Cellular Data being used even when in wifi zone

Question

Cellular Data being used even when in wifi zone

Lets see if I can explain this properly...

iPhone 4s, iOS 7.1

My phone uses my home Wi-Fi while at home.

I have 4 apps set to green (on) for "Use Cellular Data for:". Mail and Safari and 2 others.

Cellular Data is enables, as is 3G.

I do not have any push notifications enabled for these apps.

My question: I have noticed that in the past 2 months I have gone over my (small) data usage plan within the first 10 days of the month, whereas in previous months, it would take me until the end of my month to use 75% of my data plan. I barely surf the internet or use maps while out of the house, and might check my email once a day while out and about. I do use my phone a lot at home as it's convenient.

I can see the Wi-Fi symbol at the top of my screen, but I have figured out that when I check my mail or surf the internet, that my phone will use Cellular data instead of my Wi-Fi.

I thought that the phones were supposed to use Wi-Fi first and then cellular data if Wi-Fi wasn't available. Did something change with iOS 7?

It's not convenient to turn Cellular Data on and off when I leave the house.

Am I missing something?

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.1

Posted on Apr 15, 2014 9:32 PM

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Answer 1

Swissi5s

Level 1

0 points

Apr 16, 2014 2:16 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

Did you check backround update option?

Also if you have a week 3g connection where you are, the iPhone is constantly trying to connect to a faster conncetion and since you can't force the iPhone to stay connected to EDGE (2g, which is the worst thing ever for bettery life) you'll have to life with those problems, except you turn off Cellula Data.

Best regards

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Answer 2

Apr 16, 2014 6:30 AM in response to Swissi5s

Background update is off and I try to close the apps (double tapping home button and swiping the apps away).

I have now selected "use cellular data for:" OFF for everything except Find iPhone and that drastically reduced my data usage.

I guess I was misunderstanding "use cellular date for:". I thought the phone would default to wifi for everything and then use cellular date for selected "on" apps when out of the house...

I've learned what happens when you ***...u...me...

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Answer 3

Swissi5s

Level 1

0 points

Apr 16, 2014 6:56 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

here is a good description:

http://osxdaily.com/2013/09/19/ios-7-battery-life-fix/

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Answer 4

Apr 16, 2014 7:03 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

The phone will default to WiFi ONLY when the phone is actively being used or is connected to power. The phone turns off WiFi when it goes to sleep to perserve battery. So any mail fetching, imessages, etc that happen when the phone is asleep will use cellular data.

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Answer 5

Apr 16, 2014 7:19 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

This is getting closer to answering my question.

I am fine with the phone using cellular data when it's "sleeping", that makes sense.

But why, when I can see 3 Wi-Fi bars on the top of my iPhone screen, why is my phone using cellular data for apps? Doesn't the iPhone default to Wi-Fi when possible?

For example, I have FaceBook set as "use cellular data for:" enabled or on. I want to be able to check FB when I want while I'm out of the house. I have push notifications set to off and everything is disabled on the FB push notification screen as I don't want to know when someone comments/likes something on my profile. I just want to occasionally waste time checking FB while in line at the store. When I am at home and checking FB on my phone, and I can see 3 strong Wi-Fi bars, why is my phone using cellular data instead of the available (strong) Wi-Fi? I have run control tests on this - and can confirm, without a doubt, that my phone is using cellular data inside my house while also picking up strong Wi-Fi signals.

Is this a problem with my phone, or is this just how it operates?

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Answer 6

Swissi5s

Level 1

0 points

Apr 16, 2014 7:23 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

Some apps are draining the battery life on purpose and not by accident!

http://read.feedly.com/html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pocket-lint.com%2Fnews%2F128353 -here-s-how-to-stop-facebook-from-draining-your-iphone-s-battery-and-other-power -saving-tips&theme=black&size=small

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Answer 7

Apr 16, 2014 8:03 AM in response to Swissi5s

I'm not worried about battery life.

I'm only concerned with cellular data use while my phone is at home using my home Wi-Fi.

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Answer 8

Apr 16, 2014 8:23 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

It's difficult to determine the times when your phone actually used cellular data. The usage in your cellular bill or on your carrier's website is summary data, posted after the fact, sometimes by as much as 24 hours. About the only real way to know is to check the usage statistics in Settings/Cellular frequently. You can also see which apps used data in settings/cellular and how much data each application used.

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Answer 9

Apr 16, 2014 9:43 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

I think I'm not explaining properly.

I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm going to explain as if I'm explaining to my kids:

When I'm at home with a stong Wi-Fi signal, my cell phone choses to use Cellular Data over the Wi-Fi for the apps that I have selected "Use Cellular Data For:". Is this normal, or should me phone default to using Wi-Fi before using Cellular Data (regardless of whether or not "Use Cellular Data For:" is on or off).

Or, does the phone only use Cellular Data for those apps with "Use Cellular Data For:" enabled (regardless of if a strong Wi-Fi signal is being received).

As an aside, I have been checking Settings/Cellular frequently and don't rely on my carriers information.

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Answer 10

Apr 16, 2014 10:12 AM in response to pikespeakviewer

It should not use cellular data (with a couple of exceptions) if the phone screen is lighted and the WiFi icon is showing. It WILL use cellular data if the screen is not on and there are any apps that can receive notifications or can run in background. This includes FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Yahoo Messenger... plus email, contacts, calendars and notes, plus any other app that can receive notifications (such as news sites, multiplayer games...)

Exceptions:

Visual Voicemail always uses cellular data
Stocks and weather always use cellular data (but very little)
Notifications use cellular data (but again, very little, just to alert the app that there is an update)
Location Services can use cellular data for localization (also very little)
Some System Services use cellular data (such as time sync)

If you want to track cellular usage while the phone is actively in use check Settings/Cellular every time you wake it up, and again just before you press the SLEEP button. You should see no change while it is in use.

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