{"id":284036,"date":"2018-11-24T06:59:42","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T04:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=284036"},"modified":"2018-11-24T07:00:39","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T05:00:39","slug":"why-your-data-is-really-disappearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/284036-why-your-data-is-really-disappearing.html","title":{"rendered":"Why your data is really disappearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smartphone users are constantly complaining about disappearing data and that networks are stealing from them.<\/p>\n

Besides incredibly rare instances<\/strong><\/a> where there are network issues and user data balances are affected, we have bad news for you – your data is not disappearing.<\/p>\n

Mobile networks are under constant scrutiny by users and regulatory bodies, and stealing user data would be a suicidal move. MyBroadband tests<\/strong><\/a> have also shown that mobile data does not simply vanish off your phone.<\/p>\n

That being said, you can be forgiven for coming to this conclusion as a modern smartphone and cellular network are designed to let you use massive amounts of data in a very short space of time.<\/p>\n

There are two factors at play which lead users to believe that their data is disappearing – or being consumed faster than the rate they are used t0 – and these are network speeds and smartphone apps.<\/p>\n

Network speeds<\/h3>\n

Mobile networks like Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom have drastically improved their mobile data speeds in recent years.<\/p>\n

An Akamai report<\/strong><\/a> from 2013 showed that South Africa’s mobile operators provided an average download speed of\u00a00.5Mbps in Q3 of that year.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2018, and extensive MyBroadband speed tests<\/strong><\/a> across South Africa show that average mobile download speeds average between 20Mbps-30Mbps.<\/p>\n

In metro areas with good coverage, these speeds can easily climb up to 50Mbps-60Mbps.<\/p>\n

This improvement means that where 10MB of data used to take well over 2 minutes to download, today it takes only 3 seconds.<\/p>\n

The table below shows how much faster<\/strong><\/a> data can be used as download speeds increase.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1GB Mobile Data Usage<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Data Bundle<\/strong><\/td>\nNetwork Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nTime to Depletion<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n1Mbps<\/td>\n2h 13m<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n2Mbps<\/td>\n1h 6m<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n5Mbps<\/td>\n26m 40s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n10Mbps<\/td>\n13m 20s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n15Mbps<\/td>\n8m 53s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\n6m 40s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n30Mbps<\/td>\n4m 27s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\n3m 20s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n2m 40s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1GB<\/td>\n100Mbps<\/td>\n1m 20s<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Users may therefore see this as data disappearing if they look at how long their data lasts, as opposed to how much content they have consumed.<\/p>\n

Combine the increased data download speeds with more content being available online, and this is a recipe for rapid data depletion.<\/p>\n

This is especially true when watching full HD video or viewing large photo albums online on your phone.<\/p>\n

Smartphone apps<\/h3>\n

The second part of the data-depletion puzzle is the apps we run on our smartphones.<\/p>\n

Popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are geared towards users sharing and viewing photos and videos – which consume a lot of data.<\/p>\n

This is evident when you look at the settings options of the apps, with all three of the apps featuring data-saving settings to ensure users can save mobile data.<\/p>\n

Instagram, for example, preloads videos, so they start faster, by default.<\/p>\n

“If you want to reduce the amount of cellular data the Instagram app uses, you can choose not to have Instagram preload videos over cellular connections,” said the company.<\/p>\n

Facebook also has similar mobile data options available to save mobile data.<\/p>\n

\"Instagram\"<\/a>

Instagram settings.<\/p><\/div>\n

WhatsApp features similar settings, and users can choose to prevent files like videos and photos downloading over mobile data – limiting them to Wi-Fi only.<\/p>\n

In YouTube, users are able to stop videos autoplaying and can limit their mobile data usage by only streaming HD content over Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp\"<\/a>

WhatsApp settings.<\/p><\/div>\n

Add in email, web browsing, and music streaming to the above, and users can quickly burn through several gigabytes a month by only actively using their phones a couple hours each day.<\/p>\n

The image below provides an example of mobile data usage on an iPhone, and how apps like Instagram, music streaming, web browsing, and email use large chunks of mobile data.<\/p>\n

This usage menu, which is available on Android in a different format, is a good tool to track your data usage and allow you to see where your “disappearing” data is going.<\/p>\n