I'm on Wi-Fi at home and data still being consumed

[jowens1172]

Hi All,

I have an iPhone 4 and today I was noticing that even when I'm at home, on my Wi-Fi (AT&T), that I'm still getting charged for Data against my Data plan. Why is that?

[msw79]

I too am being charged data when I am only using wifi (which is about the only thing I use since we have a wireless network set up).  I have called AT&T 3 times in the past 3 days and no one has seemed to be able to take care of  the situation.  I've heard if you turn off the cellualar data button (on iphone 4) this will possibly rememdy the situation.  However, if  I turn off the celluar data then I will not be able to send or receive multimedia messages (video and photo).  Therefore turning this off defeats the purpose because I'm paying for a multimedia texting feature. 

Looking for answers.

[Cotton7]

Try to find out how to turn off "Proxy"  if you want to use Wi-Fi only as I posted in another forum in the past.  But, if you want to use data, like if you went out, you world have to turn it back on.  Maybe there's an App for that?   However, even with Proxy off you will still have to watch it.  While I was out driving my LG tried to connect using MediaNet over 3G even with Proxy off.  I had to stop it from continuing to download.

[mystery45]

there are some services that can only use the 3g connection.  if you don't want your data usage charged than you need to change your settings so that it will not activate the 3g connection.

the other thing is that if you lose connection to the wifi that it will also start using data as well.  there are different ways to stop doing this.

[fkdestasio]

So what settings need to be changed.  I just used my iphone at home connected to my wi-fi with a full 3 bar connection listening to pandora for an hour and all of it shows as data usage.  I have also called service 3 times and they cannot give me an answer.  They say wi-fi connections are free and its simply not true.

[aypownpor]

im having the exact same problem - both with the data consumption... AND the customer support!  Called customer support about it 2x and even went to an AT&T store, and they're all saying the same thing - that i might have gotten a weak wifi signal so it switched to 3G and cosumed some data. I very much doubt this as I've been at home all those times and have a very strong wifi signal at home.

I'm very curious to hear what settings I should change to prevent my phone from using 3G. An AT&T sales guy suggested I should just switch to airplane mode - but then I won't be able to receive/send calls either. (I might as well have used an iPod Touch!)

[fkdestasio]

Read some other forums that said to place my phone in "airplane mode" which should shut off my 3G but turn on the wi-fi which I did both times today.  Tried that and I still got hit with data uasage.  Below are the details.  I hope someone can post a solution to this.

DATE TIME TO/FROMTYPEDIRECTION MSG/KB/MIN

08/17	02:36 PM	phone	Internet/MEdia Net	Sent	76KB
08/17	06:49 AM	phone	Internet/MEdia Net	Sent	19KB

[UNSC_REACH]

You might just want to block data, because it looks like your phone is just using the data anyway. Nothing to do with WiFi, and customer care cannot really help you. Its the phone doing it.

It doesnt look like any of the Pandora traffic went through the cellular though, or your usage would be much much higher.

[oneryt]

You might be best to check for answers at whatever iOS support forums there are out there. 

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1378

They should be able to give you a better idea of what's going on and how to fix it then at&t can... and if I was you, I'd ask them for an email or some form of evidence that it was a software issue causing any overages you get as a result of the problem.

[ghostryder ACE - Wizard]

From the Apple support forum

Go to Settings, turn Airplane Mode ON, turn WiFi ON, select your network. You're good to go. If you don't turn off the 3G/Edge by going to Airplane Mode, the iPhone keeps trying to go to it. ...

[annypolak]

. Why do you say it is unlocked if you can't activate a non AT&T sim?
A. There is a difference between unlocking and activation. Unlocking is related to GSM standards and allowing a sim to be used on different carriers, http://www.nikeairmax2u.com/wholesale/Nike-Air-Max-2011-666_p1.html and activation is something made up by apple to further restrict their users. After upgrading to 1.1.1 the radio of the phone is still unlocked, meaning it can still connect to other carriers, but apple requires the phone be activated to do so.

[the great prete…]

turn off the fetch new data option.........not an att person.......just a hit and miss guy......but if you do that....what I told you....I'd bet you will get lucky.

[xavier55]

That why u need a andriod with my captivate I can turn it off and on manually or I can allow to do it for me. Hmmm that's why they say android does.... get rid of the apple. Apples are for eatting...... ok ok I like the macs but the iphone sucks not much control over your phone. I hope u find your answer

[harleyhobo]

I bought my wife a new iPhone 4 with the 200mb data plan. She went over and they added another 200mb. She used that up. So I changed her plan to the 2 gb and that was gone in no time. This was all in less than a month I called ATT twice complaining that we have wifi at our house & my sons house there was no way she was using all that data. She didn't even know how to use her phone to be using all that data. She just text and uses the phone to call people. My son was playing with all the apps on her phone trying to show her how to use it but it was on wifi the whole time. The last ATT person said I needed to talk to apple. They helped and we think the usage was from all those apps being opened and running in the background which is multitasking. So when she was away from our houses they were running even though she wasn't using her phone. I have the original iPhone and to close an app you just hit the home button. This isn't the case with iOS4 you can close the app with the home button but it's still running in the background. This allows you to switch between apps. To truly close all the apps you have opened you have to double click the home button, then hold down on one of the apps till they wiggle then press the red minus. She had over 50 apps open for a month this way. Not all access the data but a lot did. I've talk to other users and they didn't know how to close out either. But it didn't matter to them because they were on the unlimited plans and wasn't getting charged for using data. We won't really know for sure if this was what was using all her data until we watch it for a few days. Hope this helps everyone.

[click_clack]

I work with 2 people who complain tha their battery charge runs down faster after they upgraded to OS4.XXX.  I keep telling them to close out all their apps like you mentioned above and they double click and have 20 to 30 apps open.  TG for them they are on unlimited plans but it will drain your battery too.....

[EWynett]

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ghostryder wrote:

From the Apple support forum

Go to Settings, turn Airplane Mode ON, turn WiFi ON, select your network. You're good to go. If you don't turn off the 3G/Edge by going to Airplane Mode, the iPhone keeps trying to go to it. ...

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ghostryder, wouldn't turing on Airplane mode prevent voice calls from coming in?  If not, and if your suggestion truly does stop all data traffic (except for Wi-Fi) then we're onto sometHing!!

Plz let me know abut the voice calls being stopped, or not, in Airplane mode.  Thanks.

[DrewCapuder]

I have had the same problem. I am at home and at work with constant, strong WiFi connections, and I am still getting charged for data use. I just spoke with ATT tech support: they told me that if I am receiving emails on my phone, then that data comes over the cellular network, and not the WiFi--even when I am connected to WiFi. So they are telling me that WiFi bypasses internet browsing, but not internet email. Does anyone know if that is correct?

[EWynett]

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DrewCapuder wrote:

I have had the same problem. I am at home and at work with constant, strong WiFi connections, and I am still getting charged for data use. I just spoke with ATT tech support: they told me that if I am receiving emails on my phone, then that data comes over the cellular network, and not the WiFi--even when I am connected to WiFi. So they are telling me that WiFi bypasses internet browsing, but not internet email. Does anyone know if that is correct?

---

I don't believe what ATT told you.  Perhaps some of the elder "experts" could chime in...  Nevertheless, I shut off 3G and cellular data on one of my iPhones here at home and that phone gets ALL email, surfs the web, makes Facetime calls, etc., just using my wi-fi.

Of course, in your case, when the phone goes into Sleep mode (blank screen timeout) you lose wi-fi and start using cellular plan data.  The amount depends on how many running applications you didn't shut off when done.

Good luck.

Note: this discussion about using cellular data while on wi-fi is all over the map!!  I can't believe how many differing answeers we get.  But.... I believe what I wrote you is correct.  Wi-fi works that way for me!

[1943garand]

I have a Samsung Captivate. It was using a horrible amount of data while still on my home network.

When the Captivate goes into sleep mode it drops your home network and reverts to 3G.

I found a solution on an internet forum. There is an Android application called "Keep Captivate Alive."

Once I installed the application my Captivate stayed on my home network even when the screen turns black.

AT&T was of no value in helping me solve my problem. I have to believe there are similar applications for other Android and IPhones.

[erichamion]

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1943garand wrote:

I have a Samsung Captivate. It was using a horrible amount of data while still on my home network.

When the Captivate goes into sleep mode it drops your home network and reverts to 3G.

I found a solution on an internet forum. There is an Android application called "Keep Captivate Alive."

Once I installed the application my Captivate stayed on my home network even when the screen turns black.

AT&T was of no value in helping me solve my problem. I have to believe there are similar applications for other Android and IPhones.

---

Captivate Keep Alive is for a different purpose.  All Android phones, by default, turn off wi-fi when the display turns off, but you can change that.  Go to Settings -> Wireless and network -> Wi-Fi settings.  Press Menu, and choose Advanced.  Change the Wi-Fi sleep policy to the setting that works best for you.

[Calvinneal]

There is no reason for data charges on wifi' email etc come over wifi when it is in range/ have an u2 chip in a iPhone/emails comes only thru wifi since no data on o2

[jruzzano]

I don't think this is an android issue, I think it is a phone issue. I have a HTC Aria (with android) and I just connect to wifi and haven't had any data used since. My husband has the Motorola Flipside (with android) and when he was connected to wifi he still was getting data uses twice a day (one in the middle of the night) I found on another forum that he needed to go into his menu settings and advanced and check off never disconnect wifi when sleeping...(mentioned in the thread too) BUT he is still getting data usage twice a day. We have had these phones just under two weeks and after just a couple days I checked the usage on ATT (we have 200mb/month) We had used over 80mb each used! I called them and they didn't know what I was doing on the internet that would pull that much data since I really wasn't doing anything (checked FB, download a couple games) I just thought maybe it was the intially set up of syching to facebook and setting up account with gmail and his motoblur. That is when I checked online and figured out to stay connect to wifi when at home and not to run background data.

ANYWAY....why is my husbands phone still using data on wifi and mine isn't? He has all the same apps and games as me, so don't think it is any program he has that only uses 3g....except maybe Motoblur???

[sitnsidewayz]

I have both a Flipside and Bravo on my plan. When I gave my daughter her Bravo, I told her as long as she is on wi-fi at home, she could download anything free she wanted from the market. That first weekend she downloaded several apps and games. I was a bit shocked when I checked her usage after those couple of days and discovered that she had an elevated usage for the two days. It was pretty obvious that what she downloaded was charged to her data plan. Since with these devices you see both the wi-fi symbol and the 3G symbol when on wi-fi, it is hard to tell if you are actually using wi-fi or the cellular data. Also, AT&T has disabled the ability to disable the cellular data connection on the phone. I ended up putting her device in airplane mode and then turning the wi-fi on. This stops the ability of her receiving calls and messages when in this configuration, but it has allowed her to download apps and games without it being charged to the data plan. AT&T blocks out certain applications from the market, those that help to root the device and to tether the device. When you access the market via the method I mentioned, you can see these apps that AT&T blocks out. In order for AT&T to filter out these apps, they would have to route access to the market through their servers. Running through the AT&T server would only be accessible through the cellular data of the phone, just like MediaNet. I don't think all the phones are setup the same, as AT&T is still trying to figure out how to restrict an operating system that is designed to be open.

[Agnieszka1978K]

Hi, I had the same problem. I'm using Blackberry Bold 900. The problem was easy to fix on my phone. I just went to the options for browser and changed the preferences about starting page - instead of AT&T website I put the option for "hot spot starting webpage". That was it - it worked!!. Since I don't start my browsing through AT&T web, it doesn't charge me for data. My starting page now is just Blackberry browser. I'm pretty sure any phone has options for browser so go ahead and try it...

[chigglewhisper-1]

Is this done to force us to purchase huge data plans? Who REALLY CAN help us with this issue?

[Jetmugg]

I'm having the same problem with my Samsung Focus, which is a Windows based phone.  I'm new to ATT Data service.  I got the new phone and data plan last week.  After 3 days of use, I had racked up 44MB of data usage, while I was at my home, which has an excellent wireless signal.

When I check ATT mywireless, there are big chunks of data (like 10MB at a time) being sent from the phone at oddball times (after midnight, before 6:00 a.m.), when I am not using the phone, and when it should be connected to my home wi-fi.  I haven't even called ATT customer support, as it seems they are not knowledgeable or helpful with respect to this issue.

It seems that many people are experiencing very similar issues, but I haven't seen  a sure-fire cure yet.

SteveM.

[camaro322hp]

Ditto to what Jetmugg said - except I am using the Blackberry Pearl 9100.  I somehow managed to consume ~ 30 MB of data in 3 days being mostly at home on WiFi.  I also see strange large blocks of usage between 5MB and 10MB.

Even if I weren't on WiFi, I find it hard to believe that I used 30 MB of data in 3 days.  I have had both T-Mobile and Verizon BBs for years, and I have never consumed more than 100 MB per month using those phones.  My average was around 50 MB per month.  Of course those were on unlimited data plans, so there was no limit to worry about.

Given my past usage numbers, I figured 200 MB would be more than enough.  The worst part is that there really is no way to document your data usage, so if you call AT&T, it's your word against theirs.  There's no way to prove what you are actually using (aside from 3rd party apps that count data usage, which I am guessing AT&T would not believe anyway).  

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

When you are not using your phone's cellular data and you are on Wi-Fi only, I would recommend to turn cellular data to OFF. That would stop the random data chunks that you two may be seeing. At least, that's what would recommend doing. When you would like to switch cellular data to back on, go ahead and do so when you are not using your phone for anything but Wi-Fi.

[rkfran]

I've had my iPhone 3GS since late Oct 2010 and am just now experiencing this problem.  It's strange that it began with my current billing cycle.  Previous months' usage (almost exclusively on wifi) were not billed against my 200MB data plan, so all was going well.  Nine days into my current billing cycle I get an email alert from AT&T informing me that I am nearing my data plan limit.  However, all 159MB used were on my wifi at home.

As indicated by others, AT&T customer service was absolutely useless...telling me that I must have been on 3G when I thought I was on wifi.  After spending juch of the afternoon today searching the internet, I found this informative posting regarding changing the Network-Cellular Data setting to OFF to prevent this from happening.

http://www.theiphoneguru.net/2010/07/22/what-does-disabling-cellular-data-do/

I have changed my Cellular Data setting and will see if this resolves my problem.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Professor]

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rkfran wrote:

I've had my iPhone 3GS since late Oct 2010 and am just now experiencing this problem.  It's strange that it began with my current billing cycle.  Previous months' usage (almost exclusively on wifi) were not billed against my 200MB data plan, so all was going well.  Nine days into my current billing cycle I get an email alert from AT&T informing me that I am nearing my data plan limit.  However, all 159MB used were on my wifi at home.

As indicated by others, AT&T customer service was absolutely useless...telling me that I must have been on 3G when I thought I was on wifi.  After spending juch of the afternoon today searching the internet, I found this informative posting regarding changing the Network-Cellular Data setting to OFF to prevent this from happening.

http://www.theiphoneguru.net/2010/07/22/what-does-disabling-cellular-data-do/

I have changed my Cellular Data setting and will see if this resolves my problem.

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As I have stated above your post, turning cellular data to "OFF" is definitely something I would recommend. That should stop the data being transmitted by your phone.

Let us know how it goes.