Data running out at a rate of knots Gulp -help please!

[Anonymous]

I have just loaded and registered my 12GB data on my new Pocket Hotspot Plus this evening. 

After the registration I did 4 speed test to see what I can get at my property. I noticed that the usage was going up VERY QUICKLY!

I thought I was mistaken but I checked online and just the 4 speed tests and registration has eaten up 840 mb of data and I only have 11.18 GB left (from the 12 month 12GB sim).

How can this be? I have no emails open and have only done the above. What if I watched a YouTube video - would all my GB’s be used up with an hour?

If this is normal then the unit is VERY UNAFFORDABLE. Surfing for 15-20 mins would probably use 1GB.

Can anyone explain please.

GB

[MI5]

Speedtests can use a huge amount of data and so does watching youtube videos. General surfing and emails use much less.
You've got 12gb but it's up to you how you use it.
Have a look here for more help and tips https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/guides/internet-data-allowances/

[Anonymous]

Thanks MI5,

I shall web browse for a couple of minutes. Apparently I should be able to 1 hour for 50Mb. It will be interesting to see how much I use in a few mins....

Gail B

[Anonymous]

Help,

Switched it on and I haven't even logged on to it and it has gone from 853.37 to 853.66. Using my Sky broadband. I only switched on the unit to set up for when I am out and about. 

Switched on and only replied to this post, no emails open, just this website and now gone from 853.66 to 854.03. 

Gulp! Off back to Sky Broadband quickly.   

[MI5]

Mobile broadband is more for emergencies or to cover temporary outages of a fixed broadband service.
If you have the option of fixed from sky, virgin or BT you should always consider those as the main provider.

[Anonymous]

Hi MI5,

That is all I want it for, actually, mainly while I am out and about, but I only just set up my brand new unit to register the sim etc. My contract with 3 Network is due for renewel this month but I have never seen my usage like this. It seems like I have used what I normally would in a week within 15-20 mins. Bizarre. Scared to switch it on! I thought that the 12GB would last me for 3 months of light use and email checking and not see data disappearing when I am not even logged on to it.

Gail B

[MI5]

I struggle to use 2gb a month of "normal" use on my phone, but as I said, speedtests will eat it faster than anything else you'd normally use data for.
Make sure you have a secure password set to so no one else can log on to it without you knowing.

[Anonymous]

I was hoping to cancel the 3 network completely and have the O2 Pocket Hotspot Plus on PAYG as I didn't want another contract. I may only use it about once a week.

Using nearly 1GB so quickly quite took me aback. 

Anyone have any thoughts on why 3 mins on 3 network uses 0.02MB and 3 mins on the new O2 used about 0.6MB just having this webpage loaded up?

Gail B

[MI5]

It really makes no difference which network you use for data. All of them will use the same amount for browsing the same page, however, some devices will compress data to save on bandwidth, but this means pages will load slower.
To do an accurate comparison you need to swap the three and o2 sim in the same device and do the same browsing, but I doubt you'd see much difference then.

[Anonymous]

Cheers MI5

I will try this today. However, it maybe settling down. The best thing was changing the name and password on the device! 

Later today I will try the sim swap and look at the same websites with each one of them and compare. It's a great idea from you, thank you very much. I really want to keep it so will try anything that will help.

Thank you again, you are a star!

Gail B