With the changes to the data plans, i decided to look at my wifes data usage on her iphone. What i have found is odd and a bit concerning. Overall her data usage is pretty much nothing, except for something that occurs every morning around 1 or 2 am. I have included data usage on the AT&T account below. As you can see, something happens around 1 or 2 am every morning, i just dont know what it is. The amount of data being transferred is REALLY high if you ask me, as high as 75336KB back on the 17th. I called AT&T support and they said it was the phone updating or mail being downloaded, basically they have no idea. I have the mail set to fetch manually already. Anyway to determine what is going on???
06/04 01:22 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 3368KB
06/03 01:45 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 18906KB
06/02 01:45 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 6878KB
06/01 01:45 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9460KB
05/31 07:45 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1918KB
05/31 01:27 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 7551KB
05/30 02:27 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1224KB
05/30 01:17 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 2685KB
05/29 01:39 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 8120KB
05/28 01:39 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 5410KB
05/28 01:07 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 5068KB
05/27 10:42 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 21778KB
05/27 01:06 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 10419KB
05/26 09:26 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 20657KB
05/26 01:50 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 8467KB
05/25 02:21 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 18086KB
05/25 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 5249KB
05/24 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1012KB
05/23 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 12978KB
05/22 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9749KB
05/21 01:41 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 19166KB
05/20 01:17 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 23860KB
05/18 11:56 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 15440KB
05/18 01:06 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 29900KB
05/17 01:12 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 75336KB
this is from data manager application between 7am and 8am, I was at bath had breakfast and drive. look at the data downloads both from 3g and wifi. It can be some application but after 8 am ıt just stops without any intervention. Any ideas ? (iphone 4)
@MightyMac - Thanks for the idea but like others I have never visited that website and typically the ones I frequent are usually formatted for iPhones so there is little auto-refreshing to worry about.
It truly seems like each case is somewhat different but also it is concerning at how diffuse the problem is. I have heard many people say that if the iPhone is in sleep mode that any Push/timed Fetch activity goes across the Edge/3G network instead of the WiFi that may be available. Is that true? Can't an iPod Touch receive Push/timed Fetch and it does not even have an Edge/3G radio? Is it just that Edge/3G is the default and WiFi secondary? (I am still on an original iPhone so only have Edge myself).
Like many others I have played around with settings on my iPhone and this is what I have seen. Before going to sleep I shut off all Notifications and also shut off Push and timed Fetch for my only email account (MobileMe) on the evening of 6/8/10 and only turned it back on during the entire day on 6/10/10 and then back off before bed on 6/10/10. I did not shut off my phone. I know I used my phone on Edge during the day on 6/10/10 on several occasions. Otherwise I will admit I did not use my phone outside of WiFi use, but that is typical for me.
Here are the current results:
06/11 04:48 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1KB
06/10 05:31 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 957KB
06/09 04:48 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 78KB
*06/08 02:00 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 2598KB*
06/07 08:00 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 227KB
06/07 10:58 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 729KB
*06/07 02:12 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1226KB*
06/06 01:12 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 2641KB
*06/06 02:19 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 473KB*
06/05 04:19 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 4201KB
*06/05 02:23 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1500KB*
*06/04 02:23 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1492KB*
I had large data charges at 2-3am on 6/4 through 6/8 but then none since changing the settings overnight. Now the daytime charges on 6/5/10 and 6/6/10 are definitely days I accessed EDGE while using my phone so those larger chunks make sense, but not the other middle of the night ones. If this is just accounting why would the chunks of data drop off as soon as I disable Push/Fetch/Notification in the evening only. And where are the entries for when I accessed data on 6/10/10 during the day? It just doesn't make sense. If AT&T is going to start offering Capped Plans then they better get their bookkeeping sorted out since all of us are now going to scrutinize every charge compared to not even glancing at it when we were all on unlimited plans!
Since my initial posting on 6/9/10, this is my TOTAL usage since killing all Fetch/Push, and all Auto-Syncing of apps:
06/11 02:42 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 76KB
06/10 03:42 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 598KB
06/10 02:49 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1KB
06/09 02:49 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 868KB
I should note that I also have been refraining from using my phone to move any data unless I know I am connected to Wifi. Today I reset my Usage Data, and I will move data at specific times on Edge intentionally to see if they show up when they happen in my stats. And then we'll see if my mystery usage spikes for this so-called 'catch-up' transfers.
The whole concept of the data being rolled up at the end of the night does not make sense giving what i see now. When i first noticed this on my bill, this is the kind of data usage that i was seeing.
05/24 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1012KB
05/23 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 12978KB
05/22 01:25 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9749KB
05/21 01:41 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 19166KB
05/20 01:17 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 23860KB
05/18 11:56 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 15440KB
05/18 01:06 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 29900KB
05/17 01:12 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 75336KB
As you can see, i have 1 large data transfer every night around 1 something, the 18th was the only day that i had more then one.
So as i stated earlier, i went in and set all the accounts to fetch manually. Since i have changed this, i no longer get the 1 am large data transfers, instead i get a series of small transfers throughout the day. For example, here is my data usage from the 10th, note there is no 1 am data tranfer.
06/10 08:31 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 7KB
06/10 08:18 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 587KB
06/10 07:09 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 101KB
06/10 05:26 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 18KB
06/10 05:15 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1789KB
06/10 05:08 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 98KB
06/10 04:11 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 3951KB
06/10 04:06 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 249KB
06/10 11:43 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9KB
So if AT&T is rolling up data usage and just posting it at 1 am each day, then why did my usage report change? It shouldn't matter whether i am pushing, fetching every hour, fetching manually, etc... If AT&T was accumulating data throughout the day and posting it early morning, then wouldn't you think i would still show just 1 charge in the 1 am time frame? I have seen multiple posting were people were showing this behavior change after changing the push/fetch settings and to me this just adds more confusion, why does this change affect how AT&T reports the data usage, doesn't seem they should be connected.
I'm in the UK and I've noticed a similar problem with O2. They recently announced they're changing the tariffs and data will no longer be unlimited so out of interest I've checked my usage today. I seem to 2 entries per day - a large number at midnight every day and then a smaller number in the evening. If it was just loading the days data I would expect the evening number to be larger than the midnight one? It all seems very strange!
This is an example of what it shows:
05 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 5049 0.000
05 May 10 23:07:24 idata.o2.co.uk 2 0.000
06 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 18099 0.000
06 May 10 23:12:26 idata.o2.co.uk 6 0.000
07 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 17141 0.000
07 May 10 21:00:29 idata.o2.co.uk 19 0.000
08 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 3260 0.000
08 May 10 20:09:03 idata.o2.co.uk 21 0.000
09 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 183 0.000
09 May 10 20:41:34 idata.o2.co.uk 13 0.000
10 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 11608 0.000
11 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 12207 0.000
11 May 10 23:11:49 idata.o2.co.uk 822 0.000
12 May 10 00:00:00 idata.o2.co.uk 6222 0.000
Everyone keeps talking about push/fetch, or other things causing the transfers, but it still doesn't solve the problem of why the phone is using 3G. I always stay connected to my wifi and I still get the 2am transfers. Seems like something is overriding the wifi and using wireless data. This makes no sense!
Last night, I managed to get data usage down to 1 kb (and that might have been the "Hello, I'm here, are you here?" exchange first thing in the morning when I checked it.
Phone settings
Airplane Mode OFF
WiFi ON
Data Roaming OFF
Call Forwarding ON (and I got a forwarded call during the day)
3G ON
Location Services OFF
Fetch/Push OFF
reset at 9:00 AM
Most importantly, for the first time in this research project, I closed all Safari windows.
I didn't use the phone at all yesterday, just left it in the charger.
Haven't checked AT&T yet, but their night time usage doesn't typically show up until noon. It will be interesting to see when that 1kb each direction occurred.
I turned off push (which I only use for Find My Iphone - everything is set to manual) on 6/8. For 4 days I had little or no stuff during the night. And that is unheard of since I had stuff almost every day in the middle of the night. Yesterday, 6/12, I turned push back on but reset the phone before I went to bed. In the morning the phone showed 17K total transfer, big deal. But I just logged onto AT&T and they say 2589 KBytes at 2:28 AM.
I'm in the UK and also with O2. I would like to check my usage. Can you tell me where you found all the information in your post. I've checked under General - usage. That just gives the amount of data sent or received but doesn't break it down.
We're talking about att.com. View Usage Details. Click data. Click data again.
View Past Usage Data and you will see a bar graph showing per month usage. Click Bill History on the left to get to those months. Pick a month. Usage Details. Data.
"If you are connected to a WiFi network during the day (as I am for most of the day) you will have no data usage that AT&T sees.
I don't really leave my home for very long and use WIFI at home all the time and have the same large transfers going on btw 1-2 am (Central time) when I'm asleep. So I don't understand how I can have all this large sent transfers going on when 1, I'm asleep and 2, I'm on WIFI.
Two days ago, I made sure Safari had no open windows. Then I put the phone in the charger and left it. No data transfers!
Last night, I made sure to go into Fetch/Advanced and set all those separately to manual (even though Fetch was on Manual, my .mac mail and gmail were both set to push. I assume the higher level was controlling, but there's no clear way to confirm that.)
3G was on.
There was a tiny transfer - 2 kb - at 12:30 am. I don't know if this was when I turned 3G back on for the night's test. A few KB this morning - "Hello, I'm awake, are you awake?" size.
My guess is the culprit is Safari. I have often had a few pages "open". I figure it has to be either an Apple app - since nothing else runs in the background, right? Or an app that uses the Apple apps for info.
Regarding jump in data "usage" including phantom outgoing
DISCLOSURE: I changed the names and corrected most of my typos
The following is from AT&T Technical Live Chat
15 June, 2010 8:06 AM
Please wait for a representative to respond.
Welcome to AT&T Data Support Chat. My name is 'AT&T CSR' and I’ll be happy to assist you today.
AT&T CSR: Hello Mr. XX I will be happy to assist you with your issue on your 3G iPhone . I am sorry that you are experiencing challenges with data usage but I will make every effort to resolve this for you today.
AT&T CSR: In order to better assist you today, I will need to access your account. Will this be ok?
ME: That's fine, yes.
AT&T CSR: Thanks.
AT&T CSR: This is a secure channel. Please provide the following information: 1-The wireless phone number you are inquiring about, area code first. 2-The first and last name as listed on the account. 3-Your full name. 4-The last four digits of the Social Security # or password listed on the account. Please bear with me while I access your account. Once I have the information it may take me 1-2 minutes to complete this. Thank you.
ME: 617-xxx-xxxx
ME: ME, ME, xxxx
AT&T CSR: Thank you for that information Mr. XX.
AT&T CSR: I understand you would like to review your recent data charges on your 3G iPhone.
ME: Just the outgoing to "phone" ones. What are they? I'm not using 3G at home--and very rarely am I out.
AT&T CSR: I am currently reviewing your data usage now. Data consumed while on a Wi-Fi network does not count against your included data bucket of 200MB for $15.00.
ME: Thus my confusion.
AT&T CSR: I do see that you went over 590.96MB of data. On this plan if you exceed 200MB in a monthly billing cycle, then they will receive an additional 200MB of data usage for $15 and will continue to bill $15 for each additional 200MB of usage thereafter until the end of their bill cycle.
AT&T CSR: There are ways to monitor your data usage for your iPhone:
AT&T CSR: • From your wireless phone, dial *DATA# to check the amount of data you’ve generated in your current monthly billing period. AT&T will send you a free text message with the data usage information. • Go online towww.att.com/wireless to access all your data usage information using our secure online account management tool. • The free AT&T myWireless application available for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android customers allows you to instantly monitor your network usage.
ME: I know. But how did I go over? I'm not using 3G. I only have about 32MB of data on my phone--no pictures, no video, no itunes--there isn't enough on there to explain why there would be huge uploads from my phone. Plus I don't use 3G. We have WiFi at home. No one has been able to explain what this data is, where it is going, or how it is going without my knowledge or permission.
ME: I use the tools you mention.
AT&T CSR: You mentioned you only have 32MB of data on your phone. Are you referring to the memory on your phone?
ME: No, the data--excluding apps. In other words, there isn't enough on there for the phone to be able to upload these huge amounts. Plus, I do not use 3G, I have WiFi.
ME: I miscounted: Audio (Ringtones): 16MB
ME: Photos (contact images): 12MB
AT&T CSR: This has no relation to data usage on your phone. When you are connected to WiFi you are not charged for data usage on your phone. AT&T does not have a WiFi network. It is possible that you are not connected to WiFi when accessing data on your phone which is causing these charges. Accessing the internet, socials sites such as Facebook, Email, and downloads can cause data access.
AT&T CSR: There is not a way for AT&T to charge you for WiFi access.
ME: But I am being charged for 3G usage. That's what this about. We have 24/7 WiFi in the house. I don't use social networking sites, and if I did they'd go through WiFI. These are all showing on my account as going to "phone" via MediaNet--even at times when am I asleep.
ME: Plus these are all outbound, not inbound.
AT&T CSR: Do you receive email on your phone Mr. XX?
ME: Yes. But nothing that would explain these amounts. I've usually cleaned my email on my laptop before my phone is even on. No attachments, no videos, no photos. Plus, I am using WiFi NOT 3G!
ME: Sorry, caps were a typo
ME: I am asleep by 9PM. Look at the times of some the charges.
AT&T CSR: I understand you mentioned you being on WiFi however if you are not correctly connected to WiFi you will connect to 3G network. As mentioned since AT&T does not have a WiFi network we are not able to charge you for usage while on WiFi. Your device can not access WiFi and 3G at the same time. Regarding your emails the iPhone will continue to receive emails while you are sleep and when your email account is updated with a new email. These emails do not need to include attachments, videos, or photos. The 200MB included in your plan is equivalent to 100,000 single-page text e-mails or 400 e-mails with photo attachments.
ME: Our wifi doesn't turn off. The charges I'm seeing are outbound, not inbound.
ME: I haven't received 400 emails so far this year.
ME: Push is not on. My email has to be retrieved manually.
AT&T CSR: Mr. XX I see that you have already upgraded your data plan to the 2GB plan for $25. If you have additional questions regarding your billing you may contact Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500 for advanced support.
AT&T CSR: Unfortunately I am not able to determine what was being accessed on your phone during these times data is being accessed on your phone. I can tell you that your iPhone is connected to the 3G network while data is being accessed for you to be charged.
ME: I upgraded following a text message from ATT saying I was near my limit. Then I checked my data usage which is when I discovered it more than octupled from normal and saw all these phantom outbound data records to "phone." The AT&T CSR I spoke with (prior to this) was very nice but couldn't help. I upgraded up to the 2GB with the (apparently incorrect) notion that I could avoid extra data charges. What I need to know is what data is going out, where it's going, and how it can happen if I'm asleep and my phone is using our wifi. Else the next CSR will be as stymied as the last.
ME: Also, I combed the internet as well as AT&T and Apple forums and I see I am not alone with this oddness
AT&T CSR: I understand your concern. If you see the data increase only while you are sleep I would suggest to turn off your Iphone over night to see if there is a change in your data. I am also an iPhone user. I have many applications and email setup on my iPhone that send data back in forth however there is not a way to determine the actual data usage being used from the bill. When you are correctly connected to WiFi you are not charged for 3G. I am sorry I am not able to explain in detail what is being accessed on your iPhone since the bill does not go into detail about what data is being accessed. One way you can test. Make sure you have WiFi on your phone and over the next 24 hrs if possible not manually access any data on your iPhone. Review the data usage to determine if you are charged. One thing you may want to keep in mind any applications you have installed can also send and receive data on your iPhone.
AT&T CSR: *WiFi turned OFF
AT&T CSR: If you see data usage occur then this would be a billing dispute you would want to refer to Customer Care for assistance. We handle data related issues in this chat such as internet, email, tethering, ect.
AT&T CSR: Are you still with me?
ME: I tried what you suggest earlier. I also made sure 3G was disabled. After that, there were no phantom wee-hour charges for several days. 3G was automatically reenabled 2x after I had to reset the phone. It seems as soon as I left the wifi radius of our house, the phone pumped out massive amounts of data--these occurred during daytime hours. So, am I correct that "you" have no way of telling where that data went? If I saw an errant phone call, there'd be a number, for example. How do I track down a problem if no one knows what is going where?
ME: FWIW the only app left on my phone that isn't an Apple default is the AT&T myWireless. Push and Fetch are off. 3G is disabled. Location services are disabled. Is this an iPhone hardware issue?
AT&T CSR: Yes after resetting the phone 3G is automatically enabled. You can definitely determine if this a hardware issue by performing a Master Reset on your phone. If you see that you are still experiencing this issue you may contact Apple at 1-800-694-7466 for assistance on a replacement phone.
ME: I tried the master reset (what a pain) before the last huge data outpouring. I'll try Apple again--though last time "they" said it was the carrier's issue, no theirs. I feel I am on the edge of something Dante-esque here. Thanks anyway. Is it okay for me to save this chat?
AT&T CSR: Mr. XX today you contacted Data Support Chat regarding data usage and billing dispute on your 3G iPhone. We reviewed your current data plan and usage. You were advised that AT&T does not have a WiFi network and you are only charged when your iPhone accesses the 3G network. You have been provided options on how to monitor your data usage and referred to Customer Care regarding any billing disputes. You were also given the option to try a master reset and contact Apple for assistance on replacement device. Did you have any other questions for me today?
AT&T CSR: Yes you can save this chat. You will have the option to print the transcript at the end of the chat.
ME: Ok. Cheers. {END}
well, I work internal chat tech support for my company, and pretty much all this guy did was drop in canned responses and a couple of "personal info" to try to appease you, which considering the iPhone 4 coming out, and that when doing this type of chat support, you're on a time limit...so he's pretty much gathered info for the analysts and developers, but unfort. he did no real troubleshooting, bad on him, and also, just to let ya'll know, when you're chatting with a support agent, they're chatting with anywhere from 7-10 other customers at the same time...
a side note on my having this issue, for the last 2 nights, I turned off my phone and when I turned it back on, no changes in my data usage and at ATT site, nothing showing either...I'm thinking something has a leak and is phoning home somewhere.
