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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

JohnJ
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@wenna123 When you're streaming or downloading video using your data plan, please make sure you check the format of the video you are downloading.

There are many types of format of video i.e Standard definition,High definition or even 4k.

For example a High definition video would use twice as much data as a standard definition video.

This could explain why you think you're using more data than what you think you should be.

Normally your media player should allow you to change the definition of the video, in the player settings.

Please let us know how you get on with this :Thumbs_Up:

Thanks for the response, we always try to opt for SD so typically one episode was according to BBCi player 880 MB.

Just checked my usage again and 945.37 MB are shown as been used when I was asleep at 07.37 today, no computors on just the router.

I had exactly the same problem with my sim only deal on my HTC, even the same size Data chunks disappearing until I downloaded an app called My Data Manager, it has to be a VF problem which they could resolve. Makes me think it must be a really expensive fix for them to fail to do anything about it for so long.

John
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@wenna123 If any of the devices (PC, phone, or tablet) are connected to the Mobile Broadband and the devices are on standby, downloads can happen despite not actively browsing, streaming etc.

We advise to monitor your usage via My Vodafone and the My Vodafone app.

It's also important to note that if the Mobile Broadband device  is switched off and data usage peaks once the device is switched back on - it's possible that, if there's queued downloads/ updates on the connected devices that they will download as soon as the Mobile Broadband device is connected.

However, we would like to take a closer look into your account just to check if there's any problems. So we can access your account I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch.

Thanks for getting someone to contact me, unfortunately it was a waste of time as the individual I spoke to had done no backgroud work and just started talking about my mobile phone and later emailed me with a load of standard VF response jargon telling me I could buy more data if I was running out.

So back where I started from with as the heading says "Strange excessive data use on mobile broadband" and no plausible explanation from anyone.

Hi,

 

Its bonkers to read that a year after I posted my initial query on this thread people are still having the same issues with chunks of 990MB data coming out for no reason and nothing being done from VF.

 

All I can suggest is to go back to where you got your router from and get it exchanged for another as it could well be down to a faulty router. The folk at Carphone Warehouse where I got mine suggested this after agreeing the data usage was crazy and were very helpful.  Since then I've not had any similar data usage issues touch wood. Also eventually after going throguh the whole EFT was able to set my data cap just in case. 

 

Hope that helps and you get it sorted


Cheers Jeff 

Thanks Jeff,

 

Your the first post that seems to have solvedtheir problem, I'll try that and see if it works.

Damosnelly
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Judging by the almost exact same data size used..  Are you sure your mobile isnt rying to do an update?  

A typical Samsung or iOS update can be this size...  If the update failed for some reason it may try again and again... 

Just an idea

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

Is it just an alert of some sort - "that's another 1GB gone" - that flags up each passing GB?

Has anyone had a larger amount of data reported, eg when streaming a video? That would scupper my idea.

Hi, my mobile doesn't use the 4G LTE it did have a similar problem with the same data chunks being use when I first got a sim only contract but downloaded an app called My Data Manager and that fixed the problem.

That makes me feel sure this is a VF problem which they should be able to fix if they would only accept it's not users being thick.

Tinyt
1: Seeker

Hi, yes I have this exact problem. I've been using it for over 2 years, never download music, watch videos or anything excessive, yet all of a sudden I seem to be eating data like there's no tomorrow. But they just keep telling me it's data usage.