Your Guide to What Data Plans Are and How They Work

Your mobile (or tablet) internet plan is referred to as a data plan. If you’re not sure of what exactly data plans are and how they work, this guide could be of help.

What are Data Plans?

A data plan is what you will need to access the internet from your cell phone or a tablet. In fact, you can consume this data from any e-device as long as the device can access the internet. The word “data” itself refers to everything you watch, read, or download/upload online. This includes emails, videos, pictures, etc. Data plans are usually priced on the basis of how much data you consume, so when you consume more data than what you can, you get a higher bill.

How Do You Check Exactly How Much Data You Need?

While there are plenty of unlimited data plans available in the market, it’s important to know that these plans can cost you quite a bit. Also, many companies are now moving away from offering unlimited data plans to offering data plans with limits, which is why it’s important to know how much data you consume.

One way to do this is through trial and error. Get a plan that offers more data than what you think you require and check how much of it you’ve used up at the end of the month. You could also get a prepaid internet plan, wherein you prepay for a certain amount of data, and if you exhaust it, you will need to buy more. 

Data Plan Caps – What Are They?

Internet providers usually put limits on the data that you can use. This is so they can prevent you from hogging all the internet and making the network congested and slower for others. Caps, however, will vary from provider to provider, and you will likely be charged an overage fee if you exceed your limit. If your internet service provider doesn’t charge you additional fees, they may throttle your bandwidth, which means your data speed will be lowered for the remainder of the term until it resets. 

Monitoring Data Usage

As may have been able to tell, it’s important to know how much data you’ve consumed on a monthly basis so you don’t have to pay additional fees or bear with slow speed. The best way to monitor your data usage is by visiting your internet provider’s website and logging into your account online. Or, you can also try downloading free apps that will indicate how much data you’ve used up.