ATT Fixed wireless data usage not matching what is recorded on the residential gateway

Hello, @jeffmkenn.

We can help you understand your data usage and why the traffic counter can be different than the data calculator.

Home internet data usage includes all data that you send and receive on your AT&T Internet, both wired and Wi-Fi. Learn how to manage, monitor, and estimate future data usage.

Let us know if this helps you understand & manage your Fixed Wireless Internet data usage.

Ariel, AT&T Community Specialist

Thank you for your response Ariel,

I was not referring to the data calculator that helps estimate data usage for certain on line activities. I was referring to the data traffic counter that is in the residential gateway. All data used, by all devices goes through the residential gateway, and, it keeps an actual and accurate account of that data traffic. My issue is that the data traffic being tracked in the residential gateway does not match (or is even close) to what is being reported in the ATT billing system on my account. The amount of data being counted by the residential gateway should be, at least, close to what the data billing system is calculating. If not, then I will need a very detailed explanation of why not.

I apologize for that misunderstanding, @jeffmkenn.

To fully assist with this issue further, we will need to look over your account in more detail.

I am sending you a private message (PM) to help in this matter. Please check your forums private messages by clicking the Forums Inbox. Locate the PM from ATTCares and reply to my message with your specific account details.

I look forward to your response and the opportunity to help you!

Ariel, AT&T Community Specialist

They really don't know what your data usage is. They are guessing using complicated algorithms. Fixed Wireless from AT&T is structured on a Carrier Grade NAT. What this means is they are taking puplic IP address and serving multiple customers from that address. Example: cell sector A is serving 15 customers with a public IP and each of the 15 are linked with a private IP. Customers 1-5 read the news browse the net & check email. Customers 6-10 do that plus social media FB ect.. Customers 11-15 do all the above plus download large files, software system updates, stream video content, buy specialty applications video, picture editing software, games ( but finding out they can't play against anyone online) ect...They have one true IP to track and that's the puplic one. Algorithms are the only way they can decern who is doing what!. Another disturbing thing is what if one of the 15 is breaking the law....all 15 will be suspect! CGNAT to be implemented Today is an absolute crime in it's self. Where is IPV6 AT&T! All these customers could then subscribe to any streaming service they wanted Netflix, Hulu ect..They could game multiplayer wether on PC XBOX or Playstation. They could check video feeds away from home for security. They would be able to turn the thermostat up before coming home. They could communicate through a VPN from home to work.....And you could accurately monitor the data PER customer!.....sor so for the rant but CGNAT you got to be kidding!

How do I get help...I have the same issue with my fixed wireless.

I am having the same problem, I have spent two days on the phone with att reps who can’t figure out what is happening and eventually hang up on me after 45 minutes on the phone. I am in my second month on fixed wireless and can not get any help? 

 I would encourage anyone who has a problem with the data counter not agreeing with AT&T‘s billing to file an FCC complaint. This will get someone who knows what they’re doing to take a closer look at the information and hopefully resolve the discrepancy. 

I'm having the same problem . . . went from dsl a few months ago where my usage was around 100G every month to fixed wireless where my usage is close to 200 with 20 days left! . . . only two people in house with one tv and one computer in use at a time. . . . I talked to fixed wireless rep who said they were having a problem and she assured me I would not be billed for overage . . . but is that for real? I understand you can get all the usage you want for an extra 30.00 a month . . . would that be a better option in the long run? 

I was glad to see I’m not the only person experiencing this issue. I’ve had wireless internet for years with another carrier with only 64 gigs of data to use per month. I exceeded that limit ONCE when I ran out of data with one day left in the billing cycle.

We’ve been on AT&T fixed wireless now for almost 3 months. We used 125 gigs the first month. Of course I connected my smart TV’s and streamed a few programs the first month as I now have a 500 gig plan, so I wasn’t overly surprised at the data usage. 3 weeks into the 2nd billing cycle we were on track to use roughly the same amount of data. However, in the last week of that billing cycle our data usage spiked an additional 125 gigs, for a total of 250 gigs of data usage for the month!

The very next week we were showing using 77 gigs in the first day with all tv’s disconnected!
I called AT&T about this. I’m informed they are aware that the app is reporting erroneous data usages and are “working on the problem”. They assured me I won’t be charged for any overages. We’ll see.

What I find very odd after digging deeper I notice the data usage is showing extremely high on uploads. On the 2nd day of my billing cycle my data was showing 91 gigs of UPLOADED data and 9 gigs of download. For the past 2 weeks this has been the norm, roughly 90 percent of my excessive data usage is uploaded data. 
No way this is accurate. I now have all my video devices disconnected and my data usage seems to have settled to around 20 gigs of data a day. Normal usage until I switched to AT&T was around 2 gigs a day using the same devices as always... nothing new.

Same issues here. This month I can use a ton of data and know I’m using a ton because I down load huge games, update things, etc and it won’t report hardly any usage. Next month I can use very minimal data, no downloads/updates, very Light streaming and it’ll report I’ve used 160 gb in a matter of three days. It is highly inaccurate and I’m not sure how they even calculate usage. I can only assume after all these years based off the age of some of these replies, that this issue will not be fixed. I’m sure it would’ve by now if they had intentions to do so. I know rural customers are low on the list of priorities but man do I dream of the day when data caps are no longer a worry for us.