A few questions regarding WiFi and Data usage

Today I got a new Blackberry Bold 9900 and Panther contract with Orange, I have 400 free minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited BB services (incl. BBM) and 750mb of data. Now my previous contract included unlimited data so I didn't have to worry about what I was using and when, therefore I am quite naive about this whole data usage malarkey so forgive me if these questions seem completely noobish but I'll go ahead:

• 1) Firstly, is 750mb a decent amount of data? I mainly use BBM, Facebook and ocassionally use the browser to browse other webpages but it's not extensive
• 2) Is there a way I can use my home internet (via wifi I'm assuming) whilst at home so I don't use my data up, and how do I go about doing this, and setting my device to connect automatically through wifi if possible rather than using my 3G data?
• 3) If I download the Facebook app or Twitter app for example and Menu > Close the app rather than just backing out, will this stop the app from using up my data or will the app use data whilst it is on my phone?
• 4) And finally, BBM will surely need to use data to connect even though I have free messaging, how much data does it take up as it will be continually online on my phone?

Apologies for so many questions but I just want to get these things cleared up before I start getting to grips with my new device, I will be very grateful if anybody can help me with these, thanks in advance.

1. For a Blackberry, pretty much anything is a decemt amount of data, especialy with unlimited BB services. RIM compresses the data as it comes through their servers, so you go through your data about three times slower than the average smartphone user. For example, my billing cycle started about a week ago, and normally by this point, I would have gone through about 200-250MB of data usage on myold Android. As of today I have used 83MB with the same, or very similar usage to previous months.

2. Absolutely! Just turn the wi-fi on and the phone does the rest once you're connected to your home network. WiFi connections take priority, so you'll be viewing the web over your WiFi whilst connected.

3. Go into the options of your social networking apps and turn the refresh interval either down quite a bit, or turn it off completely. Then it will never refresh in the background and therefore will not eat up your data (not that that is really possible with a BB) without you using it. You'll still get all your notifications as they come in though :)

4. BBM will not use any of your actual data for sending and receiving messages. It only requires that you have data so that you already have a connection to the RIM servers through the other means on your phone. If you have unlimited BBM, you will never have to pay extra for using it, nor will you be able to go over your limit as a result of BBM.

It's going to be really hard for you to use all of your data in a month, and really, I would not worry about going over. Just do what you wouldn normally do for a month, and then guage your usage from there for the following months :)

JB

What he said :) If you are using streaming services like Pandora you might want to watch it, or limit your use to when you have wifi. But even for music streaming you'd have to use it a lot.

Facebook is a notorious data hog. Exit it when not in use. But you ought to be fine.

Thank you both, great help!

I am on a prepay service can I get BBM?

Doubtful, unless you're already paying for some kind of data or have something like, unlimited social networking included in your pre-pay package.

JB

Originally Posted by Katmandoitall

I am on a prepay service can I get BBM?

Yes some service providers have add-ons.
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With all the apps and everything I have on my phone, I use less than 500 MB of data. I don't stream movies or music. But I spend a lot of time on the net, Facebook and RSS. The EverNote app takes most of the data for its sync.
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You have Unlimited BB service and yet also have 750mb data usage. So I am assuming that you can surf all you want and download as much as you want as long the data its through your phone. If you want to do tethering, then it will be deducted from your 750mb plan.

I am not sure about Youtube on your phone. Give a try and see how it goes. Monitor your data usage and see how it goes

- Charles

Umlimited BB service wouldn't include regular browsing on regular websites, nor would it include social networking. It would include BBM, surfing through the app world and possibly even the download of apps made by BB/RIM (though I'm not sure about that one). If you open the browser and start doing google searches, that will come out of your data.

JB

I'm on the same Panther plan, and I only use up about 400MB and I hammer my phone.

Another noobish question, I've now set up everything on my device and connected successfully to my home router. The wifi connection is ticked on the connections menu with my router name next to it, it also displays my router name next to 'Orange' at the top of my screen, however, the 3G symbol is still there in the right hand corner. Does this mean my data is being used still or is it there constantly and will just use my wifi when possible?

It will always be there. For all intents and purposes, the 3G connection is inactive while you are connected to WiFi (WiFi takes priority). The only time that your 3G connection will be in use is if you are doing something that can only be done on the 3G connection (eg. Rogers My Account app).

EDIT: From my post above, at this point in the month, I would have used well over 500 MB of my data by now when I was using Android - I am now just over 150MB usage, with only slightly less usage so far this month compared to last month. Really not sure how I'll go through this 1GB every month with the way RIM compresses things.

JB

Originally Posted by RelapseA

Another noobish question, I've now set up everything on my device and connected successfully to my home router. The wifi connection is ticked on the connections menu with my router name next to it, it also displays my router name next to 'Orange' at the top of my screen, however, the 3G symbol is still there in the right hand corner. Does this mean my data is being used still or is it there constantly and will just use my wifi when possible?

If you notice the 4 dots by 3G will switch to being beside the wifi signal when using wifi. If it is by the 3G then it is using your phones data.

there's an app called 'your orange' which will show your usage. It's easy.

Ahh, thanks again everyone :)