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mendoza1913's profile

Tutor

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3 Messages

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013 6:03 PM

iPhone 5S uses cellular data even when connected to WiFi

Hi,

 

I switched to AT&T Mobile Share plan on 10/19/2013 with 3 lines on my account (2 iPhone 5S and 1 iPhone 5).

 

I've never been more concerned about my cellular data usage until I gave up my Sprint unlimited data plan. I have reason to believe that I there are cellular data usage on my iPhone 5S during the block of hours that I am definitely certain that my phone is connected to home wifi.

 

Below are some of the "weird" Internet/mobile web usage:

 

This is an 8-hour block of time when the phone was technically sleeping BUT most definitely connected to wifi
10/21/2013 08:48AM Internet/mobile web 15.0 KBs
10/21/2013 07:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 06:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 05:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 04:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 03:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 02:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/21/2013 01:48AM Internet/mobile web 2.0 KBs
10/21/2013 12:48AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs

 

This is again a huge block of time that I am sleeping and my phone doesn't have any push notifications activated. Most definitely, the phone is connected over wifi as we never switch off our home wifi 

10/22/2013 09:03AM Internet/mobile web 118.0 KBs
10/22/2013 07:03AM Internet/mobile web 2.0 KBs
10/22/2013 06:03AM Internet/mobile web 8.0 KBs
10/22/2013 05:03AM Internet/mobile web 2.0 KBs
10/22/2013 03:03AM Internet/mobile web 3.0 KBs
10/22/2013 02:03AM Internet/mobile web 2.0 KBs
10/22/2013 01:03AM Internet/mobile web 2.0 KBs
10/22/2013 12:03AM Internet/mobile web 4.0 KBs
10/22/2013 12:03AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs

 

Last night, I was at home at 7:00PM and connected to wifi immediately. But then there are still cellular data usage:
10/22/2013 10:39PM Internet/mobile web 5.0 KBs
10/22/2013 08:39PM Internet/mobile web 3.0 KBs
10/22/2013 07:39PM Internet/mobile web 12.0 KBs

 

I switched my phone off on 10/23/2013 between 12midnight and 7:00AM to see if there would be any difference on the data usage. Notice that there were no usage for 7 hours.

 

This is just several hours ago while I am at home and connected to wifi.

10/23/2013 09:34AM Internet/mobile web 15.0 KBs
10/23/2013 08:34AM Internet/mobile web 1.0 KBs
10/23/2013 07:34AM Internet/mobile web 10.0 KBs

 

Below is an excerpt from my online chat with AT&T representative today when I inquired about these usage

 

Jen: It is  not always recorded in "real time"; that is, our system does a sweep at certain times of the day/evening, so that is why you may see times when you know you did not use data, but it was recorded by the system at that time. Generally it is about a 24-hour delay, but can take up to 2-5 days as well.
Me: these are all the times that the phone is at home connected to wifi... and i am sleeping
Jen: These are just the times of the day/evening that the usage charges are actually being recorded by our system, not the actual time that you used the data. Because it is delayed usage, it will/may not show the real time usage.
Me: how do you explain that today 10/23/2013 i have not left the house.. and connected to wifi. but there are still cellular data usage? what i'm saying is: i am being charge for cellular usage when my phone is connected to wifi
Jen: Well, because the system does not record in real time, so that  is past usage.

Unfortunately, I do not have any way to see which data session this was for as well. You can always turn off your cellular data when you are connected to wifi just to make sure. You will still be able to make/receive calls and send/receive texts.

I am posting the issue in this forum because I'm very concerned with these small KBs of cellular data usage. These could add up every day and eventually cause overage. Again, I have 3 iPhones in my account which I haven't reviewed thoroughly yet but have the same issues.

 

The solution (switch off cellular when you are connected to wifi) doesn't seem to be a solid fix. I am hoping there's a better fix.

 

is it IOS 7 that is causing these data usage or is this an AT&T billing error?

what if I'm streaming music via iTunes Radio over wifi then suddenly the phone decides to use Cellular Data instead?

 

Explorer

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5 Messages

10 years ago

Some services only work over cellular, even while on WIFi, examples would be Visual Voicemail or location services. One really nice feature in iOS 7 is that it makes monitoring and controlling cellular usage much easier. In Settings > Cellular you can scroll down and see usage breakdowns by application as well as turn cellular data on or off by application, something that was lacking in previous versions of iOS. Hope this helps!

Tutor

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3 Messages

10 years ago

so how do i find out what are the "midnight" charges are for? those that occur between 12MN to 7AM when the user and the phone are both sleeping.

 

here are 3 different scenarios which I'm currently struggling at right now:

 

Cellular ON / Wifi ON

unwanted data charges that could add up exceeding monthly limit; iPhone uses cellular data instead of wifi

 

Cellular OFF / Wifi ON

solution to avoid unwanted data charge.

this is generally okay if you are indoors and have steady wifi connection but what if you step out and lose both connection

 

Cellular OFF / Wifi OFF

the messages you send via iMessage are now sent as SMS which can cause International SMS charges.

 

 

 

 

Expert

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12.2K Messages

10 years ago


@mendoza1913 wrote:

so how do i find out what are the "midnight" charges are for? those that occur between 12MN to 7AM when the user and the phone are both sleeping.

 

here are 3 different scenarios which I'm currently struggling at right now:

 

Cellular ON / Wifi ON

unwanted data charges that could add up exceeding monthly limit; iPhone uses cellular data instead of wifi

 

Cellular OFF / Wifi ON

solution to avoid unwanted data charge.

this is generally okay if you are indoors and have steady wifi connection but what if you step out and lose both connection

 

Cellular OFF / Wifi OFF

the messages you send via iMessage are now sent as SMS which can cause International SMS charges.

 

 

 

 


facebook auto update

itunes auto sync

 

locating services querying cellular towers

 

twitter auto updates

 

icloud backup

 

will all automaticly happen, plus what ever other apps you have on the phone that are not stock.

 

 

when the phone goes into hibernation mode, aka sleeping the wifi radio is turned off to conserve battery power,  any of the above services will utilize cellular data. this is done by the design of the device.A few versions of IOS ago it used to keep the wifi in if charging, but near the end of IOS 5 or sometime in IOS 6 this was removed.

 

remember if you turn cellular data off any function that requires cellular data will not function - visual voice mail is a good example

Tutor

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3 Messages

10 years ago

I never realized that wifi shuts off even when connected to a power cable.

 

I will run a test tonight and shut off all apps and see what happens with the data usage report.

 

Is this wifi/cellular glitch only common with iPhones?

Expert

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12.2K Messages

10 years ago


@mendoza1913 wrote:

I never realized that wifi shuts off even when connected to a power cable.

 

I will run a test tonight and shut off all apps and see what happens with the data usage report.

 

Is this wifi/cellular glitch only common with iPhones?


first not a glitch, a design feature and most smartphones handle it the same way.

 

Download and read the terms of service for an app named Data Usage by Onavo Inc, let it run for about a week to ten days and that will tell you exactly what is using wha. The reason i state to read the tos is they use a unique method of saving memory on the phone.

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

This just happened to me again.  This is the 3rd time my grand daughter's phone went over the limit of her data plan in less than a year.  It all started when she got the iPone5.  I called Apple, they said the phone is not the problem, it's AT&T.  I called AT&T every time they charge me the extra $10.00 for the overage, they say the same thing, it's not them.  I asked them to scale the useage when she reached her limit, like other carriers do, they said they don't have that ability, I asked them to txt me, the main account number, when she is about to reach her limit, they said they don't have that ability either.  AT&T makes over $10 billion dollars a month, they literally penny pinch customers, and they don't have the ability or refused to update their systems.  I called AT&T Tuesday night, Feb 11th, they said to call Customer Service the next morning and explain to them my situation.  I called yesterday Wednesday, 
Feb 12, morning and they said the message said customer services was closed and to call the next business day, I even called back and puch sales line and it wasn't working either.  I called this morning and they answered the phone, I asked them why they were closed yesterday and they said because they were updating their system but they were open.  I'm confused I thought customer service was 24X7.  Anyway I explained that AT&T is still using the dataplan while the iphone5 is on wifi, and this is the 3rd time this happened, and i had called Apple, they said call AT&T.  She said it's not AT&T.  Confused again.  But I believe Apple over AT&T.  I have been a customer for AT&T before they sold to it Cingular and I know that AT&T changes their stories several times depending on who you talk to.  Oh one of the things that I've been noticing, they have no notes of some of my previous converstions on the computer.   I have no proof that AT&T is engaging in fraudlant activities.  But I don't understand why they refused to add programs and systems to let customers know, and better control over their plans, get authorization before AT&T charges them. 

Expert

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12.2K Messages

10 years ago


@Gabe9 wrote:

This just happened to me again.  This is the 3rd time my grand daughter's phone went over the limit of her data plan in less than a year.  It all started when she got the iPone5.  I called Apple, they said the phone is not the problem, it's AT&T.  I called AT&T every time they charge me the extra $10.00 for the overage, they say the same thing, it's not them.  I asked them to scale the useage when she reached her limit, like other carriers do, they said they don't have that ability, I asked them to txt me, the main account number, when she is about to reach her limit, they said they don't have that ability either.  AT&T makes over $10 billion dollars a month, they literally penny pinch customers, and they don't have the ability or refused to update their systems.  I called AT&T Tuesday night, Feb 11th, they said to call Customer Service the next morning and explain to them my situation.  I called yesterday Wednesday, 
Feb 12, morning and they said the message said customer services was closed and to call the next business day, I even called back and puch sales line and it wasn't working either.  I called this morning and they answered the phone, I asked them why they were closed yesterday and they said because they were updating their system but they were open.  I'm confused I thought customer service was 24X7.  Anyway I explained that AT&T is still using the dataplan while the iphone5 is on wifi, and this is the 3rd time this happened, and i had called Apple, they said call AT&T.  She said it's not AT&T.  Confused again.  But I believe Apple over AT&T.  I have been a customer for AT&T before they sold to it Cingular and I know that AT&T changes their stories several times depending on who you talk to.  Oh one of the things that I've been noticing, they have no notes of some of my previous converstions on the computer.   I have no proof that AT&T is engaging in fraudlant activities.  But I don't understand why they refused to add programs and systems to let customers know, and better control over their plans, get authorization before AT&T charges them. 


youi can download one of the myriad of apps that are available to keep track of data usage for free on the google play store or itunes. The first reaction to a carrier supplied app to do this would be one of distrust as to teh accuracy of the reporting app in favor of the carrier over the end user, better to use a independant sourced app

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

Hello im working at att call center, at customer services, and i saw that problem in a lot of cases, but i have no idea how report that big issue to correct people, my supervisor toldme that is not our prolem cos that data consuptions is some app and customer install on his devices, but for exactly info is every 3 hours, at the exactly hours, 3 am 6 am, 9 am, 12pm, 3 pm etc, and cand reach more than a gigabyte on a couple days, some people call cos every month upgrade his plan to 15 Gb and the to 20 gb and 40 gb and the problem is growing every month, im keep working in found one solution, but im not in USA, i just working on a customer services call center.

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

I am having the same problem.  I am disappointed in the I phone 5s for not giving me the option to turn off background data via cellular.. just via wifi like my other phone a Samsung Galaxy 4s... We just bought the phones on May 31... I am trying to resolve the data usage issue but am thinking of seeing if ATT will exchange the phone, even though it has been more than 30 days... however I think I have made a good faith effort to turn off things manually.. except all cellular data because I shouldn't have to constantly switch the phone settings at night (cell data usage is occuring while on the network but while the phone is locked and we are sleeping)...

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

This is definately an AT&T issue.  We have 3 different types of cell phones being used by my family and in my home, and all show these erratic data charges.  It ould logically make sense to me that certain services must use 4G, however I am being charged during times that my phone is completely shut off, which is every night at 8AM, turning back on at 7AM.  Reviewing my logs on a 24 hour rotation - well the answer still doesn't add up correctly.  I have even tested this by turning my phone off for a full 24 hours and there are still KB times being charged to my account.

 

Try again AT&T or return our data back to us.

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