Data usage

bradjones

EF1
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
61
Location
Pauls Valley,OK
With all the cell phone companies putting a cap on their Internet data I was wondering how much data would gr level 3 radar pull if the only thing I viewed was the radar and did not surf the Internet? Thanks for any feed back
 
Depends on how many products you are using with it but on a big chase day i usually use between 3 and 400Mband thats with about 12-16 hours of use. That is including looking at models, going on Facebook, Stormtrack, etc. I just pulled it up with 4 products selected plus Spotternet and it was .13 MB. It is very data friendly in my opinion.
 
NIDS files are about 30K per update per type, so basically look at how many tabs you have open on GR3, multiply x 30K, and assume that happens every 5 minutes.
 
Im not to computer savy in regards to KB and MB and so forth so lets say i was on a 2GB cap and lets say i ran gr3 for 7 hours on a big outbreak day with maybe just reflectivity and velocity data and storm track info with no placefile just radar data?
 
Im not to computer savy in regards to KB and MB and so forth so lets say i was on a 2GB cap and lets say i ran gr3 for 7 hours on a big outbreak day with maybe just reflectivity and velocity data and storm track info with no placefile just radar data?

You shouldnt have any problems with 2GB on one day, especially with running what you said... Video streaming, both uploading, or watching videos in the field can really rack up data..

1024 KB in 1 mb
1024 mb in 1 gb
 
I stream regularly, run GR3 and surf SPC Mesoanalysis graphics way more than I should and I've never approached my 5gb limit. The most I have used in a month was a tiny bit over 3gb.
Let's break this down: 30k per update per type would equal maybe 150k every 5 minutes which comes out to 1.8mb per hour so you could chase approx 1500 hours before approaching 3gb. 1500 hours is the same as 62.5 days of chasing 24/7. Given the fact that we might chase for 8-hours at a time, I'd say pegging out your 2-3gb limit will be hard to do, even if you stream as well.
 
Ditto to what's been said here. It's hard to pop the cap if all you do is chase with the connection. However, if you start doing things like streaming some HD Youtube clips, etc, you can easily pop 5 GB in a month, let alone 2GB. If you use the aircard as your primary internet connection, you're extremely likely to pop the cap, unless you're a light internet user. 50 minutes of 720p Youtube, for example, sucks up a gig of network traffic.
 
Verizon has some 500MB plans that are slightly cheaper than the 5GB plans. I'd stay clear of them, as I hit the 500MB before the month was up. I've found that the visible satellite overlays for GR consume quite a bit of bandwidth, and that's probably what pushed me to the limit so quickly. You should be fine with a 5GB plan though.
 
The limit you have the best chance of pushing is the 300 MB roaming cap when off network. I've never exceeded 5 GB in a month, but I have gone over when roaming, but Sprint didn't say anything to me when it happened. I don't know if that's because I have an account from April 2007 before caps came down the pike, but I was glad they didn't nickel and dime me when I did go over.
 
To go with this topic, I am in the market for a mobile broadband service. I don't have good credit and I was looking into Virgin Mobile since they actually have an unlimited data package for $40 a month (plus cost of mifi thingy). Anyone have any use with this and in the plains as far as service goes. I am a newbie chaser moving to MO from WI this spring and I am trying to learn and gear up as much as I can.

Thanks!!!
 
Virgin Mobile should work if you're chasing metro St. Louis or Madison. Their coverage is extremely limited. This map shows just their voice coverage, not data:

virgin_coverage_map-%5Bgadling-bumper%5D.png
 
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