iPad My iPad Air 2 has drained my cellular data!

[Bromio]

Hi:

I've been using my iPad for 30 minutes, just reading a review in The Verge without loading any other website. It was the first time I was using my cellular data connection. It has consumed... 315MB!!! The same would have consumed less than 10MB in my phone. It seems that Safari has been the cause, as Settings indicates. The ring next to the 3G dots was always revolving.

Next I tethered to my phone and without doing nothing I've seen how the MB was being consumed one after the other!

The iPad is just like out of the box.

Should I have changed some configuration?

If this is the general consume with an iPad, I prefer the WiFi model.

 

[zhenya]

You almost certainly have some background service syncing data that you've allowed over cellular. Are you using iCloud photo? Any other photo or backup service?

 

[Bromio]

You almost certainly have some background service syncing data that you've allowed over cellular. Are you using iCloud photo? Any other photo or backup service?

Everything is just like out of the box. I have not changed anything.

Now I'm tether to my phone and nothing happens!

Should I deactivate something?

 

[zhenya]

Right, but if you've signed into iCloud and are using any of those services (knowingly or not) it will be syncing data in the background.

 

[Bromio]

Right, but if you've signed into iCloud and are using any of those services (knowingly or not) it will be syncing data in the background.

Yes. I use iCloud!

What can I do?

 

[radioking]

If you select cellular in in the settings it will tell you how much data each app has used. You can also turn off cellular data for any app.

 

[Rigby]

What can I do?

Connect to a Wifi network and let it do its thing.

To find out what is causing the traffice, go to Settings/Cellular and scroll down. You will find a list of installed apps sorted by cellular data usage. Also check "System Services" at the bottom.

 

[Bromio]

Connect to a Wifi network and let it do its thing.

To find out what is causing the traffice, go to Settings/Cellular and scroll down. You will find a list of installed apps sorted by cellular data usage. Also check "System Services" at the bottom.

It seems that it has finished.

Settings/Cellular says Safari has used 312MB.

How can I fix this problem? I just read a review in The Verge.

 

[zhenya]

Maybe it downloaded a video in that review? The Verge has a nice looking site but it has always been a data hog.

 

[Bromio]

Maybe it downloaded a video in that review? The Verge has a nice looking site but it has always been a data hog.

No. It was just text. I'm absolutely sure.

 

[Bromio]

Well, I've disabled Documents and data in iCloud, because I've read it could be the cause. Now it seems that there is no problems. However, I've tried to activate it again and the option has disappeared. How can I enable it? I want to do it to check if that option was the source my problems.

Note: I'm not using iCloud Drive yet.

----------

In Settings/Cellular has appeared a new option related to Uninstalled apps.

I have not uninstalled anything!

 

[macduke]

If this is your first time restoring things from iCloud after activating your device, then it might be downloading things in the background. But I wouldn't think it would show up as Safari, and I also thought most of that stuff won't sync all at once without WiFi. Could be a bug. Also, like other have mentioned, The Verge is horrible. It crashes my iPad 6 Plus all the time with all the crap it downloads. My iPad Air 2 handles it like a champ, but it's the only tab that when I switch back to it, it flashes for a moment longer while it redraws the tab from memory. Such a freaking terribly designed site.

 

[26139]

You could always...

1. Buy more data.
2. Be really careful about connecting to WiFi whenever possible.

iOS 8 is seemingly designed to use iCloud or web-based options whenever possible, which, data usage notwithstanding, makes for a great experience.

So yeah, if you're really worried about your usage, grab a WiFi-only model.

 

[Bromio]

If this is your first time restoring things from iCloud after activating your device, then it might be downloading things in the background. But I wouldn't think it would show up as Safari, and I also thought most of that stuff won't sync all at once without WiFi. Could be a bug. Also, like other have mentioned, The Verge is horrible. It crashes my iPad 6 Plus all the time with all the crap it downloads. My iPad Air 2 handles it like a champ, but it's the only tab that when I switch back to it, it flashes for a moment longer while it redraws the tab from memory. Such a freaking terribly designed site.

After disabling everything I though that was superfluous for syncing via cellular data, the data consumption is strongly lower now.

Just "System services" is eating data, especially "Documents and syncing" (I think this is its name - my iPad is not in English-). Is there any way to avoid it?

 

[aggiesrwe03]

I would connect to a wifi connection, and allow it to finish what it's doing. I had a problem with an iPad 4, while is was connected to wifi it was still using cellular data, LOTS OF IT!! AT&T swore up and down this wasn't possible and refused to refund my data and not charge me the overages. I took it to an Apple Store and they confirmed that it was in fact happening, gave me a new iPad, and spoke to AT&T customer service for me. It all ended up getting sorted out, but I can assure you things like this happen!!

 

[Bromio]

1. Buy more data.
2. Be really careful about connecting to WiFi whenever possible.

iOS 8 is seemingly designed to use iCloud or web-based options whenever possible, which, data usage notwithstanding, makes for a great experience.

So yeah, if you're really worried about your usage, grab a WiFi-only model.

If the iPad consumes 300MB in 30 minutes, a I can't imagine how much data it could consume in 30 days!

I just want to surf the Internet a bit while reading and use Twitter. As I don't have a WiFi network everywhere, I don't understand why I should get the WiFi model.

But yes, I'm not interested in syncing all my photos and data via cellular. Just want to use my iPad as I use my smartphone. Tethering is not an option because I needed to tether too frequently.

 

[haruhiko]

Hi:



I've been using my iPad for 30 minutes, just reading a review in The Verge without loading any other website. It was the first time I was using my cellular data connection. It has consumed... 315MB!!! The same would have consumed less than 10MB in my phone. It seems that Safari has been the cause, as Settings indicates. The ring next to the 3G dots was always revolving.



Next I tethered to my phone and without doing nothing I've seen how the MB was being consumed one after the other!



The iPad is just like out of the box.



Should I have changed some configuration?



If this is the general consume with an iPad, I prefer the WiFi model.

If you tether to your phone your iPad regards that as a wifi connection and may start iCloud backup which will consume hundreds of MBs.

 

[Bromio]

If you tether to your phone your iPad regards that as a wifi connection and may start iCloud backup which will consume hundreds of MBs.

I don't have WiFi connection at home, just in the work and in my family house. So if I want to browse or read a PDF that I have received via e-mail I need a data connection. My goal is not to stream music, or photos or video, or anything highly heavy.

I'm very confused. It seems that I can't use the cellular data as if it were a smartphone, but I can't tether to my phone, because I would need to tether every day and my smartphone data plan would be drained.

I had a plan of 300MB, but I can afford a 1GB one if necessary. In my country there are not unlimited plans at this moment.

I really don't know what to do. I don't want to pay for a Cellular iPad if it is useless, but if the WiFi model is going to suck up my phone data plan, it is not an option.

Could I use the iPad with a 300~1000MB data plan, or is it absolutely impossible because of iOS 8?

Thank you!

 

[haruhiko]

I don't have WiFi connection at home, just in the work and in my family house. So if I want to browse or read a PDF that I have received via e-mail I need a data connection. My goal is not to stream music, or photos or video, or anything highly heavy.



I'm very confused. It seems that I can't use the cellular data as if it were a smartphone, but I can't tether to my phone, because I would need to tether every day and my smartphone data plan would be drained.



I had a plan of 300MB, but I can afford a 1GB one if necessary. In my country there are not unlimited plans at this moment.



I really don't know what to do. I don't want to pay for a Cellular iPad if it is useless, but if the WiFi model is going to suck up my phone data plan, it is not an option.



Could I use the iPad with a 300~1000MB data plan, or is it absolutely impossible because of iOS 8?



Thank you!

You may try to find out which app(s) consume the most cellular data in settings, cellular. See if this helps?

 

[McDaddio]

Ok, I had something similar.

I have wifi at home and iPad was wifi enabled, but for some reason it decided to burn through 50M of cellular data. I saw that it was mainly safari and I was surfing a lot at the time.

Shouldn't it default to wifi, or does it go to cellular if it thinks that signal is stronger?

THanks

 

[Bromio]

You may try to find out which app(s) consume the most cellular data in settings, cellular. See if this helps?

Safari is the app that drained my plan. After disabling "Documents and data" in iCloud settings, it seems that its consumption is much more normal. If fact, after browsing a lot I've just consumed 25MB. That's a remarkable difference if compared with de 300MB wasting.

Shouldn't it default to wifi, or does it go to cellular if it thinks that signal is stronger?

I don't have an available WiFi network when I use my data plan. When I can use WiFi, I switch cellular off.

 

[ipaqowner]

When I can use WiFi, I switch cellular off.

That's the way the cellular version should be used.
I'm now on my 3rd cellular model and I only switch on cellular when I leave my house or don't have access to wi-fi.

 

[Bromio]

That's the way the cellular version should be used.
I'm now on my 3rd cellular model and I only switch on cellular when I leave my house or don't have access to wi-fi.

So that is not the problem.

Anyway, if I don't have access to WiFi for 3 hours, could I have the cellular on while the iPad is sleeping without wasting data (except for checking the e-mail and such low data consumption tasks)?

Or if I'm reading an iBook, could I have the cellular on just for checking the e-mail, the weather or quick search the Wikipedia... without huge data consumptions?

Of course, if I watch Youtube I obviously understand I'll consume data. That's not the question.

Thanks.

 

[Newtons Apple]

If the iPad consumes 300MB in 30 minutes, a I can't imagine how much data it could consume in 30 days!

I just want to surf the Internet a bit while reading and use Twitter. As I don't have a WiFi network everywhere, I don't understand why I should get the WiFi model.

But yes, I'm not interested in syncing all my photos and data via cellular. Just want to use my iPad as I use my smartphone. Tethering is not an option because I needed to tether too frequently.

You need to turn off cellular and use WiFi. I have a 5 GB plan for cellualr and only turn it on when out in the field. If you expect to use cellualr all the time you better have a huge amount of data in your plan. 5GB is more than enough for my purposes but if you are not careful the iPad cna use a tremendous amount of data.

 

[Bromio]

You need to turn off cellular and use WiFi. I have a 5 GB plan for cellualr and only turn it on when out in the field. If you expect to use cellualr all the time you better have a huge amount of data in your plan. 5GB is more than enough for my purposes but if you are not careful the iPad cna use a tremendous amount of data.

But for checking for e-mails, searching the Wikipedia while reading if I have some question and checking for Twitter mentions do I need a huge amount of data?

I plan to to this one hour or so every day.

Those are my goals. No music, no photos, no videos: for those I will use WiFi.