Resolved Mysterious Verizon Data Usage

[BigMcGuire]

I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for a very long time (10 years). WiFi Assist is off. iPhone 6s+. I sleep within 15 ft of my WiFi router.

I've noticed that my data usage is quite a bit higher than usual this month for the first time ever. Yes, I've seen people reporting strange usage recently as well (same for my boss who has Verizon - first time ever for him).

So, checking Verizon's website - at 3am for the last few days, I'm using 40-150mb of data at 1am-3am (I go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 5am).

My iPhone's cellular page now shows a discrepancy between what it thinks I've used and what Verizon thinks I've used (not a massive discrepancy, but it's there (first time ever)). Normally, I'd be at .2-.4GB of usage (I have WiFi everywhere I go) but now I'm almost at 1GB.

I'm going to start sleeping with my phone in Airplane mode I guess and see if the usage continues? Doesn't bother me a TON but I give Verizon enough $ that this shouldn't be happening, imo (5 line family account).

Edit: My wife's iPhone 6s+ line shows similar "mysterious" usage at 3am as I do even though we're on strong wifi. Hmmmm. Plot thickens. 2 lines with a 6 and 6s shows no mysterious usage. And the last line (a 6) shows minor usage at 3am (40mb).

 

[C DM]

Could be just simply when that data usage gets reconciliated to show up vs when it actually happens (given that the reporting and all that is somewhat delayed on carrier's side). On the other hand that would still mean that somewhat higher than usual usage would have still happened at some point (just perhaps not at those particular times at night). Not to say that's what it is necessarily, but something like that has certainly been bright up as a possible explanation for something like this.

 

[BigMcGuire]

OK that makes sense. I'd like to think I'm being more paranoid than I should be.

 

[willmtaylor]

Sometimes, it takes time for used data to register with carrier.

That could be when apps are auto-updating in the background?

Be sure to reset data usage on your phone at beginning of billing cycle. All used cellular data will be accounted for on your phone.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Sometimes, it takes time for used data to register with carrier.

That could be when apps are auto-updating in the background?

Be sure to reset data usage on your phone at beginning of billing cycle. All used cellular data will be accounted for on your phone.

Yes, I have cellular data turned off for a lot of apps (App Store included) - And yeah, pretty religious about resetting data when my plan resets for the month.

My wife and I usually get home by 5pm and we have WiFi at home and college and work.

 

[Applejuiced]

Could be just simply when that data usage gets reconciliated to show up vs when it actually happens (given that the reporting and all that is somewhat delayed on carrier's side). On the other hand that would still mean that somewhat higher than usual usage would have still happened at some point (just perhaps not at those particular times at night). Not to say that's what it is necessarily, but something like that has certainly been bright up as a possible explanation for something like this.

Exactly.
Data usage displayed is not actual real time when used.
It takes many hours to be collected, calculated usage on each cell tower and then uploaded and displayed on their website.
Just because its reported at 3AM it doesnt mean that's when it was used.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Awesome to know. I'll chalk this up to my paranoia (and recent news). Thanks for the help all!