How to Cut Down on Data Usage

Mobile data: Reduce data usage and save on your phone bill - Ting.com

We all do our best not to get caught up in our phones, but it is difficult not to. By reducing data usage, you can prevent exceeding data limits, extend battery life, and avoid additional charges.

No matter how hard we try, we struggle to avoid paying extra charges for our data usage. However, the good news is that it is possible to limit your data usage and hence lower your data bill payments. Take a look at these tips to help you keep your cellphone expenses in check.

When At All Possible, Use WI-FI

The more you use Wi-Fi, the less you will be paying for data usage to your cellphone operator. Although in your own house or office, you always have access to Wi-Fi, there are times when you may not get access to Wi-Fi, like at a party at a friend’s house or in a restaurant. When this happens don’t hesitate to ask for the Wi-Fi password. It won’t cost your host extra to share their Wi-Fi password with you.

Wherever you go, connect your phone to free Wi-Fi. These days, practically all public places, like restaurants and libraries offer free Wi-Fi. We often don’t want to make the effort to ask for the Wi-Fi password and switch from data to Wi-Fi. Take the extra couple of seconds required to connect to Wi-Fi and go on using the internet without worrying about exhausting your data limit.

Save Your Downloads For When You Have Access To Wi-Fi

As a general rule, always tap on ‘No’ whenever your phone asks you to download or update something when it is running on data. You can always do such activities when you are connected to Wi-Fi. Your operating system update or app updates, for that matter, can wait.

Here is a guide to tell you how much data is typically consumed for some common phone activities:

Activity Data Consumed
4K video streaming 5.85 GB/hr
HD video streaming 2.5 GB/hr
SD video streaming 0.7 GB/hr
Audio streaming 72 MB/hr
Uploading an image to social media 5 MB/photo
Sending emails (without attachment) KB/email
Sending emails (with standard attachment) KB/email
Online gaming 12 MB /hr
Viewing a web page 1 MB /pg

 

WI-FI Assist or the Smart Network Switch Should Be Turned Off

Both Android and Apple iPhones come pre-installed with features that use your phone data to increase the strength of the Wi-Fi signal. It is called Wi-Fi Assist on iPhones. On Android phones, it is known as Smart Network Switch. What happens is that if the Wi-Fi signal is weak, these features will use data to enhance your phone’s internet performance. It is like those arrows on the race track in Mario Kart Racing, where if you drive over them your speed gets a boost. Only in this case, we need to avoid those arrows.

Make Sure Your Video Applications Are Not Set to Autoplay

Keep autoplay switched off on all of your video apps. It is very easy to switch it off by going in the settings option of the video apps installed on your phone. You must have often had YouTube content playing on repeat in your pocket just because autoplay was switched on. Turning off autoplay will not only help you lower your mobile data bill but will also preserve the juice in your phone battery.

Ensure Your Apps Are Not Running in the Background After You Are Done Using Them

Are you prone to leaving the apps on your phone even after you are done using them? Well, it is about time you stop doing that.

Phone applications running in the background can continue using up your phone data. Just like autoplay on video apps, canceling out of your applications after using them will save both your cell data as well as the charge in your phone battery.

Summing Up

Since the advent of the cellular internet, cellphone technology has evolved tremendously over the past 15 years or so. To be able to keep your data bill under control, it is important to follow the tips mentioned in this article. However, that will be less of a problem when you are using broadband internet. Contact Windstream Internet Service now to sign up for the broadband package that best suits your needs.