Q: The iPhone 5 uses Cellular Data over WiFi?

AlaneaW,

If you can't send pictures with iMessage over AT&T  MMS (instead of AT&T cell-data)... then you have some very weird problem.  You should demo that problem to Apple at one of their stores.

Also, I have had a few situations where my AT&T U-verse wi-fi cut-out for a few hours... normally at night and normally on the weekend.  I use the DataWiz iPhone app to track that issue down.

By the way... I just ran tests with 2 AT&T iPhones and could not get  the sleeping-iPhone problem to occur.

Not many, maybe 2-8 a week.

deggie,

On most AT&T plans SMS and MMS is unlimited.

SMS and MMS does not use your AT&T cell-data allotment.

By the way... I just ran tests with 2 AT&T iPhones and could not get  the sleeping-iPhone problem to occur.

Then it certainly is not iMessage that is causing your data issue. Even if you take the top number and have one picture in each that is 2.4MB at the highest.

Remember that at home if you wish to keep the WiFi connection alive on the iPhone you must connect to power. Leave cell data on and try that for awhile and see what happens. If it does not improve make that Genius Bar appointment.

The iPhone requires cell data in order to send or receive video, pictures, or audio files with the messages app, even if you are not using iMessage, i.e. you are exchanging with someone that doesn't have an iOS device. This is the design of the phone.

WiFi cannot activate you iPhone so if you are at home, the iPhone is not connected to power and has gone into sleep mode if someone sends you an MMS or iMessage it will use cellular data to wake up the iPhone and receive the message. This is normal. Again, if you want to avoid this connect the iPhone to power and it will maintain the WiFi signal. It has nothing to do with your home WiFi cutting out.

On many AT&T plans that is true but for the iPhone it is not. By design the iPhone uses cell data to receive or transmit MMS.

By design portable devices using WiFi drop the WiFi signal when they go to full sleep. If they didn't by the time you woke up in the morning you would have a dead battery which is why Apple made a change with iOS 4 I believe and let the iPhone maintain the connection to WiFi IF the iPhone was connected to power.

This is part of the WiFi spec.

If your iPhones are behaving differently and maintaining the WiFi connection constantly without being connected to power you need to get your iPhones looked at. If they are doing this and not draining the battery you have some super type of battery installed in your iPhone.

And again, it isn't a "problem" it is the design of WiFi.

deggie,

Look at the iPhone-screen-shot below.  The first picture was received over Wi-fi.  The second picture was received over AT&T MMS.  Note the messages below each picture.  The cell phone was sleeping and not attached to a charger.

truerock wrote:

deggie,

Look at the iPhone-screen-shot below.  The first picture was received over AT&T-cell-data.  The second picture was received over AT&T MMS.

No, these pictures were sent, not received.

1st one was iMessage, 2nd was MMS.

The second picture says you sent it as a text message. To do that the phone had to be awake. If it was received as a text message it had to be over cell data as an MMS since it has a picture attached.

You can argue all you want but that is how WiFi works with portable devices.

I will try that as soon as my bill hits the end of this cycle in a few days.

deggie,

I've attached pictures from the sending phone and then the receiving phone then the iPhone iMessage settings screen.

If iMessage is turned on then picture messages are received over AT&T-cell-data and it impacts your monthly data allotment.

If iMessage is turned off then a picture message is received over the AT&T-MMS and it does not impact your AT&T monthly data allotment.

When I sent the test message over MMS the large picture took over 2 minutes to sent and took over 10 minutes to receive.  The test picture over iMessage sending with AT&T cell-data and received over iMessage using Wi-Fi took less than a minute to receive.

The receiving iPhone was sleeping in both cases and did not use AT&T-cell-data... it used Wi-Fi or MMS.

There is NO means on an iPhone to send a picture message (MMS) without using either cell data or WiFi. There is not sending it as an AT&T MMS. If you are not connected to WiFi and turn off cell data you will not be able to message a picture.

deggie,

For the purposes of AT&T billing, you typically buy AT&T-cell-data by the GB.  SMS/MMS is unlimited and has no impact on your AT&T-cell-data usage or billing.  Am I not understanding your point?

Individuals often turn-off iMessage and use MMS to save their AT&T-cell-data allotment.  the iPhone message app supports both protocols.

For the purposes of the iPhone it doesn't matter what your billing shows for MMS it will still use cell data in order to send or receive MMS. There is no way to send or receive them without cell data being turned on. If you purchase a non-smartphone from AT&T what you are stating will be true.

OK... I guess the fine point you are trying to make is that SMS/MMS is a type of cell-data that uses the cell network.

That is true.

But in regard to common parlance... cell-data and SMS/MMS are 2 different things that AT&T keeps track of  and bills for separately.

Individuals are concerned that the iPhone Message app is using their AT&T-cell-data monthly allotment.  That can be turned off in iMessage settings.

And yes, if you go to iPhone settings and turn off Wi-Fi and turn-off "Cell Data" in settings then you can make voice calls, but you have turned off SMS/MMS and you have turned off SMS/MMS.  That is somewhat confusing to most people.

truerock wrote:

 

 

But in regard to common parlance... cell-data and SMS/MMS are 2 different things that AT&T keeps track of  and bills for separately.

Yes.

MMS (not SMS) requires cell data. Both are part of a cell messaging plan, not a data plan.

iMessage requires data and you are charged for data.