Ridiculously high bill due to Data usage. 4 times normal amount!

[ErinWeatherstone]

Decided to check my Vodafone app for my renewal date and glad I did. My next bill due is currently at £116.80! WTH?! I never normally have a bill above £32.50 so why now is it 4 times that?? Spoke to guy on live chat who said I had used 4GB of Data Usage. I have no idea how that has happened as I havent done anything different. His answer was we have a top of the range software that monitors usage and its correct! Not helpful at all. All he could offer me was 28 days to pay the bill instead of 7 days how magnanimous!  Not 

[drey_p]

Hi there

As you have an S4, it has an integrated data monitoring tool that will show you what has used the data. Go to settings > data usage and use the sliders on the graph to select the date range you wish to look at.  Below graph, you'll see a list of applications that have used up your data.  This will give you some indication of which apps are consuming the most data.

Just because you haven't done anything different, doesn't mean that your phone isn't downloading data in the background that you aren't aware of.  One of the key culprits at the moment is Facebook as it automatically starts playing videos which chews through data quickly. 

[Northern-dj]

Drey is spot on

what Vodafone does not tell you is if you have a 1GB Plan that is 1GB of Use and not Downloads

so if your a Facebook fan just opening the app uses data

the data app in settings shows what apps are using data

Now Vodafones stance on Data is questionable they will happily pramote apps and harware that use your data faster as they want to sell you More

would you belive the Web vertion of Facebook uses Less data then the App

you can also look online at you bill it wont tell you what you used but will show when the data was used

One trick i use is when in Wifi when out turn Data off

just use the pull down blind and turn mobile data OFF

Networks hate that but you should only use data when You want to and not when they want you to

Turning the data off also stops apps miss behaving and also shows up better oin the Data monitor

also on there set the data limit up to shut down the data

also make sure you check what apps are running in the back ground

Remove any Yahoo and Vodafone apps (My Vodafone is ok ish )

[thesoupdragon]

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@drey_p wrote:

 One of the key culprits at the moment is Facebook as it automatically starts playing videos which chews through data quickly. 

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Excellent point there by @drey_p 

Just to mention you can go into the Facebook App settings and make it so the Video's only play when connected to WiFi only.

[Pinkylouloubell]

If turning off data while out and about, wouldn't that stop calls coming through to you?

[hrym]

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@Pinkylouloubell wrote:
If turning off data while out and about, wouldn't that stop calls coming through to you?

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No.   Data is over and above the mobile signal itself and your phone will still work as a phone (and for SMS) with data off.  Personally, I'd keep data on, but concentrate on making sure that heavy-usage apps are restricted to wifi only in their individual settings.  I can't remember whether data management apps have been mentioned in this thread already, but I'd recommend My Data Manager, which can show you usage by the hour (so gives you an immediate picture) and can also warn you at points you preset and (I think) shut data off altogether after the final one.  Once you've got it properly sync'd with your account, it's remarkably accurate.