Garmin Beacon - Data Usage?

C3PO

Tend to cycle a lot on my own and started to use Strava Beacon recently ... just in case! It works really well ... except for the obvious downside that my other half can now see exactly how much time I actually spend on the bike!!
Going to Portugal cycling next week and wondering whether using "Beacon" while I'm over there will use huge amounts of "data" on my phone?
Anyone got any idea?

ED E

"Let me google that for you...."

stravatg • 1y
I'm one of the Strava engineers that helped build Beacon; you can expect to see around 1mb per hour of data usage. This might change slightly as we are still experimenting with different update frequencies to find the best balance between data recentness and battery impact, but expect it to stay in this ballpark.

C3PO

ED E wrote: »

"Let me google that for you...."

stravatg • 1y
I'm one of the Strava engineers that helped build Beacon; you can expect to see around 1mb per hour of data usage. This might change slightly as we are still experimenting with different update frequencies to find the best balance between data recentness and battery impact, but expect it to stay in this ballpark.

Thanks Ed ... did try that but your "Googling" skills are clearly better than mine!

Seanmk1

Google maps allows you to do this for free. I just started using it myself.

StevieGriff

What network are you on? Most providers have gone over to no extra cost for EU roaming inside your normal data allowance.

plodder

StevieGriff wrote: »

What network are you on? Most providers have gone over to no extra cost for EU roaming inside your normal data allowance.

Isn't that legally required by the EU for all networks now?

C3PO

StevieGriff wrote: »

What network are you on? Most providers have gone over to no extra cost for EU roaming inside your normal data allowance.

We have a corporate deal where we get 200MB per day when abroad!

StevieGriff

plodder wrote: »

Isn't that legally required by the EU for all networks now?

Calls and texts can only be charged at domestic rates (unless you call or text a number from outside the EU). Data, on the other hand, can be a bit different. If you have an unlimited data plan a smaller fair usage cap comes in when roaming with most networks.
And anything outside of your allowance is charged at €7.70 per GB.
Example: At home, you have a mobile bundle including unlimited calls, text and data for €42 (€35 excluding 20% VAT). When traveling in the EU, you get roam like at home for unlimited calls and SMS, and at least 9.1 GB of data (2*(35 / 7.7) =9.1).
When roaming kicks in you should get a text that clearly tells you what volume of your data is available while abroad.

@C3PO. 200mb a day should sustain you fine even using beacon. Just restrict background data. Facebook is a monster when its allowed background data.

plodder

StevieGriff wrote: »

Calls and texts can only be charged at domestic rates (unless you call or text a number from outside the EU). Data, on the other hand, can be a bit different. If you have an unlimited data plan a smaller fair usage cap comes in when roaming with most networks.
And anything outside of your allowance is charged at €7.70 per GB.
Example: At home, you have a mobile bundle including unlimited calls, text and data for €42 (€35 excluding 20% VAT). When traveling in the EU, you get roam like at home for unlimited calls and SMS, and at least 9.1 GB of data (2*(35 / 7.7) =9.1).
When roaming kicks in you should get a text that clearly tells you what volume of your data is available while abroad.

@C3PO. 200mb a day should sustain you fine even using beacon. Just restrict background data. Facebook is a monster when its allowed background data.

Right, that's what I thought. Not a concern in this case then. I use Three's 20 euro a month prepaid deal and used google maps a lot when in Spain earlier the Summer. It gave me around 5GB per month, which is more than enough. I wouldn't even change any settings on your phone - just limit the amount of streaming you are doing. Or keep an eye on it. It's not like the bad old days where you could easily rack up a massive bill in one day.

C3PO

StevieGriff wrote: »

@C3PO. 200mb a day should sustain you fine even using beacon. Just restrict background data. Facebook is a monster when its allowed background data.

Company mobile ... no Facebook, streaming etc permitted so should be fine!