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cmbbba

macrumors newbie
Sep 23, 2012
11
2
Having massive data usage also on VZW. Even with being on wifi all day, my data count keeps going up when I check myverizon account. Wonder if issue is on Apple side or VZW?
 

applesith

macrumors 68030
Jun 11, 2007
2,777
1,573
Manhattan
I think mine has been doing this too but I have unlimited data so I wont be bothered with turning LTE on/off every time I want to use my phone.
 

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,169
17,689
Florida, USA
Since Friday, 216MB received, 39.1MB sent. I can account for a chunk of it with speed tests, and random web browsing on LTE. I haven't had any appreciable usage while on Wifi.

I think iCloud may be at fault for some of you. I'm suddenly pretty glad I don't use it much.
 

NavyDude065

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2012
97
1
Try this

I've been having weird issues lately. My battery doesn't seem to work properly (losing 1% ever 2 minutes of use), wifi is a hit or miss, and my cellular signal is significantly worse than my 4S. It gets less bars in the same places.

Tonight I connect to wifi, and decided to run a long video on youtube. The ENTIRE TIME connected to wifi. I get a txt message saying I used 1gb of data in ONE day!!! (from verizon)

I checked my usage just 2 hours prior and was at 270mb. Now over 1gb. Something is terrible wrong, why would LTE be used if I was of wifi?!!?! I am getting charged for this! The only time I did anything data intensive was watching the youtube video WHILE connected to wifi.

Do I have a lemon? Does anyone notice odd reception, worse than usual battery life, wifi I believe is software, but now its using my data on my cell plan while connected to wifi (showing the wifi icon in the status bar). I reset the phone 2 times today. I did a full restore (not from backup) after noticing significantly worse battery than my iPhone 4S that was a year old. :mad:

----------

I am now at 1.7gb while my iphone is just sitting on the home screen...... :confused:

I had the same problems, but now working correctly. Try this....

I had problems of sometimes slow wifi and wifi disconnected and tried all the posted possible solutions with no luck. My iphone 5 wifi is now working perfectly and this is what I did.

- I remained on WEP security, but WPA2 worked fine also.
- Changed my channel from 9 to 7, this gave me a speed increase.
- Disable the N side of my router, G only. Another speed increase.
- QoS settings, disabled WMM.

Also selected a static IP address with a DNS of
24.222.0.94, 24.222.0.95

If you restored from an older iphone ensure both devices are not using the same static IP address, this happened to me and it created connection problems.

These setting gave me an increase in wifi speed but not the random disconnects.

This fixed my random disconnects and been working perfectly ever since.

- backup iphone in itunes.
- Download the IOS 6 firmware for the iphone 5 from here

http://absinthejailbreak.com/all-apple-firmwares-for-iphone-ipad-and-ipod-download-now/

Then click shift-restore (might be update) and select the firmware which will reinstall IOS 6 and erase all content and reset your iphone to factory.

restore your backup and then go into iphone settings>General>Reset and select Reset Network Setting. Once rebooted, Setting> Wi-Fi and select your wifi and enter security string. Then change to static and ensure the IP address isn't used by another wifi device connected to your home wifi network. I found using DNS of 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4 gave me speed problems.

This did the trick for me and solved all my wifi problems. Good luck!!
 

MonkeySee....

macrumors 68040
Sep 24, 2010
3,858
437
UK
Well iOS 6 does have that new setting that allows it to switch to cell if the wifi signal is weak. It's nice for a constant connection when backing out of the garage, etc. I'm wondering if there is a bug in it?

mmmm. I don't have that feature?
 

appswipe

macrumors 6502
Aug 18, 2012
282
0
Nothing an NFC tag couldn't fix. Just program an NFC tag to change your settings from LTE to WiFi only and put the sticker someone near your entry door so when you come home you just tap your phone on the sticker and it switches it from the "Car Mode" you were just using to "Home Mode". Oh wait...


Seriously though, I do wish there was some sort of "quick settings" we could access through either the notifications drop down or an optional page to the left of the search page.
 
Last edited:

scaredpoet

macrumors 604
Apr 6, 2007
6,627
342
I didn't purchase this device to play with the settings every time I want to browse the Internet.

If you're unwilling to do basic troubleshooting steps to figure out where the source of the problem may lie, or how serious that problem may be, then I guess your only recourse is to go back to Verizon and return your iPhone 5 for a refund.

Is it a hardware problem or software? Is it just your phone, or a problem with all 5s? Guess we won't find out because you have the phone and refuse to "play with the settings" to get even basic answers on the root cause. Oh well!

Maybe you can get a Droid, and see how far "not playing with the settings" gets you there.
 

Blackforge

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2008
290
19
It was removed in the final build of iOS 6. I was wondering why I couldn't find it on my phone.


http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/09/25/wi-fi-plus-cellular-missing-in-ios-6/

It may still be silently doing this from testing with an AT&T 4S running iOS6. We had users report about having problems getting to ActiveSync while on a certain WiFi network here at work. The device I was testing with eventually hit a timeout and just started working. However, it was then obviously working through cellular data, as other services that would normally be blocked started working as well.

So it may be that just the toggle was removed to be able to disable this.
 

rcpiercy

macrumors newbie
Sep 26, 2012
3
0
As someone who has worked in tech support, I have to say that there is almost nothing a user could say to me that would convince me their phone is using LTE when connected to wifi. It would get filed under "user error".

As someone who works in tech support, I'm right there with you. This problem is inexplicable and immensely frustrating.
 

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
iOS 6 is designed to drop to cellular when WiFi isn't working right. (This is a good thing - I have a lot of "fake WiFi" around me, like open hotspots that need me to enter a password or a different page or show signal that isn't really there.)

Some iPhone 5's have reported trouble maintaining a connection to WiFi running WPA2 security. Seems like a software or firmware problem.
 

Mliii

macrumors 65816
Jan 28, 2006
1,126
5
Southern California
Perhaps, you should turn off LTE and cellular data while on Wifi and you won't have to worry about it connecting to 4G or LTE. If you don't want to, then deal with the overages. All it takes is a flip of the button.

I think OP's reasonable point is that it shouldn't be necessary to disable major functions of a brand new piece of hardware in order to get data over WiFi when that's been and is still supposed to be the default behavior of the phone.
And yes, a good idea to try turning it off to test it and see what happens to the data use. But as a daily necessity? I think not.
 

duke5021

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2012
21
0
NJ
The joy of having an unlimited data plan from Verizon.

My data usage is definitely higher than it used to be, but I don't seem to be doing anything when connected to wifi or the phone is on lock. The only time I see the data spikes are on the LTE when I shut wifi off and tested it specifically.
 

Sylon

macrumors 68020
Feb 26, 2012
2,032
80
Michigan/Ohio, USA
It may still be silently doing this from testing with an AT&T 4S running iOS6. We had users report about having problems getting to ActiveSync while on a certain WiFi network here at work. The device I was testing with eventually hit a timeout and just started working. However, it was then obviously working through cellular data, as other services that would normally be blocked started working as well.

So it may be that just the toggle was removed to be able to disable this.


Possibly. I'm visiting my folks for the week and due to where their router is located and the style of house, only half of the house gets a decent connection. The rest of the house gets a snotty connection and my iPhone struggles to use wifi and never bothers trying cellular. I have to manually turn off wifi to get an internet connection on those areas of the house. I wish it would automatically switch, but for me, it doesn't.
 

Blackforge

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2008
290
19
Possibly. I'm visiting my folks for the week and due to where their router is located and the style of house, only half of the house gets a decent connection. The rest of the house gets a snotty connection and my iPhone struggles to use wifi and never bothers trying cellular. I have to manually turn off wifi to get an internet connection on those areas of the house. I wish it would automatically switch, but for me, it doesn't.

From what I've seen it takes almost 5 minutes for it to failover. Possibly longer if you have intermittent connectivity.
 

Leonard1818

macrumors 68020
Nov 15, 2011
2,460
403
I've been watching my data (and my wife's) like a hawk over the last few days. Too many variables have changed (me new phone, her getting my old phone but with iOS 6 on it, etc). I noticed a few "dumps" of 35+ MB on her line initially. I quickly turned off the stupid system location services on her phone and tweaked a few other thing (more for battery drain than anything). Since doing so, I don't see any real "unexplainable" data consumption. A couple things I've noted:

-- There's definately a discrepancy in the data usage counter in iOS 6 and what Verizon reflects. I don't necessarily know if it's a bug, but they certainly don't match. I don't really even care so long as the VZW number is lower lol.
-- The timestamp on my Verizon data tracking spreadsheet seems to be off. I can't reconcile actual data use with their records based on timestamp. I'm not sure if this is normal or what...
-- along the same lines as above...I still see random .01, .02, .05 MB use in the middle of the night when I should be on wifi. I ran a network monitoring tool that I use at work on my network and there have been no disconnects or lost packets. So there's definately an app or something on my phone using minute amounts of data every couple of hours through the night. I honestly don't know if it's always been this way or not since I used to have unlimited data.

The amount used is so low and infrequent, I'm not sure I care to pursue it right now. If it changes in frequency or amount, I'll probably start uninstalling apps one-at-a-time till I figure out which one is to blame. I'm not sure that Verizon would be any help as I don't think they know what is using the data, just that it's being used.
 

forty2j

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,585
2
NJ
-- There's definately a discrepancy in the data usage counter in iOS 6 and what Verizon reflects. I don't necessarily know if it's a bug, but they certainly don't match. I don't really even care so long as the VZW number is lower lol.
-

Generally the iPhone measurement is immediate, and the carrier measurement is delayed by 24-48 hours.
 

nickmccally

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
61
1
The problem is, 4 days into my billing cycle I have used 1.7gb of data. I've never hit a full 1gb in my history of owning an iPhone.

I was on wifi watching a youtube video and got an alert I had used a significant amount of data. Verizon has stamped the time while my iPhone showed using WIFI data, I was in fact being charged for LTE data.
 

lelisa13p

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2009
1,946
47
Atlanta, GA USA
not sure why OP is getting so defensive when someone suggested to try turning off LTE while on wifi just to see what happens. He wasn't saying do that all the time he just said to do it to test the theory.

Thank you. Testing was what I had in mind. And I'm a she. :)

----------

The problem is, 4 days into my billing cycle I have used 1.7gb of data. I've never hit a full 1gb in my history of owning an iPhone.

I was on wifi watching a youtube video and got an alert I had used a significant amount of data. Verizon has stamped the time while my iPhone showed using WIFI data, I was in fact being charged for LTE data.

And have you tried turn OFF the LTE? Do that and then call Verizon and lay out your case to have the charges reversed, at least. Have you Googled the problem to see if it's a known Verizon issue? It may be hardware related or provider related and unfortunately the detective work falls to you as the user. Sucks, but that's what happens.

BTW, I'm on AT&T and don't know Verizon's way of doing things.
 

Leonard1818

macrumors 68020
Nov 15, 2011
2,460
403
Generally the iPhone measurement is immediate, and the carrier measurement is delayed by 24-48 hours.

You make a good point...

I'd like to contact VZW and confirm how long it takes... it kind of negates the entire date/time stamp column... I don't care what date/time verizon "recognizes" the data use... especially if it's not for a day or two later lol.
 

nickmccally

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
61
1
Thank you. Testing was what I had in mind. And I'm a she. :)

----------



And have you tried turn OFF the LTE? Do that and then call Verizon and lay out your case to have the charges reversed, at least. Have you Googled the problem to see if it's a known Verizon issue? It may be hardware related or provider related and unfortunately the detective work falls to you as the user. Sucks, but that's what happens.

BTW, I'm on AT&T and don't know Verizon's way of doing things.

Its an iOS 6 issue. Other reports of other companies. There is no way for me to pin point where it is coming from, because sometimes it eats my data, sometimes it works as it should. Turning off data is the only way to solve the issue and I obviously cannot do that for business purposes (which is why I have the a smartphone).
 
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