OK smartphone users ... help me out

I may be taking the iPhone plunge, but I want to know if the AT&T $15 data plan is enough bandwidth for a months worth of usage or if I'm going to end up racking up a ton of overcharges (I refuse to call them "overages").

I mean, I don't think I'll be a full-blown web-browsing maniac, but I want to be sure I'm not going to go over if I check my email and fantasy team a few times per week.

 

You won't have any overages if you're using wifi.

 

To clarify, I'm going to get the 3GS, not the iPhone 4 ... does the 3GS have wifi connectivity?

 

It should. I don't know why it wouldn't. My original iPhone has it.

 

Gotcha ... I tried to check the AT&T website, but it's FUBAR for me at the moment.

So do you have to choose WiFi or 3G, or does it select it automatically? Am I going to think I'm on WiFi and not realize that I'm not?

 

When you look at the phone, there's a little logo at the top that will tell you if you're on AT&T's network or wifi.



The above image is showing the phone is on wifi.

Once you hit a hotspot, the phone will automatically switch to it next time you're in range. And if there are wifi signals floating around you haven't used before, the phone will ask if you'd like to join them.

 

Cool, thanks, Inky ... What about when you're not on WiFi ... is it easy to burn through the allotted megabytes quickly? I have no idea how many megs loading a webpage takes.

 

If you're not on WiFi, and you plan to do anything besides basic browsing, be cautious. The 200MB allowance can go pretty quickly if you happen to watch a few YouTube vids or sports highlights, etc.

 

I've never gone over the limit, but then again I rarely use the online stuff when I'm off wifi. I'll check and send e-mails, but that's about it.

Of course, I'm on the iPhone 1.0 on the Edge network which is about as fast as the old dial-up Internet connections.

 

Do people actually have data plans with megabyte limits? Why not just spend the extra few bucks and get unlimited data?

 

You can go with the smaller plan to start and monitor your usage, and if it's too high, you can go back and change it retroactive to the beginning of the billing cycle. That's what I just did with text messages.

 

What's the price difference between the limited and unlimited data plans?