NCEP: cell phone data use/number of people on plan

[stephogirl]

We've been having a hard time staying within our data plan the last couple of months, and I'm starting to wonder if we should just give up and go with the unlimited data plan for $$$$$$$. 

How much data are you signed up for each month and how many people are on your plan and part of the same data pool? I know that I won't have every combination on the poll, but pick the best answer or SS in the comments. 

Also, if you have unlimited, which company is your provider? 

[elleblue]

We (2 adults) have unlimited through Verizon but our plan was grandfathered in from years back so it's not as $$$ as it would be normally.

[AndyCohen]

We used to have unlimited, but we don’t use much so my husband changed it. We were fine and basically only went over here and there when we went on vacation because we would use the gps and not have WiFi as often as we do at home.

But the last few months we’ve been going way over and we can’t figure out why so I think we’re going to bump it up. We only need about 2 more gigs a month. I don’t know what our current plan is, but it’s low.

5G is supposed to be coming within the next two years and it’s predicted the phone companies will all go back to unlimited with that.

[juliej]

I have an iPhone and my husband has an Google Pixel something-or-other, and we're on different providers and plans. He's on Google Fi and his bill varies each month since he only gets charged for the data he uses. I have a Cricket pay-as-you-go plan and have 5 GB a month. We both end up paying around $35 a month. I never even get close to the 5GB cap; my average is between 3 and 4 GB. We make an effort to join wireless networks whenever possible, so we're rarely relying on our data plans. The only time I've gotten close to my cap is when I turn WiFi off at school pick-up (because their WiFi network doesn't save credentials from session to session, so it always keeps trying to connect and blocks my data) and forget to turn it back on once I'm off campus.

[winecat]

I have unlimited through Sprint. They offered a deal last year for free, unlimited cell service for a year if you brought your own phone. My year will be up at the end of this month or next and then it'll be $50/month.

[candreco]

I have 2GB for me right now, DH's is grandfathered in w/ theoretically unlimited, but in reality 6GB, on Verizon. We're probably going to switch to Google's Pixel 3 phones and Project Fi service soon. It's $20 per month for unlimited calls and texts, and $10/GB for data which works for us since some months we have higher usage than others.

[2curlydogs]

We have 4 Gig for 2 people. We may downgrade that because I am likely moving my line to my work's plan and there's no way my H uses 4G of data.

[jackie011]

We have 4 people* and 5 devices on a Verizon unlimited plan. In the last year DH & I have both had personal & professional changes that have resulted in more travel, which caused our data usage to go way up. We received messages about 3 months in a row about being close to our limit. Finally, in June we bought new phones and changed the plan to unlimited. Prior to that we had 4 people*/4 devices on a maybe 3 GB? 4 GB? Plan and it was fine until we started traveling so much.

*My ILs are the other 2 people on our plan. Half the time one of them cannot even find their phone and the other one has no idea how to do anything other than text and check the weather. Our usage may not be typical for 4 regular iPhone users! When we switched to unlimited Verizon would not let us (me & DH) switch our phones/devices to unlimited and keep the ILs on a lower plan. I think they now allow you to do that, maybe? We ran the numbers and it was going to be a huge jump for the ILs to venture out on their own plan, so we kept it this way. We just try to give DS one of their phones to play with when we’re out, to justify some of the data!

[Deleted]

Are either of you streaming a bunch of stuff on data?

We have 10GB/month for 2 people. The only time we had a problem going over is when I thought I'd been downloading my podcasts but was actually streaming them. I was literally streaming like 7 hours/day of podcasts. OOPSIE DOOPSIE.

[Vespasia]

We have Project Fi. It's a flat rate for unlimited calling and texts and then $10 per GB. We usually use around 4 GB a month, a bit more if we're traveling somewhere without WiFi.

The thing I love about this plan is that it basically works the same just about anywhere in the world.

[eclaires]

We have unlimited for two people through AT&T. It slows down after 22gb per device. We just switched from our old grandfathered plan to a newer unlimited option that includes 15gb of hotspot data per device so we can let the kids have internet in the car. It will be cheaper than our grandfathered plan despite the fact that it includes more. So it was time to switch. Our old plan also didn’t have unlimited texts because it was so old and that was starting to be a problem for my H (he has a Samsung - I have an iPhone and almost everyone I text has an iPhone).

Most months our combined data usage is just over 10gb. Sometimes less. So we don’t really need unlimited but liked the hotspot option and it’s still a savings for us.

[eclaires]

Google Fi is really cool. My BIL uses it for travel and has offered it to us when we travel. We’ve thought about looking into it for all the time but our unlimited plan has a discount that makes it pretty reasonable. We pay $120 for the above set up.

[snshne322]

We're on a grandfathered plan with 6GB with two people. We don't need it, but it didn't make sense at the time to move to a new plan with 4GB for like a dollar less. We usually use about half that.

[rbp]

4 GB for two people. We typically go over 1-2 months a year. ::shrug:: my H is in charge of this LOL.

[icedcoffee]

I THINK we have 16GB for 4 people. Generally it's enough, but a few times this year we've run out and at that point it goes to unlimited, but at 3G speed which is basically useless. You seriously can't load ANYTHING on 3G and even text messages start acting funky. This happens because my parents insist on driving EVERYWHERE with Waze. And then if they're away from home they will stream TV on their phones. It's kind of infuriating because then I'm left with a useless cell phone for a week or so until the month is up, but I'm still on their plan so I can't speak up. It has brought me pretty close to leaving the family plan though. LOL I would probably be fine with just 2GB on my own. That's what my H has and he goes over maybe 1 month a year and we just increase it for the month and then decrease again.

[katieinthecity]

Oct 10, 2018 8:44:44 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

We have Project Fi. It's a flat rate for unlimited calling and texts and then $10 per GB. We usually use around 4 GB a month, a bit more if we're traveling somewhere without WiFi.

The thing I love about this plan is that it basically works the same just about anywhere in the world.

This is intriguing especially since I'm looking at getting the Pixel 3. Are there any downside to Fi? 

[Deleted]

We have 2 adults and 3 kids on our plan. We each get 6gb and if we were to exceed that, the internet speed would slow down, but we don't get charged overages or anything. I'm the only one who ever even comes close to the limit, but that's because I use my GPS every day for about 2.5hrs. If I didn't use my GPS so much, I wouldn't come any where near that amount because I have wifi both at work and at home.

[bugandbibs]

We have 10 gb for 5 people. We usually use around 6 gb/month because we do a lot in wifi. We have a grandfathered Verizon plan and an employer discount and it's about $140/month with taxes.

[stephogirl]

More info:

We have 3 people with 4 devices sharing 8GB per month on Verizon. DS is 12 (13 tomorrow ...ack!), and we limit him to 4GB per month. DH and I share the other 4GB between two iPhones and one iPad.

Of course, we'd be okay if it wasn't for DS. He just hit his 4GB limit and we have 8 days left in the cycle. He mostly uses his on the bus ride home from school each day. He's good about using WiFi when it's available. I checked his data usage, and he does very little streaming of videos or music on data. It's all internet usage, a.k.a. playing games. I don't have a problem cutting him off so he learns to manage his data, but I'm wondering if it just makes more sense to move to unlimited because that's the way the industry is moving. Kind of like the days of only having a certain number of hours of internet time on your computer, and now it's all unlimited, you know?

[sarahsays]

We're on Project Fi so we only pay for what we use, which between the 3 of us (me, H, MIL) is usually under 2GB. We have wifi at work and home so I really only use data if I'm using GPS or in a waiting room somewhere.

[pixy0stix]

I've never even heard of google fi.

ETA: Looks like we'd be paying the exact same rate we are now - $80 on verizon. DH just got a new phone, so I don't think we'll be switching for a while.

[cmeon]

We have (4) 2GB lines, 2 of which are rarely used (we only pay taxes on them- part of a black friday deal a few years ago) by the kids. We're on T-Mobile and streaming most things doesn't count towards our data (streaming from a security camera or something would), so we never come close to hitting our individual 2GB caps.

[oliviapope]

We pay 125 for two with unlimited everything.

[audette]

We have unlimited with a military/veteran plan with T-Mobile.

[frlcb]

Oct 10, 2018 8:47:45 GMT -5 eclaires said:

Google Fi is really cool. My BIL uses it for travel and has offered it to us when we travel. We’ve thought about looking into it for all the time but our unlimited plan has a discount that makes it pretty reasonable. We pay $120 for the above set up.

How is that possible?? We have ATT unlimited data for two phones and an ipad and it is $266 a month. With a company discount and directtv discount. I hate ATT.

Nevermind, I forgot we are paying the phone itself monthly. We should just buy it outright.

[Vespasia]

Oct 10, 2018 8:56:31 GMT -5 katieinthecity said:

Oct 10, 2018 8:44:44 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

We have Project Fi. It's a flat rate for unlimited calling and texts and then $10 per GB. We usually use around 4 GB a month, a bit more if we're traveling somewhere without WiFi.

The thing I love about this plan is that it basically works the same just about anywhere in the world.

This is intriguing especially since I'm looking at getting the Pixel 3. Are there any downside to Fi? 

Not that I can think of. We've had it since the beginning of this year with no problems.  It uses multiple carrier networks so I rarely have an issue with signal. 

[MrsAxilla]

We just switched to Metro PCS - 3 phones, unlimited data, $90/month. Highly recommend!

[Vespasia]

If katieinthecity or anyone else wants to switch, let me know and I can send you a referral code. We'd both get $20 off of one month's bill or something like that.

[AJL]

Two adults, unlimited data, T-Mobile, $120/mo (that includes the payment for my new phone)

[VillainV]

We have 10GB for three iPhones and two iPads. We usually use 4-6GB. We could theoretically go down to the 5GB plan and just pay to go over a few months a year, but having 10GB only costs about $5 more per month, and it’s nice to not have to worry about it if we are traveling away from WiFi. As it is, 10GB is not enough to stream very much, so we avoid streaming unless on WiFi.