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Any tips for cutting down on my data usage?

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guyver01 said:
if you cant get anything other than cellular or sattelite... then the ONLY thing to do is MOVE..

sorry to say it... but it's true.

When i move.. the NUMBER ONE thing on my list is Service Provider Speed.

If i can't get broadband... i dont care what the place/area is like.

i LIVE on broadband. it's part of my life & job.
Click to expand...

Wow, do you HAVE to use CAPS LOCK so MUCH
 
I shared a 5GB/month connection with 3 other people when I lived with my parents. We did fine.

NO Youtube.
NO game downloads.
USE adblock.
Have a friend download large driver files for you.
Don't browse lots of pictures online, like photo galleries and such. On forums, disable inline pictures in your settings so that they'll only load if you click on them.

It is possible to do it if you follow a few simple rules like that. Heck, at that point I was on the internet for large chunks of time and was still able to do fine. I certainly won't trade in my roadrunner for it, and like another poster said, anywhere I move must have a decent broadband option available, or the place is simply unsuitable.
 
SparkyJJO said:
nd like another poster said, anywhere I move must have a decent broadband option available, or the place is simply unsuitable.
Click to expand...
+eleventy

Take it from me folks, I was stuck on broken 56k for 7 months. Broken meaning the phonelines were so dirty it would only establish at 24k and pages would literally take 15 minutes to load with any images and would time out 1 out of 4 times. Loading multiple tabs to save time while reading? Fuhgettaboutit. The closest library with computers with a wait time of 30-40 minutes was 20 minutes from home. I now can see broadband as a utility.
 
Neighbors have high speed a mile away from you? Figure out a way to get a wireless signal that far (directional antennas?), pay your neighbors to let you use their net. If you have line of sight you could do lan over laser (LOL). Problem solved.

http://ronja.twibright.com/

Or move. Wtf is someone who cares about broadband doing living in a backward ass place with no broadband. Self fail.
 
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OVerLoRDI said:
Neighbors have high speed a mile away from you? Figure out a way to get a wireless signal that far (directional antennas?), pay your neighbors to let you use their net. If you have line of sight you could do lan over laser (LOL). Problem solved.

http://ronja.twibright.com/

Or move. Wtf is someone who cares about broadband doing living in a backward ass place with no broadband. Self fail.
Click to expand...

God I love off topic. It's the only place where you can go and see people try to thread crap over and over in the same topic with the same argument that's already been shown to be completely pointless.

Anyway, I was in the OP's boat. OP, last I checked Millenicom still had unlimited internet through Sprint's network. If you JUST got sprint recently, you may still be in the full-refund window. Find out if you are, then move to someone who doesn't have a limit. T-Mobile does not, Sprint 4G does not through a phone and you can tether. There are a couple other options, though not many. Even Viasat is not really an option. Sure, it's 12 mbps down supposedly, but the cap is 17GB, and that includes uploading AND downloading. So you'll but through that pretty damn quickly too.
 
Joseph F said:
I just got the 6GB/month plan from Sprint as my primary internet connection. (Well, it was either that or satellite :thumbsdown🙂 And I'm using way too much data. (5GB in 18 days) Are there any browser tweaks/plug-ins that can keep me from reloading redundant data? I'm using Chrome. Also, if there's anything else you could recommend, I'd be grateful for the info.

I'm not sure if this is in the right forum, but I didn't think that it would be entirely inappropriate here.
Click to expand...



Didn't read the whole thread OP but there is a simple solution to your problem ... turn the phone off. Imagine how great it was before cell phones when you didn't have all these great -and-wonderful toys to play with. Yes, we still had auto accidents but at least they weren't caused by morons on their phones texting.

Get off the crack ... that'l save your data!
 
guyver01 said:
When i move.. the NUMBER ONE thing on my list is Service Provider Speed.

If i can't get broadband... i dont care what the place/area is like.

i LIVE on broadband. it's part of my life & job.
Click to expand...




It's not hard to see how sad this statement is. So, so sad ...
 
guyver01 said:
if you cant get anything other than cellular or sattelite... then the ONLY thing to do is MOVE..

sorry to say it... but it's true.

When i move.. the NUMBER ONE thing on my list is Service Provider Speed.

If i can't get broadband... i dont care what the place/area is like.

i LIVE on broadband. it's part of my life & job.
Click to expand...

He didn't ask for broadband options. He asked for advice on using less bandwidth.
 
me wants to know what rural area of PA has 4G but not DSL...
sounds like shoulda gotten sattelite.

Isnt sprint offering unlimited data for $80 per month...im pretty sure I saw that on a commercial.
 
Maybe you should have just gotten a smartphone with unlimited data from Sprint instead. Then installed something like PdaNet to tether your phone to your computer and you would be able to surf to your hearts content with no data cap.
 
Depending on where in PA you live, you should be able to get a plan from Sprint that has unlimited data for under $100/month or less.

The other issue on reduction is your choice of what you choose to view.
Pictures/video/music take up much more data than text.

Adjust your browser to block ads, not show images and do not stream or download videos.

Self discipline


visit AT and that is it 😛
 
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Few things you'll just have to accept:

You can't watch internet videos
You have to block ads
You have to limit your internet usage to 2-3 hours a day
Your internet is basically only for forum browsing and news reading
 
Sprint AFAIK has unlimited everything plan available. Shouldn't be too much. They will charge you for Wifi tethering from your phone, but as long as you do USB tether with Easytether or something like that then it should be unlimited.
 
Is there an easy way to cache files that'll last from session to session? You could save stuff like the AT css and forms, so you wouldn't have to download it every time. After awhile, your moist used sites would be saved, and bandwidth usage would go down.
 
lxskllr said:
Is there an easy way to cache files that'll last from session to session? You could save stuff like the AT css and forms, so you wouldn't have to download it every time. After awhile, your moist used sites would be saved, and bandwidth usage would go down.
Click to expand...

Interdasting...

Also, no one has mentioned not installing flash. That along with ad-block should at least halve consumption.

Depending on the state, you may be able to cancel your contract if it's within a certain time frame.
 
I would cancel the 6GB data plan, get unlimited data for my phone, and tether through the phone. I use EasyTether (USB only) but you can also use "Wifi Hotspot and USB Tether" from the Android market if you want a wifi tether. The latter app is only compatible with some phones, though. Tethering using either of these apps does not require root access or any wifi hotspot account add-on, just a data plan for the phone itself. I have Verizon and have not had any issues with EasyTether at all.
 
Wireless Ethernet is available in quite a few rural areas where there's no cable/DSL availability. Rather than using a telco that also offers Wireless Data, perhaps it would be wise to go for a strictly data company with no monthly limits/caps ...

Something like http://www.clear.com for example?
 
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