Is mobile data generally not used in the US?

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Longjumping_Bar_7457@reddit

We have data here I used it all the time when Wi-Fi wasn’t available

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Dude I brag about my unlimited data plan to my friends with limits all the time. It's a big selling point for mobile companies here. I can even make a wifi hotspot for them using my data. Whoever told you that was very misinformed

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Beaufort14@reddit

Mobile data is used extremely frequently in the US; it's just also extremely cheap.

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bearsnchairs@reddit

Cheap relative to our salaries, but US mobile data is among the most expensive in the world. Even compared to other rich, western countries.

https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/

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aje0200@reddit

I was going to say, whenever I see US data plans it astounds me how expensive they are. I guess an explanation could be population density.

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Bitter_Ad8768@reddit

I'm not sure if it is the same in the UK, but often the actual devices are heavily discounted, or even free, in exchange for a longer service contract.

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aje0200@reddit

Yes we get that, but nowadays most people buy the devices separate and get sim only deals. For example, I pay £11 per month for 40gb

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

More like relative to GDP per capita. We still pay a lot for data compared to virtually all of the developed world. We pay roughly 10x as much as the UK per this, and they in turn pay over 7x as much as Italians.

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Beaufort14@reddit

A. Cost per 1GB is largely irrelevant considering so many plans here are quasi-unlimited (not to mention other methodology issues at a glance).
B. Yes, cheap relative to our salaries, obviously.

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One_Perspective_3074@reddit

Untrue, I usually use wifi at my house and mobile data elsewhere. Some cafes and other businesses have wifi but it usually has a password and I can't be bothered to ask.

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AnUdderDay@reddit

I feel like this sub could occasionally be called r/ShitNonAmericansBelieve

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bearsnchairs@reddit

This one is rather innocent. Dear lord do we get a lot of bad questions.

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WGReddit@reddit

Yeah, OP admitted he was duped. Some others get argumentative

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lexilex25@reddit

Who in the world told you this?

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

Crap, I think i got played by someone. Some guy said you guys don't use mobile data cuz it's too expensive and here I made an entire post for it

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VentusHermetis@reddit

I had a grandfathered-in plan as recently as 2022 that actually shut off the mobile data if I went over the max. I had to pay like fifteen bucks to get another gig or two for the month.

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BingBongDingDong222@reddit

It’s just the opposite. Almost every plan has unlimited data.

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ilikedota5@reddit

Maybe it's me who is the cheapskate but that's not entirely accurate as plans often throttle to unusable at a certain point.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

You're the first person I've ever heard say they had issues due to their soft cap on data.

But I did look in to mobile plans again last month and there are some really shitty niche mobile data plans.

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shelwood46@reddit

Eh, I have a Verizon pay-as-you-go BYOP plan that only gives me 5GB/mo of data, but with my various discounts it's only $25/mo, and I am very seldom somewhere without wifi. I have unlimited very fast broadband at home, and nearly everywhere I go, and I don't stream music in the car (just gps). Once a summer I go camping and I sometimes buy extra data as a lump, but mostly don't because it's good to be offline for a weekend sometimes.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

There's cheaper if you want for the same or better service.

US Mobile is one of them $15. Unlimited talk and text. Taxes and fees included. That's their regular price BTW.

5 gigs @ 5g speed.

Additional lines $8.

Extra gigs for $2 that roll over.

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Flatulence_Tempest@reddit

That's because some of us don't use our phones as our primary media device. No matter what I'm doing I would rather listen to music on a nice system or watch a movie on a big screen, so I don't use a lot of data.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

But if you are like the comment I was replying to complaining about throttling you would be using your phone as a media device. At which point, taking a little time out to check out modern cell data plans is a good idea.

Prices for mobile data are cheap enough and people use enough data to make data plans worth it. There's a guy commenting $20 for cell plan with 15gb high speed.

If you don't use much mobile data outside the home, great. I've got home internet, but being able to use spotify, YouTube, facetime when I'm out is worth $3oish a month to me.

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Flatulence_Tempest@reddit

Oh yeah, I can see that would have value for you, I was simply trying to expand the discussion for the OP that some peeps don't use much data ever. I laugh at the commercials where the cell companies talk about you can watch a football game on your cell phone and I can't think of anything more painful than watching football on a tiny screen.

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greeneggiwegs@reddit

I have a grandfathered in one that isn’t available anymore and it has 2 or 3 gigs. But I mean I am actually usually on wifi so that’s fine.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

A modern plan for that costs $10 give or take a few bux.

If your way back grandfathered line costs that you got a helluva a deal back in the day.

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NormanQuacks345@reddit

But I bet you pay much less than an unlimited plan

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medium_green_enigma@reddit

I pay $15/month on an older T-Mobile prepaid plan. Yes, I only get 3.5 GB of data, and yet, I've never used all of that in a month because I am on my wi-fi at home. Most months I don't even use half of my data.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

Chances are you'll pay the same for better yet much likely cheaper with a modern plan including much improved service.

Cell plans have come a long way in cost competition.

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nattyodaddy@reddit

My $55 metro by T-Mobile plan has unlimited everything, 35gb of “high speed” but when that’s gone I don’t notice any slowdown at all. I live in San Fernando valley CA

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SoftlySpokenPromises@reddit

I hit my soft cap within the first week of my billing cycle usually and it can get throttled down to pretty extreme degrees, but I also live in an area where having home internet isn't really a great option so my mobile network is my best choice.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

Yo, look in to home mobile internet.

Or just a better cell plan, maybe one you can use as a hotspot at home.

The big name companies have a lot of competition from MVNOs.

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brzantium@reddit

I had US Mobile up until about a year ago. If I went over my 15GB limit, which I rarely did, they'd throttle me down to 256kbps. 30 years ago, that would have been a dream speed. Today it's unusable.

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Cheap_Coffee@reddit

I've played video games over mobile data and wasn't throttled. (ATT)

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boulevardofdef@reddit

I personally pay $20 a month for 15 GB, have for the past four or so years, and I've never come anywhere near reaching the limit. Maybe I hit 10 GB once or twice.

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Wolf_E_13@reddit

Just about everyone has unlimited data plans here and I've never had my plan slow down and I'm on mobile data the vast majority of the time...like pretty much if I'm not at home or in a hotel I'm on mobile data. You can get plans with cheaper carriers here that will slow down your data, but as far as I know the big carriers are unlimited and don't slow down...they used to until carriers started one upping each other so it hasn't really been a thing for quite awhile now.

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JohnnyBrillcream@reddit

Actually, technically it's 100% accurate. You still get unlimited data just at a slower rate.

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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

That used to be the case but now lots of not most mobile plans will throttle your bandwidth after your monthly allotment of data I used up

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ohrofl@reddit

That’s always been a thing though. It’s still unlimited, just slower when you cap it.

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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

For me when I hit the cap I can’t open a webpage or anything. It’s essentially turned off

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amethystalien6@reddit

Oh man, that blows. I barely notice a difference on mine.

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nflez@reddit

some unlimited plans deprioritize your data after a certain point - this means other people’s data goes ahead of yours, but shouldn’t be very noticeable. other plans bill themselves as unlimited and then throttle you to a specific very low speed once you reach the cap. these are just limited data plans that don’t charge you for going over imo.

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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

When I got throttled my speed test was 0.1 mbps

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discographyA@reddit

I think America may have been a bit late to that though? Our telecoms are notoriously stingy compared to more more consumer friendly regulated EU ones, so perhaps could be a reason why this impression lingers?

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AnalogNightsFM@reddit

In my experience living abroad, unlimited mobile data has always been very unusual.

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discographyA@reddit

I’m an expat in the UK and have unlimited and unlimited pretty much anywhere in Europe, the US, etc. When my people from the US come here they have to get new SIM cards and all the rest. However on a trip to the Maldives I can get 250mb for like $50. It’s a big world and I haven’t used a phone in most of it.

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OK_Ingenue@reddit

We now have a plan (at least on ATT) but it costs for anywhere in the world for about $100 unlimited for a month. Alternately is the SIM card you mention. I travel for long periods of time so I don’t mind paying the $100.

We can go to Canada and Mexico and not pay anything but everywhere else we pay or find somewhere with WiFi.

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discographyA@reddit

It’s insane sometimes. Knew a guy who travelled to Australia for a week for work and got a $3000 bill from ATT. At least a decade ago at hit point but it’s crazy the prices being charged still if the companies don’t have agreements between each other.

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ohrofl@reddit

Huh? I and everyone I know have had it for at least a decade.

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cream-of-cow@reddit

I’ve got an old and cheap plan, 3GB over two phones. I can upgrade, but this plan keeps me off my phone in public; the one time I went over, it was work related and the penalty was really low.

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discographyA@reddit

Sounds about right for when TMobile did that. Maybe 12-13 years at this point. Not a recent development by any means.

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googlemcfoogle@reddit

The US was early as fuck compared to Canada. I still don't technically have unlimited data but it's enough that I don't worry about running out now. You couldn't get anything above 10 GB until the last couple years though.

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diciembres@reddit

Might not be the case anymore but I seem to remember Canadians stating that there’s pretty much a monopoly on wireless coverage in Canada. Is that accurate? It’s been a minute but last time I was in Canada I remember connecting to Rogers while I was roaming.

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googlemcfoogle@reddit

It's a duopoly/triopoly, Bell and Telus also exist (and Shaw did before they merged with Rogers recently... I don't think that should have happened)

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BingBongDingDong222@reddit

Are you sure? We‘ve had unlimited texting forever, which is why we don’t use an alternative like WhatsApp.

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Khromegalul@reddit

Texting and data are two different things though, unless I am misunderstanding your comment

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rainbowclownpenis69@reddit

Welllllll

You have premium and pleb data. Your plan dictates how much premium before shifting to pleb. Add to this America is huge and still has rural areas with no coverage in 2025.

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_badwithcomputer@reddit

While every restaurant, office, grocery, doctors office, and city park does have wifi it is usually relegated for use by kids phones/tablets that don't have mobile plans, and people too cheap to get an unlimited data plan.

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danhm@reddit

It was too expensive. In like 2005.

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FlyingFrog99@reddit

i actually was surprised at the lack of wifi when I was in India - everyone relies on hotspots there, which was new to me, it seemed that having hardwired wifi networks for every household wasn't standard - but we definitely also use mobile data

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

We could take wifi but it's just not convenient. Wifi is slightly more expensive but we'd have no way of internet when going outside. We'd need another mobile data plan for that. Why not just save the money and not get wifi

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

If you have mobile service in the US, you probably have both. Some might not, but they’re still a minority of the population. Home internet service is nearly ubiquitous in the US.

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1singhnee@reddit

It’s a huge country with a lot of corruption and crappy infrastructure. Mobile broadband is pretty big too, it’s just easier than trying to get actual lines laid out to rural areas.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

This was absolutely true until about \~2016. It was common to hear "sorry I didn't get it, I'm out of data for the month" or "damn my parents are pissed, I went over the data cap". It turned into a game of hopping between Wi-Fi networks and downloading music or Netflix locally.

Then some plans started offering cheap(er) unlimited and competition + modern tech made it widespread.

Most plans still throttle your speed if you go over a certain data amount on an "unlimited" plan, but only an outlier of users hit that snag.

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

My wife is on a plan with her parents because they get a substantial price break on their business plan for having X number of lines and her line pushes it over that threshold, making it effectively free. She was dealing with data cap conversations with them every month or two until sometime in 2022 when she finally called the carrier with them and found out they could get a cheaper, newer, plan that they wouldn’t go over on.

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bearsnchairs@reddit

It is more expensive than India, but not really expensive relative to our salaries.

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

A lot of Indians use mobile data exclusively due to lack of fixed infrastructure or their living situation, which probably further drives costs down. For most, it would replace both the mobile and home internet service we pay for in the US.

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

It's slightly more expensive in india considering the purchasing power parity. We don't get paid much. And it's only unlimited when it's 5g(we don't get proper range for 5g everywhere so it turns to 4g depending on where you are). Yeah it's bad

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1singhnee@reddit

I hardly get 5G anywhere in India. When I visit my parents I’m always stopping somewhere I can connect. Thank god there’s finally Starbucks now. 😁

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

Yeah and I don't think we get the actual speed of 5g. It's kinda like unlimited 4g

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1singhnee@reddit

Even in the US, 5G isn’t really 5G most of the time. It’s more of a marketing ploy.

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Drew707@reddit

Generally, softcaps in the US work the opposite. If you have a softcap, it will be like 50 GB at 5G speed, and then unlimited on 4G if you exceed that.

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

Interesting. Here if we exceed the daily quota it becomes 2g or something. Unusable

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

They are partially right and partially wrong. This would have been true in the past but isn’t as much today.

Still, our mobile data is more expensive than in most populated parts of the world and even “unlimited” plans usually throttle your connection pretty severely after a certain amount of usage. As a result of this, a longer history of it being far more expensive, and dead zones, it’s very common that businesses and even cities offer free WiFi.

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redditprofile99@reddit

LOL. Well it's actually the opposite, but at least you learned something I guess.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

Why is everyone laughing? This was true only \~5-10 years ago. Dude is just...a little behind on the news

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Drew707@reddit

IDK, I've had unlimited data since at least 2011.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

I had unlimited from the late 2000s. It was a little pricey but worth it at the time. It was before hot spots became generally known so they hadn't put any restrictions on it. Awesome.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

Lucky. We got it on Verizon in 2017.

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Drew707@reddit

Maybe I'm misremembering, like the cap was so high it was indecipherable from unlimited, but I've been with Verizon since like 2007. My current plan doesn't seem like it has a cap. I do remember when 4G rolled out they were trying to change our unlimited plans, but I can't remember what happened with that.

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rjnd2828@reddit

5-10 years ago we didn't use mobile data? Where?

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Rdtackle82@reddit

Fairly affluent area of the eastern US, we switched to unlimited data in 2017. It's not that we *didn't* use mobile data, it's that it was still too expensive on Verizon to not ration and use WiFi where available.

Especially when doing things like HD video streaming

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rjnd2828@reddit

Ok I misunderstood, definitely used to watch it more closely but I thought you were saying it wasn't used at all.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

Gotcha, yeah I see that. My bad

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redditprofile99@reddit

I'm laughing at his comment about getting played and making an entire post about it. It was a funny comment 🤷

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SnooChipmunks2079@reddit

Ten or fifteen years ago I might have agreed.

The United States has the "advantage" (and disadvantage, really) of being one of the first countries to implement a lot of infrastructure - including POTS and cellular telecom - so we have some that was put in place quite a long time ago that isn't up to modern standards.

Other countries built out much more recently and in some cases never even had a robust POTS system or dial-up internet, but rather leapfrogged right from "nothing" to "cheap and widely available mobile internet."

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tlollz52@reddit

He's probably just broke. Lots of places have wifi but you couldn't use for phone while for driving for GPS, streaming etc.

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enstillhet@reddit

Yeah I almost always use mobile data.

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AlaskanBiologist@reddit

Lol no.

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Cranks_No_Start@reddit

I almost never use Wi-Fi. I have unlimited data and its faster than wifi so I never turn it on.

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WalkinSteveHawkin@reddit

Their info is just outdated. Data plans were expensive about 15 years ago.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

More 5-10, but yeah.

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An_Awesome_Name@reddit

2010 was 15 years ago.

5 years ago was 2020.

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Rdtackle82@reddit

...yes, and 2015 was 10 years ago. And 1900 was 125 years ago. And 2030 is five years from now.

I'm from a relatively affluent area of the eastern U.S., about half of my friends had unlimited in 2016, we got it in 2017.

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Prowindowlicker@reddit

Ya i remember the unlimited plans being very expensive in 2015. Wasn’t until 2020 when i got an unlimited plan

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lannistersstark@reddit

how do I report this for harassment

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AlyssaJMcCarthy@reddit

I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life, thank you.

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frank26080115@reddit

You might be thinking of Canada or Australia where the telecoms rip people off but the US is fine about mobile data

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VeronaMoreau@reddit

Somebody might be confused with the fact that we don't do "top-ups" with the idea that we don't use data. We almost exclusively use data, especially considering how often you're in a car for a while. But you either do a contract plan or a pay-by-month plan with your phone company and either (though increasingly scarce) you get a certain amount of data for that month or (much more commonly) you have unlimited data. Domestic calls and texts are unlimited 99.9% of the time too.

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ThatCoupleYou@reddit

Ive had unlimited mobile data since it was first offered by AT&T. You got played

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Recent-Irish@reddit

Yeah that’s just… not true. Unlimited data is pretty standard.

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random_mandible@reddit

20 bucks a month through Mint. Can’t complain.

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namhee69@reddit

Used to be pricy a decade ago but now it’s virtually all unlimited now.

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NetDork@reddit

I'm waiting in a doctor's office and only switched to their guest wireless because the cell signal inside the building is bad.

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CaptainCetacean@reddit

Most cellular plans have unlimited data.

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Lostsock1995@reddit

At least you’re willing to learn about it and accept the answer! That already makes this post better than half the questions we get haha

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moddedbase_@reddit

yeah they lied to you man not gonna lie

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BensOnTheRadio@reddit

Back when the iPhone 4 came out back in 2010, the carriers stopped offering “unlimited data” since the rise of smartphones caused a huge uptick in data usage that could be monetized. Capped plans became mandatory for anybody not grandfathered into an unlimited plan. The punishment was paying a per MB fee for going over your allotment. This caused a lot of people to ration their data, and try to restrict usage to WiFi since that didn’t count against your data plan.

These days, most plans are a version of “unlimited” where you can use a certain allotment of data at full speed, then your speed will be throttled once you hit the threshold. This doesn’t come with a fee. Some carriers offer plans that won’t do this throttling.

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Howie_Dictor@reddit

We typically have unlimited 5g mobile data on our phone plans. My mobile speeds are typically around 650 Mbps down and 100 Mbps up. My home internet is fiber optic with 1000 Mbps Up/Down

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FiddleThruTheFlowers@reddit

My plan has unlimited data and has for years, lol. Unlimited used to be less common, but now it's all over the place. Either that or the data cap is so high that you almost need to be trying to hit it.

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imbrickedup_@reddit

Not having unlimited data is uncommon I think

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Lycaeides13@reddit

😂

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JDude13@reddit

Mention QR codes in restaurants and suddenly it’s “and how am I gonna look at your menu without wifi??”

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HorseFeathersFur@reddit

To be fair, the last restaurant that I went to that used a QR code only menu with absolutely no backup menus was in an area that had dreadfully spotty reception for two of the three main carriers. I ended up leaving because who needs that sort of aggravation?

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PersonalitySmall593@reddit

My problem is if im getting shitty reception and the restaurant has no wife...I can't look at the menu.

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PsychoFaerie@reddit

Um.. Why wouldn't I ? I use wifi when at home but its not necessary.. I have an unlimited plan so I don't worry about how much I use. I know a few people who don't have unlimited and won't switch so they use wifi everywhere they can. (my mom being one of them)

I have coverage pretty much everywhere (AT&T)

But this country is huge and there are large swaths that don't have coverage so those people use satellite phones because there is no data. Hikers.. Search and Rescue.. Forestry people..etc

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jcradio@reddit

No. Most plans here include unlimited data (with throttling over a certain amount). Wifi is used where available.

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

By throttling, how much does the speed reduce? Does it start to buffer and become unusable?

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jcradio@reddit

Plans vary. If I go over 50GB my carrier will slow my speed to 3G speeds. I don't come anywhere close.

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bloopidupe@reddit

This CANNNNN happen. It depends on the plan. My last plan had 5G data up to 3 gigs and then it would drop to 3G data. It was fine, but streaming videos was harder.

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Subvet98@reddit

I only time I use a business’ WiFi is if the cell service sucks @the location

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jimmyjohnjohnjohn@reddit

I'm on a desktop computer tethered to mobile data typing this to you right now. Mobile data is all I've got! It's unlimited!

Who told you that?

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Specific-Jury4270@reddit

who the hell fed you this bs?

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TheJokersChild@reddit

No, mobile data very much IS a thing here. Many of us have unlimited 5G on our plans. Using a place's wifi is backup if we're still on a throttled plan that slows us down after we use a certain amount a month.

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ProfessionalAir445@reddit

I didn’t even have Internet at home for the past few years. I just used mobile date and used my phone as a hotspot.

Finally just got it again to make it easier to practice drumming along with online lessons.

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

How would wifi make it easier? For more convenience? I mean like to avoid bringing your phone with you everywhere and turning the hotspot on all the time?

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ProfessionalAir445@reddit

Because WiFi is a hell of a lot faster.

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

Ah that makes sense

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cmiller4642@reddit

I have gigabit WiFi at home and work and unlimited unlimited 5G ultra wide

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Both_Wasabi_3606@reddit

This is absolutely not true. Most Americans rely heavily on mobile data as public wifi is either nonexistant or only at some commercial establishments or workplace. If you are out and about, you will be using almost 100% mobile cellular data.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

Plus wifi, in particular public wifi is a security nightmare.

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devilbunny@reddit

This is why I use Tailscale to route all my traffic through my house if I have to use public WiFi.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

How does that differ from a VPN?

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devilbunny@reddit

It is a VPN, but the personal tier is free since they don’t provide the servers for anything but authentication. If you are trying to use services that blacklist commercial VPN providers, you won’t get picked up because the traffic is redirected to originate from a location you control. You do need a device in your home network that is on 24/7, but an AppleTV box can run it. Versions for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, so it’s broadly available.

One special feature is that once you have authenticated to your “tailnet”, as they call it, most firewalls won’t block the actual traffic. So use cell data to authenticate, then turn on WiFi.

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Iforgotmypwrd@reddit

We pay a stupid amount for unlimited data - like upwards of $100/mo. Most people do this, so we don’t think about data plans except when traveling internationally.

My international travel plan is another $100/mo if I don’t get a local sim

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blipsman@reddit

Mobile data is very much a thing in U.S. most people have unlimited plans or high limits for data usage so its use doesn’t need to be monitored closely like elsewhere, so some may just not even think about whether they’re connecting by cellular data or WiFi.

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o93mink@reddit

Here is a page showing the plans available for one of our most popular cell phone providers. You can see that unlimited data is a core part of their offerings.

https://www.att.com/plans/wireless/

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Street-Albatross8886@reddit (OP)

Holy shit that's cheap as fuck. That's like 2 hours of work right?

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o93mink@reddit

In 2023 the median hourly earning in the US was $19.24 so around 2.5 hours

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Swurphey@reddit

Is this based on only those paid by the hour or are salaries averaged out and included?

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o93mink@reddit

Salaries included

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i_sesh_better@reddit

I pay £15 in the UK for unlimited social media, music streaming and video streaming + 150GB for everything else.

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reyadeyat@reddit

I get unlimited data through a budget carrier for $20/month (\~₹1730).

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captainstormy@reddit

Their cheapest plan with unlimited data is $36 per month. That is about the cost of a meal for two at a fast casual type of restaurant.

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dumdadumdumdumdmmmm@reddit

There's much cheaper too. ATT is generally more expensive as it's one of those big name legacy corporations in telecommunications.

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1singhnee@reddit

And that’s the expensive carrier.

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Nanatomany44@reddit

But many restaurants, Healthcare facilities, hotels have free wifi. And my mobile plan has 12 gig data. l pay $38 per month.

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Agitated-Hair-987@reddit

I have unlimited data. I never use wifi, even at home.

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Sp4ceh0rse@reddit

We use mobile data AND most places have wifi. It’s both.

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jr061898@reddit

I don't know who told you that because, outside work, I exclusively use Mobile data.

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dausy@reddit

I'm on data probably an equal amount if not a bit more than wifi.

I'm using data right now because my works wifi has blockers on it for various websites and it's just slow.

I drove from Texas to Tennessee (24 hour-ish drive over 3 days) while listening to YouTube over data.

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Juggalo13XIII@reddit

I've had unlimited data for about 12 years. Ever since I got my first phone. The only people I know that don't are one or two people with pre-paid phones. It's also very cheap. 2.5 hours of work pays my phone bill.

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mykepagan@reddit

My mobile plan provides unlimited mobile data at a decent price. Family of 4, with my wife and kids on the same plan. We all use it all the time. I think this is the same for most Americans except the most financially strapped.

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21stNow@reddit

Several years ago, I rarely used Wi-fi because my cellular signal was excellent at home and my Wi-fi was terrible. Now, my situation is reversed and my mother's Wi-fi is great and the cellular signal is spotty inside her house. I try to avoid public Wi-fi, but it is available in most places.

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SwordTaster@reddit

Everybody uses data at some point, but WiFi is so damn common that tourists won't have a problem. Whomever told you this may be referring to foreign tourists because it is incredibly expensive to use data when abroad

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Shady500thCoin@reddit

Mobile data works better then wifi in some areas imo

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420CurryGod@reddit

Seeing that you’re from India I can tell you basically exactly the difference between here and India. In the USA, most people have WiFi AND a data plan. Most people exclusively use WiFi while at home because there is infrastructure for it. Outside of home, people generally use data or public WiFi. Some people have unlimited data plans while others have caps. Using WiFi at home is preferable due to higher speed and not risking going over the data cap.

In India, WiFi simply isn’t as common. So data ends up being the default for most.

TL;DR most people have both WiFi and data but tend to use WiFi whenever possible.

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OrdinarySubstance491@reddit

I'm pretty sure I have had unlimited data for about 20 years. I had unlimited data when I was visiting family overseas and I thought it was so weird that they had to stop and phone shops to put money on their phones.

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RadicalPracticalist@reddit

Uh… yeah, that’s just not true. 10 years ago unlimited data was kind of rare, so most people had to be careful about when they used it. Now? Nearly everyone has unlimited data, rich or poor, and it’s pretty much universal.

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realmozzarella22@reddit

Where did you hear this?

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Untamedpancake@reddit

In the rural area where I live, we only have access to mobile data- there's no cable or internet available. I'm surrounded by 10 million acres of state & national forest & protected wilderness. Many shops & public places have wifi in the nearest town to me (30 miles) though.

But there's no mobile signal either for miles & miles in some places near here. No data, no calls, no text. If it weren't for the camera I wouldn't bother bringing my phone with me to the trails where I pick blueberries or to my favorite camping spots.

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Prowindowlicker@reddit

WiFi is available but most of the time I use mobile date except my house where I use wifi

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1singhnee@reddit

Even my car uses mobile data. I don’t think I could function without it.

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AlfredoAllenPoe@reddit

We have mobile data. Many of us have unlimited mobile data

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captainstormy@reddit

I heard that mobile data isn't really a thing in america. How does that work?

Mobile data is used plenty in the US. Most plans come with unlimited mobile data. Only the cheapest of the cheap plans charge you based on the amount of data you use.

Do you guys have wifi at every place? Every shop, every restaurant, hotels ect?

WiFi is so common that I'm more surprised if a place doesn't have it than does. For example, my wife gets her nails done every other Saturday morning. We run errands afterwards so I drive her. I park in the parking lot and (if the weather is nice) sit on the tailgate or my truck and play a video game on my steam deck while i wait. I pick up about 6-8 good strong free public WiFi signals when I do that.

there must be remote places where wifi isn't available.

Truly remote places aren't likely to have cell phone service at all, little yet cellular data. Even places that aren't really that remote and are just rural often don't have much in the way of cell service.

For example my mother only lives about 3 miles outside of the city limits in her area but only AT&T has any coverage there. That only happened in the last couple of years since they built a tower out there. If you have anyone but AT&T you ain't getting service.

The house she used to live actually had no cellular, cable or land based internet service. She had satellite TV and internet.

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dystopiadattopia@reddit

We used to have to pay for it above a certain limit, but the last few phone plans I've had all have unlimited data, so it's nothing I worry about.

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GamerGramps62@reddit

It’s used regularly all the time everywhere

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NewbombTurk@reddit

We have data plans, Most are just unlimited. I don't pat attention to the data I use.

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itemluminouswadison@reddit

i live in nyc and have a very low mobile data plan (tmobile connect $10/month 1gb lte plan) beacuse yes, wifi is literally everywhere. on the streets, the city offers free wifi ("link"). i barely use half of my 1gb

but i'd say in 99% of america outside of this very dense place, high or unlimited mobile data plans are the norm

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lisasimpsonfan@reddit

My husband uses his mobile hotspot and mobile data all the time because when he is out working in the field there is not always wifi. We pay a flat fee for it not by the minute.

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glittermassacre@reddit

It's expensive if you have the worst phone plan ever! but most have free unlimited mobile data. I usually have to use data even at home because our WiFi is terrible (I unfortunately have no control over the internet plan)

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bangbangracer@reddit

We use mobile data. It's not preferred if WiFi is available, but we use mobile data.

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AggressiveCommand739@reddit

Unlimited data on your phone plan or lots of public WiFi at libraries, publiv buildings, restaraunts and stores. The grocery stores in my community have free WiFi.

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rawbface@reddit

My plan has unlimited mobile data, which does get throttled when you hit 10 GB. I only ever go over if I'm traveling for more than a week and not on my home wifi. I rarely connect to wifi on my phone when I'm not at home, because there's no need to.

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cmiller4642@reddit

I have unlimited 5G Ultra Wide on my iPhone 16 Pro Max

Who told you we don't use mobile data? lol

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Meany12345@reddit

Welll that’s not true.

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Secret-Medicine-1393@reddit

I get unlimited texting after 9pm

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ScienceUnicorn@reddit

I use my data. I’m using it right now because my phone doesn’t like the WiFi at work. I know some people that refuse to use it because it supposedly costs more, but my plan includes unlimited data.

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Akem0417@reddit

I have unlimited data. I'm so used to mobile data I save battery by not connecting to Wi-Fi

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_Silent_Android_@reddit

Uh, I use mobile data. I have an unlimited plan though.

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TipsyBaker_@reddit

If it's remote enough that wifi isn't an option, you probably don't have good enough service for data either. There's plenty of places in the US where this is the case, but there also aren't a ton of people in those areas either.

Most people use their data because logging in to a ton of wifi accounts would be a pain

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Slyman91@reddit

If I'm home I'll use my wifi. Everywhere else I use mobile data

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HorseFeathersFur@reddit

I use my unlimited data plan a lot and often create a personal hotspot with my phone so I can work on my Laptop when I’m at the park with doggo.

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Stunning-End-3487@reddit

I have unlimited data on my phone, but frankly do use WiFi primarily. WiFi all day at work and all evening at home. Other spots I take whatever is available.

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Cheap_Sail_9168@reddit

That’s not true. America is very spread out, we need mobile data. I use wifi more heavily in Europe than I do here.

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machagogo@reddit

Unlimited mobile data is the norm.

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ToastMate2000@reddit

Unlimited data is pretty standard I have unlimited international data, even.

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notthegoatseguy@reddit

Its usually unlimited but with a cap, and after the cap they may slow down especially when busy or if you're consuming a lot of data

IMO its pretty hard in most of urbanized US to go beyond the cap because wifi is so widespread. Its at our offcies. Most major restaurant and retail chains provide Wi-Fi. Usually the only time when I go beyond the cap is when I travel.

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Equivalent_Ad_8413@reddit

It's complicated.

Generally our cell phone charges overall are higher than most of the world. However, our cell phone plans are also generally all-inclusive. As such, we generally don't consider the cost of data since unlimited data is part of our cost for the phone plan. We usually use our mobile data without thinking about it since we don't get billed for it.

My cell phone company also has free data coverage in something like 200 countries around the world, so I don't need to get SIM cards when I travel until I retire. (The coverage only applies for two months consecutive foreign travel, and I'm hoping for longer stays when I retire.) I do pay for voice while overseas, but not data or texts.

The bad news (for me) is that cruise ships have their own cellular coverage, and the ship's coverage is expensive as hell. This means I need to turn off my cellular modem if I'm on the ship and rely on WiFi (which is free), and then turn my cellular modem back on when I leave the ship.

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Sirhc978@reddit

I mean I use wifi a lot but I also pay like $50 a month for unlimited 5g data.

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Nickvv52@reddit

I have unlimited but still use wifi when possible because of the data throttling. I stream a lot.

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have unlimited.

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zoopest@reddit

I turn off my wifi sometimes to use the data instead (my work's wifi sucks)

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ApprehensiveSkill573@reddit

Not true. Use it all the time.

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cdb03b@reddit

Mobile Data is often unlimited so people do not really care about how much they use

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bestem@reddit

I use regular wifi at home and at work. Sometimes, when I'm at a store or restaurant, they might have free public wifi. If I'm having trouble picking up a signal on my phone at a place with free wifi, I'll use the free wifi. The rest of the time I'm using mobile data. My phone plan is with a budget carrier, and I pay $25/month for one line with unlimited data, phone calls, and texts.

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