Originally Posted by Lidtop2013:
“Best way of putting it! You can check easily how much data your using then work out what data plan you need. Not many people need unlimited data so don't just assume you need that, you might be able get save money by having a cheaper data plan if you don't use alot of it”
Not many people need a lot of things, but as a consumer buying a nice smartphone or wanting to buy in entertainment services people don't want to A) go over and end up with a big bill or B) run out and be stuck with no data because occasionally their use patten it out of the ordinary or changes over time.
I find that typically I use around 5-10GB of tethering out of my 30GB tethering allowance and about 1-4GB of mobile data on the phone. However I can end up using loads more sometimes, like when I take train journeys or go away to see family etc.
It's not like the unlimited plans are much different in price, for £21 I can get unlimited with £30GB tethering, if I had to sit and work out what I use then I have to make sure in future I never want to use more than that, I have to predict that nothing will change and that I won't have a month of heavier usage because my home broadband goes down for a few days etc
I'd rather pay not much difference at all in price so that I never have to worry about it, don't need to calculate it and can use what I want when I want. If a new app I like uses a lot more data fine. If I'm out and I want to update my offline maps or download a really large app, I don't have to think twice I can just do it. I remember back in the olden days when I was on a fixed data allowance I was checking my usage on a little app all the time, no more of that.
In the event that an app uses loads of data and I don't realise or I fall asleep with Twitch running or something stupid and wake up 7 hours later it doesn't matter, I haven't used up all my allowance and no charges. That 'niceness' of just not giving a *** and another thing in life that's off the meter is worth every penny, not that it even costs any different really, unless you're a very light user and I can easily afford it.
I think that's the attraction of unlimited plans, I also couldn't care less what the speedtest says. When I stayed away in a hotel on Tuesday I was able to watch the same services as I could at home and browse with a reasonable standard of speed, including streaming in 1080, so I'm happy, I don't need anything more than that.