Ended up with a bill of a couple hundred dollars one month because I met somebody new and went a few hundred texts over my monthly limit. That was a bit of a shocker. This plan has unlimited everything, except text messages.
This is also true in GSM. If there are one (or more, say, if you're also tethering at the same time) GPRS/EDGE PDP sessions ("data connections"), just like in the case of a phone call, they are suspended whilst the SMS is transmitted or received. On older Nokia Series 60 devices, you'll notice that the G-with-box to show connected data will momentarily turn to a G with a "not" slash through it while SMS transmission or delivery is handled.
However, if the user is in the middle of a voice or dial-up data call
Because I'm cheap and I use WIFI whenever possible. I also don't see the point in trying to watch video on a tiny screen. The only time I come anywhere near my cap is when there is some kind of malfunction, like my WIFI being inexplicably turned off or an update using mobile data when it should not.
I had 1 GB cap because that was the lowest offered. And this was shared between three phones. I came close to this cap when using the phone as a GPS for a road trip. So I upped it to 2 GB because the carrier offered me 2 GB for the same price as 1 GB.
Like you, I have at times noticed I was using a lot more data than usual, and this was due to the wifi being turned off, just like you. I'm pretty sure that the service providers automatically do that from time to time in order to try to get more money out of
Actually, the biggest issue with wireless is system capacity. Wireless will always fall behind wired for system capacity.
Here's an example: 802.11n running at a signalling bitrate of 150Mbit/s, in an ideal radio environment, delivers a goodput rate of around 46Mbit/s. This is taking into account things such IP and TCP header overhead (which is why I say goodput, not throughput.) Fast Ethernet (100BASE-TX) delivers a goodput rate of around 96Mbit/s. (802.11a and g, both with a signalling rate of 54Mbit/s, de
I'm not saying I lose WiFi signal. I am setting that the setting in the phone that enables you to use WiFi at all suddenly and frequently becomes turned off. You don't notice until you get a notice from the carrier that you are about to go over your data usage limit. Then you go into settings, see your data usage and see that once again, your WiFi enabled setting has been turned off. I can only imagine it is the carrier or some update that is doing this. The carrier makes most sense since they stand to gain
Phones automatically detect if Wifi is appropriate and turn it off to save battery, in the default power configuration. If you have poor wifi signal or are not connected to an open network long enough, you'll switch off wifi to save battery. Mine specifically does this when I get in my car (detects car's bluetooth, disables wifi, enables LTE+).
I pay out the ass for a 50 GB/mo limit with US Cellular but I never see the bill so I just accept the fee 'cause I'm retarded. I think the most I've ever used was 5 GB or so and that's because I was tethering and out and about.
LOL I checked to see how much it costs me at the site just before posting. It's all automatically deducted from my account so I don't worry about it and I just top the account up with more when it runs low - well, I don't technically do that myself but you get the idea. Prior to checking, today, I'd actually not realized how much it costs. I should probably change that but I probably won't. Why? "I might need it." No, no... It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I accept that. However, I might be meandering
I also don't see the point in trying to watch video on a tiny screen.
Then I take it that you don't see the point on trying to watch video on a 15" computer monitor two feet from your head, or a 50" TV that's about ten feet from your head, because those would have the same apparent size as the 5" display about 7" from your head, that is, all three should occupy roughly the same percentage of your vision cone.
Focusing on a 50" screen 10 feet from your head, or on a 15" monitor two feet from your head, is not the same experience as focusing on a 5" display 7" from your head. (And in my case, the latter would require me to go get stronger reading glasses) Focusing for two hours on a movie 7" away would not be good.
I use Wifi too, but sometimes turn it off for faster data. I have Comcast 156Mbps BLAST! tier Internet, with Speedtest.com registering 174Mbit/s; but it's woefully slow, and the T-Mobile LTE is 8-14 times faster.
Marshmallow gives you first class support for SD cards for the first time : you get the option of co-opting them into an LVM volume group, which means that the card just seamlessly expands the phone storage.
Do Google celebrate this by restoring the SD card to the specs of their Nexus line of phones? Do they hell...
Edit : looks like there are caveats even with this : the SD card becomes your primary storage for media, with apps optionally remaining in the internal storage. So if you have a 32GB phone you may
Personally, I'd rather decide what goes where rather than have everything combined into a single virtual volume. I think a single virtual volume would be hell if you wanted to upgrade to a larger SD card. People have been managing separate disks for decades. It's not that hard of a concept.
I'd even go so far as to allow people to manage which programs are left open so that developers don't have to just through hoops trying to figure out what happens when the operating system decided it wants to kill the ap
Edit : looks like there are caveats even with this : the SD card becomes your primary storage for media, with apps optionally remaining in the internal storage. So if you have a 32GB phone you may end up wasting most of that expensive, fast, built-in storage, unless you're a real app monster.
Isn't this what you want? Data on the slow storage and apps on the fast one?
I'm hardly an intensive user, but I can hardly install ANYTHING on my phone because there is so little internal storage. I didn't think it would be a big deal because of the expansion slot. If I want to put a game or something on there, I'm just out of luck. If it is bigger than the
Reminds me of Windows back in the 90's forcing EVERYTHING onto your system partition, leading to hard drive that can't be written to despite being 95% empty. That there is a major electronics supplier that perpetuates a proble
If the only way to connect to the computer is MPT, I have to have removable storage.
Eh? I've been using my phone as a storage device for over 5 years. I just attach it to the PC via the USB cable, and it shows up as a USB drive or something. I've been doing this with digital cameras even longer. They store anything you want - word files, zip files, you name it. No need to use, uh, Microwave Power Transmission OR Myanma Posts and Telecommunications.
You're probably using MPT. MPT can be problematic on Linux -- if you're lucky it Just Works, if you're not you have to fight with it. Sounds like you've been lucky.
MPT can be problematic on Linux -- if you're lucky it Just Works, if you're not you have to fight with it.
MTP used to be problematic on Linux. These days it should just work on all major desktop platforms. What Linux distro has trouble with it in 2015?
Note that Marshmallow actually makes the phone-as-mass-storage device a little more cumbersome, in the name of security. You have to tell your phone you want it to mount via MTP when you plug it into your computer. This is so that if you plug into some charging port in an airport or whatever, your data can't get automatically sucked out.
I was running Gentoo when I messed with it before. Since then I got lazy and switched to Linux Mint. Works just fine with Mint.:)
I loved Gentoo, but it beat you to death. You could always have the latest, bleeding edge system if you wanted, customized to the nth degree, but the price you paid is that there was always *something* at least just a little bit broken.
What you missed was where I said Kit Kat.
Google bowed to pressure and fixed it with Lollipop, however the damage was done for many because manufacturers don't always update devices and some were updated to KitKat, losing SD support.
On Kit Kat, if you bought a phone with 4gigs of storage, you ended up with 1gig of usable space and no way to move to SD.
I'm on Kit Kat with apps on SD. Maybe that's why my manufacturer created unified storage in their UI. Stop buying phones from vendors who don't support them, and you won't have a problem.
Ah, so the Kit Kat I'm running now, on an unrooted phone, with apps installed on SD, with full rights to it, doesn't exist. Though I'm using it, and it seems to be working fine.
Actually, you probably don't.
What Kit Kat calls "SD" or "sdcard" is actually the internal memory which was split in half (thanks again Google!), what you need is "external sdcard" or "external storage".
If it truly is moving to the SD, you are the exception, not the norm. If you doubt this, you are free to look it up, the internet is full of people complaining about this problem as well as reports of when Google changed it back. If you want to test it, pull the SD card and then try moving apps to it.
I am happy to be the exception. The Color OS on my phone is Kit Kat, and I've turned on unified storage. The phone storage eliminates the phone, internal, and SD partitions, combines them all, and makes them one. So everything is stored everywhere. I can't take out the SD without causing problems, but it's equivalent of a 64GB phone.
If your phone doesn't support it, you bought from the wrong people. Touch Wiz, Color OS, Sense, and the others extend Android to fix those issues the purists struggle with
It's not quite that simple.
Samsung (Touchwiz), HTC (Sense), LG, Huawei, Alcatel, Kyocera, Sony, ZTE and Motorola ALL had the SD disabled on Kit Kat, so no, those systems did not fix the problem. If you want to check, just search "{Manufacturer} Kit Kat SD card" on Google, you will find plenty.
Color OS (Kit Kat) is to my knowledge the only Kit Kat variant of Android that had it enabled by the manufacturer from the start, but that's because it came out AFTER the complaints rolled in, in fact it was so lat
Google did not remove that feature. It's still present in Android 5.1. It's probably sill present in Android 6.0. It is, and has always been (since it's introduction in Android 2.2), a compile-time "optional" feature that can be disabled or enabled at build time. If the OEM that made your phone choose to disable this feature when they built the KitKat update for your phone, blame them, not Google.
If you're that fussed, go install a custom ROM like CyanogenMod. You'll almost surely get that feature back (unl
Google pulled it from Kit Kat and put it back in for Lollipop, this is well documented, you are free to look it up. Here's one example I pulled quickly: http://www.talkandroid.com/225... [talkandroid.com]
Also, for your information, there are a lot of phones where you cannot modify the bootloader and are therefore unable to run CyanogenMod, this includes the Verizon and AT&T Galaxy S4 (early models allowed it, updates locked it out). However, that's not needed to fix the problem, only root (it's an easy fix actually),
No mobile operator has truly unlimited data plans and the ones that are called "unlimited" are all capped but capped differently depending on the amount of cash you shell out.
Yeah, this country is in dark ages in regard to mobile Internet - it's expensive and limited.
You should try again this month! My sister has kept her truly unlimited data plan from VZW. She just buys a new phone and swaps the service. I missed it. I guess that *any* contract change means she loses the unlimited - she's had this account for years and years now. She was also an early adopter - lives out in the sticks off of solar and all that. All of her computing is done on a phone regardless of how many devices I gift her. These days, I just buy her a phone if it looks like she may use it.
Tell that to T-Mobile. The plan I have I killed 80GB in one month without being throttled or being billed for it. The only thing I'm metered for (oddly enough) is tethering. I have a 10GB/month limit for tethering or WiFi hot spot.
That's how most of the world works. The "unlimited" claims from US carriers are illegal in most countries with any sort of consumer protection laws. So I have per-bit pricing, with options of blocks included per week or month.
I have a plan with 12GB data over 4G (8-35 Mbit/s down 2-24Mbit/s up) (after which it is closed. $3 will double amount of data to 24GB). 12 hours outgoing calls (but unlimited to customers at the same telecom). Unlimited texts (SMS+MMS) domestically.
And I pay DKK 79 = $9.65 + sales tax per month.
For internet access at home, I have 60/60 Mbit/s fiber. So I rarely use many GB,
I voted "doesn't apply" because my UK carrier (Three) used to offer totally uncapped data which was awesome; now they apparely offer unlimited data on the phone, but tethered data is limited at 4GB per month.
I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
Where are you where zero-rating is illegal? In the US, T-mobile still zero-rates music, so you must not live here...
I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
Where are you where zero-rating is illegal? In the US, T-mobile still zero-rates music, so you must not live here...
I live in the Netherlands, and I believe we have the strongest laws about net neutrality in the EU.
I've wondered the same I had wildblue satellite internet a few years ago part of their fair access policy was that if you went over your data allotment you got slowed to isdn speeds until you went back under your allotment.
In addition if you went over your allotment 3 times in a calendar year they would TERMINATE your service.
I expect they decided that while occasional massive billls may seem profitable in the short term the fear they induced in customers was overall bad for buisness.
If my choices were to risk having an app gone haywire stick me with a massive bill or not have internet on my phone at all I would almost certainly go with the latter.
Another interesting question would be : what happens after you exceed your data cap? - Are you throttled? - Are you blocked? - Are you automatically charged extra?
In my case I have a 3GB data plan, throttled to 128kbps if exceeded. Roaming are extra.
I have 12GB (4G), throttled to 64kbps (officially) if exceeded. In reality, when I had a much lower plan, I've never experienced they actually lowered it when exceeded unless grossly exceeded.
Another interesting question would be : what happens after you exceed your data cap? - Are you throttled? - Are you blocked? - Are you automatically charged extra?
In my case I have a 3GB data plan, throttled to 128kbps if exceeded. Roaming are extra.
I'm not aware of any US provider that employs the second option. If you exceed a threshold, your service degrades or costs extra, but it doesn't stop. And that is how providers can say disingenuously, but accurately, that there is no cap.
In France there are : blocked plans. A typical offer would be : 6€, unlimited text messages, 2h voice, 100MB data. If you do anything that would require extra fees in a regular plan, you are blocked instead. This way you are sure you won't pay more than the listed price. This is typically for teens, to avoid bad surprises if the parents are paying. But small time users like them too.
Free 2€ cannot be blocked. The cheapest with data seems to be SoSH (5€/50MB). La Poste is next with 7€/200MB. The next tier is around 10-15€ and you have unlimited voice. Finally you get the full package for around 20€ (with several GB of data, throttled) but at this point, they start to look more and more like regular plans.
All prices per month, no time commitment, no subsidy.
In Canada, under the Wireless Code of Conduct mandated by the CRTC (roughly the Canadian equivalent of the FCC) since December 2013, once you go over your plan's data bucket allowance, carriers can only legally charge at most $50 for domestic overage, or $100 for international overage, based on their insane rates. It's usually $0.01/MB - $0.05/MB for domestic overage depending on the plan, and even more outrageous for US and International usage that you wouldn't believe.
...but when I hit the cap, it's just throttled and with a text message I can buy 1-20GB more. And usually it's one or two months in summer at my cabin or on vacation I hit the cap (and then I really hit it), so I usually buy 10GB extra. It beats paying every month for capacity I won't use. At home I got 100/100 Mbit fiber, so I can do all my "heavy lifting" at home.
I'm on Straight Talk. There is no cap. But, data is throttles at 5-GB down to almost dial up speeds. Your survey should have had a throttle choice in it.
I don't have a smartphone, and every week I read more and more news stories relating to them that just reinforces my decision to not get one, ever. What an expensive headache! Costs twice as much per month, getting hacked constantly, getting screwed by wireless companies.. who needs it?
Having a phone which is also a camera is cool. Don't get mobile data and you avoid most of the possible exploits. If only you could get decent offline navigation.
The last time I travelled, I used a Windows tablet with the Windows 10 maps app. I downloaded in advance the map for every city I was going to visit and the tablet had GPS but only Wifi for communication.
Conveniently easy. The downside is that the Windows Maps app isn't very good - maps are not very readable even in the best lighting conditions. Also, if you search for an address - you get the middle of the street as result: (Thanks for nothing, Microsoft!) The paper maps you could get at any hotel you stay
I selected 1gb-5gb as my cap because that's what the plan I pay for. I have no idea what the true cap of what I would be allowed to consume if I was willing to pay for it. I suspect that most people selecting the lower cap ranges are in the same boat. Therefore the results of this poll are really meaningless. But then again, the results of most polls on/. have been mostly meaningless.
So, given that the poll is misleading, why isn't there the answer "The Cowboy Neal Cellular Service doesn't have any caps"?
Most monthly pay mobile data things in Finland are unlimited, they all used to be, but I heard that one operator at least has recently sold plans with preferred data cap after what you get throttled.
Mostly they differentiate the data plans on what type of max speed you can get. Like my current operator has 14,90 â/month for 21Mbit/sec max, 16,90 â/month for 50MBit/s, 19,90 â/month for 100MBit/s and 49,90 â/month for idiots(300MBit/s max, but really.. good luck in getting such speed anyw
I have a cheap mobile phone/data plan, coverage is mostly 3G since there's not that much 4G deployed here. My cap is 1 GB, my phone has all the facebook/LinkedIn/Whatsapp/Instagram/Tumblr/... apps and they are used often throughout the day. I don't even get to 500 MB monthly.
Most Apps are pretty good at keeping their mobile network usage in check. I really don't see how you need > 20 GB, unless you're tethering and using it as a prime internet connection for mobile office / home, or Netflixing / Youtub
I have a 2GB/month plan included as part of my monthly fee. Should I use more - they charge me more ($10 / GB or something like that). I'm near Wifi so much that I only achieve 1.75GB of my 2GB goal. And I have every data feature enabled except Podcast download.
That isn't a cap. I would expect a cap to --- stop allowing me to send data. Verizon is happy to take my money.
I have AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan that came with my iPhone about 6 years ago. AT&T recently announced they raised the throttling cap to 22GB. I am paying less than $70/month total, including data, talk, text, fees, and tax.
I have AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan that came with my iPhone about 6 years ago. AT&T recently announced they raised the throttling cap to 22GB. I am paying less than $70/month total, including data, talk, text, fees, and tax.
Sprint caps you at 23GB and TMobile caps you after 21GB. According to my contacts, Tmobile has a better network than Sprint, but probably not as good as say, Verizon.
If you're willing to switch carriers, you can get much better data plans and no need to be "grandfathered".
I guess you missed the part where I mentioned that I pay less than $70 for unlimited data and everything else. Howe is that "much higher" than T-Mobile? AT&T has not substantially nickel-and-dimed me, either, and you are kidding yourself if you think all the carriers don't do the same.
I guess you missed the part where I mentioned that I pay less than $70 for unlimited data and everything else. Howe is that "much higher" than T-Mobile? AT&T has not substantially nickel-and-dimed me, either, and you are kidding yourself if you think all the carriers don't do the same.
I have a family plan with 9x10GB lines for $220 with free international text/data roaming, tethering on and 1 year of rollover data stash. I can't get that kind of deal on AT&T - not even close. It'd cost me $455 for 50GB shared - and then I'd have to worry about over-quota lines at $15/GB.
I haven't paid a dollar in overage to TMO for the 2 years I've been on. Works great for close friends and family.
Do you mean an actual cap, like "no more data after this"? Or a plan limit, after which you get charged? I have the new Verizon plan, where I get 3 GB as part of my monthly payment, but if I go over that I get hit with $10 for the next GB. (Which would still be about $30 cheaper than I was paying for 4 GB/month on the old plan.)
That's as much as the carrier's engineers say you could theoretically get through without a limit if you ran it 24x7, but you're really not going to get that in the real world.
They do traffic management to prioritise certain traffic, up what they can see as VoIP (Which is hilarious as Facebook, Google Hangouts, Skype etc calls suck but SIP connections are flawless), HTTP (80) / HTTPS (443) are again, up. Try to torrent something? 64kb during peak hour, close to useless in my experience, but out of hours it
I have unlimited data, but I often get text messages saying I've used 75% of my 5GB and that if I pass that I'll get throttled. I would switch providers, but I need to be able to swap SIM cards when I travel out of country.
I do prepaid data. I pay $30 for 1Gb and it lasts until I use it all up, so usually lasts me 3 or 4 months. Pretty good deal for people who want data but don't use much of it (i.e checking email, light app usage, browsing... basically no downloads/streaming)
Full ala carte, no plan. The data rate is $0.10/MB, not exactly cheap, but I just don't use the shit. My service averages, what, $10/mo? Whole bill. Bit of a laugh on freephone! contracts.
T-Mobile, unlimited plan, and never been capped. The only things I don't like about their unlimited plan is that roaming data has a lower cap and tethering has a lower cap, but direct data on the phone has no cap and no slowdowns.
The thing I like about T-Mobile specifically, is that I've had them change my plan for the period of a few days (when in the boonies roaming on AT&T) to increase my roaming allotment (while decreasing the on network unlimited data to 5GB) and they set the system to automatically switch me back on the requested date. No hassles, no surcharges, no loss of contract standing.
I have seven letter 'G's hanging in it though making it a 7G mobile - more Gs than anyone I know. And there is a bell so that I can ring with it. Several people have asked me if I could call with it - of course I can call into it but I don't see the point...
It looks nice hanging in the window. It is a windows mobile.
People who take public transit to and from work may be away from Internet for longer than a half hour at a time. There's no Wi-Fi on the bus, and your mind isn't quite as occupied as it would be with driving a car.
Radio frequency spectrum is shared by all cellular subscribers near a given tower. Moreover, spectrum is also split up with OTA TV, weather radar, emergency first responders, and more. With a fiber or DSL connection, on the other hand, each subscriber gets a waveguide that keeps his signal separate from that of other subscribers. Even with DOCSIS (cable Internet), where all subscribers in a neighborhood connect to a single CMTS, there's a lot more bandwidth and a lot less noise than there is with radio.
I thought about it for a few seconds and realized what the question means. Here, "mobile data" here is shorthand for transfer of data to or from a computer while said computer is carried by someone mobile enough to leave the coverage of a WLAN access point.
But texts are limited (Score:2)
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That's odd, because my plan has limited everything except national text messages, which are unlimited.
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This is also true in GSM. If there are one (or more, say, if you're also tethering at the same time) GPRS/EDGE PDP sessions ("data connections"), just like in the case of a phone call, they are suspended whilst the SMS is transmitted or received. On older Nokia Series 60 devices, you'll notice that the G-with-box to show connected data will momentarily turn to a G with a "not" slash through it while SMS transmission or delivery is handled.
However, if the user is in the middle of a voice or dial-up data call
500MB (Score:3)
Because I'm cheap and I use WIFI whenever possible. I also don't see the point in trying to watch video on a tiny screen. The only time I come anywhere near my cap is when there is some kind of malfunction, like my WIFI being inexplicably turned off or an update using mobile data when it should not.
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Like you, I have at times noticed I was using a lot more data than usual, and this was due to the wifi being turned off, just like you. I'm pretty sure that the service providers automatically do that from time to time in order to try to get more money out of
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Actually, the biggest issue with wireless is system capacity. Wireless will always fall behind wired for system capacity.
Here's an example: 802.11n running at a signalling bitrate of 150Mbit/s, in an ideal radio environment, delivers a goodput rate of around 46Mbit/s. This is taking into account things such IP and TCP header overhead (which is why I say goodput, not throughput.) Fast Ethernet (100BASE-TX) delivers a goodput rate of around 96Mbit/s. (802.11a and g, both with a signalling rate of 54Mbit/s, de
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I pay out the ass for a 50 GB/mo limit with US Cellular but I never see the bill so I just accept the fee 'cause I'm retarded. I think the most I've ever used was 5 GB or so and that's because I was tethering and out and about.
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How do you know you pay out the ass for 50 GB/mo if you never see the bill?
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LOL I checked to see how much it costs me at the site just before posting. It's all automatically deducted from my account so I don't worry about it and I just top the account up with more when it runs low - well, I don't technically do that myself but you get the idea. Prior to checking, today, I'd actually not realized how much it costs. I should probably change that but I probably won't. Why? "I might need it." No, no... It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I accept that. However, I might be meandering
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Then I take it that you don't see the point on trying to watch video on a 15" computer monitor two feet from your head, or a 50" TV that's about ten feet from your head, because those would have the same apparent size as the 5" display about 7" from your head, that is, all three should occupy roughly the same percentage of your vision cone.
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Who's idea was this anyhow? (Score:5, Insightful)
Then stick us with minuscule storage, no Sd cards and no bandwidth. Pure genius.
Oh, and thank you Google for stripping the ability to move to SD in Kit Kat even if you have a slot, that was f'ing brilliant.
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Marshmallow gives you first class support for SD cards for the first time : you get the option of co-opting them into an LVM volume group, which means that the card just seamlessly expands the phone storage.
Do Google celebrate this by restoring the SD card to the specs of their Nexus line of phones? Do they hell...
Edit : looks like there are caveats even with this : the SD card becomes your primary storage for media, with apps optionally remaining in the internal storage. So if you have a 32GB phone you may
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Personally, I'd rather decide what goes where rather than have everything combined into a single virtual volume. I think a single virtual volume would be hell if you wanted to upgrade to a larger SD card. People have been managing separate disks for decades. It's not that hard of a concept.
I'd even go so far as to allow people to manage which programs are left open so that developers don't have to just through hoops trying to figure out what happens when the operating system decided it wants to kill the ap
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Edit : looks like there are caveats even with this : the SD card becomes your primary storage for media, with apps optionally remaining in the internal storage. So if you have a 32GB phone you may end up wasting most of that expensive, fast, built-in storage, unless you're a real app monster.
Isn't this what you want? Data on the slow storage and apps on the fast one?
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Reminds me of Windows back in the 90's forcing EVERYTHING onto your system partition, leading to hard drive that can't be written to despite being 95% empty. That there is a major electronics supplier that perpetuates a proble
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I just FTP to/from my NAS. Has the benefit of not needing a wired connection too.
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If the only way to connect to the computer is MPT, I have to have removable storage.
Eh? I've been using my phone as a storage device for over 5 years. I just attach it to the PC via the USB cable, and it shows up as a USB drive or something. I've been doing this with digital cameras even longer. They store anything you want - word files, zip files, you name it. No need to use, uh, Microwave Power Transmission OR Myanma Posts and Telecommunications.
I'm using Android phones and Linux on the PC.
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You're probably using MPT. MPT can be problematic on Linux -- if you're lucky it Just Works, if you're not you have to fight with it. Sounds like you've been lucky.
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Ahh, it's actually MTP. That's why I couldn't find it...
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MPT can be problematic on Linux -- if you're lucky it Just Works, if you're not you have to fight with it.
MTP used to be problematic on Linux. These days it should just work on all major desktop platforms. What Linux distro has trouble with it in 2015?
Note that Marshmallow actually makes the phone-as-mass-storage device a little more cumbersome, in the name of security. You have to tell your phone you want it to mount via MTP when you plug it into your computer. This is so that if you plug into some charging port in an airport or whatever, your data can't get automatically sucked out.
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I was running Gentoo when I messed with it before. Since then I got lazy and switched to Linux Mint. Works just fine with Mint. :)
I loved Gentoo, but it beat you to death. You could always have the latest, bleeding edge system if you wanted, customized to the nth degree, but the price you paid is that there was always *something* at least just a little bit broken.
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Oh, and thank you Google for stripping the ability to move to SD in Kit Kat even if you have a slot, that was f'ing brilliant.
Huh? I'm running Lollipop and still have the option to move apps and store data on the SD card. What am I missing?
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Google bowed to pressure and fixed it with Lollipop, however the damage was done for many because manufacturers don't always update devices and some were updated to KitKat, losing SD support.
On Kit Kat, if you bought a phone with 4gigs of storage, you ended up with 1gig of usable space and no way to move to SD.
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What Kit Kat calls "SD" or "sdcard" is actually the internal memory which was split in half (thanks again Google!), what you need is "external sdcard" or "external storage".
If it truly is moving to the SD, you are the exception, not the norm. If you doubt this, you are free to look it up, the internet is full of people complaining about this problem as well as reports of when Google changed it back. If you want to test it, pull the SD card and then try moving apps to it.
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If your phone doesn't support it, you bought from the wrong people. Touch Wiz, Color OS, Sense, and the others extend Android to fix those issues the purists struggle with
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Samsung (Touchwiz), HTC (Sense), LG, Huawei, Alcatel, Kyocera, Sony, ZTE and Motorola ALL had the SD disabled on Kit Kat, so no, those systems did not fix the problem. If you want to check, just search "{Manufacturer} Kit Kat SD card" on Google, you will find plenty.
Color OS (Kit Kat) is to my knowledge the only Kit Kat variant of Android that had it enabled by the manufacturer from the start, but that's because it came out AFTER the complaints rolled in, in fact it was so lat
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Google did not remove that feature. It's still present in Android 5.1. It's probably sill present in Android 6.0. It is, and has always been (since it's introduction in Android 2.2), a compile-time "optional" feature that can be disabled or enabled at build time. If the OEM that made your phone choose to disable this feature when they built the KitKat update for your phone, blame them, not Google.
If you're that fussed, go install a custom ROM like CyanogenMod. You'll almost surely get that feature back (unl
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http://www.talkandroid.com/225... [talkandroid.com]
Also, for your information, there are a lot of phones where you cannot modify the bootloader and are therefore unable to run CyanogenMod, this includes the Verizon and AT&T Galaxy S4 (early models allowed it, updates locked it out). However, that's not needed to fix the problem, only root (it's an easy fix actually),
It's different here in Russia (Score:2)
No mobile operator has truly unlimited data plans and the ones that are called "unlimited" are all capped but capped differently depending on the amount of cash you shell out.
Yeah, this country is in dark ages in regard to mobile Internet - it's expensive and limited.
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I seem to remember hitting 250GB on verizon last summer that seemed pretty unlimited to me... But who knows maybe the cap is 251GB?
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You should try again this month! My sister has kept her truly unlimited data plan from VZW. She just buys a new phone and swaps the service. I missed it. I guess that *any* contract change means she loses the unlimited - she's had this account for years and years now. She was also an early adopter - lives out in the sticks off of solar and all that. All of her computing is done on a phone regardless of how many devices I gift her. These days, I just buy her a phone if it looks like she may use it.
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Hmm, it's on a .ru domain though. Can't trust those ;)
Denmark (Score:3, Informative)
I have a plan with 12GB data over 4G (8-35 Mbit/s down 2-24Mbit/s up) (after which it is closed. $3 will double amount of data to 24GB).
12 hours outgoing calls (but unlimited to customers at the same telecom).
Unlimited texts (SMS+MMS) domestically.
And I pay DKK 79 = $9.65 + sales tax per month.
For internet access at home, I have 60/60 Mbit/s fiber. So I rarely use many GB,
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Are you sure it's closed if you reach the cap?
Most suppliers I know off will just lower connection speed.
Tethering is capped (Score:2)
I voted "doesn't apply" because my UK carrier (Three) used to offer totally uncapped data which was awesome; now they apparely offer unlimited data on the phone, but tethered data is limited at 4GB per month.
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How do they tell whether the data requests originate from the phone or from a device connected to the phone?
5GB + Unlimited Spotify (Score:2)
I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
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I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
Where are you where zero-rating is illegal? In the US, T-mobile still zero-rates music, so you must not live here...
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I have 5GB data + unlimited Spotify. As this is not legal anymore because of net neutrality, Spotify data will fall under the 5GB in the near future. I use about 2GB normal data per month, and about 6-12 GB for Spotify. I'm thinking about ending my Spotify subscription alltogether when the unlimited option is gone.
Where are you where zero-rating is illegal? In the US, T-mobile still zero-rates music, so you must not live here...
I live in the Netherlands, and I believe we have the strongest laws about net neutrality in the EU.
Why would they cap? (Score:2)
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I've wondered the same I had wildblue satellite internet a few years ago part of their fair access policy was that if you went over your data allotment you got slowed to isdn speeds until you went back under your allotment.
In addition if you went over your allotment 3 times in a calendar year they would TERMINATE your service.
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I expect they decided that while occasional massive billls may seem profitable in the short term the fear they induced in customers was overall bad for buisness.
If my choices were to risk having an app gone haywire stick me with a massive bill or not have internet on my phone at all I would almost certainly go with the latter.
What if you exceed your data cap? (Score:3)
Another interesting question would be : what happens after you exceed your data cap?
- Are you throttled?
- Are you blocked?
- Are you automatically charged extra?
In my case I have a 3GB data plan, throttled to 128kbps if exceeded. Roaming are extra.
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I have 12GB (4G), throttled to 64kbps (officially) if exceeded.
In reality, when I had a much lower plan, I've never experienced they actually lowered it when exceeded unless grossly exceeded.
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Another interesting question would be : what happens after you exceed your data cap?
- Are you throttled?
- Are you blocked?
- Are you automatically charged extra?
In my case I have a 3GB data plan, throttled to 128kbps if exceeded. Roaming are extra.
I'm not aware of any US provider that employs the second option. If you exceed a threshold, your service degrades or costs extra, but it doesn't stop. And that is how providers can say disingenuously, but accurately, that there is no cap.
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In France there are : blocked plans.
A typical offer would be : 6€, unlimited text messages, 2h voice, 100MB data. If you do anything that would require extra fees in a regular plan, you are blocked instead. This way you are sure you won't pay more than the listed price.
This is typically for teens, to avoid bad surprises if the parents are paying. But small time users like them too.
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Free 2€ cannot be blocked. The cheapest with data seems to be SoSH (5€/50MB). La Poste is next with 7€/200MB. The next tier is around 10-15€ and you have unlimited voice.
Finally you get the full package for around 20€ (with several GB of data, throttled) but at this point, they start to look more and more like regular plans.
All prices per month, no time commitment, no subsidy.
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In Canada, under the Wireless Code of Conduct mandated by the CRTC (roughly the Canadian equivalent of the FCC) since December 2013, once you go over your plan's data bucket allowance, carriers can only legally charge at most $50 for domestic overage, or $100 for international overage, based on their insane rates. It's usually $0.01/MB - $0.05/MB for domestic overage depending on the plan, and even more outrageous for US and International usage that you wouldn't believe.
After you go after that amount of ove
Only 1GB... (Score:2)
...but when I hit the cap, it's just throttled and with a text message I can buy 1-20GB more. And usually it's one or two months in summer at my cabin or on vacation I hit the cap (and then I really hit it), so I usually buy 10GB extra. It beats paying every month for capacity I won't use. At home I got 100/100 Mbit fiber, so I can do all my "heavy lifting" at home.
No cap...but (Score:2)
What smartphone? (Score:2)
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Having a phone which is also a camera is cool. Don't get mobile data and you avoid most of the possible exploits. If only you could get decent offline navigation.
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The last time I travelled, I used a Windows tablet with the Windows 10 maps app. I downloaded in advance the map for every city I was going to visit and the tablet had GPS but only Wifi for communication.
Conveniently easy. The downside is that the Windows Maps app isn't very good - maps are not very readable even in the best lighting conditions. Also, if you search for an address - you get the middle of the street as result: (Thanks for nothing, Microsoft!)
The paper maps you could get at any hotel you stay
Fi! (Score:3)
Thanks, Project Fi!
Cap Vs Purchased Plan (Score:2)
I selected 1gb-5gb as my cap because that's what the plan I pay for. I have no idea what the true cap of what I would be allowed to consume if I was willing to pay for it. I suspect that most people selecting the lower cap ranges are in the same boat. Therefore the results of this poll are really meaningless. But then again, the results of most polls on /. have been mostly meaningless.
So, given that the poll is misleading, why isn't there the answer "The Cowboy Neal Cellular Service doesn't have any caps"?
I think some operators actually sells capped plans (Score:2)
Most monthly pay mobile data things in Finland are unlimited, they all used to be, but I heard that one operator at least has recently sold plans with preferred data cap after what you get throttled.
Mostly they differentiate the data plans on what type of max speed you can get. Like my current operator has 14,90 â/month for 21Mbit/sec max, 16,90 â/month for 50MBit/s, 19,90 â/month for 100MBit/s and 49,90 â/month for idiots(300MBit/s max, but really.. good luck in getting such speed anyw
Verizon doesn't cap your data... (Score:2)
But they'll charge you $10 a month for every Gig of data you go over your obnoxiously low 2 GB entry level data plan.
Once you go about 20 GB over, I'd imagine that it will be your credit limit that will be capping you.
which 5GB? (Score:2)
I can't decide if my 5GB cap should be the one in 1GB-5GB the one in 5GB-15GB.
1 GB (Score:2)
Most Apps are pretty good at keeping their mobile network usage in check. I really don't see how you need > 20 GB, unless you're tethering and using it as a prime internet connection for mobile office / home, or Netflixing / Youtub
There is no cap - they just charge more !!! (Score:2)
I have a 2GB/month plan included as part of my monthly fee. Should I use more - they charge me more ($10 / GB or something like that). I'm near Wifi so much that I only achieve 1.75GB of my 2GB goal. And I have every data feature enabled except Podcast download.
That isn't a cap. I would expect a cap to --- stop allowing me to send data. Verizon is happy to take my money.
Send Data, Receive Bill.
AT&T unlimited, 22GB cap, $70/month total (Score:2)
You can get just about the same with TMO or Sprint (Score:2)
I have AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan that came with my iPhone about 6 years ago. AT&T recently announced they raised the throttling cap to 22GB. I am paying less than $70/month total, including data, talk, text, fees, and tax.
Sprint caps you at 23GB and TMobile caps you after 21GB. According to my contacts, Tmobile has a better network than Sprint, but probably not as good as say, Verizon.
If you're willing to switch carriers, you can get much better data plans and no need to be "grandfathered".
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>> Why would I leave AT&T?
How about because their rates are much higher than say T-Mobile for the same thing, and then AT&T also nickel and dime you for everything on top?
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I guess you missed the part where I mentioned that I pay less than $70 for unlimited data and everything else. Howe is that "much higher" than T-Mobile? AT&T has not substantially nickel-and-dimed me, either, and you are kidding yourself if you think all the carriers don't do the same.
I have a family plan with 9x10GB lines for $220 with free international text/data roaming, tethering on and 1 year of rollover data stash. I can't get that kind of deal on AT&T - not even close. It'd cost me $455 for 50GB shared - and then I'd have to worry about over-quota lines at $15/GB.
I haven't paid a dollar in overage to TMO for the 2 years I've been on. Works great for close friends and family.
Cap, or prepay limit? (Score:2)
2TB is the limit in the accountancy system.... (Score:2)
That's as much as the carrier's engineers say you could theoretically get through without a limit if you ran it 24x7, but you're really not going to get that in the real world.
They do traffic management to prioritise certain traffic, up what they can see as VoIP (Which is hilarious as Facebook, Google Hangouts, Skype etc calls suck but SIP connections are flawless), HTTP (80) / HTTPS (443) are again, up. Try to torrent something? 64kb during peak hour, close to useless in my experience, but out of hours it
No cap, but throttled (Score:2)
I have unlimited data, but I often get text messages saying I've used 75% of my 5GB and that if I pass that I'll get throttled. I would switch providers, but I need to be able to swap SIM cards when I travel out of country.
Pay as you go (Score:2)
I do prepaid data. I pay $30 for 1Gb and it lasts until I use it all up, so usually lasts me 3 or 4 months. Pretty good deal for people who want data but don't use much of it (i.e checking email, light app usage, browsing... basically no downloads/streaming)
commentsubjectsaredumb (Score:2)
Apparently truly no limit (Score:4, Interesting)
T-Mobile, unlimited plan, and never been capped. The only things I don't like about their unlimited plan is that roaming data has a lower cap and tethering has a lower cap, but direct data on the phone has no cap and no slowdowns.
The thing I like about T-Mobile specifically, is that I've had them change my plan for the period of a few days (when in the boonies roaming on AT&T) to increase my roaming allotment (while decreasing the on network unlimited data to 5GB) and they set the system to automatically switch me back on the requested date. No hassles, no surcharges, no loss of contract standing.
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>> direct data on the phone has no cap and no slowdowns.
I have the same plan and for me at least, data is definitely significantly throttled after you hit your limit.
I don't have any mobile data, you insensitive clod (Score:2)
I don't have any drives hanging in my mobile.
I have seven letter 'G's hanging in it though making it a 7G mobile - more Gs than anyone I know.
And there is a bell so that I can ring with it. Several people have asked me if I could call with it - of course I can call into it but I don't see the point...
It looks nice hanging in the window. It is a windows mobile.
Fifteen femtoquads per fortnight (Score:2)
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My cap is unknown since I haven't reached it.
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Mine is officially 3GB, but I rarely if ever go over 1GB a month...
(the good news is, if I do pop the cap, it just throttles from 4G to 2G speeds without extra billing.)
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Most likely less than 5GB. As likely the operator will count in some overhead so the practical cap you get is most likely (slightly) lower...
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except GiB is for the power-of-2 unit that he's explicitly not using.
No Wi-Fi on the bus (Score:2)
People who take public transit to and from work may be away from Internet for longer than a half hour at a time. There's no Wi-Fi on the bus, and your mind isn't quite as occupied as it would be with driving a car.
Radio has less usable spectrum (Score:2)
Radio frequency spectrum is shared by all cellular subscribers near a given tower. Moreover, spectrum is also split up with OTA TV, weather radar, emergency first responders, and more. With a fiber or DSL connection, on the other hand, each subscriber gets a waveguide that keeps his signal separate from that of other subscribers. Even with DOCSIS (cable Internet), where all subscribers in a neighborhood connect to a single CMTS, there's a lot more bandwidth and a lot less noise than there is with radio.
Pedantic much? (Score:2)
I thought about it for a few seconds and realized what the question means. Here, "mobile data" here is shorthand for transfer of data to or from a computer while said computer is carried by someone mobile enough to leave the coverage of a WLAN access point.
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Are you allowed to use your iPhone on a plan with only voice and SMS and no cellular data? If so, which carrier?