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Data plan for captivate

I am a new owner (one week) of the Samsung Captive. This is an incredible phone, screen, speed, potential....

I have considerable access to WIFI. So, 200mg plan was my first choice if I can manage it. No GPS. At this point I am trying to keep up with data usage.
However, something (software) is accessing 3G without my initiation, at 2:30am...and while in a WIFI environment (?). 23G Sunday night :( At this rate, I will exceed. Do not like surprises. I am OK, if I initiate, but hey, while I am asleep. Now, come on.... :thinking:

This concerns me, as I am trying to track the access. Ideas, thoughts? Software to identify, specific, data usage? I use 3dog at this time. It is good at letting me know total usage. I am back tracking to any software that I downloaded and see what liberties I have allowed. Will try flight mode tonight, but it shuts down all 3G, including phone.

The search is on.....Thanks in advance for feedback, similar stories, etc.
cheaha bill
 
Turn Wifi sleep to never.
Settings > Wireless and Network > Wifi settings
press the menu button > advanced > Wifi sleep policy

The data being used is apps using background data to update/sync. The stock Wifi sleep policy has it set so that if the screen is off it will automatically use 3g to do these things. Changing to leave Wifi on all the time should also help your battery, since 3g uses more battery than Wifi.
 
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I have seen this before. I noticed that I use 3G throughout the day but only certain times the data registered. I think they servers only peridoically record and show on your bill how much you used for example from 11am to 6p on the 8/14 I was checking various website to get tickets to a concert i wanted to attend and website about cars (KBB etc) for car reviews. I didnt stop using the web until about 5-6 when I had gotten the address to the concert venue from my phone. From 1-6pm I only see one data charge for 1149kb. The next morning at 8am I see a post for 17636KB

Now that is not to say i agree with the total data charges. But as I said I probably viewed about about 10 full versions of website and uploaded a pitcture so I could very well be 17mb.
 
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Hello All,
TDquicksliver, thanks for the suggestion. Auto-sync is off. donshakepandas, this is a good idea, I hhave set the Wifi to 'never" sleep. I agree, mterrence5, I think there may be periodic recording of data use. Mine appears to be at 1:30-2:30AM. Scrmick, yes it may be difficult to keep it under 200mb. I am tempted by the 2G plan for the piece of mind.
I will continue to tweak and take up the suggestions and make a decision at the end of the month. Thanks to all from the new guy. cheaha bill
 
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I would recommend you go with the 2gb plan. I burn though 200mb on my Blackberry which is pretty much in stock form, only running work-critical processes with occasional web surfing for news. On a feature rich phone like the Captivate, I can't imagine 200mb to be enough, even if you try your best using WiFi.

Yep, there is a piece of mind with the 2G...but, hey he hunt is cool :). I have considerable access to WIFI and I am getting good tips that control "unauthorized" access. I'll give it a try and if needed, for comfort, upgrade. Thank you for your feedback. I will keep y'all informed of progress. Enjoy your comm. cheaha bill
 
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My wifes's iphone does the same thing, where it shows no data usage all day, then a little after midnight it shows shows over a hundred mega bytes! While we're sleeping and no one is using the phone, and we have WiFi at home!

It's just the screwed up way at&t keeps track of data usage. That hundred mega bytes is from my wife streaming music all day at work (where she has no WiFi), but at&t doesn't notice that until after midnight.

But it kinda makes sense too. When you're streaming music, do you expect the server to record and display every kilo byte you consume every second? It just waits til the end of the day and shows the grand total.
 
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Wjkrysak I came from a blackberry bold and was using about 74mb a month. I am not sure but i think with the push email didnt count against my data cap back then.

Now I am using about 500mb a month or more. I dont think its possible on android phones with no push email to be under this cap of 200mb because now your phone is going over 3G and pulling this down.

I think At&t knew this that is why they changed their data plans not because their BS story of how typical users use X & Y amounts of data. They pretty much are gonna push anyone who wants a smart phone to the 2GB $25 plan which is only $5 less than their old unlimited data plan.

The only way you could be under 200mb is if you shut of syncing. Didnt use the phone for email and used wifi alot
 
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I got into it with ATT yesterday about their data plans. They said the reason they got rid of the unlimited plan was they found most people don't use more them 200mg and the ones that use more could get the 2gb plan and not spend more for unlimited.... Really!! So, I said if ATT was so concerned over their customers spending to much why didn't they just leave the unlimited plan and not charge their customers more who use 1 byte over the 2 gb... All the other carriers have unlimited data.. The phone got quiet.. ATT is just raping customers for every penny they can.
 
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Had the same problem the first night with my daughters phone, she used 93 MB of data at like 2 AM. After that we turned the wifi sleep mode to never and haven't had a problem yet. We have 4 Captivates in our house and we should be able to easily stay within the 200 MB. I have used 10 MB in the 3 weeks since I have had the phone. I have wifi at home and try downloading most stuff there.
 
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I'm also on the 200 Meg Plan & Installed the Droid Wall Version 1.3.8-dev
I've had 0 Usage on 3G in the last week since I've installed it, I love it.

I allow most applications access to WiFi, and None access to 3G.
At this rate I really wish I could drop the Data Package all together :D

I wish you didn't have to be rooted in order to download this, it looks like an app I would use.
 
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It's still baffling to me that the law allows them to use the term ' unlimited' to mean a certain quantity, whether it's 5 gb or any other quantity.

ISPs do the same thing. There's no such thing as true "unlimited". Every company has some limit, whether stated or kept secret, at which point they'll crack down on you, and something buried in the TOS they made you "agree" to that allows them to do this.

But yet, I agree with you.
 
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mterrence5, yep it will be a challenge, keeping it under 200mg. I am determined. With the tips I have received, my usage is way down. Major improvement was changing WIFI sleep to "never". I am in generous WIFI environments. My 3G use is minimal, but great to access when needed. I don't download large files outside of WIFI. I am sure there will be a moment of..."ya' gotta see this (video likely) while in a 3G environ.
Thanks to all for the tips. cheaha bill
 
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Another thing you can do is turn off background data when your not in a wi-fi area. This is under Settings - Accounts and sync. I noticed that when I was out and about doing stuff away from home my 3G notification would come on and it would be sending and receiving when I wasn't even doing anything. With the Background data checked it allows applications to sync, send, and received data at anytime. I turn this off when I am not in a wireless area.
 
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Another thing you can do is turn off background data when your not in a wi-fi area. This is under Settings - Accounts and sync. I noticed that when I was out and about doing stuff away from home my 3G notification would come on and it would be sending and receiving when I wasn't even doing anything. With the Background data checked it allows applications to sync, send, and received data at anytime. I turn this off when I am not in a wireless area.

Hello Terry,
Yes, good idea. I have done this and it helps. cheaha bill
 
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