Is 30 GB data enough for a month?
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How to figure out how much data you need.
| Internet activity | Minimum recommended data per month |
|---|---|
| Online gaming | 30 GB |
| Web browsing and checking email | 40 GB |
| Streaming music or podcasts | 13 GB |
A 30GB data plan will allow you to browse the internet for around 360 hours, to stream 6,000 songs or to watch 60 hours of standard-definition video. Nowadays, the key difference between mobile phone price plans is how many gigabytes of data it comes with.
2GB of data (or 2000MB) a month is a plan aimed at those who don't use mobile data often, but is enough to browse the web for around 80 minutes a day, or use social media apps for at least around 40 minutes per day. However, it is not suitable for those who stream lots of movies, or want to watch a lot of other videos.
100GB monthly data allowance
This should be more than enough for most people, but if that still won't cut it then an unlimited data plan should be ideal for you, as with that there are no limits.
Indeed, according to NPD, the average U.S. smartphone user now consumes a total of 31.4 GB of data on a monthly basis (a figure that includes both Wi-Fi and cellular consumption). That's up fully 25% from a year prior.
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.
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.
With 30GB of data per month, you're well into the kind of territory that will be suitable for heavy 5G usage. With 30GB (30000MB) at your disposal, you basically won't have to worry about the impact emailing, web browsing and social media will have on your usage.
If you play a lot of mobile games and/or take a lot of high-res photos, you'll want at least 128GB. However, if you don't use many apps and stream most of your content (like movies and music), you'll probably be fine with 64GB.
The best way to gauge your needs is to check your phone bills, which should tell you how much data you use each month. The average smartphone owner nowadays uses 2.9GB, reports NPD Group.
What uses the most data on a cell phone?
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.
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.
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.
If you are just checking your emails, 30Gb can last you many months/years (depending how busy is your inbox but still months). However if you stream/download a movie along a few friends in their devices using that hotspot, it will last you hours (streaming HD content would consume about 3Gb per hour).
For the above average phone user, 50GB looks to be more than enough to last for a whole month's activity, particularly when you consider that you probably won't need to use your mobile data for that entire time if you have Wi-Fi at home.
With your 40GB of data, you'll be able to browse the internet for approximately 480 hours per month, to stream 8,000 songs online or to watch 80 hours of online video in standard definition.
This means you'll use around 2 GB to stream a two-hour SD movie, 6 GB to stream the HD version or 14 GB for the 4K stream. A half-hour TV show would be 500 MB for the SD version, 1.5 GB for the HD version or 3.5 GB for 4K.
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.
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.
Data usage is how much data your phone uploads or downloads using mobile data. To make sure that you're not using too much data on your data plan, you can check and change your data usage.
How many GB is a 90 minute movie?
Using these figures, an average 90-minute HD film would use approximately 4.5GB of data. Binge-watch a 10-episode TV show in Ultra HD, with one-hour episodes, and that's a hefty 70GB of data.
Data used per hour, per device:
Standard definition: up to1 GB. High definition: up to 3 GB. Ultra high definition (4K): up to 7 GB.
The longer the film, the more data you use. The resolution you use also affects the amount of data you use. According to Netflix, you use about 1GB of data per hour for streaming a TV show or movie in standard definition and up to 3GB of data per hour when streaming HD video.
Like myself, you might think you can get by with your 10GB (or less) of 4G LTE data per month now, but for 5G applications, it won't be enough. To appreciate 5G, you'll have to upgrade to an unlimited data plan (if you aren't already on one) or pay more for your existing plan depending on your carrier.
With 5G Get More you get: Unlimited Premium network access – With 5G Get More, your unlimited high-speed data isn't slowed based on how much data you use. With previous plan versions, in times of congestion each line's data may be temporarily slower after the plan's monthly data allowance is reached.
The bigger screens mean the new phones use more data for tasks like downloading a video or images than the smaller models they replace. This means consumers can use their phone in the same way but see their data usage more than double.
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.
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.
1. Stop the social media madness. When you're uploading that hilarious photo or amazing video to your favorite social media app, remember that you're using data. An 8-megapixel photo on your smartphone can approach 5 megabytes, and some smartphones have more than 8 megapixels.
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.
How many GB is considered good?
Generally, we recommend 8GB of RAM for casual computer usage and internet browsing, 16GB for spreadsheets and other office programs, and at least 32GB for gamers and multimedia creators.
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.
It is a common misconception that making phone calls and sending text messages uses cellular data. These activities do not use data at all and most carriers now offer plans with unlimited talk and text.
It's worth knowing that despite your best efforts, some apps continue to use data in the background even while you don't have them open. There are many Android apps that, without your knowledge, will go ahead and connect to your cellular network even when the app is closed.
Applications make use of data to find messages, ads, notifications, find, install, and update apps. This consumes your data without you knowing. The best way to avoid this is to restrict apps' use of background data. This might mean you won't be notified of some messages or notifications.
Every time you use the Internet to do something on your phone, your monthly data meter goes up. Some apps and activities use more data than others, but in a nutshell, the types of mobile phone usage that rely on the Internet includes: Checking email. Posting and scrolling on social media.
TextFree is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service so it relies on either an internet connection OR carrier data to function properly. In order to use the app, you will need either: A strong WiFI connection or. An active data plan.
After turning off mobile data, you'll still be able to make and receive phone calls and get text messages. But you won't be able to access the internet until you reconnect to a Wi-Fi network.
If your phone detects that the Wi-Fi network stutters, it will switch to the mobile network, so that your phone still consumes mobile data even if it is connected to the Wi-Fi network. To disable Wi-Fi+, go to Settings, search for and access Wi-Fi+, and disable it.
Even on cell phone plans with unlimited data, there will be a cap for how much data you can use as a mobile hotspot. Once you reach that limit, the data will be deprioritized, which basically means your data speed will slow way down until your limit starts over the following month.
How many GB of hotspot Do I need a month?
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.
Mobile hotspots are dedicated devices that give you a hotspot connection. They're more expensive than phone hotspots, but they work a lot better for intensive hotspot use, connecting more devices and supporting faster speeds.
How long does 30GB of data last? 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.
Standard definition uses up to 0.3 GB per hour. High definition (720p) uses up to 1 GB per hour. Full HD (1080p) uses up to 3 GB per hour. UHD (4K) uses up to 7 GB per hour.
What does unlimited data mean? Unlimited data means exactly that - no limitations on the amount of data you can use. So you can scroll social media, browse online and WhatsApp as much as you like. However, there is a limit on the speed at which you can use your data.
How long will 30 GB of hotspot last? 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.
Standard definition uses up to 0.3 GB per hour. High definition (720p) uses up to 1 GB per hour. Full HD (1080p) uses up to 3 GB per hour. UHD (4K) uses up to 7 GB per hour.
Data used per hour, per device:
Standard definition: up to1 GB. High definition: up to 3 GB. Ultra high definition (4K): up to 7 GB.
SD (standard definition) streams use approximately 0.7 GB per hour. HD (high definition) streams use approximately 3 GB per hour. 4K (ultra high definition) streams use approximately 7 GB per hour.
A Wi-Fi hotspot uses wireless data from a cellular provider to give you internet access for phones, computers, tablets, and other Wi-Fi enabled devices. A mobile hotspot usually provides a connection over 4G LTE wireless technology, providing max speeds of around 30 Mbps.
Does using a hotspot use data?
When a device is connected to your phone's Mobile Hotspot feature or app, data usage is applied to your data plan's monthly allowance. After exceeding your plan's monthly high-speed allowance, you can still use Hotspot at lower speeds for the rest of the month.