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Strange excessive data use on mobile broadband

jeffdawson78
4: Newbie

Hi,

I've very recently - 9 days ago - signed up to Vodafone mobile broadband 50GB plan using there mifi mobile router for use at home on my boat with our laptops.

 

As I have not used this before I have been keen to see how the speeds compare to my old Plusnet broadband and keep an eye on data usage.

I was therefore very surprised to see my account saying I had used 13GB of data over 2 nights! I checked the usage breakdown and saw a number of very strange readings of the same amount at small intervals:

 

16 Jan 2107
18:34  990.03 MB
19:33 990.03 MB
21:07 967.97 MB
21:25 990.03 MB
21:41 967.97 MB
21:57 765.02 MB
22:10 967.97 MB
22:30 199.16 MB

17 Jan 2017
07:09 11.49 MB
20.21 990.03 MB
20:35 967.97 MB
20:49 990.03 MB
21:05 967.97 MB
21:21 495.01 MB
21;28 967.97 MB
21:47 990.03 MB

22:05 234.86 MB 

 

On the 16 I did download a couple of shows from iplayer (approx 1.5GB) but nothing to use anywhere near that much data. 

I called the supprot line this morning but whilst courteous weren't able to do anything other than suggest visiting a store.

Has anyone experienced similar issues and how did you resolve it?

Thanks for any advice!

349 REPLIES 349

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi

 

I think it's common knowledge that streaming and tethering will use more data however that is a lot in a short period of time. 

 

Vodafone would only be able to say how much has been used but not what on. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

To add laptops will use richer pages so more data is used. 

 

Also they can update on the background in the ways of Os updates and apps etc. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

AnnS
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @jeffdawson78

 

It is well documented that downloading and streaming a programme will result in a huge consumption of data.  If you are going to be downloading or streaming a one hour programme in HD, you can expect to get through almost 3GB of data.

 

If you are going to be downloading or streaming,  you need to switch over to Wi-Fi, otherwise you could end up with a large data bill.  

 

From what you have written, most likely the mobile data connection may have dropped or the recording buffered because the speed was in too slow for streaming and reconnected.

 

If you are using iplayer, please see below.

 

BBC iplayer Support

 

 

Nabs
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

@jeffdawson78 have you performed any network speed tests? These can chew through data like there is no tomorrow! I've just done a single speed test and it used just under 50MB of data so if it's something you've been doing a lot of it could add up quickly.
The other thing to watch out for is OS updates on your laptops. If you are running Windows 10 you can set your MiFi as a metered connection this should prevent any excess data being used by the OS.

Thanks for all the responses though I cannot see those being the reason as:

 

1) Its a mifi router connected to my laptop by wifi - no phones, ipads etc. with apps

2) I only downloaded 1.6 GB worth from iplayer on 16 and nothing on 17. I don't stream as the connection speed isn't good enough (Max 1.2 Mb/sec)

3) I've not done any speed tests so thats not it

4) I realise OS updates will use data periodically but 6GB of updates a day for two days, especially when it is Windows 7, I very much doubt it (Thanks for the tip on Windows 10 meterd connection though)

5) For the last 3 years on Plusnet never had any unknown usage spikes like this in my usage counters

6) The fact is the exact same two amounts repeated is just

 

As an update the support centre and vodafone store suggested I take in my mifi router to get it tested so will do that tomorrow, see what the result is and post what they say.

Cheers

You're welcome and please do let us know how you get on. 

 

Best of luck. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

Nabs
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

@jeffdawson78 on the 16th you used just shy of 7GB of data. You mention your speed is 1.2mbps, to download this amount of data at that speed would realistically take about 14 hours... if Vodafone is claiming you've done that in 4 hours there's clearly something wrong with their calculations. 
I'd do a couple of speed test (www.speedtest.net) and take screenshots of the results for when you head into the shop. with that information and the timestamp's of the data usage from their system, they should realise that something isn't correct.

In terms of what that something is; it's either going to be a fault in the billing system or the device is faulty... I suspect the former to be honest

Quick update. Took my mifi router to the Vodafone shop and they are happy to test it. But this means it to needs to get sent off which will take 7-10 days to complete ... 

 

... so will have to wait and see! 

 

 

Elaines35
4: Newbie

I'm glad someone else has had this problem. After being away for  the weekend I arrived home to find text messages on my Huawei hub about excessive usage charges. After logging into my account my data has been going crazy since 22.30 on the 19/01. Below is a snip it of the charges. This continued till about 8.30am on the 20/01 with about 900mb charges every 20-30 minutes. Once my data ran out I was charged an ongoing £6.50 for 250mb and the current total is £182!!!!. It only stopped when my hub reached the set limit and turned the data of. As far as I was aware I had placed a cap on the data limit but it seems it didn't apply. So I tried to do this again and logged in 30min later and to check it was applied and guess what, still wasn't on. I'm on the 50gb plan for 30days and still within the 30day cancellation period but can't do anything with the excessive usage until the bill is generated  which will leave me outside the 30 day period. I was on EE 32gb plan and the data just stopped when I reached the limit and I topped up what I required. 

 

 

20 Jan 17 - 01:47 Internet 995.76 MB £0.00
20 Jan 17 - 01:22 Internet 967.97 MB £0.00
20 Jan 17 - 00:57 Internet 990.03 MB £0.00
20 Jan 17 - 00:34 Internet 967.97 MB £0.00
20 Jan 17 - 00:11 Internet 990.02 MB £0.00
19 Jan 17 - 23:48 Internet 967.97 MB £0.00
19 Jan 17 - 23:23 Internet 990.03 MB £0.00
19 Jan 17 - 23:00 Internet 997.48 MB £0.00
19 Jan 17 - 22:50 Internet 405.01 MB £0.00