I'm accruing data usage when I'm connected to wifi

[Heretic1989]

Thank you for starting this topic, and thank everyone for their comments.   I will thoroughly inspect the next phone in the store before buying it.

[cristobalhow]

Hi Everyone,

I have been enjoying basically unlimited surfing and smartphone/tablet use

with my T-Mobile account since dumping Verizon after just two months. Like

you, I had been struggling to turn off everything, check WiFi connections,

etc. and kept getting dinged for going over 3GB per month. Now on

T-Mobile, I basically leave the browsers on 3 devices open 24/7 andn do not

use more than 2MB per month.

There is nothing you can do at this time to rectify the Verizon data

billing problem, in my opinion. It is either intentional or a defect that

they are unwilling to correct.

I would still like to understand the scope of this problem. Feel free to

post your story outside this forum if it fits your interests to let the

world know how Verizon has let you down:

https://www.facebook.com/VerizonDataFeeProtest

Good luck!

Chris

On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 3:42 PM, Heretic1989 <forums@verizonwireless.com>

[#3]

No billing problem. funny I do not have this issue and have 5 lines. Hmmm. Also you do realize that T-Mobile does not count some usage.

[joe_white101]

Same thing here. My phone is on wifi 100% of the time when i'm at home and it has used 163.91MB of data between 2AM and 5AM. That represents 16.4% of my data plan.  I am never awake during those hours and the phone is always on wifi. When I asked support about this they said that it is a "general situation" and it "happens to everybody". Now I'm over my plan by 40MB and I can say for sure that 163 MB were used because the device provided by Verizon is defective or intentionally setup to use data to create overages.

Paying for data when the device is on wifi is a serious conflict of interest for Verizon. It incentivizes Verizon to periodically have your device enter a "general situation" where it uses data during low network load to that they can bill for overages.

[Eadur]

The cell towers relay some of the collected data usage to the Verizon servers every 6-hours period of time. I once was like you and believe that the date/time stamp was when I suppose to have used the data usage. So you can not go by what is recorded by Verizon as the exact date/time of data usage. Because the cell towers collect and stored certain data usage for 6-hours before releasing it to be recorded on the Verizon servers.

[#6]

joe_white101 wrote:

Same thing here. My phone is on wifi 100% of the time

Being on wi-fi doesn't mean an app won't use mobile data UNLESS YOU SHUT IT OFF. Is your phone screen on 24/7? No? Well if you have an iPhone guess what wi-fi SHUTS OFF once the screen does. Guess what all the apps are using then? MOBILE DATA. Trust me shut off mobile data. try it for w week THEN come back and report the result. Until people are willing to take advice and do as requested I can't take their complaints seriously.

[cristobalhow]

Hello,

What you are saying may make sense in the Verizon ecosystem. But there is

some bug that appears to be specific to Verizon which chews up data using

the same phone, same settings, and the same data allotment as you would

with other carriers. Nobody should have to jump through hoops to monitor

data use when they are not using their phones.

I have had a browser window open on two phones 24/7 for almost 3 months

with T-Mobile, after dumping Verizon. I have added a live email connection

to my workplace on one phone and a tablet. I just don't have to think

about data use or settings, just like the old days. And, I consistently

use less than 2GB data per month, where Verizon kept charging me for

exceeding a 3GB plan with no real explanation. My data use kept going up

each month despite my best efforts to take every step recommended. The

Verizon store employee suggested I just turn off all data using functions

to address this, but then why have a smartphone?

I believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way Verizon

is calculating data use. You are welcome to believe otherwise. Good luck.

CH

[Dan789]

mrhelper wrote:

joe_white101 wrote:

Same thing here. My phone is on wifi 100% of the time

Being on wi-fi doesn't mean an app won't use mobile data UNLESS YOU SHUT IT OFF. Is your phone screen on 24/7? No? Well if you have an iPhone guess what wi-fi SHUTS OFF once the screen does. Guess what all the apps are using then? MOBILE DATA. Trust me shut off mobile data. try it for w week THEN come back and report the result. Until people are willing to take advice and do as requested I can't take their complaints seriously.

Wow, if that's true, it's just another reason I'm glad I stuck with Android after all these years.  The option to keep wi-fi on during sleep appears to be set to "always" by default.

I do suspect that there is an issue (not necessarily with Verizon) and it's not the fault of the user.  In other threads similar to this (more recently created at least), there has been a repeated solution/work-around suggested from Verizon:

1. Turn off wi-fi
2. Put phone into airplane mode
3. Turn on wi-fi
4. Take phone out of airplane mode

After trying this, my issue (so far) appears to have been resolved.  I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone having issues try the steps listed above. 

Of course, if all else fails, you can always take a few more moments and disable mobile data after connecting to wi-fi (or use an app to disable mobile data while connected to wi-fi).

[mongeese1]

Im having the same issue. Verizon is tallying 3 times the amount of data im actually using. Droid turbo.

[JKov240]

I ran into this same issue just a few days ago when I upgraded from an iPhone 4S with Unlimited Data to an iPhone 6 with 2gb's of Data.

In less than a week I had used up 90% of my data usage (I actually got texts at 2pm one day saying 75% and then another at 5pm (yes, 3 hours later) saying 90% was used. I immediately got on the phone and talked to a customer support rep and a tech support rep.

The tech support walked me through how to go into my phone and turn off "background app refresh" and several other things, but it appeared that Facebook was updating in the background without the app even being open.

When I asked about being connected to wifi and still using data, I was told "our 4g speeds are in most cases much faster than any home internet (wifi), so the phone will automatically choose the faster speed"...even if it's BS, I was glad to at least get SOME kind of answer, not just "turn your cell data off or buy more data".

The tech support cut me a break and gave me an additional 1gb of data for the month and the customer support I spoke to earlier in the day gave me a $15 credit (which will offset 1gb of data overage charges).

I'm going to give it a go today and hopefully there are improvements!