Iphone 5 - huge cellular data usage reported by ATT - any customer having same problems

[wifi8525]

I upgraded from iphone 3g to Iphone 5. Over a period of last year, My average monthly data usage is approx 400MB (total less than 5GB in a year). AT&T is reporting that my iphone 5 data usage crossed 6GB in a 3 day period . I called AT&T and have to listen to LTE, Iphone 5 and Multiple app non-sense as an explanation for 6GB data usage over a 3 day period. My Itune and app store does not download over cellular network. I am not connected to Icloud. IOS 6 setting for sending data diagnostic over cellular network is set to no.

I feel this is same bug which Verizon user are reporting and ATT is not commenting on it till now. How can I consume over 6GB worth of data over a 3 day period which is more than my total data usage for a year. That is equivalent of streaming hd video (approx 300 MB per hour) for 20 hours.

CNN link to Iphone 5 data bug story

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/01/technology/iphone-5-data-overage/index.html

Anyone is having similiar problems?

[BDSinSDCA]

Yes, I upgraded from an iPhone 4 to the 5. Within 3 days I got an excessive usage warning. I got nowhere with ATT and they said to contact Apple. I took my phone in last Wednesday Sept 26th and the tech couldn't find anything wrong with it but swapped it out for a replacement phone anyway. This didn't help. I'm on day 14 of my bill cycle and have already exceeded 10 GIGS!! of data. My normal bill for the last 4 years has had about 1.5-2 gigs for the entire month. Something is definitely wrong. I have an unlmited plan so cost isn't an issue but after 5 gigs they throttle you down so I'm throttled now with no real speed on cellular.

I've tried all the "fixes" listed online to no avail. My phone was setup on wifi and restored from backup. My only other thought is to just reset it completely and build it from scratch.

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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BDSinSDCA wrote:
Yes, I upgraded from an iPhone 4 to the 5. Within 3 days I got an excessive usage warning. I got nowhere with ATT and they said to contact Apple. I took my phone in last Wednesday Sept 26th and the tech couldn't find anything wrong with it but swapped it out for a replacement phone anyway. This didn't help. I'm on day 14 of my bill cycle and have already exceeded 10 GIGS!! of data. My normal bill for the last 4 years has had about 1.5-2 gigs for the entire month. Something is definitely wrong. I have an unlmited plan so cost isn't an issue but after 5 gigs they throttle you down so I'm throttled now with no real speed on cellular.

I've tried all the "fixes" listed online to no avail. My phone was setup on wifi and restored from backup. My only other thought is to just reset it completely and build it from scratch.

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I now appears that it is happening on ALL carriers, so apple needs to step up and fix the problem, this is not one of the better releases that Apple has had, they have been on the carpet for multiple issues on the 5

[ip5lady]

Just like AT&T said, The devise iphone 5 is built in for 4g LTE. It's really the CARRIERS SERVICE SIGNAL. Yes, Apple needs to step up and get it resolve or, a lot of people will be retuning their new iphones and may consider also to leave AT&T to a better Carrier! You don't pay MORE to pay for a new phone or, upgrade to have a stronger fast service with a a higher and expensive plan to have "the same" carrier service they provide. I dont' think its right at all. IF you pay more for anything...you expect a better result.

[k1oa]

I have an iPhone 4S on one of my lines that was just upgraded to IOS 6.0 and am seeing huge amounts of Sent cellular data, >1 GB in 5 days. There has been no Facetime or Skype usage. Cloud storage is disabled. Email usage and picture texting has been minimal.

What are some other potential sources of this upstream data transmission?

AT&T customer service was of no help in tracking this down, their tools are not helpful. WIthout the feature in Android where you can view a breakdown of data usage by application, this is not an easy problem to solve, unless it truly is an IOS bug.

Next step is to remove all apps, or return the phone to factory settings and see what happens.

[FredW]

This can become an expensive problem for iPhone users. I think it may be time to start returning the phones to convince Apple there is a problem. Otherwise, users are going to get stuck with hundreds of dollars of data overages. At&t will forgive some of it,but after a point the yay not be very understanding.

[AmandaOmo]

I am having the same issue as well.  I switched from a blackberry to the iPhone 5 and I received a message that I had used 190MB in less than 24 hours!  Has anyone found a solution for this matter?

[Jeffster_1]

Well I just went to see what my data use is on-line and I see Usage temporarily unavailable*

So maybe ATT might agree that there is a problem.

Anybody else see this

[TLHKayaker]

Absolutely I am having the same problem! I got a test from AT&T yesterday advising me that I had used 75% of my data in the 10 days since I got my phone. When I called in I was told to turn cellular data off because of the problem. No indication from the phone rep that AT&T was going to do anything about it. 

[FredW]

Apple will have to fix the problem. At&t has no control over the Apple hardware or software.

[Trekkles]

I'm having the same issue, supposedly going through over 100mb of date during 30 minutes of reading news websites. I hope Apple and/or AT&T confirm this issue soon and develop some kind of solution for those experiencing it.

[Nesto]

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Evandela wrote:
As you said, Apple is aware of the bug and is working on a fix. AT&T plays no role on how Apple distributes their updates to the iPhone.

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This is a somewhat misleading statement. Apple's update that was distrubuted to fix the same issues on Verizon iPhone 5s was for the carrier settings - small files that are specified and developed jointly by the carrier and Apple, then delivered by Apple. This is at least a joint issue to work out - just as Verizon and Apple have already worked out. The fact that the V/A update has already been issued and the AT&T/Apple update has not is evidence in and of itself that AT&T is at least partially at fault for the fact that this update is not already out. 

Which particular company is at fault for the incorrect carrier settings is open for debate - it is unlikely that we will ever know. The fact that the AT&T/Apple carrier settings update is not out yet, while the V/Apple one already is, logically leads one to the conclusion that AT&T is at least partially at fault for the delay. AT&T may have excellent reasons for the delay - maybe there are some technical issues that it and Apple are aguing over. Or maybe they are just arguing over who will foot the bill for covering the costs of all the data overage charges that customers should absolutely not have to pay for. 

[dwill05]

Or it's possible that Apple doesn't believe there is a problem on AT&T, or the fix isn't as easy/ obvious as it was on Verizon. I doubt AT&T would have any reason to delay a fix if Apple had one available.

[Nesto]

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dwill05 wrote:
Or it's possible that Apple doesn't believe there is a problem on AT&T, or the fix isn't as easy/ obvious as it was on Verizon. I doubt AT&T would have any reason to delay a fix if Apple had one available.

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All indications (and not just my interactions with Apple support) indicate Apple knows that this is a problem on AT&T and other carriers and is working on fixes. I don't doubt it at all that other carriers would drag their feet. They want to get the revenue from the data overage charges and Apple ain't gonna pay for it. And neither am I. Luckily I have unlimited data - throttling will be a pain, but at least I won't have to shell out like other customers. 

There are many reasons why Verizon is consistenly ranked as the #1 national cellular provider - it acknowledges and responds to problems promptly. There is a reason why AT&T is consistently ranked at the bottom - it will be days (or weeks!) before they even acknowledge there is an issue and who knows if we will be satisfied with the reponse. 

If only I could convince my wife to dump AT&T, I'd be on Verizon in a heartbeat... Or 2 years when my new contract is up. 

[onfo]

An additional data point.  For the last two-years on my iPhone 4, I averaged under 600 MB per month.  With my iPhone 5, I ran through 300+ MB in a day.  I have now turned off cell data for fear of blowing through my 2GB monthly allotment.  

I noticed that 100+ MB was used while playing around with flyover/3D buildings in NYC.  Any chance that this function is that data intensive?

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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onfo wrote:

An additional data point.  For the last two-years on my iPhone 4, I averaged under 600 MB per month.  With my iPhone 5, I ran through 300+ MB in a day.  I have now turned off cell data for fear of blowing through my 2GB monthly allotment.  

I noticed that 100+ MB was used while playing around with flyover/3D buildings in NYC.  Any chance that this function is that data intensive?

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given it is a detailed map of the site the changes of it being data intensive are very high, put a data monitor on the device and check it before you do it, then after to see what the amount of data being used at the device is with the app

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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Trekkles wrote:

I'm having the same issue, supposedly going through over 100mb of date during 30 minutes of reading news websites. I hope Apple and/or AT&T confirm this issue soon and develop some kind of solution for those experiencing it.

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Apple has

[bennett_cg]

I am also experiencing issues with the iOS 6 data glut. My wife and I both primarily use WiFi, with mobile data usage well under our 200MB plan. In the last weeks her phone is now halfway through an overage data pack.

Contact both Apple and AT&T on this issue.

[Nesto]

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onfo wrote:

An additional data point.  For the last two-years on my iPhone 4, I averaged under 600 MB per month.  With my iPhone 5, I ran through 300+ MB in a day.  I have now turned off cell data for fear of blowing through my 2GB monthly allotment.  

I noticed that 100+ MB was used while playing around with flyover/3D buildings in NYC.  Any chance that this function is that data intensive?

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I don't know the specifics of typical map data usage, but despite its issues, the new Maps are significantly more efficient than the old Google Maps:

http://gizmodo.com/5948066/there-is-one-thing-that-apple-maps-is-a-lot-better-than-google-maps-at

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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Nesto wrote:

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onfo wrote:

An additional data point.  For the last two-years on my iPhone 4, I averaged under 600 MB per month.  With my iPhone 5, I ran through 300+ MB in a day.  I have now turned off cell data for fear of blowing through my 2GB monthly allotment.  

I noticed that 100+ MB was used while playing around with flyover/3D buildings in NYC.  Any chance that this function is that data intensive?

---

I don't know the specifics of typical map data usage, but despite its issues, the new Maps are significantly more efficient than the old Google Maps:

http://gizmodo.com/5948066/there-is-one-thing-that-apple-maps-is-a-lot-better-than-google-maps-at

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data usage is a moot point when the application puts you in the middle of nowhere instead of at your destination.  Guess I never saw the excess data because I don;t zoom in and out when I am using it to get someplace, especially when I am driving.

[brandyme]

I am glad I found this thread. I am having the same problem and spent over 3 hours on the phone with AT&T and Apple yesterday regarding this issue. I explained to them the same things as you all have mentioned here. As of today I am getting text messages saying in the 2 days since I got my iPhone 5, I have used 6.1GB of data!! I use less than 1GB of data monthly typically, so this is extremely high.

I hope AT&T/Apple take care of this soon. Last night after I got off the phone with AT&T customer service, I was assured that I wouldn't be billed for the overage and to use my data plan like normal. I am not sure how much I trust that statement at this point.

[pldsph]

my data usage for both my iphone 5 and ipad running LTE is out of control. I've used less than 1gig for years, now since sept 21st, my usage is up to 4 gigs with 15 days to go. there is something radically wrong. verizon was granted a fix immediately, but not at&t. 

i'm not doing anything different as far as downloading more data than any other day. LTE is supposed to be faster, not eat up 5x the data. 

at&t please get on this right away.

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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pldsph wrote:

my data usage for both my iphone 5 and ipad running LTE is out of control. I've used less than 1gig for years, now since sept 21st, my usage is up to 4 gigs with 15 days to go. there is something radically wrong. verizon was granted a fix immediately, but not at&t. 

i'm not doing anything different as far as downloading more data than any other day. LTE is supposed to be faster, not eat up 5x the data. 

at&t please get on this right away.

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the fix has to come from Apple, it has been claimed to be affecting almost every device running IOS 6. The verizon fix had to do with cellular data being used instead of wifi when it was available, they fixed that with a verizon firmware update

[dwill05]

I must just be lucky, but I'm not seeing any problem. I have an app called DataMonitor on my phone that shows both WiFi and cell usage. I installed it on my 4S and it's setting were transferred over to my 5 when I restored from a backup.

Since I last reset it on the morning of Sept 12, it's showing a total of 580 MB on cell and 1160 MB on Wifi, which would be on the 4S to 9/21 and on the 5 afterwards. On the AT&T app, it's showing 350 MB since 9/21 (since the plan swapped to the LTE plan on that day, it only shows data starting from then). My typical data use per month is 600 - 800 MB, and I've only cracked 1 GB twice. My cell data use seems on track to be about the same on the 5 as it was on the 4S.

[pldsph]

yes, the verizon fix had to do with wifi/lte data issues. but at&t should at least issue a statement to acknowledge the fact that it's not their fault, but apple. i have unlimited on my iphone, but only 2gigs on my ipad. what will happen when people go way over? hopefully we won't be charged for something that is not the customers fault. 

[jamileh]

Hi there - Sorry to hear you're all seeing some unexpected data use with iOS 6.

Would you please either send me a private message with the following info? We'd like to get a bit more information, thanks!

Full Name:

Phone Number:

Account Number:

Email Address:

Previous Data Use & Current Data Use:

To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[pldsph]

the at&t issue does not appear to be wifi related. as far as apple being responsible for the hardware and software, that's correct. but it appears to be "the network" that's causing the bug with said hardware and software.  

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

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pldsph wrote:

the at&t issue does not appear to be wifi related. as far as apple being responsible for the hardware and software, that's correct. but it appears to be "the network" that's causing the bug with said hardware and software.  

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would love to see how you came up with that conclusion, considered att is not the only carrier that these complaints are being voiced about on the Iphone 5 / IOS 6. there have been reports overseas from those carriers's users also. So if it is "the netowrk" that is causing it, it is ever "network" in the cellular world.

Here is a report about the issue on the australian carrier Optus

http://www.crn.com.au/News/317664,telcos-investigate-iphone-5-data-blow-out.aspx

so it is carrier independent which the only common demoniator is the Iphone 5 and IOS 6

[dwill05]

Even if its related to the "network", it's likely still Apple's fault. They are responsible for testing and making sure their phone works with AT&Ts existing network. AT&T isn't responsible for changing their network to work with Apple's phone. I don't think AT&T modified their network since Apple tested the phone.

[mollyjones]

I contacted AT&T and was basically told that there is background data using cellular connection, even when I'm on wifi. 

From AT&T:

"... Many Smartphone (including iPhones) are "always on" data devices. These Smartphone devices establish a data connection with AT&T's network and keep it open even if there is no data being transmitted. If a user does not end a data session, it is recorded during a nightly feed to the billing system. A data session can contain billing for all the data that was transmitted throughout the day. Also, push capabilities are common with many e-mail, news, weather and social networking (Facebook) applications. Push capabilities provide real-time data transfer as it is made available, for example, weather or news alerts occur in real-time as they happen and are pushed to the device which consumes data."

I do listen to podcasts at home on my wifi, which could be the culprit according to another thread.   I just switched to AT&T to get the iPhone 5, and I'm so stressed out that I almost went over my 3GB plan within two weeks.  I had a smartphone before and never got close to 2GB while streaming music in my car all the time.  With the new phone, I haven't even streamed video and I chewed through my data.  AT&T won't admit there could be a problem.  I've contacted them several times now.