Nowadays, the internet is always present in our daily lives. It makes our lives much better than ever. Everywhere we go, or whatever we do, the internet is needed but do you know something about mobile internet? How about GB? The speed and everything else. To learn more about mobile internet, we’ve created this walkthrough.
Mobile Internet is the internet accessed just by using a phone or any other mobile device. Most millennials usually call it ‘mobile data‘ or ‘data,’ especially if you are playing online games or studying.
How does it work?
A phone connects to the internet through data transfer through a cellular service provider, the same as other gadgets like computers or tablets. Mobile phones connect to a cell tower in your area that can get and retrieve data.
Mobile internet works by turning it on and off. Turning it on and off gives you the freedom to choose whether you need to use it or not and saves your data.
Of course, when turned off, you will not have access to the internet, but you can freely use your phone to make and receive calls and texts.
One of the good perks of mobile internet is it allows other people to connect to your internet or phone by using your phone’s setting called ‘personal hotspot.‘ It is a wireless connection that helps your mobile internet to share it with other people.
Just don’t expect it to give you the speed you want, especially if more people are connected. It also depends on what you do while using your internet. The more people are connected, the slower internet you get.
Also, the convenience and hassle-free service it gives allows you to get online anywhere you want without connecting it to the wifi.
Lastly, you may enjoy browsing and scrolling through your social media, streaming and listening to many music and movies you need to catch up on, and you are more likely to enjoy your shopping online.
The most important use of your mobile internet is for information and entertainment like playing games or online classes.
Mobile internet is best for on-the-go and travellers where Wi-Fi connection is limited.
What are the different speeds of mobile data?
To know this, you should first know what GB and MB are and other signals you may encounter, especially if you’re using an Android smartphone. Mobile internet or data usage is measured by Kilobytes (KB), Megabytes (MB), and Gigabytes, also known as GB.
There are 1,024 bytes in a kilobyte, 1,024 kilobytes in a megabyte, and 1,024 megabytes in a gigabyte. Just remember that the lower MB and GB it gets, the slower internet it gets. So it may not be enough to entertain yourself and ease your boredom alone at home.
5G
The fifth-generation mobile network. The latest global wireless standard is after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is perfectly made to connect virtually everyone and everything, including machines, objects, and devices—a better and most improved version.
4G
The fourth-generation mobile technology and also called LTE (Long Term Evolution). It is as good as your wifi at home or office and functions on mobile as you can do on your desktop. Moreover, it is a much better speed than 3G since it is faster and more likely to enjoy watching videos, listening to music, and quickly loads everything, especially on maps, if you are lost.
3G
The most commonly known speed of mobile data or internet is just like 4G. The third-generation mobile technology and might be slower but good enough to use when browsing to webs, stream music, or sending emails
Today, expect to see how 5G works. In addition, you’ll surely be excited to see how fast it is as fiber-optic broadband.
Also, you may see these letters as a symbol or indication of your mobile internet speed; you’ll see this beside your signal strength indicator. For example, some of the speeds are the following:
G
Letter G stands for GPRS or the General Packet Radio Service. It is the indicator that you have the slowest speed of Internet data transferred to your mobile phone. So when you see G near your signal strength indicator, it is for sure that your net connection is working at the slowest speed.
2G
It is the slowest and oldest among all mobile technologies. It is primarily good enough for sending text messages using apps like WhatsApp.
E
Letter E stands for EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) or also known to be 2.5G. It is also called Enhanced GPRS. This technology lies somewhere in between 2G and 3G.
H
H stands for HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access). It is the enhanced version of 3G technology. HSPA provides higher data transfer rates than the basic 3G. When you see this, you can enjoy streaming music and even youtube videos without interruption but might take your time downloading a movie because it will take much of your time.
Signals may also affect your mobile internet’s speed. Expect to have slower internet if you have a weak signal.
To give you an idea of how much internet you will spend on a specific activity, here are the typical activity and how much speed you can use to it:
- Streaming a high definition movie (2 hours) – 4.2 GB
- Streaming a standard definition movie (2 hours) –1.9 GB
- Streaming an online TV service such as Netflix (1 hour) – 644 MB
- Video streaming, such as YouTube (1 hour) – 429 MB
- Online gaming (1 hour) – 43 MB
- Streaming music (1 album, 10 tracks) – 80 MB
- Downloading one photo – 5 MB
There are many different calculations on each site, and you can use them to be your basis if you want to make sure.
Why use mobile internet/data?
Using data or the internet out of your budget or package is so expensive that you can’t imagine. It will cost you a lot if you don’t oversee it. Luckily, there are many SIM-only deals that you can use so you can avoid expensive rates from your internet usage.
Tips you can do to reduce internet usage?
The best way to reduce your mobile internet or data usage is to take advantage of using WiFi while you can. Just remember to be vigilant or careful, especially if you are using public wifi. A lot of hackers, scammers, and cybercriminals might take advantage of your information online. Try Using a VPN when connected to private networks and connections for security purposes.
To every entertainment service you use, like Netflix, you can download it while using your WiFi so you can watch it later offline. This way, you can reduce the use of your data every time you want to watch a movie.
Another way is not to forget to turn it off, especially if you’re not using it. Leaving it on means your access to your internet is still running, so that means that your data is still losing its deals until it runs out of data without you knowing.
Thoughts
Advanced technology is on its way now. Everything is starting to be ‘hightech” and accessible as we all say. It helps us daily, and makes our lives more convenient with the internet but keep in mind that we may miss some things that need our physical presence, like exercise. Let us put things on equal sides, balance as we all know. So don’t forget to look after yourself while enjoying the perks of technology today.
