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Level 1

10 points

Why do I have mysterious cellular data usage (Verizon) every 6 hours on all 3 of my iphone 5's?

I have recently uncovered mysterious cellular usage on three different iPhones. I am a Verizon customer and discovered this by examining the cellular data use logs. What I found are a long series of mysterious data usage logs. I have visited the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store 3 times now to log notes and discuss the issue. It is being escalated.

The characterstics are as follows:

All my family phones have the appropriate IOS and hardware updates (verified by the GeniusBar at my local Apple Store).
This is occuring across three phones, which happen to all be iphone 5. Two are 5 and the other a new 5s. We do have one iphone 4 in the family but the issue (so far as I can tell), is not happening on it.
One iphone 5 has IOS 7, the other IOS 6. The new 5s has of course IOS 7.
Mysterious data use happens even while connected to wifi.
Each mysterious data use log entry is exactly 6 hours apart. For example: 2:18 AM, 8:18 AM, 2:18 PM, 8:18 PM, 2:18 AM ... etc. It cycles AM and PM, same times, for a day to many days until some condition causes it to change (evolve).
The times evolve. One day it could be cycling through at one time series, then it changes to another time sequence and continues until the next condition.
The data usage is anywhere from a few K to many MB. The largest I've seen is over 100 MB.
The logs clearly show these usages are not due to human interaction. It is a program.
If cellular connection is used frequently (by the owner), the pattern is hard to pick out. Luckily, my family member is very good about only using wifi whenever possible, so these mysterious use patterns are easy to pick out.
Verizon allows access to 90 days worth of data logs, so I downloaded and analyzed them. This has been happening for at least 90 days. I have found 298 instances of mysterious use out of 500 total connections to cellular. A total of 3.5 GB of mysterious cellular data has been recorded as used in that 90 days by this phone alone. Only .6 GB of the total cellular data use is legitimate, meaning by the person.
This issue is occuring across three different phones. Two are iPhone 5, and the third is a recently purchased iPhone 5s. The 5s I have not touched beyone the basic startup. I have left it alone on a desk for 3 days, and looking at the logs, the mysterious data use in the same pattern is occuring.

So ... I am speaking to both sides, Verizon and Apple to get answers. Verizon puts their wall up at data usage. It doesn't matter how it is being used, you simply need to pay for it. Yes, the evidence I have gathered is getting closer to someting on Verizon's end.

Before pressing in that direction, I am hoping someone reading this may recognize this issue as a possible iPhone 5 issue ... OR ... you, right now, go look at your data usage logs available through your carrier's web account, and see if you can pick out a pattern of mysterious use. Look especially at the early morning instances when you are most likely sleeping.

I am hoping this is a simple issue that has a quick resolution. I'm looking for the "ooohhh, I see that now ..." But I am starting to think this might be much bigger, but the fact is, most customers rarely or never look at their data usage details, much less discover mysterious use patterns.

The final interesting (maybe frightening part) thing about all this is that I discovered while talking to Verizon ... they do not divulge which direction the data is going. This goes for any use, mysterious or legitimate. Is cellular data coming to your phone, or leaving it? Is something pulling data from your phone? We know that it is possible to build malware apps, but the catch with my issue is that it is also happening on a brand new iphone 5s with nothing downloaded to it.

Thanks for your time

iPhone 5, iphone 5 and 5c, both ios 6 and 7

Posted on Oct 28, 2013 10:20 AM

Best reply

Lawrence Finch

Level 10

204,998 points

Posted on Jan 23, 2014 10:59 AM

mtamaki wrote:

Other questions from a while back in the disucssion -

Which way is the data going, push or pull?

Why does it use cellular data only and not wifi when it is within a strong wifi network? The 6 hour increment of data use does stop when you turn off cellular data.

What on the iPhone, even it were service oriented, requires that much data? Ideas may include documents, email, pictures, video, application data, facetime video and sound ... etc

1. No way to know which way it is going, unless you have an app such as Onavo. However, Settings/Cellular shows cumulatively how much data was sent and how much was received.

2. Being within a WiFi field is not sufficient. WiFi goes off 30 seconds after the screen goes off to save battery, so any data transfer when the screen is off will go over cellular. WiFi, unlike cellular, uses power continuously, whether transferring data or not. This is not an iPhone characteristic; it is the nature of the WiFi standard. But it means that if WiFi stayed on all the time the battery would run down very fast. The exception is when the phone is connected to power. Then WiFi stays on.

3. Settings/Cellular will show you how much data each app uses, but not what the app is using it for. You can turn off individual apps to prevent them from using cellular data. If you take frequent screen shots of that page you can sort of graph your data usage for each app over time.

Regarding the 6 hours, it's more complicated than I implied. (I've worked on telecom billing systems). Whenever you leave one area covered by a Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) that switch sends a single record to the billing system showing all of the data you used while connected to the switch. These occur at random times. (An MTSO can support many towers, so it is a larger scale than simply a tower). The systems I worked on also had a "close" function at the end of the day that sent a single billing record from the MTSO you are connected to at the close time, which is roughly midnight PST for AT&T. This is so if you stay home for several days you get a summary record each day rather that one after multiple days. Many other carriers around the world use the same billing system.

Verizon uses a different billing system. I'm guessing here, because I never worked on Verizon's system, but since the 6 hour interval is so consistent I suspect that Verizon's MTSOs send the summary record from the MTSO you have been connected to every 6 hours rather than every 24 hours. The reason you see other usage in between is due to the fact that as you travel when you leave the coverage area of an MTSO a summary is generated also. And sometimes you can even switch MTSOs without moving; for example, if your local switch is overloaded you might be transferred to another nearby switch. This is especially common in large cities, where a switch may cover only a few blocks, as opposed to a rural network when the switches can be 15 miles apart.

On a historical note, when AT&T and Apple released the first iPhone a billing record was generated for every data transfer. This resulted in users getting bills of 300 or more pages, listing every transfer. Also, since the record only reported in kilobyte chunks, a 100 byte transfer would be reported as 1 KB. As data was unlimited for the first iPhone this usage inflation on the bill was not a problem for the customer, but it did make people wonder where all that information was going.

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97 replies

mtamaki Author

Level 1

10 points

May 15, 2014 5:59 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

I like Apple products just as much as any enthusiast. What I don't like is when someone or something is taking advantage of me or anyone else.

Not many will spend the time to scrutinize their data usage history. When I spoke to the Genius bar many months ago, not one agent had ever done that. I asked if they could, and when I returned a week later, they confirmed that they in fact saw this 6 hour increment of data use. I was told I was going to get a call from an Apple tech. No such call ever happened.

It is only when you look for it will you realize what is happening.

If this 6 hour interval is a data billing cycle, which is very understandable, I would think it would be routine then and on a set schedule, and iPhone users would be told this by the seller when making the purchase of their phone. For example - "Please note that your phone will use cellular data, even if on a wifi network, every 6 hours (on a random and periodic rotation) for the purposes of sending and receiving miscellaneous data. Please note that this data usage may exceed the legitimate use of your cellular data plan."

Also remember that this 6 hour interval of data use is interspersed between all the other "legitimate" use of data. If one uses cellular data frequently, then it is much more difficult to pick out the pattern. Myself and my family are conditioned to limit the use of cellular data and we are fairly good at it. Therefore, these 6 hour intervals are much easier to pick out in our data use reports.

deggie

Level 10

167,237 points

May 15, 2014 6:03 PM in response to mtamaki

I'm not using Verizon and I don't get the billing cycle you are seeing. That issue is with Verizon and why would Apple be the one required to give you this information?

mtamaki Author

Level 1

10 points

May 15, 2014 7:04 PM in response to deggie

No one is required to give anything. That's the beauty of it. This is a long, protracted, circular discussion with no real solutions given. I just asked a simple question and the issue turned out to be pretty big. There are many other discussion strings on just about the same topic. Most mention lots of cellular data being used suddenly, even when on wifi, after the purchase of iPhone 5. I only asked the question because I saw the problem and throught I would throw it on the table. Apparently many others are experiencing the same. I also happen to pay the bills like most and am careful what I pay for.

IF it is the cell carrier, again, another big issue. Keeping customers is big business.

I have asked Apple as well as Verizon, now almost 8 months ago when I first discovered this. Both companies point fingers at each other. Verizon did a data analysis for me and it was inconclusive, and they pointed to apps and functions on the phone, just like everyone else. I've all but given up until I periodically see someone new has given some helpful input, and provides a spark of hope.

Below is a sample from one of my phone's data use history logs. This one is on wifi for most of the day so the intervals are clearly visible. The last number is MB. You can see the most recent 6 hour interval is 12:40-6:40. Before it was 2:35-8:35, in case any of this helps clarify. I'm not sure how other cell carriers report data use, or report it like this.

If this is a Verizon issue, wouldn't a major company like that soon find out about this issue and correct it? Why hold back? It's be a year and a half since the iPhone 5 was introduced and the problem surfaced.

05/15/2014	12:40 PM	0.05
05/15/2014	6:40 AM	7.75
05/15/2014	12:40 AM	0.01
05/14/2014	10:55 PM	0.58
05/14/2014	10:50 PM	0.01
05/14/2014	10:28 PM	0.01
05/14/2014	9:57 PM	0.13
05/14/2014	9:55 PM	0.01
05/14/2014	9:03 PM	6.06
05/14/2014	6:40 PM	3.96
05/14/2014	6:07 PM	0.01
05/14/2014	8:35 AM	6.18
05/14/2014	2:35 AM	0.62
05/13/2014	8:35 PM	0.13
05/13/2014	2:35 PM	11.94
05/13/2014	8:35 AM	3.48
05/13/2014	2:35 AM	0.61
05/12/2014	8:35 PM	0.37
05/12/2014	2:35 PM	10.47

reet

Level 1

9 points

May 16, 2014 8:06 AM in response to mtamaki

I'm also baffled, at my work I've engaged both our Verizon Account Manager, and Apple Account Manager so rather than being the middle man between their finger pointing, I'm going to see if they can get on a call or whatever they need to do to get an answer for me. I understand what Finch is saying, but I'm not entirely convinced. The Galaxy phone I previously had always stayed under 2GB and I used it without worrying about data usage, now with the iPhone 5s I'm worried to ever use cellular data and it's always almost at 2GB. Something's not adding up.

reet

Level 1

9 points

May 16, 2014 11:33 AM in response to mtamaki

Alright, I've ran internal reports on the approximately 1000 lines of service my company has, and there is definitely a pattern to the data usage on iPhone 5, and later. There is no 6 hour to the minute pattern on iPhone 4, 4s, or Galaxy phones that I see in the sample I've taken thus far, but on every iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s there has been the 6 hour pattern.

I sent this data to our Verizon Account Manager who agreed to have one of their Network Engineer's look at this and to HOPEFULLY help find a reason and a fix. As of today the pattern continues, turning off the background app refresh, and turning automatic diagnostic send did not work.

May 16, 2014 11:54 AM in response to reet

The 5 series uses Verizon's LTE network. The other phones do not; they use the older EVDO network. That might account for the difference. Check some Android phones that use LTE.

reet

Level 1

9 points

May 16, 2014 1:23 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

I think you might be on to something there. I've been looking at many of the other forums regarding this 6 hour data topic and that's come up, so maybe it's related to the LTE. To me, I would just like an answer from Verizon or Apple that actually makes sense from one of their engineer's that can really understand and see the problem on their end. Hoping to hear something from them early next week.

May 19, 2014 2:56 PM in response to reet

To add some additional data to the topic; I have an iPhone 5, a 5c, a 4s and an HTC One all on AT&T. The data pulls occur on each line every three hours on the dot (12:00AM, 3:00AM, 6:00AM, etc.). The 4s has the most data at around 5GB in a month, followed by the 5 with about 1GB, then the 5c at 300MB then the One at 70MB. All iPhones are using the most current iOS. This combined with the info throughout this string suggests to me that - as stated by others throughout this string - the time for the data usage as shown on carrier billing is not when the data usage occurred but merely when the usage info was transmitted to the carrier. If the data was being used every three hours on the dot I'd be more concerned that there was some hidden, data-swiping process going on.

That said, I've not been able to identify why the 4s is using nearly 5GB a month when it's almost always on Wifi when being actively used and that seems like too much data for background refresh and pushed data. It's the only one using iCloud backup, but that isn't supposed to occur unless connected to Wifi.

reet

Level 1

9 points

May 20, 2014 11:48 AM in response to adamejones

I'm not convinced it's a billing time. Over the past few days I've tried a few things while I have some folks at Verizon looking into this. The most telling thing is that I haven't consciously used less cellular data over the past few days, BUT I kept it off, and only turned it on when I wanted to use cellular data. Again, I want to stress that through my daily routine I have used cellular data at the same times while doing this, and only turning cellular data on when needed. I've found that before turning off cellular data and only turning it on when I would normally use it (always on), pre-test it was using 102.94MB on average per day.... post-test (turning on when wanting to use) the average cellular data per day has dropped to 15.16MB per day, and the 6 hour increment has no longer been occuring....

mtamaki Author

Level 1

10 points

May 20, 2014 12:05 PM in response to reet

Yes, exactly. When data is turned off, cellular use by this "6 hour" thing does not show on data usage reports. Does it mean it stops? My guess is that is still a happens but is simply forced to use wifi at that point. That would probably require a sniffer to log reports on. Can anyone do that?

I did also try turning off cell data during my experimenting back in Aug-Sept. The 6 hour interval of use simply started recording again after data was turned back on, but at different times.

Also, since the 6 hour interval times change (rotate or evolve randomly) I also question the idea of "billing cycle", which I would imagine would be fixed.

What causes the change? It could go on for 2-3 days at 3:35, 9:35, then suddenly go to 12:22, 6:22 ... etc. with no apparent reason.

The answer is in the default setup of the iPhone while still brand new in the box. That is probably the biggest clue.

May 20, 2014 12:06 PM in response to reet

In my circumstance I am convinced that it's billing time because according to the carrier report the data usage occurs only on the hour every three hours when I'm using data throughout the day. If you've turned off data over cellular that might suspend or otherwise alter the timing of the six hour increments and reduced data used for background refreshing and email push.

Chris CA

Level 10

82,440 points

May 20, 2014 12:14 PM in response to adamejones

adamejones wrote:

To add some additional data to the topic; I have an iPhone 5, a 5c, a 4s and an HTC One all on AT&T. The data pulls occur on each line every three hours on the dot (12:00AM, 3:00AM, 6:00AM, etc.).

If you view your current usage online at AT&T.com, it shows totals every 3 hours.

If you view past billed usage, it is broken out.

mtamaki Author

Level 1

10 points

May 20, 2014 12:19 PM in response to adamejones

I understand what you are saying. Taking this approach for a moment. If it is in fact a billing cycle, then is it still ok?

Why should I be forced to use up my data plan and get much less for what I pay for, due to a billing cycle, especially while on wifi most of the day? What company would then be responsible for this massive use of data, that we have no choice but to pay for? How does this affect the bandwidth and resulting speeds of our 3G and LTE networks?

May 20, 2014 12:31 PM in response to mtamaki

The bill reporting cycle is independent of the amount of data you use. You would use (and be billed for) the same amount of data if the bill reporting interval was 5 minutes, an hour, 3 hours or 6 hours (or 24 hours, for that matter). Or even the way it worked on 2007, where every data transfer appeared on the bill, resulting in 100 page bills.

To find out how much data you use and which apps are using it go to Settings/Cellular. That will show your total usage since the last reset, as well has how much data is used by each app individually. Reset the statistics at the start of your billing cycle. Then the usage shown on the phone should agree with what is shown on the carrier's web site or bill. If they are not close then there is a problem with the carrier. If they agree then you really are using that much data. And the phone can tell you exactly what it is being used for.

Turning off cellular data some of the time will reduce your data usage, but not for the reason you are probably thinking. When the phone is asleep WiFi is turned off to save the battery, so any data usage by background apps will use cellular data. If you turn off cellular data, when you turn it back on the phone will not be asleep (because you have to wake it to turn cellular data on) so all of the queued data requests will be processed while the phone is awake and thus about to use WiFi.

The other option is to go to Settings/General/Background App Refresh and turn it off or turn off apps that use a lot of data.

reet

Level 1

9 points

Jun 13, 2014 9:18 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Response from Verizon's Network Engineer...

From what I’m seeing in the records it appears that if the device stays in 4GLTE coverage continuously for 6 hours straight the network initiates a disconnect and reconnect. It also appears that this is when the cumulative data usage for the past 6 hours is rolled up and posted to the billing system.

----------------

Not really the answer I wanted, it still seems crazy that most of my data since I received my phone has been used during this 6 hour period. I put my phone into 3G and the data is significantly reduced and no 6 hour incremental data use. I guess that's where I'll keep my phone, out of LTE so my data isn't chewed away like that. Either that, or only turning cellular data on when needed which isn't ideal either.

Why do I have mysterious cellular data usage (Verizon) every 6 hours on all 3 of my iphone 5's?