Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
slowcookhelen
Enthusiast - Level 2

It may be a coincidence, but it seems like ever since we switched to the all-share plan, our data seems to be being used up at a much faster rate.  Our plan rolls over on the 27th.  We are already up to like 1.7 GB.  We can't figure out why.  Last month, we used 7.2 of our 8GB plan.  We have 2 smart phones and a laptop.  How can we figure this out?  We really need an answer.  At the rate it's clipping off now, we'll be over the limit before we're halfway through the month.

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
Carrucan
Contributor - Level 1

Hey Helen.  Are you streaming movies?  That will eat up a lot of data very quickly.  I spent three days "on the road" last week with no WiFi access and barely made a dent in my data usage (I'm a new customer...I have 2GB).  If you aren't streaming or downloading movies and a lot of media content, it would be very difficult to utilize nearly 2GB of data. 

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
Jakeman1
Master - Level 1

I would start by loading the app Onavo Count on your devices. This is a data tracker and will give you details of what is using your data.  My guess is you will see that a lot of the Bloatware is using your data. This application also gives you the ability to change how these applications use so you can set them to use data only when connected to Wi-Fi. These apps will NOT use Data then. Then ultimately you can disable any of these apps you do NOT use which will STOP data usage all together.

When I did this my data usage went from 2.4 GB per month to under .5 GB per month.

Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
Carrucan
Contributor - Level 1

Which bloatware uses that much data?

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
Jakeman1
Master - Level 1

The largest contributors of my Bloatware Data Usage were (and these are not in order of usage)

Amazon Kindle

Facebook

Google Play Books

Google Play Movies

Google Play Music

Google +

MOG Music

My Verizon Mobile (used the most data)

Netflix

NFL Mobile

Slacker

Slingbox

V Cast Tones

Verizon Video (used the second highest amount of Data)

VZ Navigator (third highest user of Data)

I use NONE of these applications at all and when I disabled / changed how these use data, my data usage dropped by 2gb per month.

Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
rcschnoor
Legend

I'm curious, are these apps "using" data because Google Play is downloading the most recent version of the app? If you do not have Google Play set to automatically update to the latest version, this will not happen.

You list "My Verizon Mobile" as using the most data. This doesn't matter a whole lot, because data used by "My Verizon Mobile" does not count against your data allowance. This is explained HERE. Updating the app with the newest version WILL use data against your allowance, though.

I also have all of these apps with no special precautions on them such as the app you suggest and I only use about 0.5GB/month in data. The only precaution I have is that I have my apps set to "manually" update from Google Play. I don't even have them set to update on wi-fi only.

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
PJNC284
Master - Level 2

yeah, there's no reason any of those apps should have that kind of usage.  My guess is the app was misreading the usage or something else was going on.

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
mortb
Specialist - Level 3

I have all the bloatware you listed and use, on the average 1.7 GB per month. Have yet to go over 2 GB. The biggest data usage is streaming anything (music, TV, radio, etc.). Another biggie are the apps people download to stop apps from running. They are forever on and scanning both your phone and the internet. If you want to keep a handle on upgrades, unclick the "automatic upgrade" block. Believe it or not, Email makes a very small dent in data usage, unless you like to send a lot of photos as attachments. Downloading apps also does not eat up that much data. And sharing data between three (or more) items will probably eat up data very quickly. I would keep a note on what I and the family is doing and then figure out the data usage.

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
slowcookhelen
Enthusiast - Level 2

We do not usually stream tv shows or movies. I did when my netbook was all

I had and then only occasionally. I had 5GB all to myself back then.

However, last billing cycle, when the data usage really started to go up, I

did download a typing program on the laptop for my son, and did some

updates on Rosetta Stone. Would that have used up a lot of data? So far

this billing cycle, I did begin a download of a digital copy of a movie

from Warner Bros, but when I saw how long it was taking, I stopped it at

72% and deleted it.

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Re: Question about data usage - how fast it is used up
slowcookhelen
Enthusiast - Level 2

Can you give me more information about manually updating vs. automatically

updating? Also, what about setting that process to wi-fi only or not? I

am SO confused! Thanks!

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