GPRS data consumption, how's it work?

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Winter Dragon

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#6176 2-Jan-2006 13:32

When using a PDA to connect to the internet via your phone say for MSN, you can view the connection's data sent and received values.

Are these values accurate or is GPRS data not measured there? I'm trying to work out how a few 10-20 minute MSN chat sessions generate over 3Mb per month.

Data sent: 6kb
Data received: 5kb

It's not much, even if I used msn every night for a month there's no way I'd use over 3Mb with the short durations I'm talking for. So where's all my data useage going? Anyone know?

I've stopped using gprs altogether until someone tells me how it works.

tonyhughes

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#25608 2-Jan-2006 15:39

the metering will be done at the network end, not on your phone.
I would assume any dropped packets between a tower and you will result in higher actual data use? (which could account for a fair bit). Negotiation of the connection would also use data, but may not register in the phones meter (though this should be a negligible amount).

Any other apps running on GPRS?

Winter Dragon

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#25814 6-Jan-2006 16:04

Nothing else running at all as far as I know. I turn on bluetooth on the phone and pda and make a clean connection every time. I just think it's a little odd that's all.

alasta

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#25815 6-Jan-2006 16:39

Are you able to install some sort of network monitoring software on your PDA? If so, then you could connect your PDA to the Internet for a period of time with no Internet applications running, then check the network monitor to see if any traffic has been sent or received.

This will tell you whether there are any processes running in the background on your PDA which may be consuming Internet traffic.

wtf

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#26565 16-Jan-2006 16:09

I wonder if the "gotcha" might be the minimum charging increment? If you check the vodafone site (see below*) for the rates you will see that the charging is in 10kB minimum blocks. However, that would correspond to 300 chat sessions which seems a lot, eg around ten separate sessions per day. If my understanding of what they say is correct, when you connect that would start a session, which can continue presumably either as long as you like or until you lose it due to coverage or some other factor. So each time you connect, you would be up for a minimum of 10kb worth...thus it would be better to stay connected than to have two sessions a few minutes apart. You don't pay for being connected although some of the APN's will time out an idle connection.

* http://www.vodafone.co.nz/pricing_plans/mobile_data.jsp?item=mobile_data

Other than the minimum block size, there should be little discrepancy between data counted at the TCP interface on your device and data billed. While the airlink itself can be a bit unreliable, it has its own system for retransmission that would not count against the bill. I suspect that at a moment when you drive out of coverage it might be possible for the network to think it has sent you a package that you never actually completely received, but that should not exceed more than about one packet

johnr

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#26571 16-Jan-2006 18:45

It would be easy to use 3meg while using MSN as this using data by refreshing the service

johnr

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#26577 16-Jan-2006 19:07

Also use MYA on the vodafone.co.nz website and you can view each data session on there. Time connected and amount of data moved

Jama

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#26587 17-Jan-2006 08:35

I could be wrong but from memory Voda round up 10KB packets (billing units) every 20 minutes. That would mean if you use 3KB in a 20 minute period it is rounded to 10KB. So, if you stay connected 'all the time' and you only occasionally dribble data you are paying for more than you use.

On the other hand Telecom only round up to 10KB at the end (disconnect) of your data session.

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sbiddle

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#26629 17-Jan-2006 17:40

Slightly off topic I know but after 2 weeks of trying to deal with Vodafone involving over 30 mins spent of 3 calls to customer service 2 calls to solution support and 3 promises to ring me back I've all but given up trying to get my possible overcharging reversed. .

My only hope now is Johnr - can you possibly tell me what WAP usage is charged at 6c/10kb because Vodafone can't tell me.

freitasm

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#26631 17-Jan-2006 17:46

sbiddle: My only hope now is Johnr - can you possibly tell me what WAP usage is charged at 6c/10kb because Vodafone can't tell me.

Make sure you send him a PM...