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Q: Unknown data usage early morning
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Mar 5, 2011 9:47 AMby olymatsu,Just experienced this too. My wife and I are usually connected to wifi and have never used over 180MB in our 18 month iphone career, so we use 200MB data plan. Her phone just had an overage, we are not at 300MB halfway through our billing cycle.
Reviewing our bill I see two very large data items
163,920KB on 2/22 at 3:07 PM
106,233KB on 3/04 at 2:53 pm
Take this 269 MB out of our bill and our usage appears normal.
Coincidentally I know exactly what we were doing at these times. On 3/4 we were waiting to pick up kids at school and she did a quick work webmail check. on 2/22 we had just landed at the airport, powered up phone after 3 hour flight, did a quick google for our parking garage phone number. There have been times when we've let our kids stream youtube over 3g, and we see some 5-10 MB items around these times, but these two 163 and 106 MB items are both at times when we know then phone had not been streaming media for quite some time (and once directly after powering on so the end of connection theory doesn't work here).
I called ATT, they gave me a $15 credit for the overage, but could not help tell me why this was happening or give me any clues as how to troubleshoot other than to turn off data when I know I'm not actively using it. I'm going to install netstat and keep a close eye on data usage, but I'm really disappointed that ATT can't itemize these large data items. -
Mar 5, 2011 10:10 AMby Hutchy68,Update:
I installed DataMan on my wife's phone to track the usage over the past few days. Also, she is keeping a journal of when she uses the phone and for what.
I am seeing .4KB about once an hour on 3G.
What really concerned me was the 1.2MB on 3G that showed up on the phone yesterday at 2:30PM. This was the only time she used the phone since we started tracking her useage.
What was she doing to cause 1.2MB, she was using the built in calculator. That's it, nothing else, and I asked her first, did you use the phone today? Yes. I asked about 2:30PM at school? Yes, I used the calculator for about 5 mins.
Now, the only thing that we changed on her phone, which was when all these excessive data uses started showing up:
1. Upgraded her OS to 4.2 (.1? Whatever the last was mid Feb.)
2. Installed Apple's new Free, Find my iPhone.
I have now turned off Find my iPhone. Also, she has no Social Apps installed and never has. Email is on Manual.
So....AT&T and Apple, we all need to know--
WHAT IS GOING ON???
I have waited for the iPad 2 to come out. Planned on buying one, but not now. I refuse to feed the hardware frenzy any longer. Apple needs to start concentrating on getting their OS's debugged and working right, too many updates. iTunes or iPhones, followed by another fix shortly after release because something was missed. I have seen it time and time again with their software over the past few years. Now there is a bug in the iTouch and iTunes transfer of music. Need to slow down the hardware releases and start working on the software more. The hardware is useless without good software.
I will report on the phone's data useage with Find my iPhone off for a few days.
Tom -
Mar 5, 2011 11:07 AMby Al Thorp,Tom,
The hourly data access sounds to me like the mail program checking whether there is new messages every hour. Is it possible that your mail program is set to "fetch" new messages once per hour?
Check Settings>Mail>Fetch>Hourly and see if it is checked. If it is, switch it to manual and see how that changes things.
0.4KB is a very small amount of data. Even 1.2 MB is small compared to many of the posts hereing. But, if mail was on, that could be 1.2 MB of email that you downloaded.
Al -
Mar 5, 2011 11:26 AMby Hutchy68,You would think. Her email is set up check manually. I have checked and double checked it. It is a Gmail account with 5 emails in the inbox and that is it. She has a work email on Exchange that is not available for mobile setup for security reasons.
You have to understand, she is anti-cell phone. The only reason she uses it is like a iPod for music.
What I am concerned about is the 38MB at 3 am or the 18MB at 10am. The majority of large uses occured between 12 am and 3 am, when we are asleep over the past few weeks. Or when she is at school, with "NO SERVICE" showing on her phone!!Her classroom is in the dead center of a large school building. NO one and I mean NO one has cell service in that building. I have witnessed this myself on my iPhone. As I walk into the building the bars start dropping off, but the time I'm 50 ft in, NO SERVICE.
So, I need someone to explain to me why she has data charges at periods of NO SERVICE.
I am starting to think it is AT&T, starting the counter at the open of a data stream and not picking up on the break in the stream when it occurs, continually counting from the open to the actual closing of the stream when a signal is re-established to close the stream. That's a software issue on AT&T's part.
Someone else posted that too.
Tom -
Mar 5, 2011 11:40 AMby Al Thorp,Hmmm.
You mentioned that the majority of large data events are not while your wife is at school, but I presume while you are home. Do you have a Wifi network at home? Are you under the assumption that any required data transfer while you are at home would be accomplished using the Wifi network as opposed to the cel network?
I assume that you have Settings>General>Network>Cellular Data set to ON. You could, of course, turn this OFF, and turn it on only when you need it. But, of course, why would you pay a premium for such a limited service?
I think its been posted several times earlier that the iPhone turns off the wifi connection to save battery, and therefore might use cel network instead.
I also have a theory that when you see "NO SERVICE" on your phone, that's an INDICATOR of "no service" but not necessary actually no service. In the same way that when wifi indicates a connection has been made with a checkmark, the connection may not actually be working, and the phone thus relying upon the cel network instead of the wifi connection. -
Mar 5, 2011 12:57 PMby JES42,If you folks will read over my entries on pages 74 and 82, you will see where the two guys I mentioned got my problem solved. The AT&T work order I mentioned was given to NETWORK ENGINEERING for resolution and whatever it was was corrected for me and the wife. If it was indeed a billing glitch in the recently upgraded server software dealing with billing, then the glitch was fixed on my account but not globally applied. As you can see from my earlier entry on page 74 as well as on the link to another Apple form on the same subject I provided on page 82, something seems to be amiss in billing. Call AT&T, ask to talk to a supervisor in Network Engineering and explain the problem. You will find my phone numbers in the page 82 entry, give them to them and tell them to start researching them right around the end of September, 2010. I can't narrow it down anymore than that but if I were still having the problem, I'd be on the phone with them in a heartbeat. -
Mar 5, 2011 2:29 PMby Hutchy68,Yes I know when the iPhone goes to sleep, it switches off Wi-Fi.
No, these huge data chunks occurred at home, 12 am to 3 am and also in the mornings, all about 10AM to 12PM. A few between 1:30PM and 3:00PM. These are huge too, 10MB +, 16MB, there was a 22MB a 38MB a 12MB, large transfers.
You have to understand what I am saying. Got her phone first week of August 2010. The total Cellular Useage was never reset. She actually used it more the first few months, new toy, then her use fell off. The total Cellular Useage as recorded on the phone is 554 MB download, about 70MB upload. Total 624MB over the period of 7 months. Of that 624MB, 135MB occurred in these shadow times in the past two weeks.
Throw out the 135MB and minus 2 weeks, 489MB/29 Weeks = 17MB a week on avg or less than 70MB a month
Thanks, I will ask for a Network Supervisor. Just a hassle to have to deal with this. Now her phone is reporting incorrect voicemail password too. I knew I shouldn't have upgraded the OS and left well enough alone. I read all the reports when 4.2 was released and what it did to all the 3G and 3GS phones.
Thanks
Tom -
Mar 5, 2011 5:13 PMby Al Thorp,Couple of questions.
Since AT&T can't provide the end user with details on data usage, I wonder how other service providers compare in this respect. Can Verizon do it? Can TMobile do it? Is there any other provider that does a better job in this respect?
Also, on a different note, is data usage influenced by whether Settings>Notifications is ON or OFF? -
Mar 12, 2011 12:42 PMby JES42,Here we go again!! Having fought this battle back at the end of September and got it resolved, it seems to have reared its ugly head again but only on the wife's phone. Checking her data usage I found her already at 12mb on the 10th and our billing period just started the day before. Found a 7mb "phantom" in mid-afternoon on the 10th and a 3.9mb "phantom" at 12:50AM the next morning. Since it was only late yesterday that I discovered it, I am going to wait until Monday to call AT&T and see what is up. My advantage over the rest of you with a similar problem is that I've been through it, had a work order generated and sent to Network Engineering, and had the problem fixed. I'll start with that and work it from there. This time I will make copious notes and keep updating this as we go along. -
Mar 13, 2011 5:42 AMby reading maven,Please keep us posted on your experience. We are all still listening. I am still living on unlimited data plan, but really wanted to change my plan, however until this gets solved I am sure I won't. Still considering reverting to an "oldy" type phone now that I have my ipad for most data use. Can anyone tell me how I could set up my iphone and not worry about data with a minimal cost plan? My contract is about up and the cost even with unlimited data is a lot for two retirees on two iphones. I have basically paid for my ipad with what it would cost for the data I get over my wifi. Phone should be doing the same but its not. -
Mar 13, 2011 6:19 AMby pinzimonio,hello
i updated my iphone 4 to 4.3 and i noticed a big unknown data usage too.
i have an iphone 4 still with 4.1 so i compared the two.
The 4.1 , if i reset statistics, does not generate data traffic, 4.3 does.
i have notifications off, same apps on both, manual downloads for emails, restrictions for ping , facetime and gamecenter (on 4.3 ).
If i switch off cellular data , every time i open the SMS app, i get an annoing popup warning me they are off.
i am begging for a solution.... -
Mar 13, 2011 8:01 AMby Lawrence Finch,This is one that I wrote yesterday:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13209603#13209603 -
Mar 13, 2011 9:44 PMby Karl R.,I am having a similar problem on my wife's iPhone 3GS. She is on a 200MB plan that she typically stays under and in the last 3 days she has accumulated over 400MB in data usage without any changes in usage patters or new applications or OS.
I have received two $15 overage charge notices within one hour and in a panic I upgraded to the 2GB plan and have switched off all cellular data. Customer support was obviously useless telling me that the data is correct and suggesting I should go to an AT&T store for a "technician" to look at the problem.
Do you have any suggestions on how I resolve the issue and get a credit on the overage fees? Below is the usage history where you can see a few massive data entries of more than 100MB at once
DATE TIME TO/FROM TYPE DIRECTION MSG/KB/MIN
03/13 04:12 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 8KB
03/13 03:36 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 18KB
03/13 01:44 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 37KB
03/13 01:04 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 42KB
03/13 10:03 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 128169KB
03/13 07:55 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 54809KB
03/12 09:33 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 106KB
03/12 07:33 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 42KB
03/12 06:41 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 47KB
03/12 05:09 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 166KB
03/12 05:00 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9KB
03/12 02:14 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 662KB
03/11 09:22 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 202439KB
03/11 12:03 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 176969KB
03/11 12:02 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 349KB
03/11 11:33 AM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 19KB
