All Android. Picture taken just now looking through the window out from the coffee shop. No pissing about with settings. Apple is better, really?
Back on the shitty iPhone now, it has not left my hotel room all day and just been on hotel WiFi, yet it has used none of my data allowance. So I am mightily relieved that it has acted normally! Err, before you iPhone lovers mess yourself with excitement, that is normal for a non-IOS phone. I did just find three settings to turn off. All were about using mobile data over WiFi whenever the bill payer isn’t looking, or some such nonsense.
On holiday in the Czech Republic, last year. I had the 5GB roaming that goes with the contract. "Connected" to Hotel WiFi to watch the the day's MotoGP racing on my phone. Sure it was connected to WiFi - except it wasn't. Used almost the whole 5GB - had about 0.1 left. No problem call my service provider to add another 5 GB. Wait until they open at 9.00 am Monday. Telephone service does not work - my service provider does not have a deal with the Czech Republic - so I cannot make calls to my service provider at home to add another 5 GB. But my service provider does have a deal with Austria, so I go to Austria. Once into the country properly over the boarder I pull over at the first opportunity and make the call. Nice lady answers, how may I help - another 5GB please - make it 10 GB please - certainly Sir anything else I can help you with today - done. Picture taken trying to talk to service provider over the noise of the traffic - Austria 2025 iPhone 16 Pro Max.
500mb won't get you very far One picture will eat that up and if you have background app refresh on that will eat it up along with browsing you need at least 10gb have you got both wifi and mobile data on? If WiFi doesn't work it will use your mobile data instead
How long \(500\text{MB}\) of data lasts on an iPhone depends entirely on what you are doing. Because different apps stream at varying bitrates, it can equate to \(40\) minutes of video calling or \(35\) hours of web browsing, but only \(10\) minutes of HD video streaming. [1] The data allowance breaks down into these usage estimates: Activity [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Time/Usage with \(500\text{MB}\) HD Video Streaming (e.g., Netflix, YouTube) \(10\) minutes SD Video Streaming (e.g., TikTok, standard-def Netflix) \(40\) minutes Video Calls (e.g., FaceTime, WhatsApp) \(40\) to \(60\) minutes Music Streaming (e.g., Spotify, Apple Music) \(6\) to \(15\) hours (depending on quality) Social Media (e.g., Instagram, Facebook) \(1\) to \(2\) hours (scrolling) General Web Browsing \(15\) to \(35\) hours To get the most out of your allowance, you can check your usage in Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data) or prevent background data drain by turning off Cellular Data for apps you rarely use
@PerryL seeing as you’re on O2, you could consider switching to GiffGaff - keep your number and it’s on O2’s network. https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-deals
I’m on’OhhTel!’ WiFi, despite some Apple Affecianados telling me that Apple are so clever that they don’t use it when it does not meet the high standards we’ve come to expect from Apple, so we can go back to mobile data that costs you a fortune! I cannot keep up! This is a very cropped picture for experimental purposes. It’s still mad big, so may not upload. The point is: Thanks for everyone trying to help me. I am now done with it. The phone will make it home as it has an eSIM with my name on it. if I get a fingy (that GPS. which relies on a mobile phone signal) then I dunno what I will do. Not specifically to do with the iPhone but I do know areas not far from me that have no reception. Based upon this journey, mobile phones cannot be trusted if you go remote or abroad and lose, or use up, your data allowance. Thanks to all! (I still think Apple phones are shit!
This might be a solution for you? Lebara charge you £10 per month for 30Gb Data, UK & EU. Free phone calls, free texts. No contract. First 3 months £5. Cancel whenever you like no fees. You probably will find that 30Gb is enough, but you can top up cheaply so no problem. I use it myself now for 18 months, works perfectly. https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/lebara-ppc/p/44000022.html?productId=44000022&promo=50OFFNOW&sim=true
I could be wrong, but ISTR Perry's had a bad experience with Vodafone reception,whose network Lebara uses, in his locality.
I didn't know that Lebara piggybacked on Vodafone though they had to be using one of the four -thanks. Looking back over this thread -and the others-, it does seem that the main problem has been becoming familiar with the operating system and running out of data. I do know that iphones on Lebara/ Vodafone work perfectly in Santander, as I was using mine there 10 months ago.
Lebara and others who piggy back on the likes of Vodafone etc do not necessarily get the same reception as the host mast. They are cheaper for a reason, normally technically using a less advanced system than the host, or so I was told and ISTBC.
