I’ve been using my Android phone at home with my Wi-Fi. Totally free.
Getting ready to add a phone plan. Consumer Cellular offers 1.5GB for $20. Or I could get 3GB for $30. 4GB for $40. I think the smallest plan would be enough for occasionally checking email, my weather app, and Google maps? I don’t make many calls.
Any web surfing or youtube would be at home using Wi-Fi or at some location with free Wi-FI.
Do Smartphones always use Wi-Fi when available? I know the Wi-Fi symbol is the cone shaped coffee filter. If I see that then do I know it’s safe to web surf without wiping out my phone’s cellular data limit?
I’ve heard so many horror stories about data overage billing. Wanted to be sure I understood about Wi-Fi and cellular data usage.
Generally yes, if the wi-fi symbol is showing, your phone will not use cell for data, it’ll use wifi or fail to get any data at all, (if the wi-fi isn’t working properly.)
My galaxy android phone has something called “Download booster”, which enables using wi-fi and cell at the same time for faster data speeds. Check for anything like that and make sure it’s turned off if you don’t want it.
I don’t know about Android, but you can customize this on an iPhone–not allow any data usage for cellular (so you can only call and, I think, text), or you can allow some apps (mail and weather for you) to use cellular data, and others like YouTube are blocked from using cellular data.
You should be able to figure out your monthly usage for say the last year and buy a plan that suits.
Finally, I have Verizon and they will let me know if I’m in danger of going over my data allowance for the month. I can buy a little extra for that month only, which is cheaper than the “overage” fees, or bump up my whole plan if I’m constantly up against the limit.
A smartphone will use WiFi if it’s connected to WiFi. It won’t automatically connect to every unsecured access point, you would have to connect manually the first time you encounter that access point. Subsequent encounters with a previously used access point will automatically connect unless you tell your phone to forget it.
If you’re worried about going over on mobile data you can turn it off. I frequently do so when I’m using Google maps to navigate somewhere as it seems to use a ridiculous amount of data if you let it but still works perfectly offline.
The iPhone has a setting that will swap you over to cellular data automatically if it determines that the WiFi signal is weak. You can turn it off to avoid unnecessary cellular data usage (I always do).
As far as I know, all smartphones will use Wifi if they show the little Wifi symbol. Some phones have a feature where they’ll also use their cellular connection if the Wifi signal is weak/slow, but they all show “3G” or “LTE” or something in such a case.
Sometimes, I wish my phone were a little less willing to use Wifi. If I’m barely in range of a known Wifi network, my phone will basically time out waiting for the Wifi rather than switching to the cellular network.
My wife reminded me about updates. Android updates Apps regularly. That could use cellular data if I wasn’t connected to Wifi. But overall that wouldn’t be a big usage.
Consumer Cellular bumps you up to the next data plan if you exceed the one you’re in. I need to call and ask if that’s just for that one month.
Android’s Play App Store has a setting to only use Wi-Fi for automatic updates. If you do manual updates, it’ll happily update over cell data if you tell it to, but that’s on you, not Google.
We’re subscribers of Verizon which to most accounts is the most aggressively avaricious carrier in the known universe, and in our experience the bump is permanent until we ask to bump it back down. YMMV. It’s certainly worth asking.
A nice touch. I’m still on version 8 (you need 9 for this to work), and often I have to turn off WIFI because my phone is very weakly connected to the point where it’s useless, but it stubbornly stays on WIFI mode even though nothing is getting thru.
The last time I exceeded my data usage (last year at Christmas time when traveling) AT&T just bumped me up to the next level of usage and tacked on the $10 extra it would have cost if I’d been on that data plan. The next month’s bill was back to normal without any intervention on my part. It makes me a bit less paranoid about watching my data usage.
Oh and I’d both burned up my regular monthly allowance and the previous month’s rollover before getting dinged. (I think rollover data is used up first anyway.)
Some phones have load balancing as an option. This will use 4G data even when connected to Wifi, but will give you a faster connection because you are using both wifi and 4G at the same time.
I have an Android phone on Verizon with an unlimited data plan. I never use wifi. Used 160Gb last month with no issues. I stream music, use my hotpot for 4K video streaming and share my data with other devices constantly.
Yup. Walk into a mall & you’ll see 10 different wireless connections. The mall itself has one, & Macy’s has one, & the chain restaurant has one; all of which are public & open. Then you’ll also see ½-dozen password protected ones for various stores. They’re all within range & available (if you have a password for those that need one) but you’re not connected to any of them until you manually connect for the first time.
Android’s Google Play store has three setting for updating apps (in Settings):
[ul]
[li]Do NOT auto-update apps.[/li][li]Auto-update apps over WiFi only.[/li][li]Auto-update apps at any time. Data charges may apply.[/li][/ul]
Personally, I have it set to never auto update. It’s amazing, by reading the customer reviews, how many updates suck donkey balls. Frequently this is because the developer added obtrusive ads. If it’s a non-critical, non-secure app (like the bloatware that came with the phone that I never use & can’t delete w/o rooting or a game) guess what I never decide to update.
I use a Windows phone and I can customise the behaviour. Do note that just because Wifi is available does not mean that you are currently using it! Often you have to register or something.
And everyone of them you connect to wants your email address first so they can spam you, oops I mean send you valuable offers to save money.
We have at best 3G at home but more often 1G. My data plan gets shutoff and WiFi turned on when I get out of the vehicle. When I leave home, the data plan goes on (I get spotty 4G a mile away) and the Wifi goes off. We have a shared 10G plan for 5 phones that we haven’t exceeded yet. Kids are smart about the public WiFi usage and wife and I don’t stream to our phones.
Friday’s it’s so you can entertain yourself while waiting for food but I wonder how much of it use at Macy’s is to check online price/availability elsewhere?