More unexplained data useage - look and laugh!

[Walshy76]

Ok, had my Iphone 4 since end of January and already issues with rediculous amounts of unexplained data being used to the extent where apparently, 551mb data was used in a 24 hour period! I've been into a vodafone store, and seen a 'genius', nobody can explain apart from the standard scripted questions around apps working in the background, large emails and I must be streaming video! None of this is the case, especially when, according to Vodafone, my phone was using data every minute and a half on the day that the huge amounts of data were being used. Luckily enough, even with the 551mb day I didn't exceed my monthly 750mb allowance, but whats going to happen if this continues? Will Vodafone hammer me for the excess useage?

Anyone else had anything similar? Can a moderator offer a sensible explanation? The below info is taken from my most recent bill.

Date & time	Number or description	More details
Tue 25 Jan 00:00	WAP	229.654KB
Thu 27 Jan 00:00	WAP	6.382MB
Fri 28 Jan 00:00	WAP	5.340MB
Sat 29 Jan 00:00	WAP	1.190MB
Sun 30 Jan 00:00	WAP	1.188MB
Mon 31 Jan 00:00	WAP	6.879MB
Tue 1 Feb 00:00	WAP	1.619MB
Wed 2 Feb 00:00	WAP	2.814MB
Thu 3 Feb 00:00	WAP	2.880MB
Fri 4 Feb 00:00	WAP	4.248MB
Sat 5 Feb 00:00	WAP	8.144MB
Sun 6 Feb 00:00	WAP	6.403MB
Mon 7 Feb 00:00	WAP	2.420MB
Tue 8 Feb 00:00	WAP	2.627MB
Wed 9 Feb 00:00	WAP	42.953MB
Thu 10 Feb 00:00	WAP	972.173KB
Fri 11 Feb 00:00	WAP	789.359KB
Sat 12 Feb 00:00	WAP	14.142MB
Sun 13 Feb 00:00	WAP	14.414MB
Mon 14 Feb 00:00	WAP	727.282KB
Tue 15 Feb 00:00	WAP	16.662MB
Wed 16 Feb 00:00	WAP	5.862MB
Thu 17 Feb 00:00	WAP	30.231MB
Fri 18 Feb 00:00	WAP	2.502MB
Sat 19 Feb 00:00	WAP	551.215MB

[STEVIEG662]

Hi All, further to previous entries I returned my Iphone to the Tech Guys as it was still showing high unknown usage. Lo and behold got it back today after they checked it and guess what - quote "...the repair centre was unable to identify a fault with your phone". So back to square one - I have now restored my phone but only loaded one app which connects to internet which is "My Vodafone" and then I will monitor for couple of days then download say "Sky Sports News" and monitor then maybe reload my emails and see what happens. I'll keep you all posted. Cheers STEVIEG

[Jebelious]

There is obviously something causing the unusually high data charges that you may not be aware of.

Now i remember reading somewhere something to do with the IMAP issues with Yahoo mail, do you have that setup on your device? also if you have a mail account is it set to auto download new content?

If this is something that you just can not pinpoint then the only thing that you can do to totally eliminate anything to do with the apps that you have is to start with the device from fresh.

Remove all applications and start using the device without any, from this point you can start to slowly re-introduce your apps one by one to see which ones are using the data.

Remember that Game Centre requires an interweb connection to connect to the server so if you are playing a game that uses this service it will use up data.

[kids]

StevieG662: It is also worth remembering that when the phone is asleep as opposed to turned off data is not downloaded over wifi but as chargeable data.

I know someone who was getting similar unexplained charges during the night but she found it was a few apps updating themselves and as the phone was in sleep mode the data was not coming in via her wifi.

[Jebelious]

Yes certainly a good thing to remember:

If you start a download using your WIFI and lock your device the item will continue to download via the WIFI connection, however if you lock your device while not downloading via WIFI the device will do all of its email pulling and push notifications by using the mobile network.

[STEVIEG662]

Hi thanks for that - Yep was aware about the phone asleep and not turned off and not downloading over wifi but surely not 662.897MB in 2 days.

[gkaloy10]

Seriosuly mate that is insane, you need to get that check out. Call vf they will tell you what site was accessed etc.

[hornet600]

Did you agree to send anonymous diagnostic info to Apple when setting up your iPhone for the first time?

To get another chance to ‘Disagree’ to sending Apple diagnostic information from your Devices simply right click on the devices icon in iTunes and choose ‘Reset Warnings.

Then re-sync your device. When you do you should be presented with the diagnostic opt-in dialog box. Click ‘Disagree’.

[Jebelious]

I do not think that speaking to a customer services rep you will be able to find out where your data has been used.

600meg does seem a little excessive however the only real testing that anyone at Vodafone could do would be to pop a PAYG SIM into the device and see what happens when using the device as a standard.

Something is using the data else you would not be billed for it, i have been using data devices for a long time now (since GPRS came out) and i can say that no device just downloads without being prompted to do so.

If all else fails i would seriously wipe the device (DO NOT DO A RESTORE) and install apps individually.

The only thing that i have seen that uses that amount of data in just 2 days (1 day in my example) was tv catchup as this stream is high quality and data intensive. Also using YouTube ate quite alot of data as did downloading an entire clubland album on my iPhone while at work (it will allow this as each track is no more than 10meg!) that * 51 tracks+ is alot of data :p.

My device setup is as follows:

2 email accounts that push (one is an exchange account)
Push notifications are switched on for all apps including facebook/Twitter
I use the device for browsing while at home and at work on 3G/2G
I do update apps that it will allow by using the 3G network
I have alot of apps/Games on my device now so when the Game centre ones log in that requires a data connection to connect to the server so there is that data usage.

And it would seem that i have not used anything more than 400MB in a month (checked the last 4 months online)

I have used TV Catchup website on a few occasions, streamed YouTube while out and about also (not 100's of videos but up to 15 or so)

So i must say that i am quite stuck on suggestions, Vodafone will only bill you for the data that you use, your device is doing something that is taking alot of data.

[kids]

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@STEVIEG662 wrote:
Hi thanks for that - Yep was aware about the phone asleep and not turned off and not downloading over wifi but surely not 662.897MB in 2 days.

---

Asit looks as though you are being billed daily, you could, providing you can live with internet access for a couple of days, turn of Cellular Data and see if you are billed anything for those days.

If you are then you know it is a Vodafone billing glitch, if not then it will show that your phone is doing something that you are not aware of.

[STEVIEG662]

Hi thanks for all your advice. I have now totally deleted all apps and then re-installed one at a time every 24 - 36 hour period. So far so good just been having normal usage. The guys instore and the tech guys reckon that one of my apps (possibly street google or something like that) did not shut down properly and that was the reason for using 600mb in 24 hrs - I don't know but it seems at mo to be ok. However it has made me very wary about using it. Vodafone have refunded the cost of the extra usage. Thanks to all for advice. Cheers