Dispute data usage

[Kimdixon24]

I am disputing the data using on July 26 to July 30, 2022. I was sleeping when the data was used. I was also at the cottage for two days and left my phone at home connected to Wifi during that time. I wasn’t using data at all. 

[darlicious]

@P_P 

The old dog deserves a bone!🍗 Or a drumstick roll?!!

Exactly! SMS and MMS can be sent/recieve on both the 3G and 4G LTE networks. SMS requires no data usage while MMS depending on the size of the file being sent (ie. photo "size" which if too large will be reduced in quality to be sent) will use up to 300kb of data to be sent/recieved. Public Mobile sends MMS thru a separate server than the server used for plan data thus it does not count against your plan data. Only having mobile data enabled is required to send/recieve MMS.

However your phone may not distinguish between the data usage which can account for the difference in usage between your device and your self serve account's reported data usage. Other provider's may or may not count MMS against plan data and when roaming in the US via pm's roaming partners At&t and T-Mobile to send/recieve MMS the only requirement is to have a US Roaming data add on and it will count against your roaming data usage. SMS requires the US Roaming texting add on to send SMS texts. Incoming SMS texts require no US Roaming add ons to be recieved.

[Korth]

@P_P 

The simplest way to know if your texting app consumes data (and/or wifi) is to see if it works while data (and/or wifi) is turned off.

Every decent texting app will have a setting or option somewhere which lets you only do standard SMS and standard MMS. Many texting apps extend these things - with fancy emote libraries, sounds, animations, and other pretty engaging features - but these nonstandard extensions circumvent the normal SMSC/MMSC stuff built into the network and just send their own special message formats (to some other kind of message processing server on the cloud) across your data.

iMessage is by far the biggest offender. Because iMessage users are largely unaware that Apple has configured their communications to go through nonstandard (data-consuming, data-mining) iCloud servers instead of through their provider's normal built-in message handling machinery.

It has to be a standard text message to be recognized and handled by the network as a standard text message. Unlimited on (almost) every plan at Public Mobile. If it's a weird nonstandard text message which takes a detour through the cloud then it's going to consume your data.

[softech]

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@P_P wrote:

if I use a free app such as text free every message and photo will be eating into my data whereas if I send and receive texts with photos directly to my cell # it is unlimited and won't use my data as long as it is simple sms/mms messaging, did I get it right?

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@P_P   if you use apps like Whatsapp, Signal, Facebook message, iMessage, RCS, then yes, it will consume data unless you are using it on Wifi

If you send via traditional MMS or SMS, then it won't cost you data

[P_P]

Korth, thank you for that detailed explanation, I'm an old dog learning new tricks.

for my own understanding, if I use a free app such as text free every message and photo will be eating into my data whereas if I send and receive texts with photos directly to my cell # it is unlimited and won't use my data as long as it is simple sms/mms messaging, did I get it right?

[darlicious]

@Kimdixon24 

Your data usage is updated in two 12 hour blocks of time. It is usually updated shortly after midnight eastern. Check your data tracker and ensure you have the correct dates of your 30 day cycle. Now check your usage on the phone for the 24 hours previous to the data usage reported  in your account. There could be a lag time of 12 hours but you should be able to determine whether the data reported matches approximately what you used in that 24 hour period. If you go back thru your daily usage pages you will see how data is consistently reported daily.The time stamp actually has nothing to do with when you used the data only the amount used in each 12 hour block of time.

[Korth]

Background data, updates, syncs, and telemetry constantly leech data while they're active. (So does spyware, adware, and malware - all things you don't want - so it doesn't hurt to scan for them, even though they're not really prevalent on smartphones yet.)

Some apps have become notorious for collecting far too much "private" information and for consuming far too much data while people think they're "inactive". The McDs and Tim Hortons apps are recent examples - they'll eat your gigabytes when you leave them unattended.

If you have these apps installed and they're using you more than you're using them then it's probably good advice to rethink whether you still want to keep them around. Doesn't make sense to save a dollar on your fast food if it costs you ten dollars worth of data.

Disable all data permissions for all apps, top to bottom. Whether they're built into the phone software or they're stuff you installed. They can all wait until you actually turn on your phone and actually use the app. If they absolute require data to function properly then you can always (re)allow data on a per-app basis as you choose.

Disable cellular data. Same deal - if you're not actively using it then it shouldn't actively be using itself - turn it on when you need it, keep it turned off when you don't.

If you're using an MMS app with extended functionality - like iMessage, RCS, or Signal - then it will consume your (limited) data every time it sends or receives anything. Even if people send you photos while your phone is turned off.

Go into the settings and configure it to use standard SMS/MMS protocols instead, this way these communications will be recognized by the network as standard SMS/MMS packets - which are all unlimited at Public Mobile. (MMS photos/attachments will still require data to be active but are each reported in Self-Serve usage as "MMS Events" which consume 0.000MB of billable data. You won't miss anything if you get in the habit of turning your data on before clicking to send or to download images, turning off again when you're done.)

Smartphones have built-in data monitoring/tracking/usage apps these days. And you can always install (or improve) these apps with downloaded freebies. They'll let you see exactly what's using exactly how much of your data. Good for identifying the offending things you should remove or replace.

[Timer]

@Kimdixon24 

 is a glitch in the system is a new design,and in your account show different usage data but it's not real,, it is affecting a lot of people, until the system complete updated very soon,

if needed to contact support team by private message CS_Agent

[NDesai]

@Kimdixon24 If your phone is an iPhone (maybe other phones too), WiFi doesn't stay connected at all time. It disconnects WiFi to save battery and keeps the LTE/3G connected. If you got bunch of alerts during this time, likely it used some of your data. How much data are we talking here? If its way over 100 MB, you might wanna review your usage in your phone to see which app used data or in your self-serve account. 

[JL9]

The data usage on the main screen on your self serve seems to be wonky, mine was 2GB off but it corrected itself, however if your usage history is showing it, you can connect with a CSA via private message and get them to investigate to see if it was a glitch. There have been people in the past who recovered some data in some situations.

[hairbag1]

Is data turned off on all apps whilst you were asleep / gone ?

Make sure wifi assist is disabled too.