iPhone Data Usage

super_freddie

Hi All,

My wife is just after getting hit with a network bill for a couple of hundred euro for September for her phone (iPhone 7). Based on the bill, she's using lots of data, apparently, but her actual internet activity isn't anything out of the ordinary from what I can see. Looking at the standard iPhone data usage tools, the main culprit appears to be Safari.

Any app available that will actually show which website generates traffic i.e. dig a little deeper into the Safari traffic?

Looking at her detailed bill, there are frequent bouts of traffic of about 29Mb (sometimes every minute) and it's difficult to imagine any kind of normal usage that would cause that.

So this is a strange one and appreciate any help that I can get on this forum. Also interested to hear if people think there's any possibility of cutting a deal with the network provider to reduce the bill a little while we figure out what's causing all of this?

Thanks,
super_freddie.

murpho999

I would speak to the network about this.

Safari would only use whatevery page you’re viewing, I don’t think any website generates traffic to the extent you are worried about.

To run a data bill of hundreds of euro you would need some serious usage.

So was the phone used in a country outside of the EU. That can be very expensive.

Are any apps running in the background?

Was any music or video files synced to a particular app over the network?

Was Netflix or You Tube used a lot?


I think you should get in touch with the network and ask them for details of what websites were accessed?

honeybear

Hi,
My data usage has been out of control for half a year. I ring Vodafone every month and end up being refunded each time-my add ons don’t get added on! Anyway, last month lovely VF customer service told me of a one off excess data usage charge being written off for my account. Ask them about that option

super_freddie

Thanks to murpho999 and honeybear for their detailed responses.

In relation to murpho999's points:

- All usage was in Ireland and we have WiFi at home which should obviously have also reduced the amount of traffic on the mobile network.

-Photos and videos are backed up to iCloud. However my wife's phone runs on iOS 10 and, based on the research she did, phones with that version of iOS have to use WiFi (not mobile data) for iCloud - there is no choice.

- She doesn't use Netflix but our son uses YouTube for some kids' stuff. A lot of it would be WiFi though and I'd be surprised if that is the culprit. She doesn't have the YouTube app installed, so it's not possible to figure out what YouTube is using. We're gonna install the YouTube app to help us to get that information.

- Would the network provider have granular data in relation to the websites used? It would be good if they did but I wouldn't bet on it.

Will go to the network and see how they can help.

In relation to honeybear's points, we will go to the network and see what we can negotiate but it's a provider who piggybacks on another network so my instinct is that their margins may be smaller than a provider with their own infrastructure, so they may be less amenable to negotiation. We'll see.

Thanks again for your help and look forward to getting to the bottom of this.

Regards,
super_freddie.

murpho999

Ok, first you really should update the phone to iOS 12. Why did you skip iOS11?

It’s a great update that will run great on the iPhone 7.

It will also give you a breakdown of data usage on the phone with your network. I don’t think you are correct about iOS10 only using wifi for iCloud.

I would ask the network to provide a breakdown as they have that information.

You seem to think it’s being caused by a “website”, I really doubt it’s the case. I’d say an app is using data in the background and you need to find what that is and your network should be able to tell you.

Also, don’t worry about the network’s margins, they have less costs as well and just tell them you can’t afford it and see what they say.

Gumbo

Any kids?
Did you allow the kids to watch You Tube at any stage?
Netflix or any video streaming.

What about Whatsapp movies?

super_freddie

Thanks to murph0999 and kceire for the recent responses.

In relation to murpho999's points:

- Dunno about the iOS versions. I'm an Android head so very much passing on the information I'm getting from my wife on that. I'll recommend going to iOS 12.

- I used the word "website" interchangeably with the word "page" you used in your first response (i.e. "whatever page you're viewing") and because Safari seems to be the main reason for data usage. However the data usage reporting does not seem to be very granular. For example - will iCloud backups be reported as Safari usage?

- Network's customer care team stated they can't say what app etc. is causing the usage but you seem to be confident that they can. What makes you so sure that they can?

-I am not so much worried about their margins as the probability of their business operating structure impacting the likelihood of them cutting a deal ... but I take your point about they having less costs also.

In relation to kceire's point, one of the kids is using YouTube but none of the other apps etc. that you mentioned. I'd be surprised if the amount of YouTube usage is sufficient to be creating this data usage issue.

Best Regards,
super_freddie.

murpho999

Apps basically just access websites.

So if for example you're using the Netflix app it would just be using the Netflix website via the application installed on the phone.

iCloud backups go to icloud.com and is nothing to do with Safari. I really don't think Safari is the problem.

The network should be able to send you what data has been used. It has not come from nowhere, so I would push them on that.

Might be an idea to switch off Mobile Data on the phone and say if that triggers an alert about an app trying to access data whilst using the mobile network.