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How much monthly data do you really need?

  • 23 October 2018
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How much monthly data do you really need?
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It’s important to choose the right amount of data for your mobile plan. If you get too little, you might end up buying add-ons every month. If you get too much, then you’re paying for something you don’t use. So, let us help you get it right - and we’ll also throw in a few data saving tips for good measure.

The amount of monthly data you need depends on what you use your phone for. If it’s purely for work, the chances are you’ll mostly be sending emails and browsing the web. For that type of usage, a 500MB allowance should be enough.

But if you use your phone like most of us do - for fun, leisure and timewasting on your daily commute (streaming music and videos, playing online games… you know the kind of thing), then 2GB data is probably the minimum amount you need a month. And even then, you’ll need to be careful with video streaming. Watch a Netflix film in glorious HD and your 2GB will be gone in less than an hour.


If you go for a bigger amount of data, like 5GB, then it gives you a little more freedom. For example, you could do all this over the course of a month:

• Watch 5 hours of your favourite Netflix show on SD (standard definition).
• Spend more than 24 hours enjoying YouTube.
• Listen to Spotify for two whole days (that’s over 300 songs).

Of course, you can go much larger than 5GB. Most of our pay monthly handset plans give you the option of going up to 10GB. We’ve also got a 20GB SIM only plan for just £20 a month. If you think you’re going to be powering through your data, it could be the deal for you.

How can you save data?


If you've got a nagging feeling that you might be using mobile data needlessly, here are a few good housekeeping tips. Stick to these and you could see a sharp drop in your data usage…

1. Be wary of auto-play videos
We all love scrolling through our favourite social apps, but beware of those videos that play automatically on Facebook and Twitter. They eat away at your data allowance, even if you haven’t even got the volume turned on.

2. Turn off auto updates
A lot of smartphones automatically update themselves and their apps whenever they see fit. If you’re connected to Wi-Fi, this won’t be a problem, but if it’s happening when you’re out and about, you could see a draw on your data. Here's how to sort it:
Android: Google Play > Tap the three lines in the search bar > Settings > Auto-update apps > Choose ‘Over Wi-Fi only’.
iOS: Settings > iTunes & App Store > Automatic Downloads > Toggle the ‘Apps’ and ‘Updates’ switches to the left, so they turn grey.

3. Manage your apps
It’s always worth checking if any of your apps are being a bit too greedy. My Data Manager lets you do just that, and it’s free to download from Google Play or the App Store. It lets you track apps to see which ones are using the most data, and you can also get alerts when your data’s running low.

Have you got a question on choosing the right amount of monthly data for your iD Mobile plan? Would you like to share any of your own data-saving tips? You know what to do - go ahead and reply below.

2 replies

I use iMessages and 10G data is nowhere near sufficient. Add ons @ £7 for 1G data are way too expensive. It is a pity that iD have no data plan larger than 10G per month. Consequently I am moving to Giffgaff. Come on iD wake up to the modern data world and offer properly sized and flexible data plans.
Userlevel 4
I have 10GB of data, and I *just* have enough... Then again, Spotify while commuting is my guilty pleasure!

Rebecca

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