our cellphones, it's especial-
ly important to understand
data usage. Knowing what
will help you recognize whether you're
getting the best deal on your wireless plan.
are really paying for on our cellphone bills
is data. You're using mobile data whenever
you're not connected to Wi-Fi and doing
things like browsing the web, using apps,
checking social media, sending or receiv-
ing picture messages, and streaming music
or videos.
Here are a few important things to under-
stand to make sure that you get the best
service, at the best price, on your monthly
data plan.
data you use in a billing cycle (usually a
30-day time frame). Your cellphone plan's
data is used whenever you use your phone's
internet connection to perform a task.
post on social media, your phone is send-
ing or receiving data across your carrier's
gigabyte (GB) are the units used for mea-
suring data. Industry analysts have found
that an average cellphone user consumes
about 5GB of data per month.
file sizes and download times can vary. To
provide a general idea, it's estimated that
with 1GB of data, you can browse the Inter-
net and use social media for around 40 min-
utes a day, stream about 10 hours of music
in a month, and view 1-2 movies a month.
ly extinct and unlimited plans becoming
more and more common, you might find
yourself wondering why you should worry
about your data usage at all.
that you'll get optimal data speeds up un-
til you have reached the limit. So, if your
plan has a 3GB data limit, you can use up
to 3GB of data at full speed. Once you go
over that 3GB of data usage, you can ex-
pect to encounter slower data speeds.
of the best data you can possibly use in your
"unlimited" data plans actually have what
is referred to as a "deprioritization thresh-
old." This is a cap on your high-speed data,
meaning that if you reach the threshold
(ranging anywhere from 20GB to 50GB)
during a billing cycle you will actually be
subject to slower data speeds during times
of heavy network congestion, just as you
would with a lighter use plan.
much you really need. The best way is to
track your usage through your cellphone
carrier: most offer up-to-the-minute de-
tails on your data usage either online or
through a mobile app.
your usage, or if there are fees for going
over or changing your plan. By understand-
ing your own needs and what your carrier
specifically allows, you'll have everything
you need to get the data you require.
--BPT
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