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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

... to think 2GB a month is enough?

139 replies

MT2017 · 13/08/2019 17:49

DC's and I are all on Sky plan, 2GB and unlimited calls / texts per month for £6 each. The benefit is that unused data can be dished out and as DD and I hardly use ours, this means DS1 and DS2 get between 3-4GB monthly each.

However, they are saying this isn't enough. AIBU to think that as they all use WiFi at home, this should be enough?

or am I woefully out of touch

OP posts:
CodenameVillanelle · 13/08/2019 20:53

My teens have 500mb and dont use all of it?

They must be the only teens in the world who don't use social media out of the house then

PuzzledObserver · 13/08/2019 21:07

I have 1GB and do t go near it.

One thing that peeves me is that I have 5,000 texts, but the iPhone never uses them - it defaults to using iMessage, which uses data.

Still no problem for my usage, though.

Howlingathesun · 13/08/2019 21:11

2 adults and 1 12 year old use about 3gb per month max.

But a 4 hour car journey using a hot spot with sprogs streaming netflix uses 6gb.

So depends what you let them do!!

Jaxhog · 13/08/2019 21:13

I'd check that they actually have their phones set up to use wifi at home. It's really easy to unset it. It's also easy to bypass it if wifi is slow.

RamblingFar · 13/08/2019 21:15

I have 30GB and I get data warning messages every 3-4 months, though I've never actually used it all. I wouldn't sign up for under 30GB these days myself.

I used to have 1GB, but the top-ups cost more than just paying for more data upfront.

raspberrypancakes · 13/08/2019 21:16

2gb should be fine if they're using WiFi at home. I personally think it's good to learn how to budget the data over the month. Also then you just spend more time on your phone when out and about.

Original poster
MT2017 · 13/08/2019 21:16

@codenamevillanelle it's not about the money / being tight, it's looking at the usage Hmm

Anyway, have increased to 5GB for each of the boys, it has been so interesting to read everyone's comments. Seems like anywhere between 1 and 100 is appropriate!

OP posts:
Grafittiqueen · 13/08/2019 21:20

It's nowhere near enough. The DC and I use about 6gb each per month.

delilahbucket · 13/08/2019 21:28

I have 6gb but I work from home and so use wi-fi most of the time. I do stream music when I go out but I don't come anywhere near my allowance. DS has 3gb. The last month he used 400mb but he made a conscious effort to turn his data off when out as he wanted to roll over to the following month so he had extra when we go on holiday. I don't think he'll use 3gb when at school but we'll see.

Happierlife · 13/08/2019 21:30

I go through about 100GB a month. I don't have wifi at home and my streaming is on top of this as it doesn't come out of my allowance 😀

Dec2019mumtobe · 13/08/2019 21:37

I never manage to use even 1GB per month on my phone but I use a lot of WiFi in the day/evenings.

DH who uses his phone a bit more outside the house (eg on commute) will use between 2-3GB a month.

Dec2019mumtobe · 13/08/2019 21:39

Mind you, I turn off background app refresh for pretty much everything and will manually pull emails for instance. Plus all updates are restricted to 4G!

I turn 4G off for all apps except a few..

BrightYellowDaffodil · 13/08/2019 21:42

I have 8GB and I use it all, almost every month. And that's with being on wifi at work and at home!

QuckTheDuck · 13/08/2019 21:46

@CodenameVillanelle They arent interested in FB, don't have snapchat and only have Instagram which they use for messaging. But they aren't big SM users really.

CoraCrawley · 13/08/2019 21:48

50GB per month and use it all. Mind you, my WiFi is crap Hmm

Just increased DD1's data to 6GB. This is the first month so we'll see how that goes. She's only 11 though.

transformandriseup · 13/08/2019 21:54

I think a few years ago it would have been fine but you need data for everything now.
I used to have 1GB and after a couple of YouTube videos on data it was gone.

Boom25 · 13/08/2019 22:05

You can get 8GB a month for £10 a month at the moment, although apparently that's only considered "moderate" now! I have unlimited for £20.

verystressedmum · 14/08/2019 14:09

*DH and I just asked them what they used it on. They said that when they are out, they don't text but will use Snapchat / Instagram to message each other instead.

If I did that I would turn data on then switch it off once I had finished...*

Ridiculous. For you that would work maybe, but not for teenagers! How on earth would they know if there was a reply.
And how would you know if you switched the data off straight after you'd sent a message.

Posters saying they don't use any and can't even use 1gb a month is pointless. Unless they're teenagers then it's not comparable.

Spacerader · 14/08/2019 14:23

Ds13 has 8gb a month and always uses it, so I always ending gifting him data.

Fluffyunicorns · 14/08/2019 14:37

Mine both have 100gb - both sim only packages purchased when virgin media were having different sales (think black Friday).
One is 100gb package with everyting not used rolled over.
One is a 20gb package with 5x data free for life with only 20gb rolling over.
Was cheaper to have a larger amount than needed every month than to have to pay for the extra when they went over on the lower limits.
They both travel independently in Europe and it's really important to me that they can stay in touch in case of an emergency.
They both actually use about 40gb a month on average

Trillis · 14/08/2019 15:59

My teens (same age as OPs) have 1GB a month. They do sometimes run out, but usually manage ok. They just know to do any downloading whilst on wifi. They do play online games and stuff on their phone but haven't asked for more data. They can have more if they pay for it themselves. Knowing this, they tend to be careful! I also have 1gb and never use even half of it.

whatsforteatonightaye · 14/08/2019 16:08

I easily use 64BG a month on my phone Blush

Purpleartichoke · 14/08/2019 16:18

We hop on WiFi whenever possible, but each use around 3-4 gb in an average month and that includes 10yo DD. One thing we do as a family is play Pokémon Go. Also, dd is not as good about being sure she is on WiFi. I’m actually ok with that because there needs to be some consideration on which networks are safe to use and I don’t think she has that savvy yet, so she is basically on WiFi at places we have set her up previously and it auto recognizes.

I don’t actually know our current plan limit because DH fiddled with it when we added dd to the plan, but it’s very high or unlimited. I’m not sure which. We were able to bundle it with some streaming services and at that point the cost of a lower limit plan plus the streaming services that we wanted purchased separately was only a tiny bit cheaper than a high limit plan with the services bundled.

(And yes my 10 year old needs a phone. We are now leaving her home alone for the odd 15-20 minutes. We tried a pay as you go phone, but didn’t find it reliable enough. I am not ok leaving her home alone without the ability to call me or emergency services)

Original poster
MT2017 · 14/08/2019 18:08

@verystressedmum agree that they feel like they need to be contactable via sm at all times.

Personally I would (and do) text or call if I were meeting friends etc. But that's ok because that's also what my friends do, if they used different methods of communication I would as well.

Hopefully 5GB will be enough although reading some of the replies I am not sure it will be!!

OP posts:
Blondeshavemorefun · 14/08/2019 18:15

Wow. I have 8 and rarely go over 4 and use phone lots and obv WiFi at home

How old are they ?