Q: Unknown data usage early morning

kaluzu wrote:
just saw an article, where in China, on some web site, HACKED iTunes user ids are sold, yes, you heard that right, sold to the highest bidder. which in turn uses these to buy whatever his heart wishes...

FWIW, I originally wondered re iTunes, or I should say iphone App Store: 3 card #'s hijacked, we'll call them Cards A-B-C:
--Card A was in App Store acct 14 months, no problem, until 9/2010.
--So deleted Card A & added Card C to App Store acct.
--Card C was then hijacked in 11/2010.

Card B was hijacked in between A & C yet Card B was never added to App Store, so I figured the problem could not have been the App Store.

It was shortly after Card C was compromised that I remembered ALL of them (& a few others) were in Contacts (but not anymore!)

The banks caught all suspicious charges up front, so none went through. Charges to Cards A & B were very small, $10-$50, but Card C the crooks tried to charge $1,500 at Walmart & $500 at some health foods type site.

thank you

The Security/Privacy complaints are connected to this thread IF they consume bandwidth and IF that bandwidth is charged against the customer's account.

IF you want to elaborate further outside this forum, then please contact nemo dot omen at rock dot com

BackPacker57 wrote:

*iPhone: Mystery Data Usage & FCC Complaints*
http://www.nojitter.com/blog/229000394

Good summary article, btw. Thanks. Loved this revealing quote by J o b s:

*...apps "that want to take a lot of your personal data and suck it up."*

Lawrence Finch wrote:

...Anyone who stores credit card numbers in plain text is likely doing other risky things.

That is a huge a s s - u - m e (assumption) on your part.

Who knew from Day One that iphones were not safe? Not me, until fairly recently (not including the years-long a t t and n s a accusations on p b s and l a w s u i t s re that).

Edited to correct g o v t agency.

BackPacker57 wrote:
thank you

You're welcome.

The Security/Privacy complaints are connected to this thread IF they consume bandwidth and IF that bandwidth is charged against the customer's account.

Ha. That's one way to look at it, lol.

IF you want to elaborate further outside this forum, then please contact nemo dot omen at rock dot com

OK, will do.

I have had the same issue for several months. Data usage charges anywhere between 12 AM and 6 AM. usually around 12:45 AM. Can’t figure out what it is. There is no Apps to specifically tell you “WHAT” data or “WHO” consummed it. I also called AT&T and to no avail. I asked them to provide information on what type of data was being downloaded. They are unable to do so and forbidden by law. Privacy issues, of course a court order could accomplished that, but who wants to go that route.

In any case, I have been monitoring my data iPhone. Turned off 3G and Cellular Data so that my MB’s are not getting used without my consent. It turns out that when I do this, Data is not being used and I am ok. Very inconvenient though. Why should I do this when I am at home over my cable WIFI ?

Here’s what I have noticed thus far. Try this experiment. Now, I do not know if it is an AT&T or an APPLE issue.

Here it is.

Turn on your 3G and Cellular Data. Close all applications running or leave them opened.
Push the button on the upper Right, places the phone on sleep mode.
Give it about 1-2 Minutes.

Now, very important, before you click on the home button to turn back on. YOU MUST FOCUS ON THE UPPER LEFT OF THE SCREEN…Where the AT&T bars and Where 3G or WIFI Appears.

When you click on that home button, in a blink of an eye, your phone which was on WIFI when you put on Sleep mode all of a sudden will show the 3G and quickly convert back to WIFI.

What does this say? I am not a tech guy, but my gut feeling would tell me that there is a software conflict when the phone goes to sleep and the recognition of what service you are getting. It seems to cancel out WIFI and thus 3G/E prevails.

Now, that still does not answer why and who is comsumming data between the hours of 12:45 AM and 6AM, but it is a start.

Remember recently, there was an update to the formula used to determine signal strenght. These issue could be correlated.

Let me know what you find.

Bunziworld123 wrote:
Turn on your 3G and Cellular Data. Close all applications running or leave them opened.
Push the button on the upper Right, places the phone on sleep mode.
Give it about 1-2 Minutes.

Now, very important, before you click on the home button to turn back on. YOU MUST FOCUS ON THE UPPER LEFT OF THE SCREEN…Where the AT&T bars and Where 3G or WIFI Appears.

When you click on that home button, in a blink of an eye, your phone which was on WIFI when you put on Sleep mode all of a sudden will show the 3G and quickly convert back to WIFI.

What does this say? I am not a tech guy, but my gut feeling would tell me that there is a software conflict when the phone goes to sleep and the recognition of what service you are getting. It seems to cancel out WIFI and thus 3G/E prevails.

What it tells you, which you would know if you read the thread you posted to (I know it is a real challenge though, given its length) is that when the phone is asleep WiFi is turned off to preserve battery life. Unlike 3G, which passively listens when the phone is idle, WiFi must constantly communicate with the router to maintain a connection. Thus, when the phone is asleep ALL communication goes over 3G. The exception is if wireless data is turned off. Then WiFi will remain on, but it WILL drain the battery faster.

The other thing to learn from the thread is that the timestamp on your bill is NOT the time the data transfer occurred, it is the time the session was closed and reported to the billing system. Which is why it is at about the same time every night.

Thank you for coming back. Much appreciated. Yes very long thread. So what is it. What is consuming the data? why can't apple built an app that tells the user which app or feature is being updated overnight? Given the talented individuals that work there, someone has to know who or what it is that is being accessed? The USer should then have the option to either remove or turn-off all communication with the app.

Also, on a shared family plan...why doesn't ATT allow for roll over unused Data as with the minutes? I have three other people on my plan, they rarely use any data, yet I paid for all the plan data. Is that data my data if I paid for it and was nto used?

Thanks

Frank R

Here's a good one.. Yesterday, I was home from work because of a snowstorm. Home all day. Phone was connected to my computer via USB to keep charging in case of a power failure, I'd have it fully charged. Phone was on WIFI (yes I know its on 3G while sleeping).

I did not use my phone at all yesterday. NADA. No phone calls in or out. I didnt even so much as turn wake it from sleep. I unplugged from the computer after lunch and promptly reconnected the USB so it would do another charge cycle. I've got a 27 inch monitor and was in my sweats all day long right smack in front of the computer.

I have location services turned off
I have notifications turned off
I have deleted all of my contacts (after reading this thread).
I have removed all Google apps (after reading this thread).
I no longer use push email...

I've basically crippled my once very useful iPhone. Its honestly no longer fun to use because of this.

However, the question is: how did I consumer 522KB of data yesterday?
*01/11 05:08 PM Internet/MEdia Net Sent 522KB*

And WHY is it only "sent"? Doesnt my phone RECEIVE data too? I was eating dinner in front of my television at 5pm watching the news about the weather event around here and such. So, can someone tell me WHAT, WHOM, WHY, HOW used my iPhone and WHERE did that data go? Please dont say that the phone was reconciling the billing system online because even if it was, I A) didnt use the phone call day, B) that "reconciling the billing system L-I-E is regarding data usage late at night, and C) 522K to reconcile that I didnt use the phone? 1K, I could see but 522K? Wrong.

This is no longer a thread about 'phantom data usage'. This is serious stuff. W T F is going on???? On the 9th I see something about wap.cingular having been accessed. WHAT is that?
*01/09 08:32 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 1KB*

Again, I was watching a movie at 8:32PM on 01/09/11 while my phone was sitting right next to me.

I think I know whom to contact in order to get answers and it isnt AT^T because I already asked them and they havent a clue as to what I am talking about. The fact is, they DO have a clue. Its probably posted right in front of these customer service reps in India - "regarding calls asking about mysterious nightly data usage - say you dont know anything about that and tell the customer that they are the only one who is experiencing it but maybe go to the Apple store to get the phone looked at".

That'll keep us customers running in circles for a bit longer. Yea.

Something is seriously out of whack here. Phone is idle and consumes data.

I can't remember who asked for this and I'm not keen on re-reading the entire thread again for a third time-- but http://www.classactionlitigation.com/consumerinfo.html someone asked for the link, thought maybe it was you?

Does your WiFi re-enable itself?

Anyone else--- does your iPhone WiFi re-enable itself after turning it OFF?

This could be many reasons Anthony
1. Every device that is capable of networking randomly sends out a broadcast once in a while. The broadcast is basically "HELLO IS ANYONE THERE? AM I STILL CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET?". Then the service provider (this case, AT&T's tower) would respond with "YES I CAN HEAR YOU". but since the usage only show send I suspect its the phone sending crash data to Apple. You can disable this by plugging your phone in iTunes, right click on your phone, click on 'Clear Warnings'. The next time you plug your phone click on 'No' for you dont want to send crash data to Apple.
2. Like the post above you (and hundred of posts in this thread) mentioned, data is only recorded to the biller once the session is closed. So when you see 5:00 PM that doesnt mean the data was used at 5:00PM

"Every device that is capable of networking randomly sends out a broadcast once in a while"

Sure, I know that.. But 522K of "hello are you there" messages? I dont know. I can see 1K in collective data being sent "up" but 522K? I dont buy it. That is a lot of data for a phone that was asleep all day long. Extrapolate that out 30 days and I am looking at ~16MB of "sent" data to the mother ship coming right off the top of my 200MB allotment? Why?

If they cant figure out a better way of figuring billing, then why do the customers have to suffer? And go over? And pay ANOTHER $15 each time it goes over. And, 16MB is assuming a sleeping phone all day. What if I actually use it? I am seriously afraid to use my phone for data after reading this thread. Maybe this is by design?

I am serious, there was NO phone usage that day. I simply did not pick it up other than to move it near me in case a call came in when I sat to watch a movie around 8pm. So maybe the wap.cingular was some EDGE connection during the time it was in sleep mode and wanted to cry out to a tower because it was lonely. I get that but not 522K worth.

I do have crash data turned off. I read and followed the instructions to turn all that off, among everything else that has essentially rendered me with a crappy experience now.

So its still a mystery as to the quantity of data being schlepped up to wherever. I'll tell you this, its not past me to get paranoid about this being a data collection exercise and not a billing reconciliation exercise.

And, another question remains - why only "sent" data? Where is the "received" data? Why is data only being "sent"? You know, if it looks like a snake...............

Are they listening to our calls too???

Anthony can you try that experiment again? Try to close all background apps this time. Im sure you already know this but just in case. In iOS4, double click on the 'Home' button and it will show you all the apps thats currently running in the background. Disable any app that could connect to the internet such as Pandora or Safari browser. Depending on which page you loaded last, the ads on it keep refreshing and that might be causing it too. This website might explain it better than me.
http://www.mwd.com/2010/06/iphone-ios4-how-to-use/

Have you tried the "Clear Warnings" method I mentioned from the previous post?

AT&T is only a service provider just like Comcast or Cox. They are only concern with traffic coming through their network. Unexplained traffic (specially coming from the phone) should be something the programmers handle.

Message was edited by: VinUnleaded

Yes, I have cleared warnings. First thing I did last week when I became "aware".

I swear, I feel like Neo when I became aware of the Matrix. I am sure most people seeing this also feel that way. Something ELSE is happening here under our noses.

To answer the rest of your post, I cant double-tap the home key as it goes to my phone favorites. I am running a 2+ year old 3G so I dont think it does multi-tasking. It doesnt do what you said it should (nor the article you sent said).

I have all Safari instances shut down. I dont even really use Safari anyway - and this is why it bothers me so much to have used 100MB so far this cycle and I am just about 1/2 way through. Prior to switching to 200MB, I never came close to 200MB. So we'll see.

I dont know what to tell ya except good luck in your quest. Try not using the phone for more than a day if you are really that determined to find the truth. Is your data plan the one with Visual voicemail or without?