What exactly is a "Data Session"?

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Level 1

25 points

What exactly is a "Data Session"?

I was reading the pricing plan for a product in Aus called Amaysim. It states that they charge a minimum of 1MB per session. They also state that the length of a session is determined by the phone not the network. Is this true? And if so how does iPhone determine a session? Does a session remain open as long as the phone is awake and terminate when it sleeps? Or is each new site I browse, or each different application Internet usage, a new session?

iPhone3GS, iOS 4

Posted on Feb 14, 2011 12:10 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:27 AM in response to rufus001

Read here, page 2:

https://amaysim-media.s3.amazonaws.com/legal/amaysim-Special-Conditions-1GB-Data -Package.pdf

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Answer 2

ajduguid

Level 3

650 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:59 AM in response to wjosten

I can't help but think rufus001 is being misunderstood here.

On older phones, even with 3G there was never the constant use of a data connection. My old phones would literally warn me that they were going to initiate a WAP connection. With the iPhone though it assumes it can make use of cellular data whenever it wants hence the massive international data bills in the first few months of the iPhone and then the options to turn it off when you're roaming.

rufus001, I don't have an answer for you but I would suspect that the iPhone is initiating and tearing down data connections on a fairly regular basis rather than keeping a single connection active. If they are rounding up to 1MB I'd think you'd go through your allowance pretty quickly on it if you use the iPhone as it was meant to be used. Email for example - mine polls a single account once every 15 minutes and if that counts as a single session that's 96MB a day according to that document.

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Answer 3

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:38 AM in response to rufus001

They are basically saying if you go to a web site, then close Safari & put the phone in your pocket & Safari is "stuck" and uses all of your data allowance it's not their problem.

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Answer 4

rufus001 Author

Level 1

25 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:32 AM in response to wjosten

That's exactly the document I was referring to. It says sessions are phone controlled not network controlled. Hence my question for the boffins on the iPhone forum. 🙂 Is what they claim incorrect then?

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Answer 5

rufus001 Author

Level 1

25 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:52 AM in response to wjosten

So it's not helpful technical information they are giving there customers, it's "pay the darn bill and stop whining" information. Got it! 🙂 On an unrelated note I can't believe that darn with an m instead of an r gets censored on this forum. hahaha.

Message was edited by: rufus001

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Answer 6

rufus001 Author

Level 1

25 points

Feb 14, 2011 5:12 AM in response to ajduguid

That's what I was wondering. Apparently some networks also end a data session if it is idle for a few minutes. So I could leave the phone on but still end up with multiple data sessions. Amaysim claim they don't do this but they use the Optus Network which some people claim does do quick session ends if idle. So between the confusion of when the iPhone ends data sessions, and whether or not the Network does as well, it's very difficult to manage data usage accurately.

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Answer 7

ajduguid

Level 3

650 points

Feb 14, 2011 5:59 AM in response to rufus001

Would it be fair to say Amaysim don't offer the iPhone themselves? Most data plans were pretty expensive before the iPhone came along, at least in the UK. It hasn't been until the penetration of the iPhone and Android devices that we've seen affordable data plans that accommodate these types of phones. That plan you're looking at looks like it wasn't aimed a the current crop of smartphones.

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Answer 8

rufus001 Author

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25 points

Feb 14, 2011 6:20 AM in response to ajduguid

They don't offer the iPhone but as the plan has 1GB for $10 then it's definitely intended for a smart-phone I would think. Probably not good for one that is continually initiating small data sessions though.

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Answer 9

Feb 14, 2011 3:57 AM in response to rufus001

That is a question for Amaysim.

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Answer 10

rufus001 Author

Level 1

25 points

Feb 14, 2011 4:08 AM in response to Ian Parkinson

Their website claims the session length is determined by the phone not the network.

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