[jmolina93]

I just got my new Torch yesterday, everything works great and I love this phone. The problem is that I could only afford the 200mbps per month data plan from At&t. I was wondering if there is a way to turn off the 3G connections but still get phone service. I know that I will exceed the 200mbps per month if there isn't, I want to only use wifi and just when I really need #g since I only have 200mbps which is pretty much nothing.[/SIZE]

Thanks

[pjmacklin]

there are 2 ways to do it: from the home screen, if you highlight the very top bar, go to mobile network options, you can change network mode from 3g/2g to 2g.

the second option is to go to "options," move the cursor down to network and connections, highlight mobile network and change network mode from 3g/2g to 2g.

[jmolina93]

so if I change it to 2G I will not use the 200mbps data plan and can connect to wifi???

[DX9]

Depends on your usage and how much you connect to wifi

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jmolina93]

So if I use use 2G or EDGE the phone will still be permanently connected to the internet??I have wifi connections pretty much everywhere I just don't want to pay the extra 20 for exceeding the 200mbps limit.

[DX9]

As I said it depends on usage. You will still use data for apps, emails, bbm, social network etc. I browse a lot on 3G, 20 emails a day, lots of bbm. Not a lot of apps but a few. Connect to wifi when I get home and I am hitting about 150MB a month

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jmolina93]

alright thanks bro,
so BBM, Emails and APPS only use with data plan??while for browsing and the rest you can connect it to wifi???
how many kbps does BBm consume???
Sorry this my first BB

[DX9]

Data is compressed with BB. Not like iPhone etc. I connect to wifi when I get home. No data usage then. That goes for apps, emails, bbm and internet browsing. I turn on my phone on at 7am and get home around 4pm. 3G is going all day till then for my everday usage including the browsing. I don't know how much bbm uses. Not much I don't think

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[usanicekid]

so.....if I turn to 2g mode...every email I received will only be done by wifi?

[IchigoMochi]

so.....if I turn to 2g mode...every email I received will only be done by wifi?

You'd still get emails through your provider so you will end up using data. The difference between 2g and 3g is the speed of the data.

[Masahiro]

Being connected to wifi will override your carrier data plan, regardless of whether you're on 2g or 3g. In fact, the only real advantage to switching to 2g only is better battery life. Although you can argue that 2g will discourage you from streaming and other data-intensive activities.

Nonetheless, one of the main points of a blackberry is that they are data-efficient. They could stay connected to your email account, bbm, gtalk, etc� with little impact on battery life and data usage. The reason for this is BIS. It's a network operations center that "pushes" all notifications directly to your phone so that it doesn't have to constantly poll servers and check for updates.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[usanicekid]

Being connected to wifi will override your carrier data plan, regardless of whether you're on 2g or 3g. In fact, the only real advantage to switching to 2g only is better battery life. Although you can argue that 2g will discourage you from streaming and other data-intensive activities.

Nonetheless, one of the main points of a blackberry is that they are data-efficient. They could stay connected to your email account, bbm, gtalk, etc� with little impact on battery life and data usage. The reason for this is BIS. It's a network operations center that "pushes" all notifications directly to your phone so that it doesn't have to constantly poll servers and check for updates.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I'm a newbie to BB so I'll be asking dumb questions. So..receiving emails, bbm, gtalk will always be using the carrier's network (instead of wifi)? But browsing web pages and watching videos on youtube can be done by wifi? I can only afford a 200MB data plan for each month. So this is really my concern.

Can we check how much data are transferred in BB? So I can avoid exceeding the limit.

[jmolina93]

When there is an email notification, does that mean that the email is saved on the internal memory and I can check it without using data plan or data plan was already used to receive the email and now I can check it "freely" (not using data plan)??
also is there an app to check your data plan usage??

Sorry for the dumb questions you guys....

[louielouielouie]

I'm in the same situation with the same questions.

Am I understanding it right that if I'm some place with a wi-fi that it is recognizes I'm automatically using the wi-fi instead of the network so this isn't counted against my data use?

Also, when I'm using the browser and I want to be signed off and done, if I just press the red key does it do that or am I supposed to be doing something else? I read some place I should use the escape key but I'm not sure where that even is.

Thanks to the experienced folks for helping out the newbies.

[usanicekid]

bump! input needed!

[mykey2k]

Unless you're on a WiFi network, everything will go through your Carrier.

USUALLY if you are using WiFi, your data applications should use the WiFi Connection.

If you are on AT&T, you can log in to your account online and check your data usage.

The Escape Key is the one with the arrow, to the left of the red button.

When you receive an email the first few Kilobytes come in. If there is more, you scroll so far until you see a footer saying effective "More Available, 12345 bytes"

If you are very worried about data usage, go in to your message options and untick the box that says "Auto More" Then you can pull more up if you need to by using the menu. Any email on your phone is on your phone. You do not need a data connection to read received emails that are saved there.

The BB instant messaging clients like BBM, GTalk, MSN, Yahoo, AOL usually switch over seamlessly between WiFi and the Carrier Network.

You can also turn off Data Services which will only turn it off on the Carrier network if you are too concerned. It should connect when you get to a WiFi spot.

Additionally you can view your Services Status to see if you're on WiFi or Carrier.

I guess that's about it.

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

Blackberry devices are already data efficient, but there are some things that you can do to make your blackberry more data efficient. For those of you who like to use streaming media like Pandora should probably use Slacker radio instead because you can cache stations. You cannot watch tv through att service on wifi. So I would in to the actual sites like nbc or cbs and watch over wifi. Also, you can download content on your computer and sync it to your phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Stinsonddog]

ATT has an app - not sure if its out for the Torch where you can check your minutes or you can txt them and they txt back with usage. I don't have the instructions handy.

[5picker]

Wifi does indeed over-ride your carrier network for data when you turn it on and wifi is available. If that's not insurance enough and you want to be positively sure you are only using wifi when available... just turn off your network connection. I do this at work all the time simply because we have no network coverage inside our steel building but we have wifi everywhere.

[green_ember]

AT&T claims that 65% of it's users consume less than 200MB a month, so if you're constantly around WiFi, I'm guessing you'll be safe. Whenever you're connected to WiFi with internet access, your berry will send its BIS traffic over the WiFi without any action required on your part.

[anon(49433)]

OK guys, to the OP: your question shouldn't be how to change from 3g to 2g, it should be how to turn DATA off. You want JUST GSM so phone calls will work. If you have 2g (edge) OR 3g, your data WILL USE THE 200MB.
What you want to do is highlight your top bar of your homescreen where the clock is, select it. it'll pull down the network connections screen. Scroll down to Mobile Network Options. Select it. Turn DATA SERVICES OFF. Turn it off for roaming too. THEN it will only use wifi for data, and you'll still get phone calls.

[insaini]

OK guys, to the OP: your question shouldn't be how to change from 3g to 2g, it should be how to turn DATA off. You want JUST GSM so phone calls will work. If you have 2g (edge) OR 3g, your data WILL USE THE 200MB.
What you want to do is highlight your top bar of your homescreen where the clock is, select it. it'll pull down the network connections screen. Scroll down to Mobile Network Options. Select it. Turn DATA SERVICES OFF. Turn it off for roaming too. THEN it will only use wifi for data, and you'll still get phone calls.

thisis exactly what i was going to post ...

come on guys it took 21 posts to get to this ???

2g and 3g both use data .. if you dont want data to be used ... go to your mobile network settings and turn "DATA SERVICES" to off

that way it only uses 2g/3g for phone and no data ...

[calicocat2010]

ATT has an app - not sure if its out for the Torch where you can check your minutes or you can txt them and they txt back with usage. I don't have the instructions handy.

It's easy to get a text message containing how much data you're using. Just call the View Data Usage selection from your Contacts. You will get a text message sent stating how much data you are using.....and how many text messages.

[homer1475]

If your on AT&T dial these numbers from your device and you'll receive a text message response:

*3282# for data usage and text/mms messages used

*646# for minutes used.