.
It's also worth it to note that 3G data plans for the iPad are different than the above. AT&T starts out at $15 for 250Mb of data; Verizon starts at $20 for 2Gb. That's a monthly recurring fee, but it will automatically kick in once you go through the amount of data you contract for, if you use it faster. Obviously, the 2Gb/$25 plan on AT&T is a better deal, but costs more per month.
Barry, are you sure he used 25 Gigs in the past year? That's practically impossible with an iPhone. Maybe with an iPad if you're watching movies and other data-intensive content, but you'd be hard pressed to download that much data on an iPhone as an average user.
The Square won't use a lot of bandwidth -- it's just passing text data in those batches. You can always start with 75Mb and move up.
I have an iPad and an iPhone, and on the road I use about 2Gb about every 24 days or so. That's with 6 email accounts, browsing artfairinsiders and my other newsgroups every day, showing people work on my web site, looking for stuff on the interwebz, buying things from Amazon, watching the occasional movie on Netflix streaming...
I'm an old iPhone user so still have the unlimited data plan from the early days. I've had my 3GS for almost two years, and I've used 7.4Gb of data received, and 638Mb sent in that time. Divide by 24. That's cellular data, not WiFi. WiFi won't count against your 3G/EDGE data usage. YMMV.