I gobbled up my 250MB plan too fast! Tips to minimize usage?

I'm usually on wifi but bought a 'month' of 250MB AT&T so I could check a few things online while on vacation. I went through 250MB in less than a week even with what felt like judicious use of internet. It almost felt like some things were running in the background and using bandwidth although i did my best to keep things disabled, turned off, etc.

No video viewing.
Kept work Exchange email turned off (but not calendar).
Avoided any large downloads or viewing of hi-bandwidth stuff.
Had my larger Dropbox and iBook files marked as Favorites so they were local on iPad (no download).
No Youtube, Netflix, or running of apps that download a lotof stuff (like news apps, etc).

I mostly browse my personal interest forums. Any tips to keep usage down? Any free ad-block browsers?

Try using WiFi as much as possible, which will save your 3G data. Also, OperaMini is a great tried party browser which will help minimize the amount of MB that you consume during each web browsing period.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using iPF

Here are a few good tips that I found for you on Cnet, on how to conserve data usage on your iPad. http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-...-on-your-ipad/


EDIT: I just realized the video in my link requires flash, but you can view it on a computer, or a third party browser like, Skyfire.


Sent from my iPhone 4 using iPF

I should have stated I only use the 3G when wifi is unavailable.

Thank for the good link!

You did mention you use Wi-Fi mostly.
Anytime you can surf an "m" or wap site you'll save a ton of data, safari will render to the mobile versions on its own
Forum apps use a lot less data than their websites as well

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by wahoowad

I should have stated I only use the 3G when wifi is unavailable.

Thank for the good link!

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Do you actually turn 3G off when you are using WiFi or should I say when you don't want to use 3G?
Rumor has it the iPad prefers 3G over WiFi when in sleep mode even if WiFi is available. I can't confirm it but I have seen my 3G usage go up overnight when at home and both 3G and WiFi are available.
So now ...
I put my iPad in Airplane mode when ever I don't need to use 3G and then turn WiFi on and leave it on.
That way I don't accidentally leave 3G on by mistake.
J

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmidtj

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wahoowad

I should have stated I only use the 3G when wifi is unavailable.

Thank for the good link!

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Do you actually turn 3G off when you are using WiFi or should I say when you don't want to use 3G?
Rumor has it the iPad prefers 3G over WiFi when in sleep mode even if WiFi is available. I can't confirm it but I have seen my 3G usage go up overnight when at home and both 3G and WiFi are available.
So now ...
I put my iPad in Airplane mode when ever I don't need to use 3G and then turn WiFi on and leave it on.
That way I don't accidentally leave 3G on by mistake.
J

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Maybe I'm misreading, but if you have it in airplane mode, wi-fi won't work, either.

yes, I manually turn on either 3G or wifi dependingon which I know will be available. I'll use the wifi if available.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaykaykay

Maybe I'm misreading, but if you have it in airplane mode, wi-fi won't work, either.

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WiFi works while in airplane mode, I'm using it that way now on my iPhone 4 to post this reply. :D

Sent from my iPhone 4 using iPF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Irish Rose

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaykaykay

Maybe I'm misreading, but if you have it in airplane mode, wi-fi won't work, either.

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WiFi works while in airplane mode, I'm using it that way now on my iPhone 4 to post this reply. :D

Sent from my iPhone 4 using iPF

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Odd. Your iPhone must work differently than all my iOS devices (and as Apple intended). This is Apple's description of how airplane mode works iPad Wi-Fi + 3G: Understanding airplane mode, and mine works as described. When airplane mode is on, there is no connection, wi-fi or otherwise.