Data Usage Texts vs. Data Usage History Not Equal

[BCsurfer]

Hello, I received all three of my 75/95/100% usage texts within roughly 1 hour of each other today. I then went and checked both my wife's and my own (shared data) usage history and keyed in the dates that correspond with our billing cycle. We have the 5GB plan, and adding up all the values on each of the page/tabs going back to the start of our billing date shows only around 1GB used so far. How can I confirm that my data usage history is correct and that I have not used all my data? How do I get this resolved and my ability to use data reinstated? 

Thanks for the help!

[softech]

.. yes, interesting.. look like there is no way for iPhone to track backward.  

For my Android.. I can change the date to like last Sunday and the data usage would show how much since Sunday.

the 4GB was then from yesterday or the day before... 4GB is not small and it might be easy to track if it is really used from your phone. 

• Any chance there is an OS update downloaded during the time?    (as @darlicious  said, the latest update is 2.7Gb... )
• Any chance you have watched a movie during the time?  or launched a game ? 
• Any chance there is a App store update for a big number of apps?
• Do you ever setup hotspot on your iphone?  any chance it was triggered and you weren't aware?
• You have setup any cloud backup?  maybe it got triggered and a large load of data got moved onto cloud (likely involving video if that is the case)

if you are certain you did nothing of the above.  I really can't think of much that would take 4Gb in such a short time.   I guess you can reply to mod and see if they can do anything. 

[darlicious]

@BCsurfer 

I am not that familiar with iPhones do they have both a data warning and a data limiter?;If so set your warning at 25% and limiter at 50% of plan data. Or less since you have 5gb in your plan.

[darlicious]

@BCsurfer 

As  previously mentioned data is updated in twice daily 12 hour blocks. You know what time you got your 611 usage texts so it occurred before then and after probably noon eastern (or 9 am pacific). 

[esjliv]

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@BCsurfer wrote:

So as of this morning a 4GB usage showed up on my history. The time stamp for it was 12:31pm yesterday but mods are saying that it could be an accumulation from a set number of previous hours before that...not sure exactly how many. 

Long story short, this has never happened to me before but the system is showing that I downloaded that amount. I've installed a data manger on my phone to track it going forward but there does not appear to be a way for me to figure out which app or website was the culprit. I hadn't reset my built-in iphone app usage statistics since 2013 so the numbers there were useless. 

I've resigned that I probably won't figure out how this happened. Frustrating nonetheless. 

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Hello @BCsurfer ,

In cases like this, you really wish there was a glitch somewhere and the data amount can be given back to you. Sorry to hear it. 😞

That, near, 24 hour delay of data usage history in our detail info. (that does not match live info on our Overview tab) is not great when you want to see where it all went in that short amount of time. 

A separate way to track your data is the best way to go. And it sounds like you are now on top  of that. Hopefully, with limit warnings this can be prevented from happening again.

Good luck!

[darlicious]

@BCsurfer 

Did you accidently install iPhone's latest update on mobile data? Just the software update alone is 2.76GB this time around.

[BCsurfer]

So as of this morning a 4GB usage showed up on my history. The time stamp for it was 12:31pm yesterday but mods are saying that it could be an accumulation from a set number of previous hours before that...not sure exactly how many. 

Long story short, this has never happened to me before but the system is showing that I downloaded that amount. I've installed a data manger on my phone to track it going forward but there does not appear to be a way for me to figure out which app or website was the culprit. I hadn't reset my built-in iphone app usage statistics since 2013 so the numbers there were useless. 

I've resigned that I probably won't figure out how this happened. Frustrating nonetheless. 

[LurganIeUk]

I have done that....copy and paste but so many pages...I stopped doing it. 

[softech]

.. adding to the wishlist.. would be better if it has export to Excel option!!!

[LurganIeUk]

Would be better if you could see 100 lines at a time. Some sites have that option. 

[softech]

Sorting is weird.. and so does moving around pages .. it works sometimes.. it doesn't work sometimes.

I just click on the Call Type..

but it is wired... most the time it sorted. However, sometimes.. i see it sorted.. go thought the list.. thought I got to the end of that particular type.. like Web.. but if i go couple pages further... i see Web again!!!

this is just not very reliable.. 

[darlicious]

@LurganIeUk 

Shhhh!!!! I'm still mostly winging it when it comes to computer stuff!😉

[darlicious]

@softech 

How do you sort it? I've never been able to figure that out....lol!🤔

[softech]

Usage history could go back 90 days.. just use the date range selector 

I just wonder  what is it showing on the phone side.. does phone also confirm the usage that OP mentioned 

[LurganIeUk]

Not 90 days? And trigger the sort as well?

[darlicious]

@BCsurfer 

Data events as shown are MMS messages that go thru a separate server somexclude them as they don't count against plan data. Only add up the twice daily data usage updates that are in 12 hour blocks of time. Essentially midnite eastern to noon. And noon eastern to midnite. Adding up data using the usage pages be off by about 12 hours at renewal since its a little behind. Your phone will be a a little off as data renews at 9pm pacific but your data tracker resets at midnite pacific. 

Since your usage pages only go back 30 days you cannot add up your entire previous 30 day cycle but since it seeks you use about 1gb a week you could add up your last 30 days and it would probably be about 4gb. Anyhow the moderators will reset your data and in 3 weeks you can start taking before and after screenshots of your renewal to save yourself the headache of spreadsheets and calculators.

[softech]

@BCsurfer  look like what you added was correct. and contact Mod is the correct move at the moment

but did you check your phone? did you change the Data usage cycle start date to the same date and see what your phone shows how much you used?

[LurganIeUk]

Haven't read the whole thread....have you looked at your usage.....on your My Account?

[BCsurfer]

Thanks for all the help.

@og2 - I posted earlier that saying my account was linked to my wife was incorrect. The issue remains though on my account. 

I've been contacted by a moderator and they are looking into it. I will post a follow up once we determine what has happened.

[og2]

@BCsurfer 

Seeing as you live in BC

Take a screenshot on the day before your accounts renewal date. There is a high possibility you accidentally used all the data thinking your plans renew at midnight PT. 

[NDesai]

@BCsurfer  wrote:

Here is the link....

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hxfycf1wjkXcr-B5MphrcWxQU89-Z5sN32y6T2rXgVk/edit?usp=sharing

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I don't think the 1 refers to 1 MB of data usage for every Data Event. With that said, there is no way to determine how much data each data event used. May be the moderator team can see more details. 

[BCsurfer]

I use an Iphone.

[softech]

@BCsurfer   checking your spreadsheet, you don't need to add up the Data Event/MMS

btw, what plan do you have with PM?

[LurganIeUk]

@BCsurfer 

Do you have an iPhone or android? 

iMessage will use up data. 

Texting only should not. 

[BCsurfer]

Here is the link....

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hxfycf1wjkXcr-B5MphrcWxQU89-Z5sN32y6T2rXgVk/edit?usp=sharing

[NDesai]

@BCsurfer  wrote:

Yep, I just posted the first page as an example. I could share a link to the google doc...wasn't sure if they want us linking things here.

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Sure, as long as no personal data is there for us to see, I say it's ok to share the link. 

[BCsurfer]

Yep, I just posted the first page as an example. I could share a link to the google doc...wasn't sure if they want us linking things here.

[NDesai]

@BCsurfer  wrote:

I'm including everything thats listed on the data usage history page. Just a straight copy/paste into a google sheet. Here's a part of it, I've removed the personal info in the middle columns but you get the idea.

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That is from July 3 to 5. What about the usage prior to these two days? There are multiple pages to go through and it's not so easy as only a handful or usage load on the 1st page. 

[darlicious]

@BlueB 

This is not an uncommon problem however it highlights the prudence of taking screenshots of your payment and overview page before and after renewal.

[darlicious]

@softech 

#2 has been answered....there's none left.

@BCsurfer 

It's time to contact the moderators.....they will probably be in touch in the morning seeing how late it is now.

[BlueB]

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@BCsurfer wrote:

I'm including everything thats listed on the data usage history page. Just a straight copy/paste into a google sheet. Here's a part of it, I've removed the personal info in the middle columns but you get the idea.

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Welcome to the Community!

I'm impressed!  You sound like a data scientist or auditor... am I close?  🙂

Seeing that you've gone in and checked your detailed usage, if it's really off, then I would push this up the food chain.  May I recommend you do yourself a favour and double-check the start/end dates for your cycle?  Once you've agreed the cycle with your data, I'd push this over to the Moderators (staff) here since we're just users helping users.

You can open a ticket with the Moderators via the SIMon chatbot (chat bubble, lower-right corner) and authenticate yourself to attach your account to the ticket.  Alternatively, you can message them directly here, but they'll still need to authenticate you separately.  I'm really curious now what's going on!  🙂