Data Usage Notification

[snootchie]

I received a text message from Public Mobile saying I have used 75% of the data in my service. This appears to be incorrect.  My plan includes:

• - 500MB + 500MB at 3G Speed
• - Unlimited Canada-wide Talk
• - Unlimited International Text

When I signed up, I also received a promotional "2GB bonus for 12 months"

So by my understanding, my plan has 3 GB data per month.  I have used 1.5 GB of data so far this month so I have used only 50% of the data in my service, not 75%.  Is my understanding correct?  Thanks in advance for your help!

[darlicious]

@snootchie 

Now that your data speed speed has been throttled down to 3mbps a speed test would use maybe 40mb but for this month you certainly wouldn't want to do anymore of them. If you want to in the future most people wait until day 30 of their cycle and check your usage and if you have some unused data then you can use it up doing a speed test then......a few hours before midnight eastern when your data counter resets.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[snootchie]

You guys are right. My usage history did align with the amount remaining this morning. I used about 800 MB testing my sim card so will remember not to use speedtest in the future.  Thanks for everybody's help!

[darlicious]

@snootchie

Did the CSA suggest running a speed test? If so that was an extremely poor suggestion by the CSA especially right after you activated and they should have known better....However if you did it on your own then.....oops how were you to know unless you read the "small print" on data speeds in your self serve or in the help articles? At least you know how you used up so much data in a week.

Now you can test how little data you can survive on? Your remaining data averaged over 22 days would give you a daily allotment of about 30mb. Set your data warning to 20mb and your data limiter to 30mb. See if you can survive on 30mb per day....that would also show that you could stay under your $25/1gb plan allotment without your 2gb plan data bonus.

**If the CSA did suggest a speed test then I would contact customer support and ask for your plan data counter to be reset to the approximate amount used in the initial test. ie. 400mb then your data counter reset to 600/1024mb.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[snootchie]

Thanks, Dar. When I first activated my sim card, I had no data reception on my phone. Customer service suggested I tried using the sim card on another device. I ended up trying on a couple of other devices and running speed tests that were giving me speeds of over 40 MB/s. When customer service was able to get my sim card working on my phone, I ran several speed tests again (this time on my device) at different times of the day (I get over 30 MB/s early in the morning). That may explain why the data on my original plan has been emptied. This is all good things to know going forward and help me understand the information in my account better.  

[darlicious]

@snootchie

 When you activated did you activated did you activate your account or your spouse's? Did you also port in the phone number or have you done that yet? Hopefully the 2GBBONUS promocode is still active when you decide to activate your second account as there is more flexibility to change plans with that promocode as you keep the 2gb of recurring monthly plan data as long as you remain above the $35+ plan threshold. The bonus data also has an unlimited length of time so that you will keep it forever as long as you don't downgrade it to the $25 or $15 plans.

Currently you are using about 350mb of per day. That would put your average monthly data usage at 10.5gb a month.....the regular plan data allotment of the $50/10.5gb plan without the 2gb bonus. If you ran a speed test in the first 72 hours after activation before your data speed was throttled to 3mbps you could have used about 400mb+ in a single speed test.

Before you decide to activate a second account send me a private message and I can give you some additional advice on your options so that you make the best choice for your data usage needs.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[snootchie]

Ok, thanks for this. I really appreciate everybody's input.  I will turn off my mobile data and see if my usage history catches up to 75% of my 3 GB. I will keep everybody apprised of what I find out. 

[darlicious]

@snootchie 

You are probably going to get your 95% usage text soon if you don't start to conserve your data usage. 1gb=1024mb+1387mb=2411mb used. 3gb=3072mb - 2411mb=661mb remaining data or about 21% of your total data on your account putting your usage at 79% of all data included in your plan and promotional bonuses.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@snootchie 

The daily usage pages updates data usage in two 12 hour blocks of time after midnight eastern. Your discrepancy in usage is because the last two 12 hour periods have not been updated in your daily usage pages. The overview data counters are the most accurate. Once you use up each data component with their own data counter they disappear from your account either until renewal or permanently if it's a data add on as they are one time.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[dust2dust]

The usage details are not real time. The overview page is. It's possible you've used another 800mb recently. Not seeing the 500+500 under my data and add-ons means it's gone. Seeing 1387/2048 in the promo box means you've used that much of the 2gb. All will reset at your next renewal.

[darlicious]

@snootchie 

The data usage message you recieved is correct. You will recieve another one at 95%. The 75% and 95% data usage messages are sent out based on all of the data on your account. This includes plan data, bonus recurring monthly plan data, and any and all data add ons on your account. You shouldn't rely on pm informing you of your data usage. Refer to your data counters on your overview page for the most accurate usage. See the spoiler below for more info and data saving tips.

@NDesai 

In need of a refresher course? See above and below.

Spoiler

Here is some more tips on data usage that can help you conserve data usage and/or find where high data usage is coming from.....

1. Turn your data saver on.*
2. Set your data tracker to the correct calendar dates of your 30 day cycle.
3. Set your data warning. ( I set mine to 25% of plan data**.)
4. Set your data limiter. (I set mine to 50%.**)
5. Turn off all background data in your app usage settings.***
6. Set video content to play on wifi only ( or off altogether) in each individual app's settings.
7. Turn off wifi assist for iPhone or the Android equivalent.
8. For low data plans turn off mobile data and turn on when needed or to download MMS.
9. Use free wifi when available.
10. Double check that your phone is connected to wifi. Your phone can sometimes not automatically reconnect to wifi after rebooting, resetting or leaving/entering a wifi area.

*Android and iPhone's data saver tools work differently it is prudent to check settings in each phone's apps for such things as your photo app for device syncing, backing up etc.... Note: viewing or searching for backed up/stored photos can use considerable mobile data.

**Public Mobile sends out a text from 611 giving a warning at 75% and 95% of total data usage. If you have data add ons these warnings include both plan data and add on data.

**So if you just have 1gb of plan data you will get a warning at 756mb/1024mb and 973mb/1024mb. However if you have 1gb of plan data and a 5gb data add on (1024mb+5120mb=6144mb) these warnings will recieved at 4608mb/6144mb and 5837mb/6144mb respectively.

**This is why setting your data warning and limiter is important so that an errant app's sudden usage can be noticed and/or stopped by your phone's data usage tools rather than relying on pm's limited warnings system.

***Background data can use up to 38% of your data that is pure wastage.

Get in the habit of taking screenshots of your overview page and payment history before and after renewal for record keeping and checking that your data and/or limited minute/text counter resets.

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[snootchie]

Thanks for this.  Would you be able to tell me how you view your usage on your original plan? Would you be able to screenshot what you click on? The usage of my bonus 2 GB shows under my promotions. I can't find the usage of my original plan anywhere.

As it stands right now, either my usage history (which shows I have only used 1.5 GB this month) is wrong, or my 75% usage notification is wrong. 

[JL9]

I have 2 Bonus gigs too and it shows under my promotions while my original 2.5+5 gigs shows elsewhere under my plan. My 2GB bonus isn't under add ons for me. Both of them show how much I have used in 0/xxxx MB format. 

[snootchie]

Under my usage history, if I add everything up, it shows a total of 1.5 GB used.  This is my first month with Public Mobile so pretty easy to see how much I have used this first month so far.

[dust2dust]

You don't see the 500+500 on the overview do you? 3072 * .75 = 2304 then 1024 + 1387 = 2411 Seems to me you got the 75% of all available data.

[computergeek541]

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@snootchie wrote:

Thanks for the tip. Under Data & Add-On Usage, I see this. Does this mean I have 2 GB of data per month, not 3 GB like I had understood?

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This means that you've already used up the 1GB included with the plan and your'e now into the bonus data.

[snootchie]

Thanks for the input.  My plan has 1 GB of data (500 MB + 500 MB).  So I'm already over that limit.  The 75% notification seems to be based on the bonus.  Just trying to figure out whether I have about 0.5 GB or 1.5 GB left this month.

[snootchie]

Thanks for the tip. Under Data & Add-On Usage, I see this. Does this mean I have 2 GB of data per month, not 3 GB like I had understood?

[NDesai]

@snootchie The warning system won't know about the extra 2GB add-on as it is temporary bonus. It is giving you the warning based on the data bucket you have in your plan. 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Data-Usage-Notification/m-p/801311/highli...

[computergeek541]

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@snootchie wrote:

I received a text message from Public Mobile saying I have used 75% of the data in my service. This appears to be incorrect.  My plan includes:

• - 500MB + 500MB at 3G Speed
• - Unlimited Canada-wide Talk
• - Unlimited International Text

When I signed up, I also received a promotional "2GB bonus for 12 months"

So by my understanding, my plan has 3 GB data per month.  I have used 1.5 GB of data so far this month so I have used only 50% of the data in my service, not 75%.  Is my understanding correct?  Thanks in advance for your help!

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Go by the remaining amount as shown in your Self Serve account. That will always be the most accurate and up-to-date.