Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
gg5
Enthusiast - Level 2

Got a new, unlocked, Galazy S7 last month when my old phone was stolen. As soon as I activated it, I made sure wi-fi assist was off, turned on mobile data saver, connected to my normal wifi places (school, work, home, family's house), and tweaked various settings to make sure I wouldn't leak any data. My phone usage habits have remained exactly the same. However, Verizon said my data use skyrocketed, that I went over my data limits, and I got charged for two extra gigs. This month I thought to check how my phone measures data- it showed normal use and that I was WELL within my limits.  I don't expect my phone and Verizon to be exactly the same, but they are off by a factor of ten. Furthermore, this entire week I have had mobile data turned off and disabled so many apps and functions that my phone is practically a brick. Verizon is STILL showing extremely high data use.

Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know what's going on?

Labels (1)
Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
boringusername
Master - Level 1

iphones are nortorious for turning off wi-fi and turning  on mobile data.

Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
tikibar1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Do you have the Play Store auto update turned off or at least have updates set to update only over wi-fi?  Have you changed the data usage cycle to match your VzW billing cycle?

 

 

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
mama23dogs
Legend

Samsung phones DO NOT have a WIFI assist switch.  What exactly have you switched off?

If your phone is set to meter by your bill cycle and Verizon is showing 10 times more:   Are you looking at kbs, mbs or gbs?   The difference would be 1,000x off.  

Call Verizon and update your IMEI.   Make sure your old phone was blacklisted.

File an FCC complaint.  

Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
gg5
Enthusiast - Level 2

I know that wifi assist is an iphone thing, but there's a similar setting for samsung, I just forget what it's called. 

Old phone was canceled the day it was stolen.

Verizon shows about 1.5 gigs used, my phone shows about 157 megs, hence the 10X factor.

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
gg5
Enthusiast - Level 2

I turned off play store auto-updates the day I got my phone. It was still running in the background for the first week until I noticed and turned it off, but my phone says it only used about 20 megs of data in that time.

My phone's data use cycle matches Verizon's date.

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
Klue
Master - Level 1

What does your phone tell you whats using the data? Settings > Connections >Data Usage > Mobile Data Usage.

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
gg5
Enthusiast - Level 2

For this billing cycle, it's things like Spotify, Instagram, and Google maps. Each one has used less than 20 megs over the last week, which feels about right. But Verizon shows my data usage at .3 gigs just in the last day.

One odd thing though- there are a number of apps listed under mobile data usage that I don't use, either cause they are android system things like "android-ss-service-lib" or cause they came preinstalled. But instead of giving a number of how much if any data they used, they just say "restricted." Is there any reason these apps show up in this list? (Again, they can't be using data, it's turned off.)

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

gg5, I'm glad you reached out for some support. We wouldn't want to see such a large discrepancy between what we've been tracking and what your phone is reporting. I'd be happy to take a look at this with you.

 

As tikibar1 shared, it would be a good idea to check your Data Usage Cycle dates on your Samsung. Android is great at tracking data use, but it is important that it matches your cycle dates with VZW. Otherwise, the phone is going to be showing data tracking outside of what we track for your account. You can view your cycle dates in My Verizon or on your bill (these are the dates services are listed with your charges).

 

To change your cycle dates on your phone, you'd use the instructions listed under the bold heading 'Change Data Usage Cycle,' on the following page: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-203744/

 

Please check your dates, and if needed adjust them. Then compare what your Samsung shows compared to our website.

 

JohnT_VZW

If my response answered your question, please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

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Re: Data Usage has Skyrocketed Even though Mobile Data is Off
verizon_is_raping_us

Same with our plan, all of the sudden using a ton of data when in the past we'd barely come close to our 10 g of data per month.  I've gone into Data Usage, and turned off Mobile Data.  That will keep these wonderful phones from using both the Wifi and our precious Data.  Think it is garbage, and this is verizons ploy to get us all to swith to their unlimited plan, which i hear terrible.  Another way for a super wealthy company to action us.......Not impressed with Verizon anymore.

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