Data Plan for iPad

My wife just surprised me with an iPad2. My question for the forum is how large a data plan should I get through Verizon?

I will primarily use the iPad to check emails and surf the web. Both of those functions I will do quite a bit throughout the day and evening. Unfortunately, I will not be at very many wifi hotspots while I am on my iPad either. I also travel quite a bit, so I am very excited to have this new device.

Verizon offers 1, 3, 5, and 10 gig options. I guess I am not technologically savvy enough to understand how large each of those are. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You will probably find that if you choose any of the smaller options, you will gradually start using the iPad more and more until you are basically better off going with the larger option. However, it's typical, as with any toy, that you might use it a lot when you first get it, and then will find that you taper off, later on down the line. Whether your usage increases or decreases as time goes by will primarily depend on what kind of person you are.

It's a bit difficult to tell you how much data you will need, since it very much depends on how what exactly you will be doing. I think the internet standard is that the average size of an email is about 10k. A few years ago, I saw a study that showed the average web page size was around 300k, but that was rapidly growing. On the other hand, mobile webpages are generally much better optimized, and usually only take up about 20k. Not all websites have mobile versions, so it will depend on what websites you are using. (And whether or not the iPad views mobile pages or regular web pages.)

Remember that these are averages. If people are sending you emails with lots of pictures, or videos, or any other high volume files, the size of your emails will be much larger. Ditto for websites. Visiting Youtube will use up a lot more data because of the video. Browsing websites with lots of pictures will eat up a lot of data. Downloading music, games, videos, etc, will also use up a lot of data.

If your iPad uses an app to read your email, then you will only have to worry about the size of the email. On the other hand, if you are browsing to a webpage to read the email, then figure the size of a general webpage.

If you need the numbers put in perspective, remember that 1000k = 1m and 1000m = 1gig. So, for 1 gig a month, you might be talking about being able to look at 3000 web pages. Remember, this assumes that the webpage has nothing too fancy on it, like a lot of pictures, or videos, or games. If you are looking at websites like that, then you'll end up using more of your data. If you're downloading music or videos, you're going to use even more data.

If you do a google search for something like "is 1 gig enough for data", you will see all kinds of people touting that they don't use up the 1 gig per month. It will really depend on how much you end up using the data plan. There are probably apps you can download which will help you track your data usage and maybe even give you a warning when you get close to your limit, so that you can make sure you don't go over.

I would also probably check with Verizon to see if you can change your plan in the future. If you find that you are regularly going over 1 gig, then upgrade to the 3 gig.

tl;dr : Sign up for the 1 gig and see how much data you actually use before deciding.

Quote: konceptum

. A few years ago, I saw a study that showed the average web page size was around 300k, but that was rapidly growing.

This is a gross overestimation. If you still have a link to that study, I would like to see it.
And average web page size (without images) is about 60K, but because of compression, bandwidth it requires to download is about 5-8K. An image like an icon or a button, is usually about 1-2K, photos, can get as large as 20 or 40K (I am talking about "web quality" pictures, not full resolution monsters). Allowing for 2 photos, and, say 15 small images per page, the size of a download is about 100K. Remember also, that images are cached by the browser, so you only need to download them once.

The problem with estimating the size of a mobile data plan is not counting web pages (you should be able to surf all you want with 200M a month, and still have some bandwidth left), it's the applications, that are going to use internet connection whenever they want, and push massive amounts of data through it without you even knowing. All the email and contact syncing, instant messaging, status updates, location uploads etc., etc. eat through your bandwidth allowance really fast.

My advice would be to get unlimited plan if they have it, or the largest available if not. That is if you don't want to keep worrying about every app you have running and every bit it may be uploading right now. An alternative (if the cost of the plan is a significant amount of money to you), is to do the opposite - get the smallest one that's offered, and see how it goes. If you find yourself constantly over, either upgrade to the next tier, or try to find out who is eating bandwidth, and fix the problem (although, there are no very many options available without jailbreaking the device).

200 meg for browsing seems a bit low to me. I just checked my usage for April, and it was 5.8 gig on my phone only (67 gig for my laptop).

I use Opera Mini, so I don't have Flash. Just html browsing and youtube.

Of course I have an unlimited data plan for my phone and 3G card for my laptop.

Quote: avargov

200 meg for browsing seems a bit low to me. I just checked my usage for April, and it was 5.8 gig on my phone only (67 gig for my laptop).

That is because of all that background activity going on. Try not using the browser at all on the phone for a day or too, and check the data activity then.
Laptops and desktops are a very different story from mobile. I get ~200G/month on mine just from torrents alone.

What kind of cell phone do you have? One option, if you phone allows it, is to make your phone a mobile wifi hotspot and allow your iPad to tether off that connection.

I have done that before with my previous phone (Palm Pre) and my current phone (Google Nexus S) and it works just fine. Since I have unlimited data for my smartphone I only have to have one data plan even though I occasionally connect my iPod touch and laptop to the internet through the connection of my phone.

If that is not an option for you I would looking into one of the larger plans, you may say you will only browse a few websites and check your e-mail but these devises are addicting and you will find yourself using it much more often that you think.

It sounds like the problem is watching lots of videos. From what I understand the fee is $20 per gigabyte for an overage charge, you can then raise your limit for the following month. So it's not going to cost you that much if you make a mistake.

I was in Vegas for 10 days and used 87MB by spending about an hour a day checking email and light web surfing. My provider offers a plan where I can buy 250MB for $15 and then have 30 days to use it. For me that's plenty since I use WiFi when I'm not traveling.

Do things like downloading applications and books when you have a wifi connection. Use the cellular for lighter weight stuff like email.

The iPad does have a screen where you can see your accumulated usage. Watch that throughout the month.

1 GB should be enough for browsing and checking email, plus getting hold of some apps. Streaming videos and the real data intensive stuff will rack up, so the best bet is to get any large data you want on your home wi-fi (or another free wi-fi spot) and save on the data plan.

You can always bump up your contact later. If you can't, find a better provider who will allow some flexibility.

This was the data collected by google last year.

Unfortunately, Verizon has decided to do away with unlimited data plans, following in the footsteps of other companies. I still think you'll probably find that you're ok with 1 gig of data per month, and should start with that, upgrading if you find that you use more.

And, what Weaselman has said is correct. It's not only the data you use surfing the web, but also any apps you may have downloaded and how much and how often those are connecting and receiving data. Things like Twitter apps, Facebook apps, Kindle, email apps, weather apps, online map apps, etc, etc. These will all affect how much data you end up using.

I just looked at my last bill from Verizon. (Caveat: I don't have an iPad, but rather an Android enabled smart phone.) I used a little over 1/2 of a gig in data. I don't consider myself to be a huge user of data. After all, I'm not streaming Pandora music or utilizing Netflix videos. I'm probably a middle of the road user. I do all my email on my phone, as well as a fair amount of web browsing. I'm involved in a few online games, and play WordFeud on a regular basis. I keep in touch with a lot of people via Facebook, and have Facebook constantly updating on my phone.

However, I also have WiFi at home as well as at my office. I utilize both of those automatically when I'm in range. I would also recommend that you utilize WiFi as much as possible. You have a much greater leeway toward almost having unlimited data via WiFi, so you might as well use it as much as possible, and save your plan when you can.

That being said, having a smart phone, or an iPad, can be remarkably convenient. When I'm out shopping for something, I can pull it up on my smart phone and read reviews and perhaps find out that a competing product is much better. (I have an app that will scan the UPC barcode of a product and instantly search the web for information on it.) I've also used my smart phone to browse the WOO website when I'm at a casino and faced with a game that I haven't played before.

I actually work for a company that does iPad Repair and we see most people come in with the Wi-Fi only plans. Those that have gotten the 3G or other iPad plans from Verizon or AT&T seem to regret it. The only people who really need this are SERIOUS travelers -- but even then most of them can get Wi-Fi for their iPad connections. Just my two bits. And we actually ARE excellent at repairs... if you ever need a broken iPad repair.

That's actually a good point. WiFi is practically everywhere. Heck, just find a McDonald's. There used to be an app (for Android) that located free WiFi within a certain distance from your location. Obviously, it was based on user input, but still, when I was traveling, it was easy to use that to find the nearest WiFi for my laptop. I'm sure there's something similar for the iPad.