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Up until now I have been using a GPS only.

Now considering using a mobile on 'pay as you go' contract with O2.

Speaking roughly, how man Gig a month do I need if I am caching almost every day.
Deals are -

£10pm for 5gb

£15pm for 20gb

£20pm for 100gb

I really have no idea how much I need.

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It's hard to say.  The Geocaching app sees  lists, and any PQ that's run in the last week, as a list. One of the options on the phone app for each list is to Download Offline Data. I do this at the house, using the house's "data plan". This will include a good bit of background map. 

 

You may not need any more data, in short.  I'd start with the minimum and see if it's sufficient, assuming you're willing to load from home, and don't need to have everything available on the fly.

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When we first started geocaching in 2017 we used our smartphones.  In 2018 we were caching everyday, reaching for a self-imposed goal of filling our calendar grid - we managed 404 straight days of geocaching!  We used our phones, rarely used airplane mode or pre-loaded lists, just on the fly, and using data wherever we were.  I have an Etrex 30x now, but still use the phone as well.  Hubby uses his phone for geocaching.

 

We rarely go over 2GB each data use, TOTAL, on our phones.  Geocaching, email, Facebook, all use But when we are out and about, we use data, and geocaching is part of that.  So, I'd recommend starting at the lowerst, 5GB plan.  See how that works for you, and go from there.

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My own experience in switching from mostly exclusive Garmin use to mostly phone use showed a fairly large data use on the phone at first. I was using 'Live' mode on the phone as well as Google Satellite maps. Once I downloaded OSM maps and started using PQ's or lists and downloaded them ahead of time my data use fell to almost nothing while caching. It helps if you use an app that has better offline support than the Geocaching app from Groundspeak. And it makes a big difference in battery use, too. My app of choice on Android is Locus Map and my wife uses Cachly on her iPhone. We have an 8gb shared data family plan for 3 people and rarely use more than 4gb for the 3 of us. And that includes a fair amount of non-geocaching app usage on our phones. 

 

And as Viajero Perdido mentioned, if you're really out in the boonies where you know you will have bad or no cellular reception, you get a BIG battery boost by switching to Airplane Mode. 

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I still use my GPS most of the time - not my phone.  I get more accurate results on the GPS.

 

If by chance I am in a place that I didn't prepare for, then I go to the on-the-fly caching with the phone.   I also use pay as you go data.

 

Even then, sometimes I just get the info out of the phone, and type it into the GSP because of the accuracy issue.

 

Also consider where you cache -- some of the places I like to cache do not have cell coverage.

 

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I used to have a 5GB plan with Three in the past. The type you could use in many countries outside the EU. At first I mostly relied on offline caching, but then found that the data usage is not very big and my caching trips became a lot more unplanned unless I knew I'd be in a wilderness area with poor phone signal. Abroad? No need to download caches beforehand. I have to say that I'm not using the official app but Cachly, with offline maps. I think overall the data usage is very low with this app. I've not looked at the official app in ages. When it first came out I compared the data usage between both, and found the usage of the official app to be on the higher side. But that's a long time ago, and lots might have changed since then.

Edited by terratin
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