would you say the basic free 500mb will be sufficient for doing daily job searches?
500MB is fine for doing pretty much anything bar video download/streaming. Even downloading or streaming music/Internet radio is probably okay.
I guess that if you're getting a contract with 500MB, or any fixed limit, you should also check what happens if you exceed it. Do you pay high run-on charges? Can you buy extra data as a package, and if so is that good value for money?
I'd quite like for an enterprising operator to consider allowing you to roll over unused data for say 30 or 60 days. That would solve a lot of problems too, and give some more flexibility.
I don't think anyone can tell how much data they're using for most services. You can for downloading a file, where the file size is shown but everything else is guesswork. Some people will have a better idea than others, but it's still a guess.
That's why I really don't like limits and would probably end up paying for a lot of data even if I didn't always use it. I guess that's what the operators want too!
No doubt when ordinary users are hitting their cap on EE after a few days/minutes/seconds (!) they are encouraged to change up to a higher tariff, or will pay to buy more data. Of course some might go without data for the rest of the month, but there's clearly a revenue opportunity there.
I don't mean to be funny but as far as I know, ever since ICS on Android there's always been a data usage counter which is simply to use and allows for you to set warning limits and gives a breakdown on how much data you use. In addition, Three's Android app shows you how much allowance you have remaining. I don't there is any excuse these days for the ignorance.
I don't there is any excuse these days for the ignorance.
For you and me maybe.
But most people simply don't know or care what a megabyte is and how much data they use. They just connect to the internet and use their allowance. They may know how to check how much they've used but to most it's just a number with no meaning.
500MB is fine for doing pretty much anything bar video download/streaming. Even downloading or streaming music/Internet radio is probably okay.
Would really depend if you're trying to do job searches on the Direct.gov website on your phone or via a tethered laptop... In either case if you're actually doing as much as they expect you to, no it probably won't be enough.
500MB is fine for doing pretty much anything bar video download/streaming. Even downloading or streaming music/Internet radio is probably okay.
It's not. Do a few speed tests and browse Facebook and view images and a few videos and 500MB is gone! On holiday with 3G I get through 1GB in 2 weeks but thankfully that only costs about £6.
EE's ultra cheap £13.99 4G tariff with the very nice Huawei quad core handset is a sprat to catch a mackeral. Customers will consume their 500MB and to continue use have to buy an add on which for an additional 500MB is £5... Yikes! Still for those like myself with employer WiFi on site and with WiFi at home the basic allowance of 500MB might be enough to get by but even for light users care and consideration will be needed to make best use of the inclusive allowance.
100 gigs isn't that much if you watch video. When 4K takes off, it will be many more hundreds of gigs.
Which mobile networks won't be able to cope with as they were not designed to cater for 4K streaming. The worry has to be for customers relying on mobile Internet on a network with unlimited data which some might use to access 4K video because the data consumption has no monetary value. A big dilemma indeed for not just the mobile operators trying to acquire customers but for those commiting to a 24 month contract relying on a share of finite resources.
Slightly off topic, but I wonder when EE will offer Truly Unlimited data on 4G
Why would they? They are gaining 4G customers on target and are getting a premium price for it. EE have traffic management by cost and that is totally transparent. Can't see any change in their strategy in the near future.
Slightly off topic, but I wonder when EE will offer Truly Unlimited data on 4G
EE have in the past been quite vocal about how "unlimited" 4G is entirely unnecessary and as the biggest and fastest growing 4G network it's quite clear they know what they're doing.
Given nobody else offers "truly unlimited" data over mobile at all anymore I don't see EE reversing industry practice.
If you believe H265 will be the same file size as for HD today, I think you'll find it won't be. At least not for people that want a decent bitrate.
I wasn't just talking mobile data, but all data. I'd want Sky or Virgin to be delivering me 4K films at a high quality, so films will be rather a lot more than 2-3GB.
As such, given more material is likely to be streamed, we should prepare for people using 100s of GBs.
That said what is the likelyhood of that sort of data being streamed on a mobile phone? 4K from Sky or Virgin at high quality would require a large display (e.g. TV) and sounds like the sort of thing most people do through a home broadband connection, not on a bus. Though with power sockets on many trains now you could perhaps try set up a flatscreen TV on a train...
That said what is the likelyhood of that sort of data being streamed on a mobile phone? 4K from Sky or Virgin at high quality would require a large display (e.g. TV) and sounds like the sort of thing most people do through a home broadband connection, not on a bus. Though with power sockets on many trains now you could perhaps try set up a flatscreen TV on a train...
I know you're joking, but still.
For one, I meant data consumption in general will sky rocket in the future not just through increased usage of video streaming services, but the introduction of 4K.
For mobile then anyone with unlimited tethering could quite easily hook up a Smart TV, or a 4K enabled box, to stream content. In reality, by then there might be no unlimited tethering for anyone - but I do think people will be using 4G to stream 4K content. They'll just hit their limit far quicker.
And while there is great work being done on compression, I'd still expect the major broadcasters to be using high bitrates which will still mean very large files.
Yes, I know, but on the whole, people streaming high quality 4K (and not just Youtube quality 4K) on a mobile via tethering are going to be the exception not the norm.
For most people a home broadband connection is more appropriate and will offer higher quality of service. There will be cases where mobile indeed outperforms fixed broadband but as has been mentioned by others 3 have been deliberately trying to deter or reduce the attraction of using their mobile tariffs as home broadband replacements, and other networks have set strict usage limits with no unlimited option at all.
In the mobile realm yes, data usage will go up, as it always does, but I doubt 4K will be a particularly big cause of it. For one there are no mobiles with 4K displays yet, and even then the standard Youtube mobile app's HD is still barely on par with 720p on a desktop, and that in turn is barely on par with a properly encoded high-quality 480p stream.
Yes, I know, but on the whole, people streaming high quality 4K (and not just Youtube quality 4K) on a mobile via tethering are going to be the exception not the norm.
I wasn't talking about tomorrow. I was talking about the future and just making a point about someone using 100GB not being seen as 'an abuser' that should be capped because they dare exceed a figure picked out of the air - and the assumption that 99% of users would be okay with it.
If you believe H265 will be the same file size as for HD today, I think you'll find it won't be. At least not for people that want a decent bitrate.
I wasn't just talking mobile data, but all data. I'd want Sky or Virgin to be delivering me 4K films at a high quality, so films will be rather a lot more than 2-3GB.
As such, given more material is likely to be streamed, we should prepare for people using 100s of GBs.
You won't need to have a very high bitrate to get decent quality on a mobile phone...
I wasn't talking about tomorrow. I was talking about the future and just making a point about someone using 100GB not being seen as 'an abuser' that should be capped because they dare exceed a figure picked out of the air - and the assumption that 99% of users would be okay with it.
It doesn't really matter how far in the future you want to go. The limit on screen resolution isn't the technology but the physical limits of human vision. 4K on a mobile (as opposed to tethered, tablet, or on a home device) isn't ever going to become mainstream.
As for the arbitrary figure thing, yes, I agree, I made the same point several pages ago. Similarly, I mentioned a while ago I could put a disproportionally high load on a mobile network with my usage patterns, despite using relatively low amounts of user data.
Comments
500MB is fine for doing pretty much anything bar video download/streaming. Even downloading or streaming music/Internet radio is probably okay.
I guess that if you're getting a contract with 500MB, or any fixed limit, you should also check what happens if you exceed it. Do you pay high run-on charges? Can you buy extra data as a package, and if so is that good value for money?
I'd quite like for an enterprising operator to consider allowing you to roll over unused data for say 30 or 60 days. That would solve a lot of problems too, and give some more flexibility.
For you and me maybe.
But most people simply don't know or care what a megabyte is and how much data they use. They just connect to the internet and use their allowance. They may know how to check how much they've used but to most it's just a number with no meaning.
Would really depend if you're trying to do job searches on the Direct.gov website on your phone or via a tethered laptop... In either case if you're actually doing as much as they expect you to, no it probably won't be enough.
It's not. Do a few speed tests and browse Facebook and view images and a few videos and 500MB is gone! On holiday with 3G I get through 1GB in 2 weeks but thankfully that only costs about £6.
EE's ultra cheap £13.99 4G tariff with the very nice Huawei quad core handset is a sprat to catch a mackeral. Customers will consume their 500MB and to continue use have to buy an add on which for an additional 500MB is £5... Yikes! Still for those like myself with employer WiFi on site and with WiFi at home the basic allowance of 500MB might be enough to get by but even for light users care and consideration will be needed to make best use of the inclusive allowance.
No it won't.
Which mobile networks won't be able to cope with as they were not designed to cater for 4K streaming. The worry has to be for customers relying on mobile Internet on a network with unlimited data which some might use to access 4K video because the data consumption has no monetary value. A big dilemma indeed for not just the mobile operators trying to acquire customers but for those commiting to a 24 month contract relying on a share of finite resources.
Why would they? They are gaining 4G customers on target and are getting a premium price for it. EE have traffic management by cost and that is totally transparent. Can't see any change in their strategy in the near future.
EE have in the past been quite vocal about how "unlimited" 4G is entirely unnecessary and as the biggest and fastest growing 4G network it's quite clear they know what they're doing.
Given nobody else offers "truly unlimited" data over mobile at all anymore I don't see EE reversing industry practice.
If you believe H265 will be the same file size as for HD today, I think you'll find it won't be. At least not for people that want a decent bitrate.
I wasn't just talking mobile data, but all data. I'd want Sky or Virgin to be delivering me 4K films at a high quality, so films will be rather a lot more than 2-3GB.
As such, given more material is likely to be streamed, we should prepare for people using 100s of GBs.
I thought Three did on their one plan
I know you're joking, but still.
For one, I meant data consumption in general will sky rocket in the future not just through increased usage of video streaming services, but the introduction of 4K.
For mobile then anyone with unlimited tethering could quite easily hook up a Smart TV, or a 4K enabled box, to stream content. In reality, by then there might be no unlimited tethering for anyone - but I do think people will be using 4G to stream 4K content. They'll just hit their limit far quicker.
And while there is great work being done on compression, I'd still expect the major broadcasters to be using high bitrates which will still mean very large files.
For most people a home broadband connection is more appropriate and will offer higher quality of service. There will be cases where mobile indeed outperforms fixed broadband but as has been mentioned by others 3 have been deliberately trying to deter or reduce the attraction of using their mobile tariffs as home broadband replacements, and other networks have set strict usage limits with no unlimited option at all.
In the mobile realm yes, data usage will go up, as it always does, but I doubt 4K will be a particularly big cause of it. For one there are no mobiles with 4K displays yet, and even then the standard Youtube mobile app's HD is still barely on par with 720p on a desktop, and that in turn is barely on par with a properly encoded high-quality 480p stream.
I wasn't talking about tomorrow. I was talking about the future and just making a point about someone using 100GB not being seen as 'an abuser' that should be capped because they dare exceed a figure picked out of the air - and the assumption that 99% of users would be okay with it.
You won't need to have a very high bitrate to get decent quality on a mobile phone...
It doesn't really matter how far in the future you want to go. The limit on screen resolution isn't the technology but the physical limits of human vision. 4K on a mobile (as opposed to tethered, tablet, or on a home device) isn't ever going to become mainstream.
As for the arbitrary figure thing, yes, I agree, I made the same point several pages ago. Similarly, I mentioned a while ago I could put a disproportionally high load on a mobile network with my usage patterns, despite using relatively low amounts of user data.
Sorry, I wasn't just referring to watching on a phone or tablet screen. I didn't make that clear.