Pay as you go services

[Scratcher54]

As stated in the subject heading, both are connected to my home WiFi, yet for some reason, the credit on both has slowly been eaten away.

One is a Samsung Galaxy Ace, and the other is a Nokia 500.

I might well be wrong, but my understanding is that all the time they are connected to WiFi, apps and whatever else on there that needs to connect or updated, will use WiFi.

The Galaxy Ace was topped up yesterday (to just over £20 credit - it had already eaten up a fair bit before), was charged overnight, and remained connected to my WiFi, yet £1.00 of credit has disappeared, and it wasn't even used!

The Nokia 500 had £10 pound of credit as new, yet only a couple of calls have been made and one text, yet it is now down to just under £2.00! This one has been out of the house more than the Ace, but not used for anything outside the home, other than the Nokia Maps/GPS which I understand is free.

Any ideas as to why the credit is being used when the phones aren't, and are connected via my WiFi?

[Scratcher54]

O.K. it seems I have lost more credit!

Checked balance at 23.24, and it was £20.31.

Sent one text message which should cost 12p, but just checked the balance and it is now £19.19 instead of £20.19!

So puzzled why £1 was deducted as well.

[AnnS]

Smartphone and Android phones can be quite data intensive due to being 'always connected' to the internet.

To avoid these £1.00 per day charges, it would be a lot cheaper to get a web pack or a Text and Web Freebee.

You will be able to find further help and advise from support and all the information on web packs and Freebees from the website.

[Scratcher54]

Thanks for the response Ann.

So do you get charged £1 per day ,even if you don't  use the web via 3G, and only via WiFi?

That's what I'm still puzzled about!

I will look into a web pack or text & web Freebee.

[James]

Hi Scratcher54,

AnnS is spot on here.

However as you are connected to WIFI you shouldn’t be charged for this connection until you are out of the range of your WIFI or if the WIFI connection becomes dormant.

To stop this from happening you will be able to disable the internet connection within the settings menu.

Also I would check the WIFI settings to make sure there is no time limit set before it goes “to sleep” as this would then disable to WIFI on your phone.

James

[Scratcher54]

 Thanks for the response James.

So am I correct in thinking that if I go out of range of WiFi, i.e. out the house, do I still incur a £1 data charge, even though I am not using any apps, and the phone is in sleep mode?

I notice £1 pound was deducted again last night, even though the phone was indoors and connected to WiFi, and not used for anything.

I've checked the WiFi phone settings on the Galaxy Ace, but can't seem to find any settings to stop the WiFi from getting turned off when the phone is in sleep mode. (I note the WiFi battery use has an option under 'Adjust Power Use' that says 'Turn WiFi off when idle or not available', but it doesn't do anything when I touch it).

I've read that disabling the 'Packet Data' option under 'Mobile Networks' stops the phone from using 3G and therefore data charges, but does this affect anything else?

[DaveCD]

Hi Scratcher54

Thank you for your post.

If you disable 'Packet Data' this will also prevent you from sending or receiving multimedia messages (MMS).

If you would like us to take a look at what options are available to you regarding an internet package please take a look at our awesome offers.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

It would be amazing if you could take 30 seconds to complete a quick survey to aid my development.

[imdave]

Customers on pay as you go buying this phone should be advised to do the following when purchasing the Samsung Galaxy Ace;

Menu > Settings > Wireless and Networks > Mobile Networks

There is an option at the top "Use packet data", untick this. It is enabled by default, and for some reason the phone seems to want to enable 3G use over wifi.

My sister got it on the Orange network, kept her existing sim with £13.19 credit. She watched one youtube video and downloaded some apps and ended up spending £9.68 over 3G. She had set up the wifi connection with her home router so assumed it was connecting to that.

The phone doesn't warn you its using 3G or wifi, it just seems to default to 3G.