Using Data While On WiFi

[steiney]

Hello all,

I recently switched to a 250MB data plan in an effort to save money using one of Verizon's currently available promotional plans. I'm saving a total of $360/year, so by the time my upgrade eligibility rolls around, the savings will pay for the new device!

Since I'm on such a small data allowance now, I've started paying close attention to how much data I use. I normally never go over 300MB/month, so it was not an issue on my old plan but I'm keeping an eye on it now to keep it under 250MB/month.

I've installed a jailbreak that monitors my data usage locally (UL & DL) and displays it in the notification center. Since I've had it over the last few days, I have made a point of not using any cellular data but even still I've managed to rack up about 9MB down and 3MB up.

Are there apps that force cellular data to be used even when I'm on WiFi or are there apps that sync a lot in the background and end up using a good bit of cellular data?

Any help is appreciated. I'd like to to figure out what's going on so I can rein in the errant apps or better control the data usage.

Thanks in advance,

steiney

 

[Tomorrow]

It could be anything - iMessage, push notifications, email being checked, etc.

If the data you're using is as light as you say it is, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[steiney]

It could be anything - iMessage, push notifications, email being checked, etc.

If the data you're using is as light as you say it is, I wouldn't worry about it.

So you think ~3MB/day is in line with normal behavior for iOS? That works about to about 90-100MB/month, which is about 2/5 of my limit, so it's a sizable chunk, proportionally.

 

[C DM]

Slightly unrelated, but to help with the data usage, you could try to see if you might qualify for a data promo VZW has right now for 1 GB/month for a year: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1708267

 

[Tomorrow]

So you think ~3MB/day is in line with normal behavior for iOS? That works about to about 90-100MB/month, which is about 2/5 of my limit, so it's a sizable chunk, proportionally.

I checked my own phone, since I'm connected to wifi at home and at work and rarely use it otherwise. My cellular data usage comes to around 11 mb per day. That's why I didn't think your 3 Mb/day was much to worry about.

Obviously, you have to be the judge of whether it's too much for your liking, but you asked for others' opinions, so...

 

[steiney]

Slightly unrelated, but to help with the data usage, you could try to see if you might qualify for a data promo VZW has right now for 1 GB/month for a year: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1708267

Thanks! I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if I can get in on that.

I checked my own phone, since I'm connected to wifi at home and at work and rarely use it otherwise. My cellular data usage comes to around 11 mb per day. That's why I didn't think your 3 Mb/day was much to worry about.

Obviously, you have to be the judge of whether it's too much for your liking, but you asked for others' opinions, so...

Yeah, thanks man. I appreciate the feedback. I feel a lot better now that someone else is using much more without meaning to! I really want to figure out which apps are using that data. It just occurred me that I have an app store app that shows apps by amount of usage over a specified period, so I'm going to check that out and see who the data hog is.