topic Re: Mysterious data? in Get Support

Mysterious data?

ICL77 — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 07:04:30 GMT

I just signed up for PB, along with my wife. We completed the process around 9pm. We were driving and didn’t use the phone that night (no google maps) but when I got home and set up our online accounts I noticed we had used 500mb and 600mb of our data already!

Has anyone else experienced this? We are being charged for data we didn’t use.

How owe do I verify this usage?

Re: Mysterious data?

popping — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 03:22:59 GMT

@ICL77

Login to your account. Check the usage history. The usage should be there. You can post a screenshot of the usage history so that we can figure out what had happened.

I know the phone OS will use some data. But 500/600MB is too much for the OS usage in one night.

Re: Mysterious data?

Gonzo — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 03:50:38 GMT

Ouch! Definitely check data usage in your account. If it was indeed used up, it might have been your phone. Check your settings and make sure to limit app and OS access to data... social media apps can be gluttons, as can some email apps (Outlook can be brutal). You may also consider turning data off completely when you aren’t using it.

Re: Mysterious data?

popping — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 03:55:14 GMT

Make sure to turn off facebook auto picture download as it will eat up data.

Re: Mysterious data?

hairbag1 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 03:57:14 GMT

In your settings, make sure to turn ON the wifi. That way you'll use wifi whenever its available. Also, turn OFF then data to those apps that you can live without running constantly eating your data. Welcome to PM.

Re: Mysterious data?

will13am — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 03:57:33 GMT

@ICL77, the data meter is accurate. From time to time customers have questioned the accuracy but have not been able to substantiate any inaccuracies. Sometimes a data sync can burn a lot of data unknowingly.

Re: Mysterious data?

computergeek541 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 04:10:03 GMT

It's very easy to use data without knowing it and without the phone even telling you. It all depends on the software installed on your phone and the apps installed. I would say that much of the time, it's free apps that do this, and sometimes in large amounts, especially when they start download ads or even videos in the background.

Re: Mysterious data?

szymon247 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 08:11:46 GMT

Ads are rarely downloaded in the background. They usually load when the app is started.

Instead of guessing, there's an easy way to actually find out what used up that data.

Most of all, you can easily verify all data usage on your phone. You can check a breakdown of data usage by app in your phone's settings. Android "Mobile data usage" in the settings is more accurate in this regard, as it displays a breakdown of all mobile data usage by app, including the data used by the system's components themselves, so it should be easy to pinpoint the culprit. The total usage adds up to similar amounts as displayed in your PM self-serve. On iOS you can check data usage by apps in settings too, to see if any of the installed ones went rogue, as well as the total data usage as well, which should add up to the amount Public Mobile charged you for.

The location of those options depend on the device you are using, but you will find those options by going into settings and searching for "Mobile data usage" on Android and under "Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data" on iOS.

Since you will see a detailed breakdown, you will see what exactly used up that data and act accordingly by changing settings on that app, disabling background data transfer or uninstalling it altogether in case it's a rogue app.

Re: Mysterious data?

stonechucker — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 11:40:10 GMT

Both Android and iPhone devices have a cellular data feature to assist when WiFi is not strong. Turn this feature (it’s on by default sadly) off. I forget the name on Android at the moment, but the iPhone name is WiFi Assist.