Is 20 GB data a month enough?
20GB per month is considered to be a fairly large amount of mobile data, alongside 30GB and 50GB. Ofcom's 2021 report claims that most users have an average of 4.5GB of mobile data for the month, so 20GB is definitely above average.
A 20 GB file would take: 3.7 hours at 12 Mbps, or. 1.5 hours at 30 Mbps, or. 22.2 hours at 2 Mbps.
How much is 20GB of data? 20GB of data (or 20,000MB) ups those figures substantially. With that much monthly data you could on average stream around 4 hours of music, browse the web 2 hours and stream an episode of your favourite show every day, or potentially even a film.
You might need a hotspot allowance of 20GB or more to keep up with your binge-watching schedule. 20GB would give you 20 hours of streaming in standard definition, 30GB would give you 30 hours, and so on. If you're using your hotspot to game, depending on the game, you'll be using up 45MB-300MB per hour.
A 20GB data plan will allow you to browse the internet for around 240 hours, to stream 4,000 songs or to watch 40 hours of standard-definition video.
Usually internet providers give you 1 TB (1,000 GB) of data per month, although some providers like Xfinity have been slightly more generous. That's plenty for most people. But exceeding your cap leads to overage fees or throttled speeds.
With 25GB of data, you could stream audio for a very long time each month, though it's unlikely you'd find time to listen to 578 hours of music! Needless to say, you would have more than enough data to browse the internet and social media. You'd also have plenty of room to watch videos too.
Browsing the net with 2GB will last for around 33 hours. So you could browse for around one hour per day before reaching your limit. Similarly, you could use social media for less than an hour each day.
What uses the most data on your mobile device? Streaming HD video content is by far the biggest perpetrator when it comes to draining your monthly mobile data allowance, however it's the combination of everything you do your mobile device which adds up to your overall data threshold.
Streaming Movies or TV
A 1080p HD 60 fps 2-hour movie averages 6 GB in file size. A 1080p HD 30 fps 2-hour movie averages 3 GB in file size. A 720p HD 2-hour movie averages 2 GB in file size. A Standard Definition (SD) 2-hour movie averages 1 GB in file size.
How much data do I need a month?
To ensure you never run out of data, you'll probably need a monthly data allowance of around 20GB.
Monthly household broadband consumption 2010 to 2022
The monthly average of data consumed by internet users in the same period was 513.8 GB, or over half a terabyte. This is up 11% from the 2021 4th quarter report.

By most standards, 15GB is considered a fairly large data bundle. According to Ofcom's 2021 Market Report, the average monthly data used per mobile data connection was 4.5 GB. Considering this, 15GB is over triple the average!
Is 100 GB of Data Enough for a Month? 100 GB of data is more than enough for most users. Depending on the activities you do online, how frequently you're connected, and how many people in your household are connected at the same time, 100 GB could be plenty.
The average North American used 11.1 GB per month in 2020. But many people use a lot more than that. In this article, we'll help you figure out how much you need and how you can get a good deal on a data plan that meets your needs.
The standard unlimited data plan includes unlimited minutes, unlimited messages, and unlimited high-speed data up to a certain data cap. Usually this high-speed data cap is 22–23 GB.
As a rough guide, 1GB of data would let you do one of the following: Watch one hour and 20 minutes of video at Standard Definition. Stream roughly eight hours of high quality music (320kbps) Send or receive about 1000 emails.
Overall, for most casual smartphone users 64GB phone memory is enough, although many people prefer to choose between 128GB and 256GB. Those who use their mobile phone to the absolute maximum should consider phones with storage of 512GB and 1TB to avoid running out of storage space and suffering with a slow phone speed.
Time duration with 1GB*
As you can see, a 1GB bundle is quite small, and doesn't allow you to do a lot each month before it runs out. For reference, there are 720 hours in an average month, so if you watched one hour-long Netflix episode in standard definition, you'd be out of data!
Apps. Apps are likely the biggest data users on your phone. Anything that needs to connect to the Web to update, refresh, or download will use cell data. This means all your social media and streaming apps, from Facebook to Twitter, Spotify to Netflix, will quietly eat up your data.
Is 10 GB enough for a month?
How much is 10GB of data? According to Ofcom, the average person uses around 2.9GB of data per month, a statistic which is rising each year with the evolution of technology. That means 10GB is most likely more than enough for the average phone user.
100GB is a huge chunk of data to have access to each month. It's widely considered to be as close to an unlimited data plan as you can get without taking that final step.
5G users on average consume up to 2.7x more mobile data compared to 4G users. The latest generation of mobile technology, 5G, doesn't just enable much faster average speeds than 4G, it also adds a tremendous amount of new capacity.
If you are only planning to use mobile data for simple tasks such as Google, music and directions, you will not need more than a few GBs per week.
A 40GB data plan will allow you to browse the internet for around 480 hours, to stream 8,000 songs or to watch 80 hours of standard-definition video.
For most people, 30GB of data will be more than enough to last for an entire month's allowance. When you're out and about, your phone needs to consume data to complete tasks you ask of it, such as browsing the internet or watching videos.
Usage includes all the data you use; download & upload. When you access the Internet through your home network, wired or WiFi, using any device (including smartphones, tablets, or other devices that access the Internet), it will reflect your data usage.
- Streaming apps such as Netflix, Stan and Foxtel Now.
- Social media apps such as Tik Tok, Tumblr and Instagram.
- GPS and ridseharing apps such as Uber, DiDi and Maps.
You can send and receive text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages through the Messages app . Messages are considered texts and don't count toward your data usage. Your data usage is also free when you turn on chat features.
Streaming video
15GB gives you 21 hours of SD streaming. High definition (HD) streaming uses 2.5GB per hour. 15GB gives you just 6 hours of HD streaming.
How many GB needed for streaming?
480p: 562.5MB per hour. 720p: 1856.25MB (1.86GB) per hour. 1080p: 3.04GB per hour. 2160p (4K): 15.98GB per hour.
A 1GB data plan will allow you to browse the internet for around 12 hours, to stream 200 songs or to watch 2 hours of standard-definition video. Nowadays, the key difference between mobile phone price plans is how many gigabytes of data it comes with.
Frequent usage
25GB is roughly enough data for any one of the following: 1250 Hours browsing. 6000 Music Tracks. 160 Hours streaming music.
How many hours will 5GB of data last for? Theoretically, you could browse the internet for eight whole days without stopping before hitting your 5GB limit! In a more practical example, you could browse for a couple of hours every few days for the entire month.
According to Ericsson's November 2021 Mobility Report, the average person's data usage is 14.6 GB per month in North America. But for individuals on unlimited plans, the average data usage is between 18GB and 20GB per month.
With 30 GB of data you could binge watch about 10 hours of HD quality Netflix films. It all depends on what quality you want to watch it on as well. If you choose to watch your movies in SD then you could watch closer to 30 hours of films. It all depends on what your preferences are though.
It can also feel a little esoteric and difficult to grasp. According to that OpenVault broadband study I mentioned earlier, it all adds up to the average US household using approximately 514GB of data monthly. That data usage number is steadily on the rise. It's up 11% from the same time in 2021.
Mobile data is used in the background by some apps. If you keep it turned on, it will still be consuming your allowance even if you're not actively doing anything on your phone. Things get worse if you allow your apps to update using data.
During our tests TikTok used 70MB of data across five minutes, amounting to around 840MB in an hour under default settings. Using Data Saver this came to 30MB in five minutes or 360MB for an hour of viewing.
High definition (HD) streaming uses 2.5GB per hour. 100GB gives you 40 hours of HD streaming. 4K Ultra HD streaming uses about 6GB per hour. 100GB gives you 16 hours of 4K streaming.
Does unlimited data mean unlimited internet?
Having unlimited data means you can use the internet as much as you want without facing internet slowdowns or overage charges. Some internet providers offer unlimited data with their plans, so you can stream, game, and attend Zoom meetings to your heart's content.
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How Long Does 100GB Of Data Last?
Activity | 100GB data is equal to... |
---|---|
Downloading or streaming video (SD) | 200 hours |
Downloading or streaming video (HD) | 50 hours |
Using too much data on mobile
On a mobile data plan, using more than your allowance each month usually attracts a surcharge, or your provider may slow down your data connection. Your provider may automatically give you the extra data as a top-up and charge you for it as you use it.
With 25GB of data, you could stream audio for a very long time each month, though it's unlikely you'd find time to listen to 578 hours of music! Needless to say, you would have more than enough data to browse the internet and social media. You'd also have plenty of room to watch videos too.
To ensure you never run out of data, you'll probably need a monthly data allowance of around 20GB.
Activities that use a lot of data
High definition video streaming (900MB per hour) Video conferencing, like FaceTime® and Skype® (480MB per hour) Standard-definition video streaming (240MB per hour) Online interactive gaming (60MB per hour)
By most standards, 15GB is considered a fairly large data bundle. According to Ofcom's 2021 Market Report, the average monthly data used per mobile data connection was 4.5 GB. Considering this, 15GB is over triple the average!
How much is 10GB of data? According to Ofcom, the average person uses around 2.9GB of data per month, a statistic which is rising each year with the evolution of technology. That means 10GB is most likely more than enough for the average phone user.