How often you hear from Internet users that they cannot decide which Internet option is right for them! Usually people do not understand how many gigabytes they will need approximately for a month and what tariff plan to purchase. One of the most popular questions: "Is 1 GB of Internet a lot or a little?" Let's try to understand and find out what the Internet is all about. What is 1 GB enough for and how to save traffic? What determines the data transfer rate?
1 GB internet: is it a lot or a little
A question with no clear answer. For some, this is very little, but for someone it is more than enough. It all depends on many factors that should be considered when buying Internet traffic from your operator. To begin with, let's clarify this: 1 GB=1024 MB, and 1 MB=1024 KB. Therefore, in order to find out if one gigabyte is enough for you for a whole month, 1 GB of Internet is a lot or a little in fact, and what you can afford without going beyond traffic, you need to consider the following points:
- What device is the Internet connected to? After allhow much Internet traffic per month you need depends on whether it will be a smartphone or a laptop.
- How often are you going to use the internet.
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For what purposes do you need the Internet: for some it is enough to check your mail once a day, others play online games and watch movies for days.
- Do you have the option to occasionally switch to Wi-Fi.
What weighs how much
In order to find out what you spend your traffic on monthly, you first need to understand what a gigabyte is and how much it is, using examples:
Regular page - depends on how this very page is overloaded with photos. If a regular text page weighs about 60-70 Kb, then viewing a social network feed with a bunch of photos and gifs can take 5-10 Mb. By the way, such social networks tend to update themselves, therefore, it will additionally consume traffic.
Listen or download music - again depends on the file format and duration. Approximately it will take you from 3 to 5 MB of traffic.
Watching a movie - depending on the quality, format, duration and compression, the size of the movie can vary from 8 to 15 GB. If you decide to download a DVD movie, you will have to donate another 1.5 GB of traffic.
Online TV, video streaming and Skype - thanks to the maximum compression, you can get about 700 MB. In the case of Skype, everything depends on the resolution of the camera.
Everything else - for small chats, acq,chatting on Skype, checking mail, a lot of Internet is not required (provided that you are not sent huge files).
How much Internet traffic per month is needed for a smartphone
Let's say you would like to connect the Internet to your smartphone, and it does not matter the platform of the phone itself. It can be Android, iOs, Bada or even old-fashioned operating systems like Simbian and Java, in any case, regardless of whether you are currently using the Internet or not, the phone itself will update and check everything installed applications and programs, and this is additional traffic.
Of course, you can turn off updates, switch to Wi-Fi if possible, not play online games, and if you don't need to turn off data completely. Thus, you will significantly save your Internet, but why do you need a smartphone at all then? So, is 1 GB of mobile Internet a lot or a little? That's enough with a stretch. It is better to purchase 1.5-2 GB, then you can not think about saving.
How much internet is needed for a tablet
The tablet is essentially the same smartphone, only a little larger. And since it has a large screen diagonal, therefore, there will be a little more transmitted (received) data. It turns out that everything that was recommended for smartphones also applies to tablets, only the Internet will need 2-3 times more.
In no case is it recommended to use the basic tariff from an operator with a megabyte tariff. Wild rates will empty your personal account in a matter of minutes. And secondly, while roaming, it is better to purchase a local SIM card, otherwise you risk getting into big debts in a couple of clicks.
How much data is needed for a netbook and laptop
If everything is very clear with a phone and a tablet, then things are a little different with a laptop. Still, the question sounded like this: "Is 1 GB of the Internet a lot or a little?" So if you don't plan to use your laptop every couple of days to check your email, then of course it won't be enough.
If you are pursuing such goals as daily viewing of the news feed, downloading movies and music, online games, then you will undoubtedly need much more Internet, about 15-20 GB.
How to save traffic
As we noted earlier, no matter what device you use, they all consume the Internet in one way or another without your knowledge. Sometimes even more than you. For example, your computer or laptop can use up to half of the precious traffic to update Windows. Therefore, we advise you to disable all possible updates on both the laptop and the smartphone. Perhaps you can leave only antiviruses.
But not only updates can eat up your traffic, this also applies to applications running in the background, such as Skype,WhatsApp, mail, weather. If you do not really need them, you can disable these applications from time to time, which will significantly save megabytes.
What determines download speed
Every time you try to view a page on a site, loading that page will download files from the host. In other words, the page loading speed is the speed of downloading it from the hosting to the user's browser.
Your speed is affected by a number of factors such as:
- Amount of data.
- Internet speed provided by the operator.
- Hosting load.
Thus:
- A normal page on 2G network will load about 50 seconds, 3G - 1 second, and with 4G speed - instantly.
- Song about 5MB: 2G - 8 minutes, 3G - 11 seconds, 4G - 4 seconds, 4G+ - instantly.
- Small video: 2G - 42 minutes, 3G - 1 minute, 4G - 13 seconds, 4G+ - 7 seconds.
- Movie (750 MB): 2G - 21 hours, 3G - 30 minutes, 4G - 7 minutes, 4G+ - 3 minutes.
- HD movie (1.5GB): 2G - 42 hours, 3G - 1 hour, 4G - 14 minutes, 4G+ -6 minutes.
Summarize everything above
In general, 1 GB of Internet is the minimum required for a modern smartphone. Another thing is if you have something very simple, let's say in Java or Simbian. But such phones are rather an exception to the rule and are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Apps on Android and iOsrequire a lot of traffic, and at a good speed. So if you have the latest generation phone in your hands and want to take full advantage of all its benefits, you will have to buy more internet.
If you are wondering if 1 Gb of Internet per month is enough on your phone and how much it will cost, first decide on your needs, and then contact your operator for more information about your tariff option.
Sometimes, the Internet options provided by operators do not differ much in price, but differ in traffic volume. So, for example, one tariff can cost only 50-100 rubles more than another, and you will get 2 times more Internet. Therefore, sometimes it is better to study all the services provided by operators and, if possible, avoid pitfalls.
As for the high-profile advertising slogans about supposedly "unlimited Internet", in reality there is no unlimited. One way or another, you will be provided with a certain amount of traffic, however, it will be much more (however, as well as the price will be higher). After you exhaust the gigabytes allocated to you, you will have to connect additional "Turbo buttons" or wait for the next money debit. Today, there is no such tariff that would allow you to surf endlessly for a month, download movies and music, distribute Wi-Fi right and left and not think about the consequences.
