HUGE data usage on iPhone4 while you sleep

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MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
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I just became a victim of this (on my wife's phone - she ahs the 200mb plan).

12/27 11:42 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 131176KB
Click to expand...

This appears to be a known problem without a solution.

Before researching I called AT&T and they said that she must have left a website open overnight. I called BS.

Has this happened to you, yet?

MotionMan
 
KeithP

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,664
202
106
I am on the unlimited data plan so I have never bothered to check. However, I did follow the instructions on that thread to turn off sending Apple diagnostic information from the phone.

Have you done that? One person in that thread mentioned doing so greatly decreased the amount of data going out. Although it would be nice to know exactly what the phone is doing and why. However, as just consumers, we are probably not on Steve's need to know list. :)

-KeithP
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
KeithP said:
I am on the unlimited data plan so I have never bothered to check. However, I did follow the instructions on that thread to turn off sending Apple diagnostic information from the phone.

Have you done that? One person in that thread mentioned doing so greatly decreased the amount of data going out. Although it would be nice to know exactly what the phone is doing and why. However, as just consumers, we are probably not on Steve's need to know list. :)

-KeithP
Click to expand...

This came to my attention literally this morning, so I have not done anything but the phone calls above and below and bitch here.

Spoke just to AT&T again (armed with the information that this is not a unique occurrence).

They will credit the $15 that we will be charged for the overage once the bill comes out, but if it happens again, they will have to "investigate".

In the meantime, I will keep an eye on usage to see if it happen again.

BTW, this has not (yet?) happened on the three other iPhones on this account.

MotionMan
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
It has happened to me on my 3GS iOS4.2.1. On the 3rd this month I got an SMS from my carrier saying my 200MB are used up and that they suggest I buy a bigger package... I was surprised, as I am on WiFi at home and the only thing that uses data is my IM and email check. No way it could have used 200MB in just 3 days. I was not able to determine the reason for this high usage. I'll read up on that thread now (data off for now for me).
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Qbah said:
It has happened to me on my 3GS iOS4.2.1. On the 3rd this month I got an SMS from my carrier saying my 200MB are used up and that they suggest I buy a bigger package... I was surprised, as I am on WiFi at home and the only thing that uses data is my IM and email check. No way it could have used 200MB in just 3 days. I was not able to determine the reason for this high usage. I'll read up on that thread now (data off for now for me).
Click to expand...

Did you look at your AT&T account to see if you had a big data usage moment (probably in the middle of the night)?

MotionMan
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
MotionMan said:
Did you look at your AT&T account to see if you had a big data usage moment (probably in the middle of the night)?

MotionMan
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not with AT&T. My provider is "3" and I live in Denmark ;)

EDIT: Now the crash reports... I have noticed a lot of apps actually crash and not close down properly. When I launch System Activity Monitor and it clears the memory, I get a ReportCrash process on the list 95% of the time. It tries to close apps that aren't really used but are still loaded in memory. Now if they usually crash when the OS tries to close them when it's low on memory, I can imagine why the usage is so high! Many apps = many crashes = many reports = high data usage.


EDIT2: I have checked my data statistics and I can see big data usage spikes! Usually ~80MB and then it's a few kB the next ~24 hours. I found a HUGE spike on one day - 280MB! I was driving home that time on that day, I'm sure (just checked my schedule). Man, something's really messed up. I used up 1.3GB in the last 30 days... :(

EDIT3: Last one was earlier today... 5 hours ago, when I was at work and my phone was in my pocket... 78MB D:
 
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MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Qbah said:
Well, I'm not with AT&T. My provider is "3" and I live in Denmark ;)
Click to expand...

Better get AT&T STAT!!!

Actually, it would be very interesting if this is happening to people NOT on AT&T. That could point a finger firmly at the iPhone.

MotionMan
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
Just to clear things up. I remember turning the data on on one day, I must have forgotten to turn it off again... My last 3 weeks on the iPhone show the following information:



I turned the data on on the 7th, with the reset. I remember showing some things to some friends, so yeah... looks like the phone logged 300MB. But my provider's bill from 30.11 until today says:



Something's really not right :confused:
 
P

PeeluckyDuckee

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2001
4,464
0
0
The apps you install, some will set itself to automatically push data back and forth even when you are not actively using the app as it sits in the background. If I had a lesser data plan I would be inclined to turn off those features but I have 6 GB so I'm fine. I'm at 3.5GB with a week and a half to go.
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
PeeluckyDuckee said:
The apps you install, some will set itself to automatically push data back and forth even when you are not actively using the app as it sits in the background. If I had a lesser data plan I would be inclined to turn off those features but I have 6 GB so I'm fine. I'm at 3.5GB with a week and a half to go.
Click to expand...

Why would it start all of a sudden, and only on my wife's iPhone, but not mine? I have every app that my wife does, and more (I maintain all of our electronics). And all the apps that have settings, are set identically (one of the benefits of being anal retentive).

MotionMan
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
PeeluckyDuckee said:
The apps you install, some will set itself to automatically push data back and forth even when you are not actively using the app as it sits in the background. If I had a lesser data plan I would be inclined to turn off those features but I have 6 GB so I'm fine. I'm at 3.5GB with a week and a half to go.
Click to expand...

Well, this data is logged by the iPhone under Usage. As you can see from my screenshots, my iPhone used ~1.3GB since the 1st of Dec, however the Usage screen only shows 300-something MB from the 7th.

When I was using tethering, the Usage screen also showed the stuff my PC used (obviously), I had ~20GB a month then.

MotionMan, can you check the Usage screen on your wife's iPhone? And compare to what is listed on your provider's Web site?
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
usage.PNG


MotionMan
 
K

Ka0t1x

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2004
1,724
0
71
There could be a problem with the 'persistant' wifi with the iPhone 4.. sometimes I will unlock mine after being at home for hours and previous on wifi, and it will not be on wifi.
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
MotionMan, when was that reset on your wife's phone? I guess never, since current is the same as lifetime? So you're under 300MB based on what your phone logged. How much does AT&T say you've used this month? And when did your wife get her iPhone?

As for WiFi dropping, I have a few periods, where for several days there is no 3G usage on my billing (just a hundred few kB a day for push etc) - it's when the phone is connected to my home's WiFi when it was sending stuff out, I assume.
 
mugs

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
vbuggy said:
Holy crap! How do you do anything on that plan while outside?!?!
Click to expand...

:confused: It's really easy if you don't stream/download large media files. I rarely download apps when I'm away from home, don't stream music, rarely buy music directly from my phone. I averaged 100 MB a month with my 3G, though I think that has increased some with my iPhone 4.

Outside of my house I use data primarily for web browsing, e-mail and apps that provide information (news, sometimes maps). I listen to my own music and podcasts, so I have no need for Pandora or anything like that.
 
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