I am shortly visiting France and purchasing a Data Package on SIM for the duration. Data usage is extremely expensive outside of paying for a contract, hence my query. I believe I have a brain lock as this should be obvious; but hey! After a webpage has downloaded on screen is data still being used up while one is reading this page, or in other words for the duration the page is on screen? The internet will still be connected but no actual activity barring the scrolling of the page. Does one have to save the page, disconnect the internet and read said page from file to be sure that no data is being eaten. Thank you.           Normal brain activity to resume shortly.  

On this site and most "interactive" sites some data will be used for notifications etc. The "there are x new responses on this thread" of course need some data.

Usually though this is very limited. With light use (no online games, no youtube videos, no streaming audio etc. just email and web pages) you will be hard pressed to go over 1GB a month when always on.

 

 

You don't say what device you will be using, but I use Opera Mini on the phone (Android). It has "Off Road" mode which compresses pages significantly before it loads them.

I think Chrome has added a similar feature.

 

 

Thanks guys. I am not too sure if you have answered my query, perhaps I haven`t explained very well. Anyway I will be using a laptop via a MIFI (pocket mobile wifi device). I will certainly look into apps that compress web pages before download. Perhaps I should think about using my mobile for viewing the internet for certain scenarios.  

How long will you be in France?

 

Will you also have a mobile phone?

 

You can get a SIM and 1 GB for as little as ~ 20 euros, over 14 days. LeFrenchMobile. They're an MVNO. http://www.lefrenchmobile.com/

 

Regular web browsing/email/forum reading doesn't use much data; watching videos would use a lot.

 

There are boatloads of data calculators, where you can input your specific requirements, on the interwebs.

Thank you mtls2005. Actually our second home is in France and I do know the system. I have always been on account but as we stay very little in France I have cancelled as it was not cost effective. I already have two non-activated SIM`s; LeFrenchMobile and Lebara waiting our return. Both these, each with different conditions, offer a non-expiry of the telephone number, even with a years non-activity. So just the ticket. Lebara is cheaper for use but more expensive to keep number, so pros and cons for each. Comparing other countries such as Spain for instance, Data usage in France is expensive, hence my query.