Data usage notifications - incorrect/useless?

[CalgaryBen]

Have other users gotten incorrect data usage notifications lately?  It seems the last few notifications to me have been incorrect, and caused a bit of needless panic on my part.  (I'm not yet sure if this is a rant, heads-up, or just a question...)

About 17 days into a 30-day plan, I was at 519.984 / 1024 MB according to the self-serve portal, which was right about where I expected to be (the 1GB/30 days is sized almost perfectly for my needs).  I received an SMS saying I had used 75% of included data, which was what prompted me to check the self-serve portal.

I went into this billing period with no data add-ons left to be consumed (even if I had, it wouldn't add up).

I received similar bogus/incorrect SMS notifications last month, but I dismissed as the system not doing math properly since I had some residual data add-on left.

In the overall scheme of things, it boils down to an annoying quirk more than anything.  Just wondering if it's systemic/widespread, or localized.  Not really big enough of an issue that I need to bother mods about...

[CalgaryBen · Accepted solution]

Conclusion: YMMV  <-- seems like a good tagline for PM!

I got a 95% usage notification yesterday, and when I logged into my self-serve portal, it was showing 930 / 1024 MB at the time.  Not way off like when I got the 75% notification at 520 / 1024 MB, but not exactly at the 972 MB mark I would've expected (and experienced in the past).

For me, the online usage is quite real-time, so I sort of treat it as gospel for tracking my usage.  If I'm out and about using data, I can monitor the usage displayed in the self-serve and it goes up accordingly.  When I get home and switch to WiFi, the cellular data usage stops incrementing.  So, it doesn't seem like a "lagging" usage indicator.

Oh well, no conclusive answer, but I'll let this one rest!

[CalgaryBen]

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@CalgaryBen wrote:

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I guess I'll wait a few days and see if I get another 75% usage notification when I truly cross the ~750 MB mark!

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Well, here we are.  It must've been yesterday or today that I passed 75% of the 1GB data usage, as I'm sitting at 784.443 / 1024 MB.  NO SMS notification that this happened!

I'm a few days away from my 30-day renewal, so as we approach, I may deliberately burn through more data to get past 95%, and see if the notification comes through.

It might be inconclusive (I'm not getting any sense whether it's just me or more widespread, at this time), but for me, this affirms the claim in the subject!  Data usage notifications appear to be incorrect and useless!

[stonechucker]

Data monitors are available from both the Google and Apple app stores.  Get one that does 30-day (or 90-day) cycles, and set, and forget it.

On Android, I highly recommend Data Witness PM.  Free for Public Mobile users from Community Member IWIK.

[public2]

Oh yeah definitely, literally seconds after posting I realized my iphone useage was off compared to self serve and then made a whole post only to realize I didn't reset the useage until after the carrier updates ... lol

[CalgaryBen]

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@public2 wrote:

If you have an iphone, under cellular data in settings there's a "current period" and you have all # of mb that specific apps have used under the toggles. 

You can reset statistics (on the very bottom of the cellular data screen) every month and it will be very accurate!

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I've used that in the past, but I wish:

• you could reset as-of an effective date (i.e. retroactively), because I tend to forget to do this on the billing cycle, and days/weeks have passed by the time I think of doing a reset.
• you could schedule this to reset (e.g. every 30 days, on the nth of every x months, etc.)
• you could access historical usage.

Oh well, maybe in iOS 13? 

[public2]

If you have an iphone, under cellular data in settings there's a "current period" and you have all # of mb that specific apps have used under the toggles. 

You can reset statistics (on the very bottom of the cellular data screen) every month and it will be very accurate!

[CalgaryBen]

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@stonechucker wrote:

are you using a 30 day tracker of your own on your device?

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I don't bother with any app or tool in the phone to track data usage... I rely solely on the self-serve portal!  For me, it's proven to be fairly reliable/accurate, and usage is predictable and consistent with what I'm actually doing.  So, I have no issue with the number in the portal -- for me it works exactly as expected/intended!

It was just the recent SMS notification that I had issues with, causing my heart to skip a beat, and making me think that I did have a rogue app chewing through data...

I guess I'll wait a few days and see if I get another 75% usage notification when I truly cross the ~750 MB mark!

[stonechucker]

@CalgaryBen, are you using a 30 day tracker of your own on your device?  You're not using the stock monthly data tracker that will be off depending on the 30 or 90 day plan, vs monthly plan.

[Anonymous]

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@CalgaryBen wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wonder if it could be delays in reporting. Did you (or your phone in the background) maybe use a bunch of data? Maybe the warning notices things right away but the reporting is overnight or 12 hours.

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Actually, I've found that the self-serve portal is fairly accurate and close to real-time.  Although I made my post today, the 75% and 519.984 / 1024 values were from two days ago (I had screen-captured the info, and only had time to post today).  As of this writing (2 days later) I'm sitting at 631.815 / 1024 MB, so I still haven't reached 75%!

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Ah. Well there we go then. The mystery continues. I have no straws left.

[CalgaryBen]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wonder if it could be delays in reporting. Did you (or your phone in the background) maybe use a bunch of data? Maybe the warning notices things right away but the reporting is overnight or 12 hours.

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Actually, I've found that the self-serve portal is fairly accurate and close to real-time.  Although I made my post today, the 75% and 519.984 / 1024 values were from two days ago (I had screen-captured the info, and only had time to post today).  As of this writing (2 days later) I'm sitting at 631.815 / 1024 MB, so I still haven't reached 75%!

[stonechucker]

As you've mentioned it's an SMS notification, it's coming from Public Mobile or a really good spoof of it.

I'm leaning that data reported in the usage history may not yet cover your current day (maybe past day also) data, as data transactions are only reported twice daily.

This conflicts with my thoughts on how the SMS messages are sent out, as many users claim to not receive the warnings when they've run out completely of their data bucket.

Yet another possible quandary to solve.

[Anonymous]

 @CalgaryBen: I wonder if it could be delays in reporting. Did you (or your phone in the background) maybe use a bunch of data? Maybe the warning notices things right away but the reporting is overnight or 12 hours.

The straws are poking my fingers. 🙂