iphone Data Usage

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

2 days into the billing cycle, DW got a warning that she had used 65% of her data plan. When I looked at it online, I saw this:

01/05 05:08 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 139874 KB

I contacted her cell phone provider, and they pointed out that DW did that, which I had already pointed out in my original message to them.

She absolutely, at least unknowingly, does not, and never has done anything that requires a lot of data usage, like streaming video or downloading music or apps. This has never happened before.

I got her an ipad recently and she is on it as if it was attached to the end of her arm. She says it always shows being connected to our home wi fi. She also says that when we're home, the iphone says it's connected to our wi fi. At least her iphone shows our wi-fi, and says it is "On". Does that mean it is connected to/by it? Can something she is doing on her ipad be regsitering as data usage on her iphone account?

Is 139KB a lot?

Are we missing something, cuz, after all, we are just Ozark dufuses, regardless of where we may be?

[pittle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pittle]

No - you are not missing something. Is she connected to the Cloud? (It is kind of a backup service.) When I was, I kept getting those warnings too. Mine always shows up as transmitting around 11PM (MO time cause my cell is still a Lake Ozark, MO #) I was not transmitting any data or checking email at that time. I turned off the Cloud. I hardly ever use data on my phone because I have the original cheap plan that only has 200MB per month so 139KB is a lot for me on one transmission. I turned all my 3G capabilities off on my cell and location services and now do not go over my data. Therefore, I only use the WIFI at home. If I am out and about and need to check email or use the Google Maps on my phone, I have to turn the 3G on.

Once AT&T has 4G in the Phoenix area, I may choose a larger plan and get a new iPhone that will do 4G. I hear it is great. I may even change carriers so that I can get unlimited data use.

If the iPad is only a WIFI one, it should not affect your cell phone data usage. If it is on a shared 3G/4G plan, then it could, but only if not at home on the WIFI.

[Quarterbore Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Quarterbore]

That is a lot! I am not an expert but iOS can get spyware/virus and if you see data spikes like this that you can not account for then you certainly have a danger sign. Streaming TV, internet radio, etc will also really kill a data plan if not done over wifi.

I use an App called "DataUsagePro" on my iphone and ipad (My ipad is WiFi). It lets you monitor your data usage and if you used that you might see a trend that helps you figure it out. I like that it shows me if I am getting close to my limits if say I were to turn my iphone into a wifi hotspot and share the data with either a laptop or ipad. I like it with the WiFi ipad as it helps me evaluate there just how much data I am using in case I decide later I want to upgrade to a LTE iPad (data version) but for now I am happy with WiFi only.

EDIT 139 KB is very, very little, you used 139 MB! 139 MB is quite a bit for while connected to WiFi. Hell, watching a HD movie over a dataplan can cost nearly 1GB in memory! That is where you get yourself in trouble! 1 GB = 1048576 KBs to put that into scale...

Now, you may have lost your home internet connection and she didn't notice and the ipad switched to the dataplan. You can turn on/off the data plan in your settings to prevent surprise data usage too...

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

01/05 05:08 PM phone Internet/MEdia Net Sent 139874 KB

Is 139KB a lot?

I assume that second line is a typo. It is 139MB, not KB. The message seems to indicate that 139MB was send from her iPhone, not received. So that would eliminate any downloading activity like streaming video / audio to her iPhone.

It sure sounds like a cloud-based backup service of sorts. Does she have a lot of pictures, video or music loaded on the phone that might be being backed up to some service?

As for the wifi, it can be "turned on" but not connected to your wifi. Go into Settings and look at your network settings. You have to connect to your individual wifi in order for it to use that as your internet connection vs. cell data. Once you connect, it will automatically connect every time you are in range of your wifi, so you don't have to worry about it again.

Kurt

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Thanks, & I see my errors of posting.

I also noticed the "sent", rather than received, and she would not have sent anything from her iphone, period.

Why/how would an ipad switch to an iphone network if our home wifi went down, when another network was never selecting or authorized?

The cellphone provider also suggested that possibility, that the ipad switched to the iphone network.

Is there a way to check usage (history) on the iphone itself, to see what it did when?

[Quarterbore Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Quarterbore]

Thanks, & I see my errors of posting.

I also noticed the "sent", rather than received, and she would not have sent anything from her iphone, period.

Why/how would an ipad switch to an iphone network if our home wifi went down, when another network was never selecting or authorized?

The cellphone provider also suggested that possibility, that the ipad switched to the iphone network.

Is there a way to check usage (history) on the iphone itself, to see what it did when?

Not that I know of... the AP I suggested above will have stats after you install it. Your cell phone bill is the next best place for info as well as AT&T.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

AT&T has told me several times now that they do not know what sites or whatever a user accesses, only that they send or receive data.

There are ten items for the date in question, all saying sent, whatever that means.

7 KB
6 KB
12 KB
6 KB
6 KB
8 KB
6KB
7 KB
139874 KB
12 KB

Other than the one glaring one, the highest on any day is 26 KB.

I can't even get AT&T to admit that the 139874 KB looks unusual.

I have printed her usage pages and I'm going to have her take it and her phone to an AT&T store and ask them to tell her what she did to cause that, if she did anything at all.