Data usage seems to be going quick

[jlucianoo]

Hi everyone, 

This is my first time asking a question in the community so I hope I'm doing it right.  I'm on the $120 12GB 90day talk/text ($40 per month fall promo from 2016).  My most recently statement started May 14 and on July 21 all 12GB of my data had been used up.  I have wifi at home and work and this seems strange to use up so much data in 9 weeks time.  I purchased a 1GB data add on to get me by on July 21 which expired yesterday.  Again being 2+ weeks from my renewal I opted to purchase another 1GB of data around 7pm (EST) last night.  I checked my data right now and it's already showing usage of 290mb of 1024mb.

I think there might be some sort of error in tracking and it seems very difficult to view data usage online.  After reading some forums I may look into a datatracker app, but I've already started deleting apps, auto-play is off on social media, location services off, wifi-assist is off. 

I'm out of suggestions.  Is there someone that can look into my account or suggest other ways to limit usage?

Thanks, 

Jeff

[jlucianoo]

@Pravdivost My issue seems to have worked itself out lately. I've downloaded 'My Data Manager' app to continue tracking and started fresh on my renewal date (Aug 11) and the last two weeks the data has been pretty on par with what PM has shown online. Not sure what had caused the issue last period but it definitely made me much more cautious going forward, I'm always on WiFi at work as well as home so how i managed to use 14gb over three months is baffling.

[Pravdivost]

I have this problem too. I switched from Rogers and never went over 4 gb per month with my regular usuage. I switched to public mobile and now I'm using around 8gb per month with absolutely no usage change. Really I could understand a fluctuation of a gig or so but double makes me thinks something is screwy. I have been monitoring my data closely since I got my first warning message and public mobile is saying I'm using on average 40% more data than my phone is says I am using in cellular.

[Dougk]

Don't get me wrong I'm not concerned , but just seemed interesting pending time of renewal it showed it...and whether on or off during renewal it always shows 5 meg...

[xCameron94x]

@Dougk i wouldn't be overly concerned, as it is only 5Mb of data. Which is basically nothing. The PM data usage is not real time, so you must've done something little before the phone died. Even when you power on the phone, you are connected to data until the phone picks up wifi

I would be more concerned if it showed a variance of 100 MB

[Dougk]

I've noticed that as well, my phone actually died and prior to midnight or whenever the plan time renewed my phone always shows 5meg used despite being on WiFi and in this case it was dead so no change of my phone leaking data...so if its off...how'd I use 5meg of data ?

[tzliu]

App auto-updates can consume data like crazy.  I would defintely limit certain apps such App Store to WiFi only.

You can fine-tune it by going 

Settings -> Cellular 

Turn off "USE CELLULAR DATA FOR:" for the apps you don't need to run. 

Also turn off iCloud Drive using cellular.  

[jlucianoo]

@shawnie_boy Ok, I'll turn that back on.

[shawnie_boy]

Background refresh will be required for any data manager to function.

[zhadj030]

My data manager is by far one of the best data tracking apps, are you sure that maybe updates are not set up to download using data, always set them up to WiFi only, and check your built-in data tracker it should show which app is consuming most of the data

[jlucianoo]

@mimmo - I saw that option about renewing early too, so far I've purchased two 1GB add-ons for a steep price lol. I'm gonna try and make this work until August 11th which is my renewal date and hopefully going forward I won't have this issue! Thanks

[jlucianoo]

Thanks for the advice, @shawnie_boy, @xCameron94x.   I've downloaded My Data Manager app for iPhone and we'll see how this goes. Background App Refresh is off completely and auto-play videos are turned off for Instagram/Facebook/Twitter to limit data usage. 

[mimmo]

you might wnat to ask a mod to actually renew your plan early insted of buying additional 1 gb addons.  If you think you will go through 4 1gb addons between now and your renewal date. then it is better to renew early.

[xCameron94x · Accepted solution]

By "auto-play" do you mean that background processes are turned off? Basically any app can run in the background unless you tell it to stop. Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, ect are one of those apps that will always refresh constantly with all the new posts throughout the day. Check your phones data history, and see what apps have been using the most data and start from there

For data trackers, my data manger will be the best option for you. It can track even the 90 day plans

[shawnie_boy]

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@jlucianoo wrote:

Hi everyone, 

This is my first time asking a question in the community so I hope I'm doing it right.  I'm on the $120 12GB 90day talk/text ($40 per month fall promo from 2016).  My most recently statement started May 14 and on July 21 all 12GB of my data had been used up.  I have wifi at home and work and this seems strange to use up so much data in 9 weeks time.  I purchased a 1GB data add on to get me by on July 21 which expired yesterday.  Again being 2+ weeks from my renewal I opted to purchase another 1GB of data around 7pm (EST) last night.  I checked my data right now and it's already showing usage of 290mb of 1024mb.

I think there might be some sort of error in tracking and it seems very difficult to view data usage online.  After reading some forums I may look into a datatracker app, but I've already started deleting apps, auto-play is off on social media, location services off, wifi-assist is off. 

I'm out of suggestions.  Is there someone that can look into my account or suggest other ways to limit usage?

Thanks, 

Jeff

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Hi Jeff,

it is more likely that there is an issue with your phone and there is a lot of data leaking. If you have an iPhone I suggest you download an app that tracks data. Just search for it in App Store, there are a bunch for free. You will then be able to see. Also you can look in the phones settings and it will show you what apps are using data and how much they have been using. I suspect you have a rogue app.