2D 3G is pretty fast - even on a tethered phone I have found to my chagrin!

Forums › Android › 2D 3G is pretty fast - even on a tethered phone I have found to my chagrin!

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#70459 24-Oct-2010 10:45

I had a broadband data pack purchased a month ago and noticed it would expire on 25/10 but I still had 900MB unused. There is no way I can use 900MB in a day so I decied to tether my N1 and download some files to my PC. I found two files totalling 700MB I wanted, fired up my P2P client and let it rip. Thinking it would take some time I went away and did other stuff.

When I got back to my PC a few hours later I discovered that downloads had completed and I was now sharing! It seemed I had downloaded the 700MB and uploaded about 200MB (well according to the P2P client).

But on my phone were two messages from 2D I had missed. One saying I was near the allocation of my data and the other saying I had gone over and would be charged at the casual data rate. So I went online to 2D to look at how much I had gone over and found I had transferred 1.6G in that session for $72!

I have learnt a few things from this

1. 2D 3G is pretty fast and tethering the N1 is just as good as getting a USB modem!
2. Unlike VF, 2D don't automatically add another data pack to you when you go over so be very aware and don't do unattended downloads!
3. There appears to be a huge discrepency between what a P2P client says you use and what the ISP charges. Actually I see the same issue on my PC and TelstraClear's billing.

As an aside I run NetCounter on my N1 and it also said I had used 1.7G in that session.

Oh well, we live and learn.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#395191 24-Oct-2010 11:57

lchiu7:
2. Unlike VF, 2D don't automatically add another data pack to you when you go over so be very aware and don't do unattended downloads!

Because the text once took 15 minutes to arrive this once cost me $150. It is clearly one of their shifty methods of getting more money from the customer... They will always have the excuse that they email you and it's your responsibility. But his is not functional if you are using the pack as a DSL replacement.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#395198 24-Oct-2010 12:57

ouch.

you do know that your P2P files are still uploading even when you have not finished downloading right?
If you see a file for 700MB then you can guarantee that it will use considerably more than that before it finishes downloading.

Plus you can generally set your client to switch off as soon as the download is finished - meaning you won't find a 700MB file has just cost you 10GB of upload because you forgot about it.

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#395220 24-Oct-2010 14:00

NonprayingMantis: ouch.

you do know that your P2P files are still uploading even when you have not finished downloading right?
If you see a file for 700MB then you can guarantee that it will use considerably more than that before it finishes downloading.

Plus you can generally set your client to switch off as soon as the download is finished - meaning you won't find a 700MB file has just cost you 10GB of upload because you forgot about it.

I knew that. But I had uploads set to about 4KBs so reasonably slow. And when I got back to my PC it had indicated it had uploaded about 150MB but I guess the client (uTorrent in this case) isn't exactly reporting exact numbers.

I didn't know you can shutdown uploads once an upload has finished. I must check to see if uTorrent or Azureus has this feature.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

aim

247 posts

Master Geek

#395229 24-Oct-2010 14:19

Both of the mentioned torrent clients have that feature.

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#395230 24-Oct-2010 14:20

SteveON:
lchiu7:
2. Unlike VF, 2D don't automatically add another data pack to you when you go over so be very aware and don't do unattended downloads!

Because the text once took 15 minutes to arrive this once cost me $150. It is clearly one of their shifty methods of getting more money from the customer... They will always have the excuse that they email you and it's your responsibility. But his is not functional if you are using the pack as a DSL replacement.

I am not using the data pack as a replacement for DSL. I just wanted to use up my balance and save my home cable modem data (clearly that didn't work!). I wish they offered the option to automatically top up after you go over. How hard would that be to implement?

This is especially with the national data plan of 50MB for $6. With a smart phone I can see it easy to go over that without realising it.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#395253 24-Oct-2010 16:08

Well this posting would not be complete without recounting my last experience. In the hope that 2D CSR could do something I called them to explain. The frontline call centre staff couldn't do anything but told me to call back with a supervisor was on hand. I did so and after explaining everything they said they would do the following.

They would credit me with the charge for the data at 10c/MB.

They would sell me another $20 512MB pack (equals 1G). They would then adjust the usage on that 1G to be 1G minus what I had used already.

If this all goes through then I think it's a great result and yet one more reason for me to stay with 2D.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

andrewcnz

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

#395267 24-Oct-2010 16:49

I would be really happy with 2degrees, that's a pretty good response to your issue.

Don't know why they can't set up auto data pack renewals. Especially for on account users.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#395291 24-Oct-2010 18:11

P2P has overheads which won't be counted as useful data which is what uTorrent will be recording. When you stop a download, you can still have many people attempting to connect to you.

Yours sounds very large though, thats quite a difference. Maybe you were getting hashfails?

alasta

6703 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#395300 24-Oct-2010 18:33

It's entirely possible that my memory is playing tricks on me here, but I can very vaguely recall someone saying some time ago that it is possible to avoid casual data charges by setting your account to disable data altogether if your data 'packs' all run out.

Can anyone in the know confirm this and, if so, what is the process to follow?

Jimmyoo0

19 posts

Geek

#395747 26-Oct-2010 11:56

I just use 3G watchdog, you just set you allowance and the start date then once you have used it all up it auto disables your data,
I find it very handy as stops me using very small amounts of data like under 200k and being charged for Vodafones $1 daily rate.

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#395784 26-Oct-2010 13:54

alasta: It's entirely possible that my memory is playing tricks on me here, but I can very vaguely recall someone saying some time ago that it is possible to avoid casual data charges by setting your account to disable data altogether if your data 'packs' all run out.

Can anyone in the know confirm this and, if so, what is the process to follow?

Was it texting 'stop' or lock to 233?

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#395789 26-Oct-2010 14:01

I sent lock to 233 and it said your account's now locked so unless you hav a valid National Data Pack we won't let you connect out of Zone.

That's not the same as stopping all Internet use unless you have a balance since it appears you can still go over on a Broadband Zone plan.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#395817 26-Oct-2010 15:04

lchiu7: I sent lock to 233 and it said your account's now locked so unless you hav a valid National Data Pack we won't let you connect out of Zone.

That's not the same as stopping all Internet use unless you have a balance since it appears you can still go over on a Broadband Zone plan.

Gutted, the way they justify it is that VF & XT don't have the option to auto renew data.

ntsan

58 posts

Master Geek

#396831 28-Oct-2010 13:52

Ouch for the extra charge..

Anyway use 1 click hosting for near exact internet usage, p2p suck too much extra bandwidth