Telecom T-Stick cost me $60 for 15 minutes browsing: How can you avoid this happening?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom T-Stick cost me $60 for 15 minutes browsing: How can you avoid this happening?

1 | 2 | 3

1467 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 429
Inactive user

#1726342 26-Feb-2017 08:55

sbiddle:

frednz:

sbiddle:

If you are connecting via a hotspot you should set it to a metered connection which will stop updates and background data. This was a feature introduced with Windows 8.

I guess there might be some disadvantages to setting your internet as a metered connection perhaps resulting in a reduced level of security? When I tried this setting with my normal unlimited home broadband, a warning message came up: "Norton 360 cannot communicate with the Symantic servers because your current policy is "Economy".

So, are there any major disadvantages of using a "metered connection"? Do people use the "metered connection" setting with their normal home broadband to avoid the computer running slow?

Cheers

Fred

It's not something you would use on a normal home broadband connection. It's something you'd use if you're tethered to a hotspot or 3G connection or use slow public WiFi and don't want excessive data usage or background apps syncing data which could saturate the connection.

Thanks, that makes sense, but if you are using your laptop using slow public WiFi and use the metered connection, I guess there may be some reduction in security as a result of that?

Fred

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 429
Inactive user

#1726344 26-Feb-2017 09:00

bagheera:

I so wish you could turn off the none planned rate on pre-pay - if i run out of data, fine, stop the internet, but please do not charge me $100 / gb - this is the reason my pre-pay has $0 balance, i might use the txt to pay for parking in auckland when i am visiting as i normal do not have coins, and yeah .50 extra a lot, but better than car parking building rate of $20 an hour, but not an option because of the $100/gb no opt out charges.

Yes, I think it would be good if Spark cut off the internet as soon as you have used the internet bundle that you have purchased and put up a screen that asks you whether you would like to continue using internet, but at the hugely increased rate of 30 cents per megabyte. If this sensible precaution had been in place, I would have opted not to completely use up my prepaid balance by paying 30 cents per megabyte for further internet data! After all, it was never my intention in the first place to pay 30 cents per megabyte, in fact, I thought that $10 for 300 megabytes was very expensive these days!

Fred

nathan

5695 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1630
Inactive user

#1726356 26-Feb-2017 09:22

frednz:

sbiddle:

frednz:

sbiddle:

If you are connecting via a hotspot you should set it to a metered connection which will stop updates and background data. This was a feature introduced with Windows 8.

I guess there might be some disadvantages to setting your internet as a metered connection perhaps resulting in a reduced level of security? When I tried this setting with my normal unlimited home broadband, a warning message came up: "Norton 360 cannot communicate with the Symantic servers because your current policy is "Economy".

So, are there any major disadvantages of using a "metered connection"? Do people use the "metered connection" setting with their normal home broadband to avoid the computer running slow?

Cheers

Fred

It's not something you would use on a normal home broadband connection. It's something you'd use if you're tethered to a hotspot or 3G connection or use slow public WiFi and don't want excessive data usage or background apps syncing data which could saturate the connection.

Thanks, that makes sense, but if you are using your laptop using slow public WiFi and use the metered connection, I guess there may be some reduction in security as a result of that?

Fred

yes only critical security updates will download from WU

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17452/windows-metered-internet-connections-faq

How does setting my network connection to metered affect my PC?

Any app that relies on an Internet connection to update or display info may be limited in the amount of data it can download or display. You might notice these and other effects:

Windows Update will only download priority updates.
Apps downloading from the Windows Store might be paused.
Start screen tiles might stop updating.
Offline files might not sync automatically.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1726359 26-Feb-2017 09:24

sbiddle:

If you are connecting via a hotspot you should set it to a metered connection which will stop updates and background data. This was a feature introduced with Windows 8.

But AFAIK doesn't stop other non windows things downloading in the background. from chrome browser to adobe acrobat reader to antivirus to Dell (insert brand)
"drivers update monitor" ....

nathan

5695 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1630
Inactive user

#1726374 26-Feb-2017 09:31

frednz:

bagheera:

I so wish you could turn off the none planned rate on pre-pay - if i run out of data, fine, stop the internet, but please do not charge me $100 / gb - this is the reason my pre-pay has $0 balance, i might use the txt to pay for parking in auckland when i am visiting as i normal do not have coins, and yeah .50 extra a lot, but better than car parking building rate of $20 an hour, but not an option because of the $100/gb no opt out charges.

Yes, I think it would be good if Spark cut off the internet as soon as you have used the internet bundle that you have purchased and put up a screen that asks you whether you would like to continue using internet, but at the hugely increased rate of 30 cents per megabyte. If this sensible precaution had been in place, I would have opted not to completely use up my prepaid balance by paying 30 cents per megabyte for further internet data! After all, it was never my intention in the first place to pay 30 cents per megabyte, in fact, I thought that $10 for 300 megabytes was very expensive these days!

Fred

you can be sure they've run the numbers and this is a business decision to make money from overage charges vs the chance of annoying customers and actually having them leave.

cadman

1014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 557
Inactive user

#1726554 26-Feb-2017 14:28

How to avoid this happening? Only load on the amount of credit you need, when you need it.

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

tangerz

662 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 199

#1726575 26-Feb-2017 15:57

frednz:

bagheera:

I so wish you could turn off the none planned rate on pre-pay - if i run out of data, fine, stop the internet, but please do not charge me $100 / gb - this is the reason my pre-pay has $0 balance, i might use the txt to pay for parking in auckland when i am visiting as i normal do not have coins, and yeah .50 extra a lot, but better than car parking building rate of $20 an hour, but not an option because of the $100/gb no opt out charges.

Yes, I think it would be good if Spark cut off the internet as soon as you have used the internet bundle that you have purchased and put up a screen that asks you whether you would like to continue using internet, but at the hugely increased rate of 30 cents per megabyte. If this sensible precaution had been in place, I would have opted not to completely use up my prepaid balance by paying 30 cents per megabyte for further internet data! After all, it was never my intention in the first place to pay 30 cents per megabyte, in fact, I thought that $10 for 300 megabytes was very expensive these days!

Fred

This must just be a Spark thing...

I have a mobile hotspot device for emergency/holiday use and this is exactly how my Vodafone Prepay data connection works. You have to choose a 'Plan', say 3GB, but when that is used up the connection just stops working, it doesn't revert to casual rates. Reason being I guess is that 'Casual Rates' is it's own 'Plan' (and you can only be on one 'Plan' at a time) so while I'm on my chosen plan I never get caught out with 'overage'.

When I'm done using it for the time I've needed, I then cancel the 'Plan' I'm on, (so that it doesn't try to renew) and it then reverts to the 'casual rate' plan for during the time I'm not using it. I leave a little credit on it during this time and then just top-up and choose the plan I want when it comes time to use it again.

Sideface

9650 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15598

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1726621 26-Feb-2017 18:03

Slightly off topic, but I'll ask anyway ...

I have a very unreliable VF cable connection at home, subject to frequent outages.

I use the Huawei HG695 router as supplied by VF.

Would a VF USB Vodem stick provide a useful 3G or 4G backup if inserted into the USB port of the router?

I want to stay with VF because of their "always connected" policy to cover outages.

We have a VF tower within sight of our house.

Sideface

tangerz

662 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 199

#1726642 26-Feb-2017 19:32

Sideface:

Slightly off topic, but I'll ask anyway ...

I have a very unreliable VF cable connection at home, subject to frequent outages.

I use the Huawei HG695 router as supplied by VF.

Would a VF USB Vodem stick provide a useful 3G or 4G backup if inserted into the USB port of the router?

I want to stay with VF because of their "always connected" policy to cover outages.

We have a VF tower within sight of our house.

It seems you can with the Spark HG659:

https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/equipment/huawei/hg659-gateway/connect-via-3g-dongle-huawei-hg659-hg659b/

So I'm guessing you can with the Vodafone model. One thing though, the Prepay Data SIM that comes with the Vodem won't qualify as an 'eligible' account for them to add data to. Best bet would be to simply get a Prepay Pay and Go SIM and put that in there as they are 'eligible'.

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 429
Inactive user

#1726657 26-Feb-2017 20:18

joker97:

sbiddle:

If you are connecting via a hotspot you should set it to a metered connection which will stop updates and background data. This was a feature introduced with Windows 8.

But AFAIK doesn't stop other non windows things downloading in the background. from chrome browser to adobe acrobat reader to antivirus to Dell (insert brand)
"drivers update monitor" ....

Thanks for this, so the lesson is that buying a data pack of 300mb is simply not large enough and can easily be quickly used up by updates etc that the user is not aware of. Although using a metered connection is a good idea, it seems that this only partially solves the problem. So, perhaps for $10, instead of offering only 300mb of data, Spark should provide at least 1GB and even then you would have to watch your usage closely.

It was also unfortunate that I had about $70 credit when I purchased the $10 pack of 300mb. Because Spark doesn't warn you when it's switching over to casual rates, in hindsight, this balance was far too large.

So, if at all possible, the recommendation would be to use a mobile phone, rather than a laptop computer for your internet requirements when your main home broadband is down!

Fred

1101

3141 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1143

#1726986 27-Feb-2017 11:20

frednz:

Thanks for this, so the lesson is that buying a data pack of 300mb is simply not large enough and can easily be quickly used up by updates etc that the user is not aware of.

300M is heaps,for some : install adblocker, set Browser not to autodownload images, disable Winupdates
and also not enough for others . It also depends on how 'clean' your win install is.

Some people keep Win very clean
Others just load Win up : dropbox, onedrive, online music/radio, Online Backups: some dont even realize that other programs(eg Norton) have installed a cloud backup program, goobling up data usage .
Some (non P2p) programs use P2P to deliver data to others
Many programs auto download their own major updates in the background

300M could easily be used in a single days Winupdate .
It could easily have been other software on the Laptop

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 429
Inactive user

#1727465 28-Feb-2017 09:32

1101:

frednz:

Thanks for this, so the lesson is that buying a data pack of 300mb is simply not large enough and can easily be quickly used up by updates etc that the user is not aware of.

300M is heaps,for some : install adblocker, set Browser not to autodownload images, disable Winupdates
and also not enough for others . It also depends on how 'clean' your win install is.

Some people keep Win very clean
Others just load Win up : dropbox, onedrive, online music/radio, Online Backups: some dont even realize that other programs(eg Norton) have installed a cloud backup program, goobling up data usage .
Some (non P2p) programs use P2P to deliver data to others
Many programs auto download their own major updates in the background

300M could easily be used in a single days Winupdate .
It could easily have been other software on the Laptop

Thanks for these tips, yes if you are very aware of every megabyte that your computer may use, you might just get by with buying 300mb for emergency use. But if your power has just gone off because of a major earthquake (which happened to us not so long ago) and you want to use your t-stick and your laptop (on battery), the last thing that you want to be doing is trying to see the number of megabytes you have used in the last 5 minutes. You are just trying to keep updated on the emergency and whether you have to evacuate because of a tsunami etc!

I have been told that the excess usage fee is not actually 30 cents per megabyte it's "only" 27 cents, which means you are paying "just" $270 per gigabyte, a bargain in the case of an emergency!

But when I checked "My Spark" it only said that casual data cost $1 per day up to 10MB, it didn't say that it after this it costs you 27 cents per MB without first notifying you that you have used up any data bundle that you have purchased.

Look, all this nonsense about 10mb for $1, 300mb for $10 is so historical and out of date that it makes the use of a T-Stick on these terms quite worthless and I'm tossing mine out because if there is a real emergency your data could be used up by your laptop in a few minutes without you knowing about it!

Fred

scheduler

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 25

#1727545 28-Feb-2017 10:44

The Other Option and you would need to confirm is Port the number to Skinny. According to their website is they do not have overage charges. This indicates they will prompt you to purchase more Data if you use the plan allocation.

Being Skinny I assume the Telecom T stick is not locked and the Skinny sim will work

Dairyxox

1595 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 455

#1727568 28-Feb-2017 11:16

Might have been your norton antivirus doing an update too.

Basically modern full blown computers are not terribly suitable for use on metered connections with small data allowances. You need to be an expert at stopping all the various data 'leaks' the machine could potentially have.

A tablet or smartphone is far more suitable for this type of situation, they are more frugal, have less services and overhead, less updates, and are somewhat 'aware' of metered vs unlimited connections.

Benjip

977 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 524

ID Verified

#1727571 28-Feb-2017 11:20

I use an app called TripMode whenever I tether on my Mac, I can't recommend it enough.

https://www.tripmode.ch

I can't vouch for the Windows version, but the Mac one is fantastic. It can be set to come on automatically whenever you connect to a certain network (in my case, my iPhone Personal Hotspot) and you can then choose which apps are allowed to access the internet. It shows you how much data each app has used, as well as a total MB/GB count for this session/today/this month.

1 | 2 | 3