Data usage has increased drastically??

[JenW]

Hi community.

i have been with PM for 2 years now and have generally been very happy until recently. Even referred my husband and friend over. 

i have 1 gb which has always been sufficient. However in the past 2 months I have ran out well before the next payment date.  Ending up having to purchase more.

My unused apps are closed?  Am beginning to suspect that P M are doling out less than usual?

Perhaps wanting me to upgrade???

any help greatly appreciated- at this rate I could be with various companies who offer similar rates?  Thank you

[Anonymous]

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@Pound wrote:

This could be completely irrelevant, or could have been explained before, but I notice there is always a small data consumption around 5MB immediately after each renewal. 

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Yup. If you turn on cell data, the system grabs a buffer of exactly 5.293MB. You consume over that. It grabs another buffer.

You can reset down to the amount your phone actually used in that buffer session by flipping in and out of airplane mode.

[Pound]

This could be completely irrelevant, or could have been explained before, but I notice there is always a small data consumption around 5MB immediately after each renewal. 

[will13am]

@JenW , Public Mobile does not "doctor" the data usage meter.  You are actually using more data.  One thing to consider is the fact that apps these days are far more feature rich as are websites.  So, doing the same activities today will generally consume more data than a few years back.  If you are using an android phone, I highly recommend installing the data witness app to track data usage.  Your phone should also have data usage tracking, albeit on a monthly cycle vs the 30/90 day cycle for Public Mobile plans.  

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iwik.datawitnesspm&hl=en

[gpixel]

@JenW to save data always turn off mobile data unless you plan to use it

Disable apps auto update
iTunes & App Stores > Turn Off Use Cellular / Mobile Data

Disable background data
Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Turn it Off entirely or by selective Apps

Disable iCloud sync
Go to Settings > Cellular / Mobile Data > Turn Off iCloud Drive

Disable Wifi Assist
Go to Settings > Cellular / Mobile Data > scroll to bottom > Wi-Fi Assist > turn OFF

Disable data on certain apps
Go to Settings > Cellular > Scroll through and disable applications you don't want to used your Cellular Data

[geopublic]

@JenW  You can easily find out how much data was used by each app for a specific period.

Access you phone's data usage setting. Make sure that start date is the same as your plan's start date and you will be able to determine what happened.

[LurganIeUk]

Google your phone...ie. "iPhone save data". You will find a number of suggestions on step by step options to reduce data usage as mentioned. Any option to update over wifi or data...assuming you have access to wifi daily and you are not totally dependant on data.....choose updates on wifi only.....as most likely there is no huge urgent need to make updates.....so why not let wifi do it. And you can select what apps to allow or not allow to be used while on data. 

[Rose25]

@JenW 

Make sure that there aren't any apps running in the background that consume a lot of data. You can check in the phone settings about the apps that use the most data.

Check the self serve account to see the amount of data that gets consumed after you use an app. 

I frequently check my remaining data balance and have never felt an overconsumption of data

[dabr]

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@JenW wrote:

Hi community.

i have been with PM for 2 years now and have generally been very happy until recently. Even referred my husband and friend over. 

i have 1 gb which has always been sufficient. However in the past 2 months I have ran out well before the next payment date.  Ending up having to purchase more.

My unused apps are closed?  Am beginning to suspect that P M are doling out less than usual?

Perhaps wanting me to upgrade???

any help greatly appreciated- at this rate I could be with various companies who offer similar rates?  Thank you

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@JenW   You must be on the $25 plan?  Just FYI PM is offering $30 with 2GB currently, which is a sale and may end anytime. 

As to the data usage you may need to take a look at your phone settings and make sure that all your data saving options haven't been changed.  Sometimes my phone will suddenly enable background data even though I had disabled it.  So I have to make sure it's disabled.  Have you downloaded any new apps on your phone recently too?