Data Usage after hours

[Aciu]

Anybody know why data is being used after I turn off my cell phone? Occurs between midnight & 3am.

[Aciu]

Thank-you! Hopefully, this will be of great help for me!

[dabr]

@Aciu    Disabling or restricting background data being used by APPs helps conserve your available data so it's a good idea to disable or turn on Data Saver on your device which is normally under Settings, then Data Usage and Data Saver.  The settings might a bit different for different devices/models but you should be able to find the setting on yours.

[Aciu]

Re: "edit" do not know if background data data disabled. wouldn't know how to do this or why it would be of use.

[wetcoaster]

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@Aciu wrote:

Thanks for info. Am not happy about this because I have limited mb. One time there was 118mb used for these updates. Ridiculous.  Another item, my cell states I've used 112mb thus far but PM states 247mb. Just don't understand the discrepancy.

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The numbers you are seeing are a report of the data that you / your phone has used in the previous 12 hour (ish). If you are not happy about the usage, you'll have to adjust the permissions for the apps on your phone. You could turn off data when you are not using it / are in WiFi range. And/or change your usage pattern.

possible culprits for high data use in random order:

- apps syncing in the background

- OS updates over data instead of WiFi

- WiFi assist (or similar function, it "augments" a weak WiFi signal with data use)

- autoplay / auto download of media files on social media 

Edit:

I just remembered another one that got me the first time after the according OS/app update:

iMessage or chat messages (RCS) in Android Messenger use data too. Make sure to turn the feature off in the phone's settings so that messages are sent and metered as SMS/MMS (while data has to be on for MMS to send, they will not be metered as data).

[Aciu]

Thanks for the info. Went to the android app & read reviews - all stating that stats aren't accurate. I'll just have to go to PM site to get data usage.

[dabr]

@Aciu   The discrepancy between your phone's usage and PM's account is probably due to the phone not being synced with the actual account cycle which will change due PM billing every 30 days.  So you need to change the start cycle for data usage on your device each cycle too to get a more accurate reading of usage.

edit:  BTW, do you have background data disabled and only allow updates on wifi?

[esjliv]

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@Aciu wrote:

Thanks for info. Am not happy about this because I have limited mb. One time there was 118mb used for these updates. Ridiculous.  Another item, my cell states I've used 112mb thus far but PM states 247mb. Just don't understand the discrepancy.

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@Aciu - is your phone set up to the same start date of your plan? Plans are 30 days here. So you likely would need to update the start date in the settings in your device each time your plan renews.

Best to go by what My Account is showing, and not your phone device. Ensure you are looking at data usage on your device also, and not wifi usage. Some mix that up.

Perhaps install an app to track your ‘live’ usage so you can keep track. Public Mobile are 30 day plans (not monthly).

If you are android, try this one:

Data Witness app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iwik.datawitnesspm&hl=en_CA&gl=US

I use this one myself and it gives me what I need from it.

You could also check out Data counter widget: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roysolberg.android.datacounter&hl=en_CA&gl=US

If you are an Apple user, I am sure there is a 30-day app that is available as well.

Managing Your Data Usage:

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

[Aciu]

Thanks for info. Am not happy about this because I have limited mb. One time there was 118mb used for these updates. Ridiculous.  Another item, my cell states I've used 112mb thus far but PM states 247mb. Just don't understand the discrepancy.

[Handy1 · Accepted solution]

@Aciu  PM updates every 12 hours …but you can keep good track of data by this 

try refreshing the page when logged in

For most up to date account info

[BKNS27]

@Aciu 

PM updates your account twice a day. They are update your usage.

Updates are around midnight and midday.