Do you have a mobile phone plan that includes unlimited data for your whole family? You may think that sounds like a sweet deal until you start getting throttled by your cell phone provider because you’re using more data than they think you should.
What does that mean? Cellular phone providers are in the business of selling data. They might give you 4 GB, 8 GB, or 12 GB of data per month for a set rate, but if you go over your limit, your bill will increase—often as much as $15 for every GB of data you use after you’ve hit your limit. But that’s not all that happens.
Often, your connection speeds decrease once you’ve hit your data limit. That’s called “throttling.” Your provider wants to entice you to purchase a more expensive monthly plan that includes even more data to avoid this situation.
An unlimited data plan might sound like a good deal until you discover you’re using 20 GB or more of data in a month and your connection speeds start to slow down, especially in areas where there are lots of cellular data users logged into their phones. Again, your provider is basically penalizing you for using more than they believe is your fair share of data.
But there’s a solution. You don’t have to remain tethered to your phone and cellular data as long as you have a Consolidated Communications internet solution with included wifi.
What’s the Difference Between Wifi and Cellular Data?
Cellular data is provided by mobile phone service providers and is available virtually anywhere via satellites and cell towers. However, you can only access cellular data through a mobile device connected to that specific network. Depending on your smartphone plan, you may have monthly limits to the cellular data you can use.
Wifi, on the other hand, is available anywhere there’s a router. You can access public wifi in places like coffeehouses and hotels. But this connection is often not secure because it’s located in a public place and anyone can use it.
You can also get wifi in your home through your Consolidated Communications router. Your wifi connection will be protected from strangers through a router password and a wifi password, which means that any data you transmit over the connection should be secure, providing the websites you visit or apps you download are also secure.
You can connect any laptop, desktop computer, smart TV, internet-enabled video game system, or mobile device to your home’s wifi.
Most importantly, wifi is included and unlimited with your Consolidated Communications Internet connection. No matter how much data you use, your connection won’t get throttled and you won’t have to pay more money.
Wifi also tends to be faster than cellular data. And unlike with cellular data, you can pay more for a Consolidated Communications package that offers the fastest wifi available.
Benefits of Wifi
There are times, such as when you’re traveling, that you’ll need to tap into your mobile device’s cellular data. But if you’re at home, you should use your wifi connection whenever possible.
Your wifi provides:
- Unlimited data at no extra cost
- Faster connection speeds than cellular
- A more secure connection
How to Connect to Wifi
Whenever you’re home, click “settings” on your mobile device and choose “wifi.” If you’re not sure if you’re using cellular data or wifi, look in the top left corner of your screen. You should see the universal symbol for wifi, which is two arches over a dot. If your phone says “3G,” “4G,” or “LTE” instead, that means you’re using cellular data.
When Should You Connect to Wifi?
You should use wifi whenever you’re streaming videos or music, using Skype or Facetime, or working on an important project for work or school. These are all bandwidth-heavy applications that demand fast connection speeds and reliability, which means your connection won’t cut out.
You also want to use wifi when your phone requires those time-consuming, data-hungry updates.
In fact, because your phone is always using data even when you don’t realize it to run apps in the background, you should use wifi whenever you’re at home.
You can save money, enjoy a faster connection, and increase the security of your mobile device when you turn to Consolidated Communications’ wifi instead of cellular data whenever possible.