Data use?

[Happy Jack]

I'm with 1p mobile for my android phone and our tp link portable router.
Never had bother running out of data up to now but in our Northumberland 4 day trip had used 75% of 10Gb monthly boost
Normal usage us streaming into our Chromebook for telly on a night, might get a proper TV in the future.
Use our tablets, usually just googling stuff although I play chess online a lot. I'm on 50% win rate so I'm mediocre but I enjoy playing.
Also, use my android phone for all the normal use.
So I upped the data to 25Gb.
3 day trip just finished had used 35%.
Was 3, 2.5 and1.8 GB over the 3 days.
Only real change was that I'm doing a blog on here if each trip as it progresses.
Posting includes attaching photos and uploading videos to you tube then sharing to Mfun.
Also often on Google maps with my phone.
Want to keep blogging but our upcoming trips are going to be way longer.
Can anyone say what the most likely reason for heavy use is ?

 

[barryd]

To be honest I would consider that light usage from what I am used to. Streaming is the killer. Watching an hour of TV or YouTube can consume 1-2gb but it depends on what resolution you are viewing at.

Using forums, emails, or even updating your blog won't use much. Of course phones and laptops will take it upon themselves to run updates which certainly on a Windows machine (Which you are not using) can sometimes be really big. There are ways to limit those but I think it will be your streaming thats eating into it.

We both got 250gb contracts with TalkMobile (Vodafone) as we both use a lot of data and we just dont worry about it now. I think they were £13.95 a month or something like that each so cheap enough. 250gb on a phone is effectively unlimited for less than the general unlimited price. You would have to really go at it to use it all. I think I used 150gb once in a month.

 

[starquake]

Depends on the TV, but probably TV is the use, it's about 1-2Gb per hour these days unless you lower the quality SIGNIGICANTLY.
You may find it better for data use to use a firestick on a real tv as you can control the stream qualitys a bit easier from my experience on those.

Live Sport on NowTV uses 10Gb an hour if you want it "watchable" for football.

In comparison for us, 2 ipads, 1 TV (where we only use the internet for the telly) and we use on a 3 day weekend usually 20-25Gb. So if we are away as we are for next month near every weekend, we'd need 100Gb for just the weekends. In reality we use 1-150Gb, so we have a Unlimited and a 500Gb sim now.

(you can get huge data sims for UK use off amazon for buttons, we have a 500Gb running at moment that we got for £80 on Black Friday valid for about 2 years, so under £5 a month.

 

[starquake]

At moment best deal seems to be https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-500GB-Data-SIM-Preloaded-Pink/dp/B0DK247RKN/?tag=mhf04-21 this sim, valid until October, 500Gb a month every month from now until October for £40. ie, entire summer season covered for £10/month.

If you wait until Black Friday you'll probably ifnd you can get a sim for next summer for similar money. It's always worth chceeking amazon for these deals on Black Friday, and you'll find you never need to worry about data use again.

 

[DavidG58]

I streamed the autumn series (rugby) last year while away, we used 100Gb in 10 days away luckily on unlimited plan

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[Wombles]

Some SIM deals here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/ that may be worth a look if they fit with your set up. We download as much good stuff as we can including series from Netflix on our tablet before each trip so less need to stream.

 

[jumar]

I streamed the autumn series (rugby) last year while away, we used 100Gb in 10 days away luckily on unlimited plan

Yep..that's about our consumption too..
Live Sport on TV need big data plans or unlimited..

 

[starquake]

I streamed the autumn series (rugby) last year while away, we used 100Gb in 10 days away luckily on unlimited plan

Yeah, as my post above fast moving sport (and Rugby is fast at time) rinses data. It's about double to triple the data rate of something like a newscaster showing news. 10Gb a match is what we normally reakon if you doing it in watchable quality. You can lower the data rate with a firestick but you get the ball missing sometimes on football games if you do that.

And unlike tv series which as Wombles correctly points out you can pre-download if you not on road weeks, sport needs the data live if you want to watch live.

We do a mixture in all honesty, we have a laptop with some series on, we have a dvd player in the telly for if all else fails (with a few backup dvd's). But nothing beats being able to pickup a TV series from where you left it in the house when going away in the motorhome without needing the prep.

 

[barryd]

Blimey! I thought I used a lot of data but it seems Im a lightweight!

 

[Happy Jack]

To be honest I would consider that light usage from what I am used to. Streaming is the killer. Watching an hour of TV or YouTube can consume 1-2gb but it depends on what resolution you are viewing at.

Using forums, emails, or even updating your blog won't use much. Of course phones and laptops will take it upon themselves to run updates which certainly on a Windows machine (Which you are not using) can sometimes be really big. There are ways to limit those but I think it will be your streaming thats eating into it.

We both got 250gb contracts with TalkMobile (Vodafone) as we both use a lot of data and we just dont worry about it now. I think they were £13.95 a month or something like that each so cheap enough. 250gb on a phone is effectively unlimited for less than the general unlimited price. You would have to really go at it to use it all. I think I used 150gb once in a month.

Thanks barryd, come to think we were watching more live TV, we usually watch stuff we've downloaded at home to take with us
But lately most of the dramas seem to be hogwash.
EG, watching last episode of "the replacement" last night the hit and run driver who was also speeding was seen spoken to by the cops but wasn't prosecuted cos "it was an accident"
Do they think we're in Yankland where killing a motorbiker while driving on the wrong side of the road is simply a tragic accident.
Anyway, rant over; will start looking at plan giving more data or stream live much less.

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[starquake]

Blimey! I thought I used a lot of data but it seems Im a lightweight!

It'll be interesting if the data situation this year has improved in North Norfolk as we off to a C&CC site this weekend there, that 2 years ago, we were lucky to even get a streaming blocky Cricket match on (I was watching the ashes last time we went). If it's bad, we'll have to resort to regular through aerial TV + dvd for the weekend.

ie, I suspect this weekend I'll be limitd more by the awful congested signal in North Norfolk (given it's a bank holiday and everyone will be there) than my own desires to use the data. This is why we always go with options, and will have downloaded TV + DVD's as a backup if I can't watch the football on Sunday.

 

[starquake]

Oh should mention the Mac update this weekend (we use Mac's) was >12 Gb in size, totally killed the wifi hotspot at the static caravan we were using this weekend for a few hours. Quite common as mentioned for Laptop updates to be similar sized.

 

[barryd]

It'll be interesting if the data situation this year has improved in North Norfolk as we off to a C&CC site this weekend there, that 2 years ago, we were lucky to even get a streaming blocky Cricket match on (I was watching the ashes last time we went). If it's bad, we'll have to resort to regular through aerial TV + dvd for the weekend.

ie, I suspect this weekend I'll be limitd more by the awful congested signal in North Norfolk (given it's a bank holiday and everyone will be there) than my own desires to use the data. This is why we always go with options, and will have downloaded TV + DVD's as a backup if I can't watch the football on Sunday.

If you have a local postcode all the main providers have a coverage checker so you can see what the signal is. I use them all the time for Vodafone and sometimes EE as it often has an influence on where we stay in the van. I used to have to buy an EE Sim whenever we went to one of our favourite CL's in the Lake District as my Vodafone sim would not work. However they recently put up new masts and now its brilliant so it worth checking.

 

[starquake]

If you have a local postcode all the main providers have a coverage checker so you can see what the signal is. I use them all the time for Vodafone and sometimes EE as it often has an influence on where we stay in the van. I used to have to buy an EE Sim whenever we went to one of our favourite CL's in the Lake District as my Vodafone sim would not work. However they recently put up new masts and now its brilliant so it worth checking.

Oh I carry EE and Three sims in the van for this reason. It's just North Norflk around Cromer on a bank holiday weekend is around the worst of all scenarios (it's peak data use at many coastal regions of entire year). Just because you have signal in this case won't mean you have usable data -> congestion as everyone comes to coast is like Glastonbury during the festival versus in a normal weekend.

I fully know there will be coverage in effect, just don't know if it'll be usable (despite having antenna on roof etc).

 

[Happy Jack]

Some SIM deals here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/ that may be worth a look if they fit with your set up. We download as much good stuff as we can including series from Netflix on our tablet before each trip so less need to stream.

Yes I normally download from Netflix and BBC, but the last 2 trips were streaming a lot more than usual.
Will have to pay more attention.
Would like to download ITV, C4;all5 but that doesn't seem to be possible on a chromebook.
Luckily we are not TV dependent and we dont watch sport.

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[Vanman]

You mentioned Videos and pictures, they too can be killers if the resolution is too high - or the videos last a while. Best to check their size before you upload.

 

[Happy Jack]

You mentioned Videos and pictures, they too can be killers if the resolution is too high - or the videos last a while. Best to check their size before you upload.

Videos normally last no more than 30secs.
Pics are just smartphone photos.

 

[starquake]

Videos normally last no more than 30secs.
Pics are just smartphone photos.

Per photo you are looking at 4-8Mbyte usually, but video is effectively a series of photos, so can be quite large, quite quickly.
Apple phones also take photos which are 1-2 second videos, so if you actually back these up they take more space than a photo off a Google phone.

If you have auto-backup to cloud selected on your devices (as we do) you will find your phone will backup all data every night too!

 

[Minxy]

YouTube, X etc are 'hidden' gobblers, no idea why but apparently they can really use a lot of gb of data.

I've just bought some preloaded sims for our holiday lodges' guests to use as the site wifi is pants since the site stopped doing the bookings ... of course they deny doing anything at all the lying *****.

Anyway, below is what I bought, 350gb data (UK only) renews each month until December 2026, one-off cost of £39.99+VAT and delivery, no contract, no monthly fee, that's it. Tried them at our lodges and they fly.

Three Preloaded

www.scancom.co.uk

 

[BikerGraham]

YouTube, X etc are 'hidden' gobblers, no idea why but apparently they can really use a lot of gb of data.

I've just bought some preloaded sims for our holiday lodges' guests to use as the site wifi is pants since the site stopped doing the bookings ... of course they deny doing anything at all the lying *****.

Anyway, below is what I bought, 350gb data (UK only) renews each month until December 2026, one-off cost of £39.99+VAT and delivery, no contract, no monthly fee, that's it. Tried them at our lodges and they fly.

Three Preloaded

www.scancom.co.uk

Was just looking at this to replace the same I use at home which ends in June. Cracking deal. 350GB has been more than enough for home.

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[starquake]

YouTube, X etc are 'hidden' gobblers, no idea why but apparently they can really use a lot of gb of data.

X is because it preloads videos even if you don't watch them all in some cases.
Youtube has a similar feature with shorts, and it tends to cache ahead even if you change video. So i fyou watch something for 3 mins, it'll probably have actually downloaded 6 mins in case you continue. Netflix and other services tend to cache ahead "less".

Youtube also tends to try the highest quality it can "by default" unless you have told it not to (telling it to use data saver quality a few times helps on the ipad/iphone version).

For our use the heaviest use is the TV watching, followed by youtube. Then X, then Spotify (podcasts), with lowest being radio streaming. Particuarly when we travel we tend to use the Radio if English radio is not available locally.

 

[starquake]

Was just looking at this to replace the same I use at home which ends in June. Cracking deal. 350GB has been more than enough for home.

I agree, I will swap teh one I have expiring this Septermber with that, thats stupid cheap when you work it out monthly.
People keep telling us (on here) that these deals with stop, but as I've pointed out on here I've been using Scancom since 2019 ish for both EE and Three deals and nothing touches their value (I note they are doing some quite reasonable EE Unlimited deals again too).

 

[Minxy]

I agree, I will swap teh one I have expiring this Septermber with that, thats stupid cheap when you work it out monthly.
People keep telling us (on here) that these deals with stop, but as I've pointed out on here I've been using Scancom since 2019 ish for both EE and Three deals and nothing touches their value (I note they are doing some quite reasonable EE Unlimited deals again too).

Yes, I must say many thanks for posting the info previously, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have known to look at Scancom and would've ended up having to pay for 2 x monthly contracts that would cost a heck of a lot over the same 20 month time period. I bought a couple of ZTE MF286D routers off Ebay for £39.99 each, they're used 'grade C' but via a company that checks and guarantees them for a year and they actually look like they've not been used at all however they don't come with the original packaging.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28518506...pid=5339023013&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

Oh, if you buy via Quidco you also get 12% cashback on Three pre-loaded sims and if you go via my referral link you'll get a £20 joining reward too once you've earned £5 cashback: https://www.quidco.com/raf/6017289/

https://www.quidco.com/scancom/?st=Scancom&tr=22040&fn=search-typeahead&fr=top&si=1778c6c1-b193-4d71-89d5-ebefb73d8e53&sv=4-MS

 

[starquake]

Yes, I must say many thanks for posting the info previously, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have known to look at Scancom and would've ended up having to pay for 2 x monthly contracts that would cost a heck of a lot over the same 20 month time period. I bought a couple of ZTE MF286D routers off Ebay for £39.99 each, they're used 'grade C' but via a company that checks and guarantees them for a year and they actually look like they've not been used at all however they don't come with the original packaging.

Its no probs, glad it's helped your problems in your rentals ; As you say you can genuinely end up paying more in 2 months than you will for 18 months on scancom deals for the same service on the same network.

The only issue and why I keep a native 3 contract is the trips into France before I can buy a local sim card there. The 12Gb gives enough for the first night until we make it to a French contact (friend who loans a sim) or contract if we not going via Johns house. As scancom deals don't do roaming, it's useless for a French or Spanish trip.

Also glad the 286D's work, it's the best router for the money in a non-motorhome setting, we'd use em at our static vans ourselves but theres that poor signal at present that we are still having to use the huge gain dishes (we were there last weekend to realign the dishes ... again). (one issue with huge dish antenna is in windy coastal east yorks the wind requires us to realign the installs every 5 months with tools, as without doing this the performance drops month on month, as the dish aim has to be accurate to a few millimeters).

 

[Minxy]

Where's your statics? Ours are at Fitling.

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[Minxy]

The only issue and why I keep a native 3 contract is the trips into France before I can buy a local sim card there. The 12Gb gives enough for the first night until we make it to a French contact (friend who loans a sim) or contract if we not going via Johns house. As scancom deals don't do roaming, it's useless for a French or Spanish trip.

We get Lebara sims, currently have a couple of 50gb @ 42p a month for 8 months which includes 30gb roaming, that price isn't available at the moment but they are doing it for £1 a month:

Lebara SIM 50GB for £1/month for 8 Months | Unlimited Calls at Lebara | hotukdeals

www.hotukdeals.com

 

[starquake]

Where's your statics? Ours are at Fitling.

Far Grange near Brid. Family live there and you can't get BT to deliver a line delivering more than 7Mbit (they live there near enough).

 

[Minxy]

I know FG well, used to hold a microcar rally there.

 

[Happy Jack]

Per photo you are looking at 4-8Mbyte usually, but video is effectively a series of photos, so can be quite large, quite quickly.
Apple phones also take photos which are 1-2 second videos, so if you actually back these up they take more space than a photo off a Google phone.

If you have auto-backup to cloud selected on your devices (as we do) you will find your phone will backup all data every night too!

Cloud account would be handy I suppose but that implies a monthly fee ?

 

[Happy Jack]

YouTube, X etc are 'hidden' gobblers, no idea why but apparently they can really use a lot of gb of data.

I've just bought some preloaded sims for our holiday lodges' guests to use as the site wifi is pants since the site stopped doing the bookings ... of course they deny doing anything at all the lying *****.

Anyway, below is what I bought, 350gb data (UK only) renews each month until December 2026, one-off cost of £39.99+VAT and delivery, no contract, no monthly fee, that's it. Tried them at our lodges and they fly.

Three Preloaded

www.scancom.co.uk

If I got one of them for my TP link would my Android phone with the 1p mobile sim connect with it ?