Buying an iPhone - 200 or 500MB data?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Buying an iPhone - 200 or 500MB data?

Hi,

I'm planning on buying an iPhone (not sure yet if it is going to be the 4S or the 5) and I'm looking at two different carriers. My choice for both the phone and the carrier depends on the data plan I need. To be exact, it's most likely to be 200MB with the 4S or the 500MB plan with the 5.

I only use internet on my phone for being available all the time - e-mail, social networking, WhatsApp, news apps, and so on. From time to time I tend to upload a picture or visit a couple of sites - I don't download large files or listen to music/YouTube when I'm on 3G. Furthermore, I'm not an excessive in sending a lot of messages around. On my previous phone, I seemed to top the 50MB per month max, but I'm not sure how it compares to the iPhone (I did have push notificatons enabled). I tend to say I'd stick with 200MB. For the iPhone, I want to keep push notifications enabled as well - does this affect my data usage a lot?

Thanks in advance!

Posted on Sep 23, 2012 9:17 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Sep 23, 2012 9:19 AM in response to Chite

Use this:

http://www.att.com/standalone/data-calculator/index.html

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Answer 2

Chite Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2012 9:31 AM in response to wjosten

It appears 200MB should be sufficient for my usage. Thanks for your fast reply! If I understand it correctly, push notifications won't eat up a lot of extra data, next to a couple of KB?

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Answer 3

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Sep 23, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Chite

Depends on how much "Push" you use. However, that calculator is pretty good.

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Answer 4

FelipeV

Level 6

12,053 points

Sep 23, 2012 9:34 AM in response to Chite

Try 200MB first. If you find yourself using more after a couple of months you can always go up to 500. But judging from what you have said, it seems as if 200 should be fine.

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Answer 5

Chite Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2012 9:50 AM in response to FelipeV

Alright, then I'll go for that one. Thanks for the help guys!

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Answer 6

Sep 23, 2012 9:56 AM in response to Chite

Also, how you use the phone will determine your data

usage and not the phone model itself. So whether you

get a 4S or a 5, the data usage won't be any different.

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Answer 7

Chite Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2012 10:02 AM in response to woodmeister50

I know that - let me explain. The first carrier has the 200MB bundle as the lowest possibility and I can get the 4S cheaper there than the 5. However, the second carrier has the 500MB bundle as the least possibility and the monthly payment between the 4S and the 5 is very slim, hence I pick the 5 if I would need a 500MB bundle as it doesn't matter a lot.

But since 200MB seems enough for me, I'll most likely go for the first carrier and therefore for the 4S. ;-)

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