Why is checking my mobile data usage important?
When you exhaust your allocated data for your billing cycle, you’ll likely incur overage fees. This means that any data you use from that point on will cost extra until your next billing cycle begins.
Optus, like other telcos, charge you extra when you go over your allocated data. For some subscribers, such charges can be overwhelming. Thankfully, though, they are also easily avoidable if you check your mobile data on the network frequently.
Here are some of the ways you can check your mobile data usage on Optus.
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Checking Your Data as an Optus Subscriber
Regardless of your plan, Optus provide two ways you can check your mobile data usage:
- Via My Account on the Optus website; and
- On the My Optus app.
These are similar to other telcos that provide self-service platforms for customers to gather information about, and make adjustments to, their accounts.
1. Checking your data on the Optus website
The Optus website can be accessed via any internet capable device. This includes smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.
Using a browser of your choice, visit the Optus My Account website. You will be prompted to log in to the self-service portal. Provide your necessary information, password, and click “LOG IN”.
When you log in to your account, you will be redirected to a page titled ‘usage’. On this page, a graph indicating your usage information can be seen. The data usage information includes your plan data as well as how much of that plan data has been used. It also informs you that you can purchase additional data, and the cost of such data.
As seen in the image below, other relevant information pertaining to your data plan, such as how many days are left in your billing cycle, can be seen. With Optus, data is measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). For example, the subscriber below has used up 3% (51MB) of his 1.5GB data allowance for his current billing cycle, which will expire in 4 days.
To get the clearest analysis of your data usage, we recommend you download your data bill for the last three months. That way, you can review just how much data you usually use by determining your average data consumption, and then choose the plan that has the right amount of data for you based on that information.
2. Checking your data on the self-service app
Aside the self-service portal, subscribers on the Optus network can monitor their data usage via the My Optus app.
The My Optus app is available for both Android and iOS handsets. It’s a simple, straightforward application that’s free and can be downloaded as long as the associated device is connected to the internet.
As with the My Account portal on the Optus website, your data usage is the first thing you will see once logged in to the My Optus app.
The app provides information on your daily consumption of data as well as an analysis of your biggest data-consuming applications/functions.
In our opinion, the self-service portal offers easier information on monthly data usage than the mobile application. While you can see a lot of information on the self-service app, the portal is easier to read.
How can I convert Megabytes (MB) to Gigabytes (GB)?
A single gigabyte equals 1,000 megabytes. With mobile data and computer storage, however, there are slight differences. With these two parameters, a single gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. This is the conversion rate utilized by both computer experts and telecommunication networks.
In order to convert your data in megabytes to gigabytes, simply divide the value given by 1.024. In a similar manner, to convert your data from gigabytes to megabytes, multiply the value given by 1.024.
Summary
Access to the internet is an essential part of life for most consumers today. In order to gain access to the net, willing subscribers pay telcos for subscription plans. These plans can be affordable — until excess charges are incurred. In order to save on unnecessary expenses such as excess data charges, it’s important that you monitor your data usage. For Optus customers, this can be done on the web via the My Account portal on the Optus website, or on the My Optus app.
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