How do I check my tablet data use ?

Q : I recently got an HTC Flyer
P510e tablet and, as I am
happy with a phone that uses a
pay-as-you-go SIM, I wanted to set up
the tablet in the same way. My phone
company was helpful and set up the SIM
and top-up card quickly. I can check the
credit balance on my phone with a
single call. However, although the tablet
has the same contact number loaded, it
is unable to make contact so it cannot
display the remaining
credit balance. The
phone company’s
customer support service
was sympathetic and
promised to pass on the
problem to their
technicians. But in the
mean time I need your
help.
Th e data tariff is Rs. 15
for 25MB per day, then
Rs 1 per megabyte
over 25MB. Clearly, the
changeover point is
crucial! But how can I
tell when I approach it? I
recently had to use the
Flyer’s mobile internet
for something and the
Task Manager suggested I
had used over 90MB – but I didn’t have
that amount of credit available. So, what
megabyte-usage is the Task Manager
recording? And what megabytes are
Asda charging for? Am I confusing two
separate parts – different memory,
perhaps? I would add that I normally
keep the tablet switched offand in
airline mode to prevent financial drain.
Anil Wagle
 
A :
Task Manager is HTC’s own app
(ie, it isn’t a standard part of
Android). With this in mind, we
asked HTC what was going on here. It
confirmed our suspicions that the Task
Manager app records both 3G and Wi-Fi
data use and presents a combined figure.
So, for example, the 90MB figure
displayed by your tablet might have been
made up of 10MB 3G use and 80MB WiFi. Unfortunately, the built-in Task
Manager doesn’t offer any way to
separate the two so, for your purposes,
isn’t much use – unless you take care to
note the start and finish figure before
and after each 3G session, then you can
do your own
calculations.

How do I check my tablet data use ?

However, a simpler
option would be to
install an app that can
do a more effective job.
You will need to
download one that is
compatible with the
version of Android
installed on Flyer 510e.
Assuming you haven’t
updated it, this will be
Android 2.3, also
known as Gingerbread.
Incidentally, to check
for updates, from the
Home screen, tap
Settings followed by
‘About tablet’, then
‘Software updates’
followed by ‘Check now’, then follow the
prompts to install the latest version of
Android. Your HTC Flyer can be
upgraded to Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).
Google’s Play store is filled with apps
that can monitor 3G use. One of the
most popular is 3G Watchdog (free from
www.snipca.com/8978). Once installed,
use its Settings screen to set your quota
(25MB/day) and, if desired, have the app
alert you when you get near to your the
daily limit. You can even have 3G
Watchdog disable 3G data use when the
limit is reached. Tap the ‘Auto-disable
Mobile data’ box, then Tap OK. To check
your usage, tap the watchdog icon.

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