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Why does my iphone 4s use cellular data when making a phone call?

I having been having problem with my ATT 4s ever since I got it.

From day 1, I have wifi enabled and I reset my cellular network data so they both read 0KB.

I make a phone call which should not be using data, at least it never did on my old 3gs. I go back to my cellular usuage after a 1 minute phone call and it shows 10kb sent, 23KB received??

Even if i dont make a phone call my cellular data goes up. I left the statistics screen and opened the notepad and typed a few letters. I go back to check cellular data and it went up another 10k.

Why is this? I took to "genius" bar and they told me to get a new sim, which I did and problem persists. Went back to apple store got firmware updated, issue still persisted. They replaced the phone and the issue still persists. I have turned off Icloud, location services etc. Everything short of turning off cellular data.

I just did another reset of the phone, no apps installed, did not restore from backup, and I am not using Icloud. Issue still persists..

And of course I can turn off 3g cellular data and the problem goes away but then what is the point of a smartphone???

HELP!!

Anyone ever have this problem or can duplicate it?

iPhone 4S

Posted on Mar 2, 2012 3:49 PM

20 replies

Mar 5, 2012 12:54 PM in response to masAndrew

That sounds like it's ignoring your WiFi connection. I think AT&T have some hand in this but are refusing to admit it. Like I said O2 tried this in the UK a few years back. I'll have a good google about it and see if anything comes up

Apr 29, 2012 11:29 AM in response to masAndrew

My daughters phone was having the same problem with her 3gs. I shut off all apps, videos, internet, and cellular data. I noticed that there was no activity for 23 days then all of a sudden it gulped down 200mb in 2 days and then used another 75mb in a day and a half. I have been dealing with ATT for 4 months on this. They have credited me for the usage but the issue still presists. I bought the 4s yesterday and gave her my 4. The question is why was her phone consuming all this data with everything shut off and I have almost 200 apps installed, I use my phone on a daily basis both with wifi and 3g and I have never had a problem. We both have the 200mb data plan. ATT doesn't know the answer to the questions and their solution is for you to buy more data. We will wait and see what is causing this, because if it kills me I will find out why this is happening!!

masAndrew Author

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Apr 30, 2012 9:26 AM in response to Firemedic111

Thats strange, had no issue with my 3gs for 2+ years until i upgraded to 4s. Last month I actually thought the issue was solved I used my phone the normal way I always do and only used 105mb, which is my average. This month i had about 100 or so mb of usage and then I woke up this morning with a txt message from ATT saying I just went over my 200mb limit by 300mb. So I used 400mb in less than a day with no opens apps.

Calling ATT is frustrating and they just keep reading the same script over and over again. After an hour i get a credit but its a hassle. They told me through email and phone conversations that Iphone will always use data regardless if you are on wifi. I said how? If no apps are installed ( I did clean install) and nothing running how can I use 400mb in a matter of hours?

Basically no solution. ATT and APPLE deny any issue although APPLE did see the issue happening when i was in the store and had no solution except go to ATT. I think many people out there have the same problem but they may have bigger data plans and they might not notice the issue as much unless they track their usage.

Apr 30, 2012 6:37 PM in response to masAndrew

I found another possible solution. On the 4s go to General > Reset > Reset network settings. This resets the network settings back to factory. The only thing you lose is your Wifi passwords. I didn't find this until after I gave my 4 to my daughter. I did it any way. According to the original poster, this is suppose to fix it. I certainly understand your frustrations, I am there as well. I have decided I am going to keep a log so I can prove to ATT that they have a serious issue. Not sure that will work but I am hoping. I am starting a 24 hour test tomorrow (that's when our new billing cycle starts) to see how much data is consumed in 24 hours. Keep me updated if you find any other info out.

Jun 19, 2012 12:05 PM in response to Firemedic111

Any luck with resetting the network settings? I'm having the ssame high data usage issues, and am understandably curious in your results.

Why does my iphone 4s use cellular data when making a phone call?