iPhone 5 excessive data usage problem (carrier-AT&T)--any resolutions?

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iPhone 5 excessive data usage problem (carrier-AT&T)--any resolutions?

I got an iPhone 5 in June of 2013, and the billing period after I got it, I went over my data usage for the first time ever (I have been an iPhone user since 2010). I thought that it was just because I had been working out at a camp that got poor reception and had been using as much as I always did. However, in the subsequent months, I have racked up data overage charges every month, and since October, it's been several gigs over my plan. I have a 4gb plan with AT&T that I share with my parents (I am a college student), and they don't use hardly any data. As I am a nineteen-year-old, I admit that I do spend a lot of time on the Internet and use a lot of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, etc.), and I have always used a lot more data than my parents, but I don't think I'm doing much more than I did when I still had the iPhone 4 and 4s. I haven't gotten a chance to call AT&T yet to see what they have to say about it, and, unfortunately, my school is in the middle of nowhere and my hometown doesn't have an Apple store anywhere near it so I don't think I'll be able to get to a genius bar any time soon, but I've done a little research and found some threads here that mention problems with the iPhone 5 and data usage. Most of these threads seem to be related to Verizon or are from iOS 6 (and my phone is updated to iOS 7.0.4, which is the latest update at this date), and I wondered if it was still a problem for people.

In the past few minutes, I have done the following to the phone:

Turned off Cellular Data
Turned off iCloud Backup
Turned off Cellular Data for all unnecessary apps
Turned off Location Services for all unnecessary apps
Turned off Notifications for all unnecessary apps
Changed all email accounts to manual
Turned off Diagnostics and Usage sending
Turned off Ad Tracking
Turned off Documents and Data

Now, not to sound spoiled, but I think this is both tedious and a pain in the rear end. It seems to me like it's just treating the symptoms rather than the disease itself, so to speak. I feel that for the money we pay for what is essentially a handheld computer with phone capabilities, I should be able to use it as such. When I've turned off Cellular Data in the past to remedy this problem, I notice that I don't receive texts from a lot of people, which is really frustrating, because I feel like I basically just have a glorified iPod. If I had wanted an iPod, I would have bought an iPod. So, basically, has anyone experienced this problem recently/found a solution that actually fixes the problem rather than just masking it? I feel bad about the overage charges and am very annoyed with the fact that my old iPhone seemed to work better than this new one, and that I can't seem to find much evidence of either Apple or AT&T making much of an effort to acknowledge or fix this expensive problem. My phone reports that my cellular data usage for the current period (which ends on February 11, and it is currently January 28) is 21 GB, and I find it very hard to believe this to be true.

I'm about to reset my phone and see if that does anything, but I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out here.

Thanks.

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Jan 28, 2014 4:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 28, 2014 4:15 PM in response to CatherineK42

21 GB is almost impossible. Unless you stream audio (such as iTunes radio) 24 hours a day. When you go to Settings/Cellular it shows the cellular usage for each app. Have you examined these? Do they add up to 21 GB?

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Answer 2

Lyssa

Level 8

41,327 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:16 PM in response to CatherineK42

I had issues with the Facebook app sending and receiving data when I wasn't using it.

In iOS 7, you can go Settings>Cellular and look at the Use Cellular Data For: section. It will show you how much data each app has used since the last reset.

Hopefully you will find one or more apps here with high usage and can delete them (for now or possibly permanently) to see if that helps.

Have you always had the 4GB data plan?

~Lyssa

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Answer 3

CatherineK42 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:17 PM in response to CatherineK42

Hi, sorry, wanted to add that while I have it on WiFi as much as possible, the WiFi at my college is questionable. It works crystal clear on my computer, but my phone drops the connection constantly, and it's never at full strength. Based on all of my friends here who also have other various smartphones, we think it's more a campus WiFi problem than an individual phone problem, because they all have issues with it, too, and our campus WiFi has never been super reliable. The administration says it's trying to address this issue, but they've been trying to address it for two years, so I doubt we'll get anywhere with that. My point is that I can't do anything about the WiFi like I would be able to if it were from a personal router. The fact that it's so spotty, though, makes the phone nearly useless as anything but strictly a telephone sometimes, and that's something that's got me really frustrated. Hope this information is helpful in finding a solution, and sorry for such long posts.

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Answer 4

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,329 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:23 PM in response to CatherineK42

I'm not trying to minimize your issues, but I have an iPhone 5S and find that I have not had these types of problems on AT&T. I'm wonding if something has gotten stuck in a loop that is continually trying to use data. If you make a good backup of your phone, try restoring it as new, and do not add anything to the phone right away. Let the device run like this for a little while and see what kind of usage you have. You report you phone is showing usage of 21GB. Did you rese this setting on the phone to begin at your billing period? The reason I ask this is some people believe this setting resets on its own with your billing period, it does not. This has to be manually reset by the user, so it might not be that accurate depending on the last time that you reset it.

If the phone seems to not use so much extra data during the period the device does not have extra apps on it, then try restoring from your backup and see what happens. If this increases your data usage quite fast again, then there is probably something corrupt in the backup that is causing this issue.

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Answer 5

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,329 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:25 PM in response to CatherineK42

Well, you may have answered part of your issue here. If your campus wi-fi is that unreliable, it is very possible that the phone is having to resort to cellular data to perform as you ask. However, if you have cellular data turned off as you indicated and are still able to surf the web and use social media, then you have to be using the wi-fi.

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Answer 6

CatherineK42 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:30 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Thanks for the thing about the 21 GB, I didn't realize it didn't reset at the billing period. That was freaking me out a lot. I'll try restoring it and seeing what happens.

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