cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

too much data gone

khannaford
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Hi,

 

My son is on the 250mb plan with unlimited calls and texts, and using an iPhone 6. My usage overview indicates he used nearly 223mb on his first day.

 

14/01/2020 12:04Web     223.04 MBMB$0.00

 

This is extremely unlikely, as he has only been texting and other routine web things. He also was in school with his phone off at the time indicated. Is there a way to get further details on this supposed data use?

 

Thanks.

16 REPLIES 16

elstewart
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Definitely check which apps he used during that time. 

Anything like facebook or instagram where there are pictures or especially videos will consume HUGE amounts of data. If he uses spotify or anything that could also be part of it. There are usually settings on each individual apps that will have "data saver" options. I think for Facebook/Instagram it will have it set so that videos do not automatically load/play. So that will save you some data. Snapchat won't download the pictures unless you tell it to if you have data saver on. Spotify also has some options for that. I realized I had high quality sound turned on for spotify (the default setting) because I was streaming a podcast and it consumed almost 400 MB of data (hour long podcast for my commute). 

Hope that helps!

@khannaford  Have your son use MMS/SMS instead of Imessage that way no data is used for texting communication.

marimacas
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Actually, 250MB absorbs very quickly if your phone turns on data connection and background updates. Please make sure the settings to help less data usage.

khannaford
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Yes, we set up the phone as you suggest, with only iMessage and Location Services using data.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@khannaford first off, as @darlicious noted, the time is irrelevant, since the usage history for data is updated in 12-hour batches twice a day (around noon and midnight, Eastern time zone).  

 

Secondly, since your son is on an iPhone, could he be sending a lot of pictures and stuff with other iPhone users over iMessage?  iMessage messages use data (unless you're on WiFi at the time), and sending memes and stuff (which a lot of kids do a lot of!) can consume quite a bit of data pretty quickly.

 

Another thought, you mentioned "routine web things".  Single web pages can use up multiple megabytes at a time with images, scripts, inline videos, stylesheets, advertising assets, etc etc.  I'm not sure what routine web things he's doing, but this could very easily cut into a lot of data very quickly.


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

@khannaford  m daughter has that plan I go in cellular settings and toggle off all apps that use data except for phone which is iMessage and find my iPhone. But if she decides to play a game or watch a video she can go thru the 250mb in a few hours! 

sandpublic
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@khannaford wrote:

yes, I hear you.

 

I'm puzzled because it was 223 megs in one go. My wife and I use iPhones and we never see anything like that. We each have 4 gig plans; if we used 223 just every day, we'd run out halfway through the month!


@khannaford  A good article regarding Data Management can be found here:

 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/managing-your-data-usage

 

@khannaford 

If data usage on the phone matches overall data usage on your account (under "My data and add-ons"), then there is no reason to contact Moderators.

 

With iPhone, you can try these settings to help limit data usage:
- Disable wifi assist
- General. Background app refresh. Enable for wifi only

@khannaford    Btw the web use is not recorded in real time. There's  a minimum lag time of least three hours up to eight hours. I haven't been able go narrow down the timing on it yet.

sandpublic
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@khannaford  On the actual device take a look at the device's data usage it will show the breakdown by data consumed for each application.

 

Kids can consume 4GB within a couple of hours if you let them. Smiley Happy

gblackma
Mayor / Maire

When is your kids lunch period?  I know that you said he was in school with the phone turned off. But.. Also if you have followed all the other suggestions and still have questions. Please contact a moderator as mentioned above.


@khannaford wrote:

Hi,

 

My son is on the 250mb plan with unlimited calls and texts, and using an iPhone 6. My usage overview indicates he used nearly 223mb on his first day.

 

14/01/2020 12:04Web     223.04 MBMB$0.00

 

This is extremely unlikely, as he has only been texting and other routine web things. He also was in school with his phone off at the time indicated. Is there a way to get further details on this supposed data use?

 

Thanks.


 

@khannaford  Yes as suggested these are likely the cause of a huge loss of data. Go thru each app check how much data was used then restrict the background data use. Youll find a couple apps are real hogs on top of updates. Enable the data saver and tracking. Put low limit of 25 or 50mb so your son will be warned of sudden data usage. Advise him to keep the mobile data off unless he needs it.

@khannaford 

If the phone is new or hasn't recently connected to the internet, it will start all sorts of updates once connected. You have to change the phone settings to limit the background updates.

 

If you check the data settings now, you can see the data usage and which apps consumed it.

khannaford
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

yes, I hear you.

 

I'm puzzled because it was 223 megs in one go. My wife and I use iPhones and we never see anything like that. We each have 4 gig plans; if we used 223 just every day, we'd run out halfway through the month!

LovesToPM
Mayor / Maire

@khannaford 

Check the iPhone. You can see your data usage under mobile data settings.

 

250 MB doesn't go your far. Apple is notorious for having default settings that consume your data in the background. They seem to think everyone has a large data plan.

Triguy
Mayor / Maire

Have your son check his settings to make sure GPS is turned off and also automatic updates for apps.

If you are having trouble with your services, the next step is to contact a moderator. Here is the link to create a ticket through SIMon:


https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help -> Click on Chat with Simon - on the line "ask me something" write "moderator" -> then click on "account specific question" -> afterward click on "no, I want a human" -> finally you will see an answer "submit a ticket Click me!"

Need Help? Let's chat.