BB Classic Data Usage High

[answerme]

Why is my new Blackberry Classic using so much data?

Previously the most Data I ever used in a 4 year period was just over 100Mb in one month.

Now I’m struggling to keep below my 500Mb limit AND Only use the same services of E-mail and very unfrequently the internet for browsing.

I work mostly from home and were I use my Wireless connection.

I have turned off auto downloading of updates & set to use only internal Broadband to update anyway, Only download message headers, I don’t leave any applications open

Every day my usage says it downloads at least 20M of data – What data ? , from where, often I only have a few simple text e-mails no attachments? The data I’m downloading does not equate to the size of my e-mails.

Approximately every 22 hours it will download 15Mb of data .. why?

Your support has been totally unhelpful, here are some of the useless unhelpful comments

“ these new phones eat data” …

“why don’t you turn data services off “

“don’t worry you’ve not exceeded your allowance yet “

Is there an application ( I have a new blackberry Classic ) that I can use to see exactly what its downloading. Not just “Pim Data” as specified in phone tools

[T_Scarface_M]

Hi there,

This is just from soemthing I helped with in the past. Apparently Facebook is something that constantly uses internet in the background. My friends deleted it and it cut down their usage. 

Hope this helps.

[hrym]

Does the BB have an inbuilt data monitor that will show you which apps are using it?   If not, are there 3rd party apps (as there are for other platforms).   either method should allow you to narrow things down to app and time so that you can take control.

[answerme]

The built in monitor is very basic and only states that the use is “PIM” – Personal Information Management. So one would assume that it’s my e-mail, diary etc where the issue is. But as I stated I’ve used the same e-mail and calendar setup for 4Years on other Blackberry’s and never exceeded 100mb total including browsing, sat nav etc etc. I don’t use Facebook, twitter or any other application. I occasionally will use the Sat Nav when I go for a walk in the country , and check the footy results if I’m out – that’s it.

There are many apps for Apple and Android that will give more detailed use of downloads but almost none for Blackberry.

That’s my question does anyone know of any they can recommend.

[hrym]

It sounds as though something is syncing on a daily basis.   The most usual culprit is an email service, but it sounds as though you've eliminiated that.  Could it be contacts (though it's still a lot), or maybe a system backup?   Has there been a firmware update that's introduced a new service, or changed the default on an older one?

How about the Sat Nav?  Could that be updating maps or something?

[answerme]

Over the last 3 days I’ve been at home and have disabled data services just to make sure all downloads are using my internet connection. Its downloaded 64 Mb of data in that time. According to my mailbox I’ve had less than 3 Mb of data sent to me, and I’ve not changed any calendar or contact settings.
All updating has been disabled – I made sure all updates were current and completely updated before I posted just to make sure there was nothing.
I really need a good app that will monitor and report the exact sites where its downloading from. My Router at home only shows wap.vodafone.co.uk which is the general gateway the phone uses.
Blackberry log files are encrypted – even if I could access them on my phone.
Vodafone support may have them but I’ve lost the will to talk to the support team, I’ve just ended up in a loop where I’m asked by the support staff my security details only to be passed on to someone else who , asks for my security details etc etc etc etc etc.

[hrym]

I'm not sure that Vodafone customer services are going to be able to help you as I don't think they have access to details of your usage.

I can think of two possibilities:

1. A reset of the phone which will, with luck, kill whatever is using the data.

2. Talk to Blackberry suppport as they may have a better idea of what to look for.

I don't know how Blackberry works, but I'd assume that wap.vodafone.co.uk was the mobile gateway.  When you're connected to your home wifi, I'd assume all apps make direct connections to their own servers.

I also found this on the Blackberry website.   Apologies if it's what you've tried already, but it appears to imply that you can analyse usage by app:

Monitor your wireless data usage

You can check how much data you have used over your mobile network or your Wi-Fi network. You can also monitor which apps and services are using the most data, and you can close some apps to help reduce your data usage or improve the device performance.

1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > App Manager > Device Monitor.
3. Tap .
4. Tap Mobile Data or Wi-Fi.
5. Tap an app or service.

[answerme]

Thanks to those who have tried to help and I appreciate it.

In response to HYRM, yes I’m aware of the included app to show your usage but it just not specific enough. For example it will just show PIM data use ie 600Mb but I cant drill down any further. Other apps are shown but the usage is minuscule.

I guess I’m going to have to delete them for now and add each one at a time. On my previous device I could just untick each e-mail service if I wanted to.

I must say how frustrated I am with this new Blackberry.

Thanks for all again

If anyone does know of a good app to report specific usage please let me know. There looks like some really suspect sites out there that offer spyware but I’m very suspicious of the ones I’ve visited so far.

[hrym]

Sorry I can't help you more, but I've never used a Blackberry so I'm working in the dark.  Assuming there's an official app store (is there?), I'd only trust software from that.   Anything else is likely either to be dodgy or not very good and you should (if it's anything like Google Play for Android) have the advantage of reviews.

If you've referred to a new device previously, I've missed that (sorry!).  That does put a slightly different complexion on things as it seems likely that there's a new service, or something that's turned on that wasn't previously. 

I've seen similar problems on other platforms and it's sometimes been traced to a large email that's been sitting in the outbox and repeatedly trying (and failing) to send.  It doesn't sound as though that's possible in this case, but it's worth a check - if you haven't already.  You could also check the email sync settings.   The usage sounds high for that, but it's another avenue - could the device be checking every few minutes and even re-downloading existing emails???

This is a Vodafone forum and there isn't a lot of expertise around Blackberries here, so I'd strongly recommend contacting Blackberry support or seeing if there's a dedicated forum (there will be somewhere, it's just a question of finding a good one...)