Cell Phone Data Usage

[goodnigh]

Went and finally bought a "smart" phone, Sony Xperia3.

Bought this to fly a drone but may have another use,

internet access without a WiFi connection.  Cost $130

and is GSM international unlocked sans SIMM chip

which AT&T gladly supplied for "free".  Has your basic

1Gig data plan.  Question being, how far will this plan get

me if all I want to do is peruse the news or Craig's list?

mike

 

[delawarebill]

i will say with 1 gig plan u will find out your first billing if it is enough or not. with that said i have att and a 3 gig plan and use like .3 gigs a month. i don't use internet much on phone so my usage is low. now a smart phone is smart.. i have a iphone 6+ and i'm amazed of what that thing can do. this phone knows way more then i do and i'm still learning.

 

[rackerm]

When you are home or at work make sure your phone's WiFi can and is connected to your home/work WiFi internet router. By doing this your phone will use your local WiFi connection for data, such as internet browsing, and not your AT&T data plan. This will reduce your chances of exceeding you 1gb plan. Your phone will likely need you to enter a WFii connection passcode when you first connect and then check the connect automatically option.

Also if you travel or frequently visit other places, you can connect your phone WiFi to local WiFi at those locations as well, but you will likely need a passcode from the hotel or from the WiFi connection owner at that location

 

[goodnigh]

When you are home or at work make sure your phone's WiFi can and is connected to your home/work WiFi internet router. By doing this your phone will use your local WiFi connection for data, such as internet browsing, and not your AT&T data plan. This will reduce your chances of exceeding you 1gb plan. Your phone will likely need you to enter a WFii connection passcode when you first connect and then check the connect automatically option.

Also if you travel or frequently visit other places, you can connect your phone WiFi to local WiFi at those locations as well, but you will likely need a passcode from the hotel or from the WiFi connection owner at that location

Been unable to get it to work.  The computer recognizes a "hotspot" but can not connect with it.

The phone recognizes the "tethered" option as "on" but again can't connect.

I turned my router off as I wanted to see the computer connect via the phone and not WiFi.

Will take a trip to the local AT&T store and see if they can make it work.

mike

 

[Don C]

You have to have a "shared" data plan to tether to your phone. Even then, not everything tethers. My tablet won't tether via USB cable but does by hotspot. My laptop seems to work either way.

I don't like using WiFi when traveling, too much unknown security.

 

[SVO2SCJ]

Well since you didn't you said "news and craigslist" you will be fine !

NOW if you said instagram, snapchat, Facebook, twitter,Waze and Yelp for GPS and streaming video on You Tube, plus Nascar on weekends WELL THEN welcome to my world of 16 Gigs a month (with two girls) LOL

Mark

 

[midlife]

I have a smart phone which I use solely for phone calls, a bit of texting, reading e-mails, and monitoring the stock market. My usage is 0.5 GB per month, although I am allowed 2 GB. If you're smart about using a smart phone, they can be relatively cheap to use. They do tend to sucker you in, though. Personally, they are too small for me to be reading the 'Net.

 

[goodnigh]

Went to the local AT&T store today to sort this out.

As it happened, my phone was purchased on eBay

for the sole purpose of flying a drone. Never meant

to use it as a phone. Turns out this is a GSM unlocked

phone for use almost anywhere sans SIMM chip which

AT&T gladly provided. What they did not provide was

the proper coding to make the phone work with their cell site.

This phone can work with any carrier, just need the numbers.

Also, and this is good, download speeds are 28Mb and

upload 8.5... impressive. Better than my landline.

Test was provided by www.speakeasy.net