data usage

---

@BrintonC wrote:
I have talked to AT&T about my data usage. I only get on certain apps when I'm not on wifi and there is no reason I should be going over my 4 GB plan. This month alone it's saying I have gone over 4 GB's. 95% of the time I'm on wifi. The other 5% I only get on Facebook and immediately close the app when I'm done. I have even turned off my cell data on my phone to see if it's something else. Nope. I still get these messages and have to pay for data I'm not even using. I will be calling them again tonight to talk to them yet again. This is the most frustrating part about this company.

---

You didn't mention which phone model you have, but it is quite possible that your phone is turning the wifi off when you think it should be using the wifi and it's really using cellular data.  The Apple iPhone is designed to turn the wifi radio off when the phone enters a sleep mode and is not connected to external power.  This means that if your phone is in your pocket streaming music from the internet, after about 3-5 minutes, all internet traffic would be using cellular data.  Apple is not the only cell phone maker doing this either.  Another maker (I think it might have been Sony) had a bug that would use the fastest internet connection, so if you have LTE service at home, it could be using your LTE service because it is faster than your home internet service. There are so many other possibilities that it is hard to say why you are using so much data, but I suspect that the real case is that your phone is trying to save battery by turning off the wifi without telling you, causing it to use cellular data.

Hi there @BrintonC

I’m sorry to hear that data usage has been causing such issues. I’d be happy to help! The key to solving this will come down to identifying what app or service is using the data. The best way to do this would be via data monitoring apps. The two best known for iPhone being My Data Manager and Onavo Count, both of which are available on the App Store for free, and both of which will display exactly what is using your data, when it’s being used, and how much it’s using. This information is extremely useful in preventing further high usage as we can then find what behaviors, whether device or software, are causing data usage whilst the phone is not actively being used.

I highly recommend installing one of these apps in order to work towards a solution.

I hope this helps!

Charise

I am having the same issue.  I started getting messages for my daughter's accound saying she had gone over her 1 GB plan.  The first message was not surprising, but then she got tagged for another GB the next day and a 3rd GB the day after.  So, somehow, she used 2 GB of data in 2 days.  She has worked for Apple for 4 years and is quite certain her iphone is not the issue.  A few days later I got a notification saying I had used 75% of my data.  A few hours after that I got a second notification saying I had used 90%.  I called att to find out what was going on.  I was told by a very nice young lady that all of the phones on our account were showing an unusual spike in data usage.  No one has changed their usage patterns.  To avoid going over my limit, she suggested I turn off the cellular data to my phone,which I did.  Surprisingly, this morning, I get a noification that I have used all my data and will be billed.  I called att again and got a less helpful young man.  I explained the history, told him the data had been off since yesterday afternoon.  He informed me it looked like I had turned the data on this morning.  I assured him this was not the case and it was why I was calling.  I asked if it were possible that att was recording wifi usage as data usage.   He suggested I take the device to Apple as that is where I purchased the phone (3 years ago......)  I asked if he really thought all 4 phones on the account had an unusual spike in usage at the same time after years of steady data usage.  His response was, "Well, you purchased the device at Apple."  I then asked if he could at least explain the billing.  My daughter's phone is charged $10 for 1 GB of data when she goes over, but I am going to be billed $20 for 300 MB of data.  He explained to me that "300 bytes of data was more that 1" and that's why it costs more.  I calmly (and I was proud of myself for staying calm) explained that 1GB = something like 1061 MB of data, and that att was charging me $10 for 1061 MB and $20 for 300 MB.  And of course he couldn't really speak to that.  I asked to speak to a supervisor, was put on hold, and he came back on and said the supervisor was unwilling to waive my fee.  I then asked if I could actually speak to his supervisor.  He put me on hold again, and then came back on and asked if I would like to be put on a call back list.  I agreed, and am (unsurprisingly) still waiting on a call back.  Since my husband and daughter's phone are still under contract, there isn't much I can do as far as changing carriers.  Has anyone else had this issue?