[joveblue]

So I'm thinking about getting an iPhone soon (well, June/July, when the new ones are released, but I have an assignment due so I need something to procrastinate over now). Just wondering what a reasonable amount of data is? The plan I will likely get only has 250MB/month, which sounds low-ish and excess data usage is charged at a ridiculous price of 35c/MB ($350/GB!!! or about USD$250). So if you have an iPhone 3G, how much do you use in a month?

[HezMah19]

Hey JoveBlue, what provider are you considering? ( I see your in Melbourne )

I have a 500MB limit with Vodafone and use just under half of it...(15-30 email's a day, 8-10 sites a day, NetNewsWire, MM Sync, Maps maybe twice a day...)

[joveblue]

Optus $49 cap

[Capella]

I've used 141 MB this month.

However, I use it to go onto our ecourse site on the web, download big honking pdf files (between 2-10MB each), and read them on the bus, so that may skew my data somewhat. I'd say sub-100 if I wasn't getting those PDFs.

[Taskiss]

I used a LOT more bandwidth when I first got my iPhone 3G than I do these days. My current usage is under 100 MB a month, and my max was probably 300 MB.

I suggest getting 100 MB a month and watching the usage in your "settings -> general -> usage" page.

[Noel]

I use far less than 50MB, since I'm almost always on campus and thus have WiFi available. I'm sure if I weren't using wireless I'd be in at least the 50-100MB range.

[Bryson]

Today's lesson is: All the wailing about needing "unlimited" data plans was all for naught. Rogers lowest data plan is 500MB a month, and I don't even get close. For once, the carriers were right: you don't need unlimited data.

[joveblue]

Looks like the 250MB on offer should be plenty, just need to be vigilant not to go over and end up racking up a big bill! I have WiFi and home and uni, and there's even a couple of places I'll be able to go near work so it shouldn't be a problem really.

Is it possible to use the settings>general>usage page that Taskiss mentioned to set a limit on usage?

[Mac+]

We've found that users are clever about how they use their iPhione and are "sideloading". That is, they'll dock their iPhone at work, download apps and music via the company broadband and download their email manually via WiFi, for example.

In a somewhat surprising (or unsurprising - depending on how you view this) turn of events the promise/sell of huge data traffic in exchange for offering a subsidised handset did not eventuate. iPhone 3G v2 may be a harder sell for Apple to make to the telcos this time around.