Forum Discussion
Why so much data usage compared to old service?
I am new to T-Mobile Home Internet. With the Light version, we are allowed only 100GB per billing period then we would either have the bandwidth throttled back or pay for the next tier.
I noticed after my first day, data usage was a bit above 3GB. That's without watching any videos. If that keeps up, I will be on the verge of using the allotted 100GB.
With AT&T, I was given 350GB, but the system was terribly slow. That's why I moved to T-Mobile. Besides that, I rarely went over 72GB per month even while streaming a full length movie at least four of five times a month.
So, does T-Mobile measure data bandwidth usage differently than AT&T? I might find myself adding another 50GB at $25 if this keeps up.
Also, Light subscribers pay $50, which is the same amount that unlimited 5G subscribers pay. That's a bit unfair, but they claim it's to keep people from using too much data and congesting the towers. Hmm...
I have TMHI in North Carolina and ATT Fiber in Florida and it is my "opinion" that they measure usage about the same. I was a Light Customer for a while before I was able to switch to the regular service. At that time the 100 gig plan was $50 per month. But you could get 200 gig for $100/mo and 300 gig for $150/mo. Living with a 100 gig would have been a major struggle for me. I had the 200 gig plan and it was "manageable" but not easy. I would use OTA whenever I could. Next, I used YouTubeTV when watching streaming content...YouTube has the nice feature you can set the streaming resolution to 480p and save a bunch of bandwidth and picture quality is still pretty decent. 480p consumes about 0.6 gig per hour. 1080p (the usual standard) consumes 3 gig per hour. 4K can consume a whopping 16 gig per hour. Also, when I am not at my NC Residence, my system will still consume about 8 to 9 gig per month just for background updates and running my security cameras.
Boca...TM only allows you to get their "regular" $50 5G service if you are close enough to a tower to get N71 (I think}...and they have adequate tower infrastructure to support the usage. Otherwise TM will only offer you the more expensive and limited "Lite" service.
T-Mobile's Home Internet LITE is not worth it. It is meant to be used for customers who live in very rural areas where there is absolutely no other options for internet service. That is why the cost ranges from $50-$500
Keep in mind that T-Mobile is the first and only carrier to have Internet that works using cellular data so no it is not the same as any other internet provider and the quality of speed varies based on your proximity to the tower. Nor do they guarantee speeds to you because of this.
T-Mobile Home Internet LITE plans are recommended for people who are doing bare minimum such as office work. IT IS NOT AT ALL APPROPRIATE FOR STREAMING SHOWS, VIDEOS, MOVIES, OR ONLINE GAMING as doing things like that even for 2.5 hours can eat 300gbs of data.The service I have with AT&T is also a mobile offering that has been transferred over to fixed home use. So, T-Mobile is not the only service that has found a new money grabber for its cell towers.
But my concern here is how two companies measure data usage differently. Perhaps T-Mobile is exaggerating usage so subscribers do feel the need to upgrade to the next tier. AT&T doesn't do that because they offer 350GB per billing cycle.
If it weren't for the 7Mbps, I would stay with AT&T.
I'm not sure why you chose Lite vs. regular service from TMHI. TMHI is less expensive and has no data cap. What am I missing?
bocaboy2591 wrote:
I'm not sure why you chose Lite vs. regular service from TMHI. TMHI is less expensive and has no data cap. What am I missing?
Why did I chose Light over regular service? Simple - they don't offer regular service in my area yet. I have been on the waiting list for two years for regular and when they said I can get Light, I jumped at it. I thought anything is better than AT&T's 7Mbps.
