My iPhone5 uses LTE (AT&T) even when connected to wifi

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My iPhone5 uses LTE (AT&T) even when connected to wifi

My iPhone5 uses cellular data when LTE is on, even if it's connected to wifi. If I turn off LTE, then it will connect to the wifi network. This has caused me to go over my data plan, since I don't have unlimited data, thinking I was on wifi, when in reality i was using my celular data plan. I have called AT&T and they claim they have not heard about this before, and to call Apple. I called Apple and they also tell me that they have no record of such issue. I have 2 iphone5 on my AT&T account and they both exhibit the same issues. Has anyone found a solution for this? It's very annoying to have to turn LTE off when I get home and on my home wifi.

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Aug 17, 2013 5:24 PM

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Answer 1

AAN2

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Aug 17, 2013 5:29 PM in response to absancen

Did some research, it seems that the iPhone may select the fastest internet connection. What I recommend is turning LTE off when you are wanting to use your Wi-Fi.

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Answer 2

absancen Author

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Aug 17, 2013 5:50 PM in response to AAN2

Thanks for your reply. That's what I have been doing since I got the iPhone5, but it's more of a work around. I'm looking for Apple or AT&T to acknowledge and find a permanent solution. I think they should be able to give wifi priority over cellular data (LTE or otherwise) to avoid data overages. AT&T suggested turning cellular data completely when at home, which I think is an unacceptable answer. Apple didn't even aknowledged the issue existed.

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Answer 3

Aug 17, 2013 5:57 PM in response to absancen

WiFi is turned off when the phone is asleep (by design, to save the battery), so even if you are in a WiFi zone if there are background processes running such as Exchange or iCloud email, Facebook updates, news apps, etc they will use cellular data rather than WiFi when the phone is asleep.

Unless the phone is connected to a power source.

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Answer 4

AAN2

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Aug 17, 2013 5:59 PM in response to absancen

Well, from what I have found it seems that the phone is designed to connect to the fastest connection to prevent errors while downloading/uploading data. If it's designed that way, then it's not really an error.

If your LTE is faster than your home wifi, then you may need to contact your Internet Service Provider to see why. Because Cellular Data shouldn't be faster than wifi.

Have you tried it on a different network? Like a coffee shop or a friend's wifi?

Also, to get some numbers to tell your ISP try speedtest.net. It will tell you how fast your internet is.

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Answer 5

absancen Author

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Aug 19, 2013 5:47 PM in response to AAN2

These are the speeds I'm getting: 27.52Mbps on LTE, and 11.32Mbps on wifi, so cellular data IS faster then wifi. I like the faster speeds, but I don't have unlimited, so if I stream videos on Netflix, the iphone will use LTE. If Apple or AT&T would have told us this before, we would have saved hundreds of dollars on overages, but then again, we're talking about AT&t and Apple!

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Answer 6

Aug 19, 2013 5:50 PM in response to absancen

Or, you disable cellular data under Settings > General > Cellular when you want to control when your device connects to your cellular data. And you learn what the icons at the top of your device mean as well. That's how you tell if you're on Wi-Fi or LTE.

In other words, with respect... you read the manual.

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Answer 7

absancen Author

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Aug 19, 2013 6:13 PM in response to TJBUSMC1973

With respect: You're missing the point: the icon shows wifi connection, while using LTE. I have done tests and I know how to check the cellular data usage, how to reset it, how to turn on wifi, and LTE. No manual is going to help me on this one.

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Answer 8

Aug 19, 2013 6:18 PM in response to absancen

Other than the part about turning off your cellular data? Would that part of the manual help?

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Answer 9

absancen Author

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Aug 19, 2013 6:28 PM in response to absancen

Thank you everyone for your advise and suggestions... TJBUSMC1973 i could do without your sacastic remarks. We come here to get help with issues, not to be insulted.

Thanks again.

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Answer 10

Aug 19, 2013 6:35 PM in response to absancen

Dude, just being direct. If you didn't bother to read the manual:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iphone_user_guide.pdf

Page 135

Turn Cellular Data on or off: Go to Settings > General > Cellular. The following options may also be available:

Then I don't know what to tell you. If you knew you were on a limited data plan, then it's just common sense to be educated on how to manage the plan and control data usage. Glad you finally figured it out, though!

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Answer 11

Aug 20, 2013 6:02 AM in response to absancen

absancen wrote:

With respect: You're missing the point: the icon shows wifi connection, while using LTE. I have done tests and I know how to check the cellular data usage, how to reset it, how to turn on wifi, and LTE. No manual is going to help me on this one.

NO, the iPhone uses WiFi when showing the WiFi connection icon. It is not using LTE if the WiFi icon is displayed. However, if the phone goes to sleep it will turn WiFi off, and will then default to LTE. But you won't see it, because the screen is off. When you wake the phone again the WiFi icon will again appear, and it will use WiFi instead of LTE.

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