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9/12/2015 0 Comments How much data is used when using Skype or any other 'free' communications via the internet?
Some other articles about data usage
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Did you know that Apple offers SIM cards, called Apple SIMs, that can provide you with data access in over 90 countries while you travel?
I must have 'missed the memo' on this one, because I only just saw the below article this week - even though the article was published on July 1st 2015. For those of you who are interested in options for having mobile data access while you travel, this may be one to seriously consider. 
Many of you will already have turned off this tricky new setting in iOS 9, one that can use large amounts of your mobile data unexpectedly.
For those of you who have updated more recently, please read this recent iTandCoffee article to make sure you are not caught out. This new feature has been the cause of much discussion in the press. Apparently, some US Apple device owners have decided to sue Apple over this (see below article)! I do agree that it is very poor that Apple's iOS 9 upgrade turned this feature on - it really should have been an option that was off, and only turned on by those that have copious amounts of mobile data (and I'm not one of them!). You may have already heard about this one in the press, but I thought it worth including in this week's newsletter for those who haven't (or for those who haven't yet turned it off!). iOS 9 brought in a new feature called Wi-Fi Assist, which can be found in your Settings -> Mobile or Mobile Data (or Settings -> Cellular or Cellular Data). It is near the bottom of that 'page' of settings. This new feature is designed to "Automatically use cellular data when Wi-Fi connectivity is poor." What this means is that, if your Wi-Fi drops out - either due to a problem or due to you being too far from it - your Cellular data will kick in to take over whatever was being done - for example, a large download, or streaming of content. While this might be great if you have a massive cellular data allowance, most of us don't. This new feature has already caused iPhone and cellular-enabled iPad users some surprises in the form of warning messages from Telcos about unusual data usage. So, unless you have a massive data limit on your mobile data plan, I suggest you hop into your Settings immediately and turn this off. If you need further assistance or advice on this one, or about updating your device to iOS 9, contact iTandCoffee - 1300 885 420, or [email protected].
A client who came to iTandCoffee this week told me about the '60 Minutes' report on Sunday 16/8/15 where, purportedly, "60 Minutes uncovers huge mobile phone security vulnerabilities".
This client understood from this report that EVERYTHING that she did on her phone was able to be seen and heard by these 'hackers', including anything that she typed - passwords, credit card information, etc. So, I watched that '60 Minutes' item last night to see just what it was alleging. I found myself incredibly frustrated and annoyed. The report was just so sensationalistic and misleading, and made out that this was the first time that such vulnerabilities in the mobile phone network had been revealed. What a load of rubbish! It also made it sound like your 'data' was able to be easily stolen whenever you use the mobile phone network. If you listen closely to their ambiguous report, it becomes clear that they are only talking about your phone calls and SMS messages, not your 'mobile data'. They only refer to passwords and information that you may inadvertently 'give away' in these phone calls and SMS's. Additionally, the German 'hacker' that they showed had been given access to the mobile network by the German government. What random hackers out there are given that sort of 'carte blanche' access to a mobile network! I think it has long been known that you cannot be certain of the privacy of your mobile phone conversations and SMS's, especially if you have a high public profile or have some reason to be particularly concerned about someone 'listening in'. Personally, I figure that if someone wants to hack me, they'll not hear or see anything of much interest! I saw nothing new in that appalling story that would make me concerned about using mobile data on my mobile devices. It perhaps just re-interates the message that you should never send any private, identity, financial or password information by SMS or email. Here is an article I found today on this very topic, which also discusses what a 'beat-up' the story was. 26/7/2015 0 Comments Don't get caught out by misleading information about excess data in Telstra's 24x7 app In the article from last week's newsletter, titled Oh Telstra, you have really confused me about my excess mobile data!, I promised I would provide an update once I got my monthly Telstra bill.
Well, the bill arrived this week and, just as feared, Telstra had charged me more than $10 for my excess data usage. My excess data charge was over $25 when it should have only been the $10 charge. Not a huge amount overcharged, but overcharged none the less. I contacted Telstra this morning (using their 'Live Chat' service - which I prefer to calling, as it allows me to keep a record of the 'chat' with the customer service agent), and outlined the problem. Initially the agent told me that the extra charge is still payable because I did not specify that I wanted to top up my data until well after I had already exceeded my limit. It was only when I sent her my screenshot of the misleading message (thank goodness I had taken that screenshot) that she agreed that the extra charge needed to be removed. She has now credited the amount over $10 to my account. She also promised to bring the problem the attention of the 24x7 App development team. Here's hoping they fix this very soon, before others inadvetently incur excess 'excess data' charges. Make sure you tell other Telstra mobile users about this one.  This month, I found myself nearing my data limit on my mobile phone. Just as a aside, this was mainly due to unexpected data usage I have incurred by looking at my photos, after I had upgraded to iCloud Photo Library. Every time I want to view a photo when I am off my WiFi, it is 'pulling the photo down' from my iCloud and using a bit of my mobile data. As a consequence I am now avoiding looking at photos on my iPhone when I am out and about - unless I absolutely have to. In the past when I have neared my data limit, I have purchased a 'Data Pack' from Telstra for extra data, which I have been able to do very easily from my Telstra 24x7 App. I am then only charged for the days that I use this Data Pack, so it has never cost very much. The only thing was that I had to remember to 'turn off' this data pack at the start of the next month, to avoid ongoing charges. Well, I was excited to see that Telstra has made a change to how it handles excess data usage on my post-paid mobile account. When I chose the option 'Add-Ons' option in my Telstra 24x7 app, I got the below message on my screen - telling me that Data Packs are no longer available. Instead Telstra has a new service called Extra Data.  Great (or so I thought) - all sorted, no need to do anything. I must have 'missed the memo' when Telstra announced this new service/feature. (Did anyone else see it?) Apparently, it came in on May 12th 2015. The message that I got indicated that, as soon as I exceeded my data limit, I could rest assured that the 'Extra Data' that Telstra now offers would kick in, saving me from excess data charges. The screen said nothing about having to activate this new feature - it appeared in would just happen seamlessly. Well, maybe not! Today, I went to my Telstra 24x7 app to check how much phone credit I still had available to me for the month. To my shock, it showed that I had over 300MB of excess data usage! I tapped on the Add Ons option at the top of the screen again (like I had before I had exceeded my limit), only to find on the next screen that the 'Extra Data' feature was showing as 'Inactive' (see below).
So, I have NOW activated this feature using the Activate button shown.
But the big question is now whether I am going to get a large excess data charge on my next bill. Here's hoping the Telstra billing system is smart enough to recognise that this 'Extra Data' feature has been activated on my account during the billing month, and therefore wipe any 'Excess Data' charge. Stay tuned - I'll let you know when I get my bill later this month! For those of you interested in ensuring you have activated this feature on you Telstra mobile plan, here is the relevant page from the Telstra website. Even I get caught out sometimes, wondering why something on my iPhone or iPad is not working as I expect it to. As an example, I was out and about, and wanted to show a friend some furniture that I had been looking at for the first iTandCoffee shop (opening in August 2015 - more on that in coming weeks). I had 'pinned' various website images to my Pinterest board during days of online searching for ideas. For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is a great tool for creating a visual index/reference to all sorts of images and information that you find on the internet, or that you upload from your from your own photos. Great for holiday planning, renovation ideas, recipes etc.  When I opened my Pinterest app while at this friend's house, I could not see my 'boards'. Very frustrating! I thought that maybe I had logged into a different Pinterest account on my iPhone to that which I was using on my computer, and figured I would just have to sort it out later! Of course, I had a 'duh' moment a bit later that day, when it dawned on me what what preventing my boards from showing. I had turned off my Cellular Data for Pinterest (and many other apps) when overseas recently, so I was only able to access my 'boards' when I was Wi-Fi, and not when I was out and about on 3G/4G. This was easily fixed by going to Settings -> Cellular (or Settings -> Mobile for some devices). The list of apps that would like to use Cellular data is shown in the bottom part of the screen. By turning my Pinterest app to on, I will will now be able to view my ideas when on the go, using my cellular data. (But just be sure you have enough Cellular Data to support apps like this before you turn it on. Some apps - are very data hungry and can use up your data allowance before you know it!) Related Handy Hint (for iTandCoffee Club members)
You may have seen an earlier article that I published about my preferred option for having mobile phone access while I travel, the Woolworths Global Roaming SIM. (See How to keep in touch by phone while travelling overseas.)  Not only does this SIM give you relatively cheap mobile phone access in a large number of countries, it also gives you access to mobile data - should you need it - at $0.45/MB.
What can be difficult is understanding just how much data you use when you do basic things on your phone - like a couple of searches on Safari. So, I figured I would try out using my mobile data briefly to see how much I used. I turned on my mobile data and data roaming, having earlier made sure that all apps were turned off for mobile data use. I reset my usage settings to zero, then I turned on just Safari, and did a couple of quick searches about the monument we were visiting, looking at just one result. I then looked at my data usage for that couple of minutes - to discover that I had already used 11MB, at a cost of nearly $5. And I hadn't even found an answer to the question that I was looking to answer! So my lesson for the rest of the trip? Save my mobile data for an emergency! Related Articles 17/3/2015 0 Comments iPhone and iPad tip - Keeping track of which apps are using your Cellular/Mobile data each month Today is the 17th of the month so, as happens on every 17th, a reminder has popped up on my iPhone. This reminder tells me to 'Reset Cellular Usage'. Why have I set myself this reminder and what does it mean? On my phone, I have a 1GB allowance for cellular data each month, starting on the 17th of the month. (Note. 'Mobile' data and 'Cellular' data are basically the same thing.) Most months, this is completely sufficient for my needs. But, there are some months when I use more mobile data and fly close to my monthly limit. I like to be able to see just what apps and features on my iPhone are the main culprits for mobile data usage each month. I make sure that those that don't really need to use this data allowance are disabled from using cellular data and can only operate on WiFi. The easiest way to track my total data usage for the month and my app-by-app and feature-by-beature usage is to reset the usage stats on the first day of my billing cycle - ie the 17th. This Handy Hint (including a video) for iTandCoffee Club members shows you how to do this. Non-members will be able to view this hint for the week from March 20th. Join the iTandCoffee Club to view hints like this any time! Other related hints and tips are included below. Related hints and tips (some require an iTandCoffee Club membership)
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What's on at iTandCoffee ?Below is our list of videos, classes and other events that are coming up soon.
Videos shown are offered for eligible members of the iTandCoffee Club. If you have questions, why not join fun and informative 'user group' meetings, held once a month. All iTandCoffee classes are run as online classes (using Zoom), which means you can attend from anywhere. |
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27 Sycamore St, Camberwell, Victoria Australia
(also located in Daylesford)
(also located in Daylesford)
Call +61 444 532 161 or 1300 885 420
to book an appointment or class, or to enquire about our services and products
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SENIORS CARD WELCOME HERE:
Seniors Card holders qualify for a 10%* discount on eligible classes booked and paid for online. To activate the discount at the time of booking, select Redeem Coupon or Gift Certificate and enter 10OFFSEN before selecting Pay Now Seniors can also save $5** on the first full hour of appointments booked online. Enter Coupon Code of BASEN5 when booking to receive this discount. * Some heavily discounted classes are excluded from the 10% class discount offer. ** Where more than one type of discount is available, only one type of discount can be used. |
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