'Other Devices' using data even when Personal Hotspot is switched off

iPhone 11 using 17.3.1 - Just noticed this morning I'm at 5.86GB of hotspot usage with no previous connections and HS turned off. (google search led me here) This is a company phone and we are supposed to be under 4GB per month!! This is not good. I turned off data for now - I'm going to install the update and reset network settings.

Has anyone confirmed this is hitting their bill?

Same here, however there is a discrepancy between my iOS reporting 17 GB used by other devices and my mobile provider reporting only 1.5 GB , the latter seems ok to me.

I have used my personal hotspot for my iPad once ever about 3 months ago and only used about 200 MB. Since then I have turned off my hotspot and always check to make sure it is off. Yet somehow I used 15 GB of data on this, with it still off… I never use more than 3GB total of data per month ever. And yet my “personal hotspot” used all of my 15 GB and got me tons of data overchages. Is this from the new update?

Hey,

same issue here, I reset my network settings last month and it was alright after that but this month the same issue has started again. Is there any update from Apple about this?

Hi Adelmo,

I saw your post a month ago and did network reset, seemed it was working and not showing the “other devices” but it came back very next day

Same thing here on my iPhone 15 Pro. These are my statistics since resetting the count last on Feb 1. The strangest thing is- the My Verizon app does not reflect that I ever use nearly this much hotspot data (seeing as 282gb only over 3.5 months would suggest I personally use around 80gb of hotspot alone for “other devices” which literally exceeds the 50GB of hotspot data my plan includes). Very strange, there has to be some bug that is affecting how iOS is reflecting hotspot data use.

Hello,

I think I found a solution. In your settings, go to personal hotspot and turn that off. Then The “other devices” stop with using all off your data. You can also change your password of your personal hotspot.

Also might be the case that apple remember the previous device data and it' add accordingly when we configuring new device. By using same Apple ID or after resetting the phone it will add previous devices data as other devices data.

Had this issue as well. After resetting network settings (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset [Device] > Reset > Reset Network Settings) and after restarting my iPhone I don't have this issue anymore. Remember you have to reenter WiFi passwords etc.

My phone has registered over 300 gigs within a month. Speaking with Apple they say they were going to get back to me a month ago and haven’t heard anything back from them. I don’t believe the phone is wrong. Ever since this started happening, my phone dies quickly. There are days when it gets really hot and it doesn’t matter how long it’s charging it will not charge to full capacity. I have done everything that they said, except for reset all my network settings. But I don’t believe that’s going to help us other people have done it and ended up with the same results shortly after. #DATA and Network plan is different. But how do you explain the phone heating up. Not charging.

Meeee tooooo in 11 days have used 401GB!!!!! Yes, 401GB!!! How is that even possible? What does one have to be doing to use that much data in 11 days? I’m confused by the “other devices” area. If it tells us who some are, why have a “other devices” section? And how do we find out who they are? Have I been hacked??????? I would appreciate any input.

Thank you!

This is also happening to me and when I actually need my hotspot it always says low or no data left on the other device trying to connect. Which is not possible, because like everyone else states mine is never on nor does my phone ever show the symbol for a connected device at the top! Why isn’t Apple fixing this issue, if this many people are having problems?!?

After updating to current software (17.4.1), changing the hotspot password twice, restarting everything, and not owning any other devices (and calling my carrier who said they had no known data reporting error issues) I was advised by tech support to reset my Network Settings.

It’s been an hour and no “other devices” have used any of my data.

TLDR: try “Reset Network Settings”

Well, calling back to Tech Support turned out to be a complete waste of time; if the Network Reset didn’t work there is nothing else they can do for me. I wish the tech I spoke to yesterday had told me that!

I did get the following information though, which is very helpful:

The data usage of the hotspot is not recorded by the device and sent to the carrier, the amount is determined by the carrier and sent to the device.

This would seem to be why the hotspot is able to be used by the “other devices” even while turned off. Because the carrier is saying it’s active when it isn’t, and telling the device that the amount has been used.

I called my carrier and they repeatedly tried to get me to upgrade my plan. I made no progress until I said the following:

“I am poor. I cannot upgrade my plan. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. You don’t offer a 60GB a month plan, so all my data would be gone anyways. I have done everything except a factory reset on my device. The manufacturer is positive the issue is not with my device. I have no other devices. I have reset the password repeatedly. The data is being used while my hotspot is turned off. This is a physical impossibility.” 

They agreed I was correct that this wasn’t possible. They said they saw no error on their end, but would reset the network connection to my device.

I was instructed to power off the device and remove the SIM card, then wait 15 minutes for them to troubleshoot and reset my connection.

It has been an hour and a half, and so far no “other devices” have started pulling data. If that changes, I’ll be back to post again. If there is nothing further, then it worked!

Here’s some relevant info, in case it’s useful:

Device: iPhone 12 mini

Network: Mint Mobile (recently purchased by T-Mobile)

Plan Level: Cheapest available (5GB per month)

TLDR: The carrier is telling the phone you're using hotspot (even while off). Call your carrier and make them reset your Network Connection from their end.

Exact same issue. I quite literally just reset my data usage 30 minutes ago and it’s been off since but when I opened settings to turn it on I saw that my personal hotspot had used 641MB. Yes that is in within 30 minutes. Without even being turned on.. How does this even happen???