Signal Fall 2021 Newsletter

12 www.alliancecom.net Cellular Data vs. Wi-Fi Cellular data is offered by your mobile car- rier and covers large geographic areas. Your phone is connected to nearby cell towers to send and receive internet data. This gives you internet access almost wherever you go, provided you can get an internet- capable cell signal. When you signed up with your mobile carrier, your plan probably included a certain amount of cellular data per period, such as 10 GB or 50 GB (Giga- bytes) per month. When you go over that limit due to your internet usage, there will be an additional charge. (If you don’t know how much data is included in your plan, contact your mobile carrier or check your monthly statement.) Wi-Fi, by contrast, means your phone is connected to a nearbyWi-Fi router at your home, a business, or a public place such as a restaurant or airport. The internet data you use on aWi-Fi connection does not count against the Gigabytes included with your mobile plan, so you can use it as much as you want without worrying about being charged extra on your mobile carrier’s bill. When to Use Cellular Data To avoid the unpleasant surprise of data overage charges, it’s best to limit your use of cellular data to these types of situations: • You’re not at home near your Wi-Fi router and no public Wi-Fi is available to you. • The only public Wi-Fi network you can access is slow, weak, or not secure. • You’re in your home country (as opposed to another country where rates are higher). • You’re only doing simple internet activi- ties such as checking email or Facebook. • You have plenty of cellular data left on your plan for the month. Should You Use Cellular Data or Wi-Fi? It depends on where you are and what you’re doing Your phone has two ways it can access the internet—via cellular data or via Wi-Fi. So what’s the difference? And when should you use one or the other?