Help Newbie Needs Some Help

[Smithy77]

OK here is the situation. I upgraded my contract at the end of December, and changed my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Note 2. I love it but I have some data issues.... My iPhone was on a unlimited data contract, however my new contract give me 1GB a month. My allowance runs from the 19th to the 19th and just by chance I checked my data usage just over a week ago and I was almost out. I couldn't believe it... so I looked into how I can preserve the little data I had left and decided to switch my data off at work were I have no wifi (I have wifi at home). This got me by without charge until my data allowance was renewed yesterday. Being very paranoid now, I had a look at my data manager yesterday and selected the option for most apps ( the hoggers) to use background data only when connected to wifi. I also downloaded onavo count, which I hoped would help me work out how much data I should limit myself to per day so I don't run out. All seemed good. Obviously my data didn't reduce last night as I was connected to wifi. I did forget to switch of my mobile data last night but like I say I have wifi so that wouldn't matter.
So this morning I switched my data on at work to quickly check something on Ebay (literally 10 minutes) and when I checked onavo it said that I had used over my daily limit. looking at it now it is saying I have used 79mb today??? I have gone into all my app settings to ensure things aren't automatically updating or syncing, I have changed all my apps in data manager to only allow background data only when connected to wifi..... I don't know what else to do... I can't believe I am having to turn off my mobile data all the time and I am terrified to use anything.... I am paying

 

[Smithy77]

I should also add, the time showing on my onavo app that I used the data was between midnight and 5am when I was sleeping??? (and conected to wifi)

 

[Mikestony]

Hello and welcome Smithy77!
Is there a wifi setting on that device that will allow you to stay connected to wifi when the phone is sleeping? Perhaps it is disconnecting from wifi when the phone is sleeping and jumping to the carrier network after a certain amount of time.
Did I explain that right or do I understand your post correctly?

 

[Smithy77]

That made perfect sense thanks. what happens when you connect to airplane mode? someone advised me to switch to that when I go to bed would that be the problem... I'm so cluless at all this stuff lol

 

[Mikestony]

No problem...Airplane mode will shut off all radios...cell/wifi/gps/3g/4g/5g etc.
You will get no signal from anything whatsoever

 

[Smithy77]

That made perfect sense thanks. what happens when you connect to airplane mode? someone advised me to switch to that when I go to bed would that be the problem... I'm so cluless at all this stuff lol
sorry not sure why it posted twice

 

[Mikestony]

Hey Smithy!
I moved your thread here

 

[Smithy77]

No problem...Airplane mode will shut off all radios...cell/wifi/gps/3g/4g/5g etc.
You will get no signal from anything whatsoever

hmmm so why is my data disappearing through the night?

 

[Mikestony]

You didn't have Airplane Mode on last night did you ?

I would check your wifi sleep policy under your wifi settings to see what it is set at.
Set it to "Always" (keep wifi on during sleep)

 

[trainerjyms]

Personally from what I know about these phones, I wouldn't bother with 1GB of Data. Your just going to stress and not enjoy the phone. I have 2gb and am on wifi pretty much all day at work and all night at home and still come close some months. I'd rather pay a little more if it was an issue for me and never have to look than try to fight this computer in my pocket from doing what it's supposed to do.

 

[NeoGrandizer]

I have a 2GB plan and only peak a little over a gig in the month.

I use this app to monitor my data usage. It is very informative and I can monitor both data and wifi network usage separately. Set alarms and even have it disable data if I hit a certain limit (which I never do anyways).

My Data Manager

The best part it's freeware and has no ads. The best data management app I ever found.

Another key app I found useful is Power Toggles. I set the widget so I can activate/deactivate data at the press of the toggle on the home screen. Very customizable. Also freeware with no ads.

 

[Smithy77]

You didn't have Airplane Mode on last night did you ?

I would check your wifi sleep policy under your wifi settings to see what it is set at.
Set it to "Always" (keep wifi on during sleep)

airplane mode was on last night and my wifi setting is set to always

 

[Smithy77]

Personally from what I know about these phones, I wouldn't bother with 1GB of Data. Your just going to stress and not enjoy the phone. I have 2gb and am on wifi pretty much all day at work and all night at home and still come close some months. I'd rather pay a little more if it was an issue for me and never have to look than try to fight this computer in my pocket from doing what it's supposed to do.

paying for more data is an expensive option

 

[Smithy77]

I have a 2GB plan and only peak a little over a gig in the month.

I use this app to monitor my data usage. It is very informative and I can monitor both data and wifi network usage separately. Set alarms and even have it disable data if I hit a certain limit (which I never do anyways).

My Data Manager

The best part it's freeware and has no ads. The best data management app I ever found.

Another key app I found useful is Power Toggles. I set the widget so I can activate/deactivate data at the press of the toggle on the home screen. Very customizable. Also freeware with no ads.

thank you for your help, I will try that app tonight

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Do you have online access to your account through your carrier? Do they allow you to view your current data usage? It should give you an estimate within a few hours. This should narrow down how accurate the app is in recording data usage.

I am suspecting this monitoring app you have is not separating the data/wifi and lumping it together. I know my wifi usage tends to peak around 5-10GB/month on my Note 2/10.1.

 

[Smithy77]

Do you have online access to your account through your carrier? Do they allow you to view your current data usage? It should give you an estimate within a few hours. This should narrow down how accurate the app is in recording data usage.

I am suspecting this monitoring app you have is not separating the data/wifi and lumping it together. I know my wifi usage tends to peak around 5-10GB/month on my Note 2/10.1.

Thats what I wondered... carrier online account takes time to update.. but i will try another data manager that shows the difference between wifi and data and see what happens tonight

thanks

 

[EnvyDaDon]

i heard a rumor about verizon telling customers that the only way u can keep your unlimited data if u already had it before upgrading is that you would have to purchase the galaxy note 2 at full price is order to keep the plan.. if this is really true i will be very pissed off cause they're charging that extra buck for less usage!

 

[badankles]

Don't forget, there is a Data Usage option under Settings for you to make use of, too.

 

[Smithy77]

Also removed facebook app as its eating data.
Checked my wifi usage tonight to get an idea of data used ... between 6pm and 10pm I have used 45mb!
All ive done is check FB a couple of times via chrome....
Whats going on?

 

[NeoGrandizer]

If you installed My Data Manager you can check hourly usage of each app that accessed data. Maybe that will help isolate the cause for the data leak.

 

[Smithy77]

Now it appears to be Google chrome thats the culprit as im using it to view Facebook instead of the FB app.....

 

[Andy in NY]

Get a larger data plan so you can enjoy this phone the way it's supposed to be and stop stressing!

 

[NeoGrandizer]

I peak a little over 1 GB. But I adjust my data usage accordingly. It's no different than managing your funds and budget. Don't need to stress out on anything. Just adjust patterns accordingly.

 

[trainerjyms]

For me to move from my 1gb shared plan I had to a 3gb plan cost me $10 more a month, to move to 5GB plan is another $20 if I needed to.