Q: Unknown data usage early morning

Um, no Kensei, that is not why this thread is still going and what the issue is. There are lots of us who have had HUNDREDS of MBs of data "sent" from our phones when we weren't actively using the phone. I happened to be roaming internationally when my phone did this about 10 days ago and my phone showed 27MB data used and AT&T notified me a WEEK later by cutting me off saying I had over 400 MB data used at a rate of $5/MB and they are demanding literally THOUSANDS of dollars. "Not being billed"???????

It is NOT simply aggregate billing or data dumping.

Your post is pointless and antagonistic and should be removed.

BulaRae then answer this. Why isnt there other international data or roaming data users such as you are storming in and making the same claims? Or better yet that a buddy of mines goes occasionally overseas with an ATT international data plan without the same mishaps on his iphone? Didnt ATT already point that you should be paying attention to the usage online and not on the iPhone as we already know it does not report the same?

Not making up any excuses. If you think your being billed you have every right to question your billing. However I dont think the billing is coming from those wee hours of unknown data usages by ATT. More likely the usage with your iphone, push or App settings that constantly access data.

Dude, why on earth do you feel it necessary to barge in on a thread that doesn't apply to you and start thrashing around? Go away.

Kensei wrote:
WHY IS THIS THREAD STILL GOING?

As far as I know, this is the biggest issue there is. It affects how much this phone is going to cost me over a year and the difference can be nearly $200, or more if you roaming overseas. You can't use the phone right if you are afraid of going over your data.

I had a blackberry and switched. I expected usage to go up just because the iphone is not hooked up the same way as blackberry. (Mine does use HTML mail and google maps) I used between 12 and 30mb/month with a spike of 40mb going back 6 months.

I used AT&T's online usage estimator and came in way below 200mb.

My first two weeks of the iphone came to over 500mb and it was very, very similar usage. Same email, same google maps. I got billed $30 for that overage and am now paying more for data to stay safe.

Why so much data? Some of it was an email problem, which i fixed, but I still get hit with 3mb,5mb, 19mb and 30mb hits whenever I spend any time away from wifi. I don't have the mysterious data usage at night that others report. At least not often.

THAT is why I am still looking at this thread. This is a lot like the California smart meter fiasco. Denial until the groundswell gets big enough for them to finally figure it out and fix it.

I guess the question might be:

(a) Is there anyone on the 200 MB program that has had these nighttime transfers add up to more than 200 MB?

(b) If there is such a person, were they actually charged money for an additional 200 MB due to the nighttime usage?

The answer to these questions might clear up the whole mess.

Until there is a reliable resolution, I plan to keep my "Unlimited" data plan.

Kensei wrote:
WHY IS THIS THREAD STILL GOING?

Well, since you posted this "bold" question in response to my post, maybe I can work out a response!

We have known for months and there has been press on this issue already. It is evident that ATT runs maintenance and billing updates during these wee hours where most folks arent using their iPhones.

Its already been said that one isnt billed for the data. The only time you should be concern is if your paranoid or think your being billed for the data in which you probably arent.

An interesting perspective that conveniently ignores the posts IN THIS THREAD from users who in fact ARE getting charged for data usage far beyond what they had used previously! You know, those extra fees when you go over your limit? Yeah, those.

Here's more press from Gizmodo themselves also:
http://gizmodo.com/5599621/those-nighttime-iphone-downloads-are-actually-not-dow nloads

Its time to let these types of thread and put up more concerning threads that are actually related to iPhone issues.

That "press from Gizmodo" does nothing more than repeat the party line from AT&T. Period. The "explanation" does little to settle the issue in any way... If, that is, you believe even a small number of the posts in this thread w/regard to overage charges and the warnings that come before them (or in some cases, AFTER).

I think it would be great to have this thread closed, but there are some unresolved questions and people getting charged overage fees who can't understand how this is happening.

Is this thread really taking away from "more concerning threads that are actually related to iPhone issues?" So sorry to inconvenience you... feel free to work on those!

By the way, my most recent data usage (on att.com) shows a 3G usage so far this month shows 130 MB.

The Cellular Network Data on my phone for the month shows that only about 5 MB of that is "Sent" - the rest is "Received".

To me, that indicated that the midnight transfers are downloads - not ATT or Apple sucking information off the phone.

Well, you could get the answer to your questions by actually READING the thread you posted to.

Well, I have had these mysterious data packets early morning and also some at other times. I have not had any mysterious charges over 1.8 mb (yet) but I have had others almost every day.

BTW, I am a new iphone user. I opted out of iads and don't send data to Apple. I haven't downloaded any apps, have only used maps out of wifi a few times and Internet out of wifi a few times.

If this mysterious data was due to apps, I don't have any.

Now, if AT&T is actually pulling and accumulating data at night there should only be 1 data charge a day. Also, even if AT&T pulls data the iphone would know it is sending data. Therefore, it should be shown in the iphone's usage log.

It is ridiculous to state that the iphone usage is incorrect and AT&T is correct. When users know what they used in the past, haven't changed usage patterns, etc. and they are now seeing more mb's showing as used. Something is wrong.

This is like drawing a 5 gallon pail of water every day for 30 days (150 gallons total). You measured each pail. At the end of 30 days you are billed for 500 gallons and told that the company that sold you the water measured it correctly so just pay more.

BTW, when I was looking at getting the iphone I wanted to know which plan to get. I talked to a friend that had unlimited. We looked at his bill (online) and he had mysterious charges early morning every day. I wondered if these would be included in usage since his mysterious charges were over 200 mb a month. He called AT&T while I listened. AT&T told us that these charges were maintenance and would not be part of the new data plan charges. How could AT&T access the iphone, retrieve data and it not show up in the iphone usage log? Maybe it is maintenance and the iphone knows this. In that case, the iphone usage is correct. Now while all of this may be true, someone at AT&T may have been asleep at the switch and didn't flip it so that maintenance data didn't fall into the charge bucket but the maintenance bucket.

Right now, I am not using the iphone to its potential because of what I may have to pay for overages. It defeats the purpose of having the iphone.

AT&T should go back to their unlimited plan for everyone. They could be the premier provider, attract more iphone users and make a better profit on volume. Not causing problems, making bad press, etc.

Oh, and as for the Gizmodo article I bet since they are geeky they were early adopters of the iphone and have unlimited plans. Since it doesn't affect them and they do not actually see that they are being charged for this mysterious data then they just accept AT&T's response.

chbphoto

According to what has been discussed in this thread and what I've noticed on my online bill, all data is billed (labeled) as sent even though some was received by the iphone.

Rick,

I was referring to the data transfer as shown by the iPhone.

The indication is that the vast majority data is being sent to the iPhone every night - not uploaded from it.

Also, the sum of the sent + received data as listed in the iPhone settings dialog is approximately the same as is shown on the att.com site.

All my data shows "sent" on the bill, but the counter on my phone shows about 25% of it received. I don't use it to receive mail and on the usage details in my account the only thing that shows received is texts.

It is my understanding that "sent" is data sent FROM the phone not TO it, i.e., accessing web pages, diagnostics, GPS signal, etc. Data RECEIVED is incoming data such as email, texts and downloads of any kind.

The experience is that ALL of the data transferred shows up on the ATT site as "SENT" regardless of incoming or outgoing.

And technically, accessing web pages involves an up and a down transaction - up goes the URL (which is small data xfer) and down is the entire web page (bigger).

And, GPS signals do not get sent either - they are nothing but received messages from cell towers and satellites.

chbphoto wrote:
Rick,
Also, the sum of the sent + received data as listed in the iPhone settings dialog is approximately the same as is shown on the att.com site.

Well, mine (and according to other posters in this thread) doesn't. AT&T is higher. That was the whole point. The late night (and other times) mysterious data does not show up on the iphone on the usage log. Now if it did, then it would be less mysterious since the iphone log and AT&T would agree. It still wouldn't account for data exchange when the phone wasn't used but both parties would agree on the amount.

Maybe the iphone shouldn't go to sleep when plugged in? It would then stay on wifi when available. Turning cellular data on and off daily isn't really a good option. One should be able to lay the phone down and forget it for the night. Not have to remember to turn cellular off, turn location services off and then put it too bed.

Perhaps there needs to be an app that would turn these services on/off either when activated or better yet - at user specified times. When it turns on then it could wake (not unlock) the iphone so wifi would be activated until it fell asleep again.

BTW, does anyone know if we are charged for data when using the AT&T app? I haven't downloaded it yet but thought I might. It would be easier to check usage since the phone can't seem to do it correctly (according to AT&T).

Phew!

It's been a few days since I've posted, but I've been busy gathering data, and spending time with both ATT and Apple.

First however, I find the recent post that questions the reason for this thread really disturbing. My iPhone is "the" place I store much of my personal information, and I certainly do NOT expect data to be transmitted off my iPhone without my knowledge, period. I want to know where it's going and why.

Second, I have spoken with both ATT and Apple tech support on the phone. The call to ATT ended with me being transferred to Apple tech support. The Apple discussion did not provide an answer, and their suggestion was to call ATT. Dogs and tails came to mind. So I visited my local ATT agent in person. He has an iPhone 4 too, and was surprised to find he has exactly the same issue. He's not to happy either. What we've worked out for now it to move me on the 2G data plan at the 200MB price so I don't pop my limit, and continue to investigate the root cause of this issue. I was lucky to work with a person (Chad) who actually helped.

Next step is to perform a factory restore of my iPhone, load NO APPs, and watch overnight to see if the mystery 2AM data transfers continue. This should help with a question that all the tech support folks have asked. Do you think you've loaded an APP that could be causing this?

Finally, since I've been transferred from ATT tech support to Apple, and from Apple to ATT, I sent an e-mail to the "man" himself at Apple to ask for help. We'll see...

My largest concern is what data is leaving my iPhone, and where is it going.

Dan in VT