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vexorg

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 4, 2009
622
53
For those not aware, by default IOS9 has "wifi assist" switched on. That means it'll use your mobile data if it thinks your wifi is too slow.

Not good if you have limited mobile data.
 
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I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
35,077
25,126
Gotta be in it to win it
For those not aware, by default IOS9 has "wifi assist" switched on. That means it'll use your mobile data if it thinks your wifi is too slow.

Not good if you have limited mobile data.
How do you turn if off?

Edit: it's an option in cellular settings. Interesting point, op. Thanks.
 

TheNormsk

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2015
81
36
Colorado
I discovered the same over the weekend. Our family plan typically consumes 3GB per month. We have a 6GB plan and I was actually thinking of downgrading the plan to 4GB as we never use the data. On Saturday, I found out that my phone in the 5 days since iOS9 came out has burned through 16GB of data. That's a massive 10GB over plan and we are only a week into it.

Investigating I found the wifi assist. The labeling of this is misleading and the fact that this is turned on by default will mean that many people are probably blowing through their data without realizing thinking that they are on wifi.

Apple needs to fix this by switching off the option as default and having it as a opt-in.

I need to talk to Verizon as I will be disputing this overage.
 

TheNormsk

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2015
81
36
Colorado
My Wifi at home is 25/5. This weekend I was away in a motel though. I think their wifi in not great and I was watching video. I think I went through 4-5GB just this weekend. But even at home, I have consumed another 4-5GB in a few days and it should have no issue with the Wifi.

I think the wifi assist may be a little over eager to use cellular data.
 
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perkedel

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2014
534
203
California
My Wifi at home is 25/5. This weekend I was away in a motel though. I think their wifi in not great and I was watching video. I think I went through 4-5GB just this weekend. But even at home, I have consumed another 4-5GB in a few days and it should have no issue with the Wifi.

I think the wifi assist may be a little over eager to use cellular data.

that's interesting. well i turned mine off just to be safe. i notice a slight .5gb increase on mine, as i usually use about 1gb monthly since i have wifi everywhere i go.
 

JT2002TJ

macrumors 68020
Nov 7, 2013
2,034
1,354
I have had mine switched off from day 1. I still find that it is assisting me, even with it off... This is going to be a MAJOR problem...
 

vexorg

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 4, 2009
622
53
My problem is that the wifi our house is ok in some areas, and poor in other. So I set up a spare router in the other end that has poor wifi. The problem is that the iPhone hangs on to the poor signal like death. Usually I have to force the network to change manually. It's not so much the speed, it's the connection strength. I only have 1Gb of data. Outside of wifi I only need emails, so it's never been a problem. This could easily eat up 1Gb if I wasn't aware.

The very least is it should pop up and say bad connection, do you want to use mobile data?

(edit:typo :D )
 
Last edited:

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
Apple made big mistake, by enabling this feature by default.
I think people might be overestimating how much of a role this might be playing in most situations. It's possible there is some issue with it or some isolated situations might result in more unexpected usage, but I'm not necessarily sure that the additional usage some people have been seeing after updating (which happens to people after updates even those from before iOS 9 where this assist wasn't available) is directly related to this particular functionality.
 

MyManD

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2015
6
0
Showerthought: If wif-fi assist being on by default affects enough people and unexpectedly forces them to go over their data caps, would there be enough cause of a class action lawsuit?

This could potentially cost consumers money.
 

TheNormsk

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2015
81
36
Colorado
Okay, now I am confused. My phone was saying that I had used 16GB in the last period. However, checking data usage on Verizon's site states I've only used 1.33GB. So perhaps this is not such an issue after all. Now to figure out why my phone is reporting high usage?
 

perkedel

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2014
534
203
California
Okay, now I am confused. My phone was saying that I had used 16GB in the last period. However, checking data usage on Verizon's site states I've only used 1.33GB. So perhaps this is not such an issue after all. Now to figure out why my phone is reporting high usage?

you need to reset the usage on the phone on the billing cycle when it resets your usage. if not, you'll see what you see now.
 
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Armen

macrumors 604
Apr 30, 2013
7,408
2,274
Los Angeles
For those not aware, by default IOS9 has "wifi assist" switched on. That means it'll use your mobile data if it thinks your wifi is too slow.

Not good if you have limited mobile data.

I think this option is off by default isn't it?
 
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