Help with Vodafone dongle

freakyogre

Hi,

I signed up yesterday for a Vodafone USB stick (3GB) and can't figure out how the usage is monitored.

When I check the usage now it says that the 3G usage is currently 56h 7mins (last night it said something like 143hrs). Volume wise it says 3G usage is 280mb. It was automatically set at a 50mb limit which I understand is to give you a rough idea of how much you're using.

However, like I say I only got this yesterday so haven't even had it for 24 hours so the usage monitor doesn't seem to make a lot of sense!

I have tried registering on Vodafone's site to ask, but don't seem to be getting very far and I all I keep finding to explain it is "check your usage monitor".

All I really need to know is realistically, how much can I use it each month without going over my 'limit'? I only use the internet for browsing and the (very) occasional download so can't imagine this could use a lot of my time up, but don't want to be hit with a massive bill at the end of the month. Also, is there anyway of tracking this rather than with their programme as this isn't very clear?

Thanks for any help
Clover

macman

It seems the usage meter is going backwards! I wouldn't worry about the hours used, because the billing is based on data sent and received-it's the data volume you need to watch. If the volume meter is correct, then you have used about 10% of your monthly 3Gb in one day. But I don't understand how the limit can be set at 50MB (daily limit?), because this would only allow you to use approx 1.5GB of your 3GB allowance every month...you need to talk to Vodafone about this.
I use a 3 PAYG dongle on which I buy 30 days usage in 1GB blocks for a tenner. For browsing/email, these easily last me a week. So 3GB-5GB per month should suit most people. Obviously once you start downloading music/watching youtube etc, your usage will soar.

freakyogre

Hiya,

Thanks for your reply. The time bit is really confusing as now it reads 66h 29mins for 3G usage so according to that it has increased 10 hours in just over 3 hours! I think i'll ring them tomorrow and see what they say.

Just to clarify (sorry if this seems like a very silly question), but I take it I have 3GB each month, so at the moment i'm just under 300mb so I should have 2.7GB left? Also, do you know if this resets on the 1st of each month, or a month from signing up? I probably should have asked a few more questions before signing up.

Reading about the 50mb limit I think it is purely there to give you a guide on usage as you can adjust it to whatever you want in the settings (although it did give me a shock telling me I was near the limit after only an hour online!)

macman

Yes, 1000MB=1GB, so you have 2.7GB left. I would imagine the usage runs from your contract start date, but check with Vodafone to be sure.
If you set it to about 96Mb then that would give you a guide to what your (average) daily usage would be to stay within your limit.
PS: you probably know this already, but if you take your laptop abroad don't even think about connecting via the dongle, as the roaming charges can be huge.