Data sucked dry

[North711]

On December 13th, at 2:46 am was was awakened by a text message on my phone, notifying me that I had used 75% of my data, since renewal of my plan on Dec 4th. I thought that was strange, but went back to sleep, only to be re-awakened at 3:50 am to a text message  saying I had used 95%, and again at 4:15 am, saying I had now used up 100%. 

I have checked my data usage log and I can't see how or why that happened.

I am laid off right now, and am home 95% of the time, using my home wifi. There is no way I have used 5G in 9 days. I don't game, or stream or even watch a lot of videos on my phone. This is so not right!!!

[softech]

with the huge usage in that night, it looks like it was a backup or sync on  Google Photo

[pkaraa]

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@North711 wrote:

It shows Google Photos used 4.5GB of data from December 4 to 13th, so it is now uninstalled

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I can relate now.

If you have configured your google photos to upload the pictures once you get it on the phone in any app like whatsapp then as your Wifi was out.. it used your data to upload all the pictures on google. 

check which were the pictures uploaded on that day and if you have auto backup to google photos? 

[North711]

I had it already set to wifi only. I guess manually opening my Google Photos app is what did it 

[softech]

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@North711 wrote:

Already done. I had it already set to update by wifi only. Didn't think that going into my Google Photos via mobile data, while my wifi was down would take that much data, but now I know. Like I said already Never Again! Thank goodness for the Xmas bonus. And thanks everyone for the help. 👍

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Christmas comes at the right time  🙂

Again, if you are home most the time, turn off Mobile Data and that is the BEST way to protect your data

[North711]

Already done. I had it already set to update by wifi only. Didn't think that going into my Google Photos via mobile data, while my wifi was down would take that much data, but now I know. Like I said already Never Again! Thank goodness for the Xmas bonus. And thanks everyone for the help. 👍

[softech]

@North711 If you check the Settings in Google Photos, you can turn off Backup & Sync completely.  

Of you turn it on, there is an option for Mobile Data usage and you can click No Data to stop it from using Mobile Data

[CountyDownIeUk]

Just out of curiosity, on your Android phone can you not restrict some apps from using data? And live with it that way and accept to use those apps with only wifi? And in the advent that you might have dead spots in your residence or yard.....leave data off.....and decide when to have data on?

[t_p]

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@North711 wrote:

• There was no data usage from 12:30 am on. Google Photos app used 4.2 GB at 12:02 am, so that's where it went. Never again!

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@North711 

 It's too late now to cry over spilt milk, but I would suggest you set all your apps, especially the "hungry" ones, to update ONLY on wifi from now on. And turn off the data switch on the phone whenever possible.

[softech]

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@North711 wrote:

• There was no data usage from 12:30 am on. Google Photos app used 4.2 GB at 12:02 am, so that's where it went. Never again!

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your Photo apps was doing a backup to the Google Cloud, I think.

Could it be your home wifi , home internet router rebooted during the time? 

Best is to turn off Mobile Data when you are home.  Also, check the setting with Google Backup to make sure it won't backup while on Data

[North711]

• There was no data usage from 12:30 am on. Google Photos app used 4.2 GB at 12:02 am, so that's where it went. Never again!

[North711]

Yup. I've uninstalled Google Photos app. I'll just use my Samsung Gallery to look access my pictures.

[softech]

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@North711 wrote:

Why did it do that, all at once? I have been away from wifi before with the same plan, and never had a problem.

I didn't even use my camera at that time, or my photos, and wasn't uploading or downloading at all.

We have been on Public Mobile for at least a year now, and I don't usually use a lot of data.

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@North711  

if you are home, best is to turn off Mobile Data and it will for sure stop it

you have to dig in a bit to find out and provide us more details to help.   If you want to find out how your data was "leaked" and which app used that, use the Mobile Data page and it will confirmed if your phone did used the data and which app

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Self-Serve/Data-sucked-dry/m-p/758484/highlight/true#...

Your usage history posted earlier was about incoming calls only .  You should to look for Web traffic

[t_p]

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@North711 wrote:

Why did it do that, all at once? I have been away from wifi before with the same plan, and never had a problem.

I didn't even use my camera at that time, or my photos, and wasn't uploading or downloading at all.

We have been on Public Mobile for at least a year now, and I don't usually use a lot of data.

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@North711 

There must be some settings you have set up in the app that allowed it to update or sync the contents. You'll have to figure that out, I'm afraid.

[North711]

Why did it do that, all at once? I have been away from wifi before with the same plan, and never had a problem.

I didn't even use my camera at that time, or my photos, and wasn't uploading or downloading at all.

We have been on Public Mobile for at least a year now, and I don't usually use a lot of data.

[t_p]

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@North711 wrote:

It shows Google Photos used 4.5GB of data from December 4 to 13th, so it is now uninstalled

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@North711 

So there is the culprit!

[North711]

It shows Google Photos used 4.5GB of data from December 4 to 13th, so it is now uninstalled

[softech]

@North711   you are on Android, can you check your Mobile Data page on the phone?  just make sure you change the cycle start date to Dec 4 and see what it says there.  This is a track from the phone level and you can tell exactly if you phone uses the data

[North711]

For some reason, it shows all my data being used, over 4.4GB just after 12:02 am Dec 13th. All at once!! How does that work? I was in bed. Our home wifi was out, due to an outage at the time, but we were watching a DVD instead of using the internet, up until then. 

[North711]

OP is using a Samsung Android. I am using a very cheap plan as it is. That's why I am on Public mobile. My hubby has the same plan, starts the same date, in the same house, Android, and does more video watching than I do, but he still has lots of data. 

[softech]

@North711   I know you said you are using Wifi, but there must be some reason why Mobile Data was triggered and we are trying to find out here

Are you on Android?  can you check from the Mobile Data usage on the phone  

If not, at least check what your Usage history shows.  It must show there are some big usage in the past 9 days

iOS Wifi Assist or Android's Adaptive Wifi could be the reason, too, but we need to confirm what brand/model you are using

[t_p]

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@North711 wrote:

It was completely empty until I accepted the Xmas bonus offer

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@North711 

Ok. Definitely check your Usage history since renewal date and if you can't see anything using large amount of data, contact Customer support.

[CountyDownIeUk]

1. Keep in mind the OP is using wifi. 

2. What kind of phone is the OP using?

3. If OP is laid off.....consider using a less expense plan for the time being. 

[North711]

It was completely empty until I accepted the Xmas bonus offer

[Yummy]

If you keep your phone ON all the time and DATA is enabled, I would not be surprised that background apps are doing what they like the best: connect to Internet and see what is going on!

Check if you have DATA ON. Turn your phone off when you go to bed. Check which app is using your data. Restrict background app usage.

Android: Settings, Connections, Data usage, Mobile data usage.

[softech · Accepted solution]

@North711   are you on Android or iPhone?

if Android, you can easily check your usage since Dec 4.  Just check the Mobile Data usage.  Change the Cycle start date to Dec 4 and it will show you how much data you used and which app was the "killer"

for iOS, you  likely cannot easily check backward if you didn't reset the data on the correct day.

But a question for you, do you notice you have some big OS update or App update lately?

Also, login to My Account and check the Usage History and see what it says.  You should see last chunk of data showing in these 9 days

[twas google photos app updating ....... Luddite]

[t_p]

@North711 

I don't see any data usage in those screenshots.

You should contact CS via the links I posted above.

Edit: @North711 

Did you check your Overview page to see how much data you have left? Or is this field 

completely empty?

[North711]

This is what my data usage log shows

 

edited by computergeek541: pikctures removed from message

 

[Triguy]

If you have an iPhone to turn off Wi-Fi assist.

For iPhone:

• Go to settings
• Click on Cellular
• Scroll to the bottom
• Turn off WI-FI assist

[t_p]

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@North711 wrote:

On December 13th, at 2:46 am was was awakened by a text message on my phone, notifying me that I had used 75% of my data, since renewal of my plan on Dec 4th. I thought that was strange, but went back to sleep, only to be re-awakened at 3:50 am to a text message  saying I had used 95%, and again at 4:15 am, saying I had now used up 100%. 

I have checked my data usage log and I can't see how or why that happened.

I am laid off right now, and am home 95% of the time, using my home wifi. There is no way I have used 5G in 9 days. I don't game, or stream or even watch a lot of videos on my phone. This is so not right!!!

---

@North711 

What does your data usage log show? Can you post a screenshot?

If it shows no usage from your part, then you'll need to contact CS for investigation:

Spoiler

Open a ticket via:
https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html (faster response time)
Type "ticket" > Click "Contact Us" > Select your issue > "Click here to submit a ticket↗"

or send a private message to:
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437
and describe your issue. Include your name,phone #, account #, Email address,4-digit PIN to speed up authentication process.

After sending the message, watch your community inbox for their reply.