3 mobile broadband usage

freakyogre

I am probably asking a question that can't really be answered but I am finding something a bit strange.


Until last week I was on a 12 month contract with Vodafone for mobile broadband (a dongle). I was paying £15 a month + insurance for 3GB which was good, but I found I was barely using 1GB a month, so decided to cancel the contract hoping to switch straight to pay as you go. I was under the impression that it was £5 for 1GB, £10 for 2GB and £15 for 3GB, but when I went to buy one on Saturday, I was told they only did £15 for 1GB now, so I went elsewhere.

I finally settled on a 3 dongle (after visiting EVERY phone shop) and paid £10 for 1GB which expires if not used in a month. I thought that would be plenty, but my remaining 'credit' seems to be dropping rapidly. I don't download a lot, visit the same sites all the time and haven't changed what i've done online since last week, so I find it a bit odd that since Saturday I have used over 400MB of my 'limit'.

How can it be so different when i'm on a different network? Surely a different network can't just use more when i'm doing the same things?

I wish i'd stuck with my contract now to be honest!

Thanks for any help.

dylanuk

Vodafone used to a 1GB pay as you go deal for £15 that lasted forever, e.g. didn't expire - you can't get it anymore, although it is still available on Amazon.co.uk.

Vodafone's pay as you go deal is now 3GB for £15 that expires after 30 days.

You can actually get a 1-month rolling contract with Three that costs £15 for 5GB of data.

As for how much usage you're getting through, it's hard to say. I wouldn't be surprised if different networks used different types of data compression over their mobile networks - which could result in more or less data being downloaded depending on the compression.

As an example, Blackberry mobile phones use a very specific form of compression for web browsing that allows mobile phone networks to affordably offer unlimited data plans on Blackberry - that say they can't offer affordably on iPhones.

You wouldn't expect it to be that different, but that would be my first guess. My second guess would be that the software on the mobile broadband dongle to monitor the Internet usage may also monitor it slightly differently.

web_ferret

When you say "credit" do you mean money or Mb?

With 3 you get 150mb of free usage for a £10 top up, any other Mb are chargable. You MUST convert your £10 to a broadband add on using the online control panel. This is free to access and does not use up any money or Mb.

Other thoughts:
Has your computer downloaded any updates as this would explain your missing Mb.
What software are you using to monitor your usage? Were you using the vodafone software and are now using the 3 software?

freakyogre

web_ferret wrote: »

When you say "credit" do you mean money or Mb?

With 3 you get 150mb of free usage for a £10 top up, any other Mb are chargable. You MUST convert your £10 to a broadband add on using the online control panel. This is free to access and does not use up any money or Mb.

Other thoughts:
Has your computer downloaded any updates as this would explain your missing Mb.
What software are you using to monitor your usage? Were you using the vodafone software and are now using the 3 software?

I mean MB. I didn't get 150mb free when I topped up, although there must have been a small amount on there when I started though as I was able to get online before I topped up.

It downloaded one update when I first installed it, but I have been ignoring the next update (not sure why it has an update a week after i've installed one). I use the software that came with each dongle.

I have actually been to a Vodafone shop today and signed a new contract with them and got a new dongle. At the moment I am using what is left on my 3 dongle which is apparently 193MB, so this means I have used almost 1GB in 2 weeks, whereas with Vodafone I was barely use 1GB in a month, it just doesn't make sense, but sadly £20+ a month on 3 isn't good enough so when this runs out, I will be installing the Vodafone one again and will probably give the 3 dongle away.