I just switched my LG Spectrum's data allowance from 1 GB to 300 MB last night...

[bug9891]

I needed to save a bit of money & although it would only be $10, seems like a lot to me.  My problem is my phone is using data without me even touching it.  It went up to a usage of 1.03 MB overnight while I slept.  I deleted a ton of apps last night before bed because I'd noticed it was doing this.  Also checked "Restrict Background Data" Needless to say I put my allowance back up, because there's no way it wouldn't go over the 300 MB.  I hate this phone to begin with, but this just seems ridiculous to me.  They have a prepaid plan that's cheaper & allows more gigs than what I'm paying more for & my phone is just eating it.  I guess my question is why?  It's my first smartphone, so I'm not exactly brushed up on them.  I'm connected to WiFi.  So why is it using up the data like this?  So much for saving...

[rcschnoor]

Using 1.03 MB of data overnight will NOT put you over 300 MB of data in a month, unless you are ALSO using a lot of data during the day. 1.03 MB is not a lot of data. Using that every night will only add up to about 31 MB in a month, giving you still 269 MB for all of your other needs.

I am unsure why your phone was using this data overnight, but it could have been mobile email, facebook updates, or some other app you have set up on your phone.

Regardless, this overnight usage is NOT significant, only about 10% of the average daily data allowance you would get with the 300 MB plan. 300 MB / 30 days in a month = 10 MB / day you would need to use in order to exceed your allowance. The 1 MB overnight allowance would give you another 9 MB for the rest of the day(for each and every day of the month) to use before you would come close to your monthly allowance.

[bug9891]

Okay, thank you.  I just got off chat with a representative because the phone lines were uselessly backed up lol and they said I use 573 MB a month. 😕 So I could give it a shot.  If I basically don't use any apps, I should be good I guess....but that kind of defeats the purpose of a smartphone.

[rcschnoor]

Do you have a wired broadband connection in your home with WiFi available? If so, you can connect your phone to that WiFi signal and you would then not use any of your cellular allowance while in your home.

[bug9891]

Yes I do and it auto connects.  So this is why I'm so confused.  It was still eating the data while connected to my WiFi.

[rcschnoor]

The data usage info is not real time. The 1.03 MB increase from overnight could also just be from usage posting to your account. Not necessarily from usage which occurred overnight.

bug9891 wrote:

Okay, thank you.  I just got off chat with a representative because the phone lines were uselessly backed up lol and they said I use 573 MB a month. 😕 So I could give it a shot.  If I basically don't use any apps, I should be good I guess....but that kind of defeats the purpose of a smartphone.

As to this statement, I would check to make sure the apps on your phone are NOT auto updating. THIS can cause quite a bit of data usage if they decide to do so while not using WiFi.

I am continually using several apps on my phone using my cellular connection(Redbox, gasbuddy, email including Gmail and Yahoo, weather apps including live motion radar, Google Now, Visual Voicemail including Google Voice and Fios Voice, Facebook, Chrome, and I am sure there are others). However I update the actual apps ONLY via WiFi and I don't have ANY apps set to update to the newest version automatically. I only do this manually. This in itself can be a large source of data usage if done on a cellular connection as most apps are between 5-10 MB. If you update 10-20 of them in any given month, that can add up to 200+ MB of data. Performing these updates on WiFi will not impact your usage of the actual apps as they are still usable until updated, or even if you decide NOT to update them which is not always necessary or advised. I also only have backups set to do so via WiFi and photo uploads only set to do so via WiFi. 

As a result, I rarely go over 300 MB in monthly cellular data usage. You don't need to curtail your use of apps, just be aware of HOW you are using your data. There are ways to put off several data intensive tasks until you are in an area where WiFi is available.

One app you may find to be extremely helpful would be Onavo Count available on the Play Store. This will let you know how much data each of your apps is using. It also will let you restrict individual apps to only use data while on WiFi. THIS could save you several hundred MB in cellular data usage.

[dimap52]

Also a good idea is to turn off mobile data when you are not using it. This saves battery life and prevents all these background auto-downloads, data synchs and network pings that are continuously going on to maintain connection. These all count against your data allowance and are charged for. Switching to wi-fi while mobile radio is on is no guarantee that data won't use the cellular pipe as well. Some phones are better at this than others. The iPhone has been notoriously BAD at using cell data even when wi-fi is on. I've never had a problem with my Moto Razr, but I still make sure I turn off mobile data when I'm done with it, whether I switch to wi-fi or not.

[mortb]

One thing that uses data is Email. If you have your Email synched, that eats up data; however, very little data unless your Email comes loaded with a lot of photos.

[Intocable]

go prepaid and dump verizon. you have to be crazy to have tiered data on verizon.

metropcs..virgin mobile boost. straight talk just a few carriers without draconian limits and overlimit fees

[bug9891]

Thanks everyone and I plan on going prepaid, but will still probably go with Verizon because I need a carrier with great coverage.  I live in the mountains pretty much. Lol