[HOW-TO] Mobile Internet: Reduce data consumption
A ADVICE from Marie Seifert 
The right data flat rate should not be missing in a good smartphone tariff. But how much data volume do you really need and how can you save data volume? In cooperation with SimDiscount TechnikNews at this point tips for a personal data volume check!
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Internet Flat Selection: Which data volume is sufficient?
Depending on the usage requirements, consumers can opt for a small contingent of monthly data volume or a larger data flat rate:
- According to various consumer studies, a large number of consumers with average Internet usage on their mobile phones are already sufficient with 500 MB of data.
- Occasional users and infrequent surfers are likely to get there with 200 or 300 MB of data volume - provided you are not necessarily one of the online gamers and YouTube video fans.
- For frequent surfers, an Internet flat rate with 1000 MB (1 GB data volume) or more is generally worthwhile.
Keeping an eye on data usage: what can I do?
In order not to use up the available data volume in the selected tariff before the end of the month, the use of the mobile data services can be monitored individually and thus see which services and applications used consume how much data volume.
- Tip: Directly in the smartphone settings you can also find the menu for "data usage" (e.g. on the Android mobile phone via this path: settings/wireless and networks/data usage). It shows the extent to which mobile data services were used in a specific cycle and which apps and Program with how many KB or MB of data volume access it.
- In addition, special apps that monitor data consumption can be installed on the mobile phone (e.g. 3G WatchDog from the Google PlayStore, Traffic Monitor from the Apple Store).
Overall, messengers like WhatsApp consume comparatively little data volume (approx. 0.1 KB / min). The situation is different with streaming and VoIP services or, for example, with the Facebook app (approx. 2,9 MB / min).
Reducing data consumption: what is the best way to save data volume?
For high-speed mobile internet until the end of the month, it is also worth taking a look at this 7 Recommendations for the needs-based use and use of mobile data services in everyday life:
- If you don't have to be “online” at the moment, you shouldn't be afraid to go “offline”! Deactivate the option "Mobile data services" if this is not required. That saves a lot of data volume!
- WiFi on board? You can also reduce data consumption if you use available secure (!) WiFi networks (e.g. from home) instead of the data flat rate (e.g. in the UMTS or LTE network).
- Downloading from Proprograms and apps as well as larger files or updates should preferably be carried out via a WLAN connection.
- Check the settings of apps that may connect automatically. With e-mail apps, the push retrieval of messages can often be deactivated. You can then continue to manually retrieve new messages and avoid unnecessary data consumption in the backgroundproeat.
- Users of streaming services can save data volume with individual display adjustments (minimizing the quality level).
- Before uploading a file (e.g. photo) you should also think about a possible compression (reduction).
- There are also ways to reduce data consumption when surfing on the move. The Opera Mini browser, for example, requires less data volume due to a high data compression rate. Websites that are optimized for mobile use also save more data volume when viewed than non-mobile websites.
