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traveling-man's profile

Contributor

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2 Messages

Monday, August 15th, 2016 6:43 PM

Why is my phone using cellular data, when connected to wifi?

Hello All, On Saturday, my brother-in-law (who lives in Huston) posted an understandably angry post on Facebook regards his ATNT service. Apparently he has found that his mobile devices continue to use ATNT cellular data even after he has entered a WIFI covered area. Apparently, this is happening with all 4 mobile devices on his account, so his data usage and resulting charges each month are shooting through the roof. He included a link to an article written by a user with a lot of comments on this issue. More than a couple of people 'said that they had communicated with ATNT representatives and that the company was aware of the problem. Supposedly, the only sure fire sollution is to toggle cellular dana on and off from within the phone's settings. http://jirout.me/att-data-overage-fees/

So far as I know, I am not experiencing this problem, yet. I use ATNT, have an IPhone 6S, and move off and on wireless networks constantly. Can anyone shed some light on this issue? Thanks for any help.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

8 years ago

My personal experience with iPhones is they often disconnect from wifi after iOS updates.  Factory resetting may be required to get them working correctly again.

 

What to try first:

Reset network settings or 'forget" wifi and sign in again.

Wifi assist should be off

Apps that you want limit d to wifi should be off in settings, under cellular data.

 

This is never a carrier problem.  These same complaints are made on other carrier forums (and apparently on Facebook).  In nearly every case the fault it's with the phone.  

Why is occurs in some phones and not others is unknown.  My mother's iPhone went 2.5 years before her wifi quit working.  My sons both had 5S and both had the problem.  My younger son has a 5 and it needs resetting every few months.

 

The problem is not limited to iPhone, but does seem to occur more often.

 

Accepted Solution

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

5 years ago

I have wondered if the night use of mobile data every three hours was due to auto updates that use data instead of the WiFi.  Have not been able to get any satisfying answers.

@tombjtkan That is certainly a possibility but most phones don’t do software updates over cellular (or that can be disabled in settings) and data reporting is not real-time. Those data reports you see every 3 hours do not necessarily mean that was when the data was used. The actual usage could be many hours to several days earlier.

Scholar

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323 Messages

8 years ago

There are a few things to review on the iPhone for data usage or to minimize data usage when connected to Wi-Fi.

  • To view the cellular data usage for your apps, tap Settings > Cellular. You can turn cellular data on or off for each app.
  • Is Wi-Fi Assit on?  With Wi-Fi Assist, you can stay connected to the Internet even if you have a poor Wi-Fi connection. For example, if you're using Safari with a poor Wi-Fi connection and a webpage doesn't load, Wi-Fi Assist will activate and automatically switch to cellular so that the webpage continues to load. You can use Wi-Fi Assist with most apps like Safari, Apple Music, Mail, Maps, and more.
    When Wi-Fi Assist is activated, you'll see the cellular data icon in the status bar on your device.
    Because you'll stay connected to the Internet over cellular when you have a poor Wi-Fi connection, you might use more cellular data. For most users, this should only be a small percentage higher than previous usage. 
  • Wi-Fi Assist is on by default. If you don't want your iOS device to stay connected to the Internet when you have a poor Wi-Fi connection, you can disable Wi-Fi Assist. Go to Settings > Cellular. Then scroll down and tap Wi-Fi Assist.
    With iOS 9.3, you can see how much cellular data you’ve used when Wi-Fi Assist is turned on.

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

Thanks for your reply. Apparently he has tracked gigs of data being used at night, while the phones were in a secure location, while the family was asleep. 

Tutor

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4 Messages

5 years ago

I have wondered if the night use of mobile data every three hours was due to auto updates that use data instead of the WiFi.  Have not been able to get any satisfying answers.

Associated Member

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33 Messages

5 years ago

When I worked in the Cellular industry, I do remember this was a fairly common problem that was usually fixed with OS updates. My recommendation, whether or not it happens, is to disable cellular data manually when your using WiFi. As far as using data when the phone is not being used (at night), it is more than likely apps that are installed and running in the background. Facebook, for example, is notorious for the amount of data it uses, even if you're not using the app.

 

PS: It isn't specific to any one carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc..), it's a manufacturer / OS issue.

New Member

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1 Message

I don’t understand why my iPhone 8+ doesn’t automatically switch to data usage when it says not connected to wifi. If I have unlimited talk, text and data why am I always having to go into settings to get on the internet?

New Member

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2 Messages

4 years ago

You probably are experiencing it and don’t realize it.  A few months ago my cellular data use went through the roof.  In less than a week my data use would be at 75% and I couldn’t understand why.  I search out WiFi like a crackhead looking for a fix and it still wouldn’t change.  Then today I found this usage report that says my browsing and technology usage is 37% and OTHER is 63%.  Kicker is NOBODY can tell me what other is.  I am convinced AT&T is monkeying with usage to drive those of us on defined plans to pay an additional amount to upgrade to UNLIMITED plans.  I no longer trust AT&T and have told them this on numerous occasions.

New Member

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1 Message

3 years ago

Yes i believe you are right ihad this problem a year or more ago with at.n t .and it made me think whats to stop them or any carrier for that matter to write a little code that uses data whenever possible ergo when wifi is weak and at what thersh hold is weak and think about all the benefits to carriers profit margins for x number of months And  they may even randomly implement this tactic to boost revenue due to overages alone dont think they would not do this as ive seen something similar with another hardware company useing peoples bandwith and computers cpu whenever they were on the internet combined with all the other users useing thier product they had a super computer doing whatever they did with such a thing crunch numbers god knows what ? i didnt even have thier hardware installed any longer yet thier software continued to run i would uninstall it and watch the files reapear within minutes untill i finally jumped through the elaborate hoops to properly rid my computer of tier driver so i now am going through something exactly what you are but with android and it shouldnt do this because of the os differance

New Member

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1 Message

2 years ago

The same thing is happening to my phone service @ att & I am on prepaid and I never had this problem til I switched it over to prepaid in Oct 2021and the only thing they could tell me was to turn my data off when I get home or where ever there was Wifi

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

2 years ago

@taseagle Did you read the thread? You control whether your phone uses data or not, not ATT. Yes, turning cellular data off will definitely prevent using cellular data but depending on your phone, there may be other ways. Check your phone settings.

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