Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
JHA123
Enthusiast - Level 3

Elector- I promise you with 100% accuracy,if you are just sending/receiving a regular MMS message (not iMessage to iMessage), it's subtracting from your data allocation.  If you were still on a "basic" phone, it would fall under your "unlimited texting" or any other text plan you have.  Thats the big scam here. While my recent example of 219 kilobyte (.31 MB) may seem like nothing - it's the principal and over the course of the month it could make the difference of going over one's pre-paid allocation. 

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
Not applicable

JHA123 wrote:

Elector- I promise you with 100% accuracy,if you are just sending/receiving a regular MMS message (not iMessage to iMessage), it's subtracting from your data allocation.  If you were still on a "basic" phone, it would fall under your "unlimited texting" or any other text plan you have.  Thats the big scam here. While my recent example of 219 kilobyte (.31 MB) may seem like nothing - it's the principal and over the course of the month it could make the difference of going over one's pre-paid allocation. 

I agree as I said my friend pointed that out. And as being on Unlimited I never cared nor did I check until just a few minutes back that it did use data. I am lucky that most 99% of my friends have iPhone's so we are using iMessage mostly.

My wife has a droid, and her Multimedia Messages and not Texts come up as data usage which is also unlimited.

Yes I agree that on a basic phone it use to be free. However I was reading yesterday that even basic phones are being charged $30  for 500Mb of data if you use it or not. That is something if I had a basic phone would holler about.

You see this new data charge as much as they can plans never had to be on a dumb phone. Now the cash crop has spread to another device. In the old days Verizon charged you for $5 Mobile web, and you could pay $10 extra per month for unlimited Texts and Multimedia Messages. Something to think about.

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
JHA123
Enthusiast - Level 3

perhaps the $10 "unlimited" texting is a dinosaur, and all messages will go the way of data someday, so all we pay for is data. iMessage is useless if you friends with android users.  I still think this is a very unfair business practice, MMS should not be "device or carrier specific" it's a universal means of communication.

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
rcschnoor
Legend

JHA123 wrote:

do you consider .31 MBs for 8 MMS messages nothing?  It all adds up - thats what I just got hit with in order to receive messags from friends I used to get for "free" within my unlimitted texting plan. I am surprised there isn't more of a national outcry over this.

Is this on an iPhone??? If so, simply disable iMessage and that data usage WILL NOT count against your data allowance. For some reason, Apple has seen some wisdom in bypassing the normal SMS/MMS messaging route. As a result, though, you get charged for data usage when messaging instead of having these messages included for free in you unlimited texting plan. Simply disabling iMessage will fix this and you will no longer be charged that 0.31 MB for 8 MMS messages.

If you have an unlimited texting plan, ALL SMS/MMS messages are included and you WILL NOT be charged for data on those messages even though an MMS is sent via cellular data. THAT data usage is NOT counted against your allowance.

The problem comes when using iMessage. iMessage DOES NOT send that message as an MMS and therefore DOES NOT get sent for free per the terms of your SMS/MMS plan since it is NOT an MMS.

It depends on whether or not the benefits of iMessage outweigh the added cost of additional data being charged against your allowance.

Good luck.Smiley Happy

Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
Tidbits
Legend

Which it isn't. You have various means to communicate.

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
JHA123
Enthusiast - Level 3

Mine is the iPhone 5c, and iMessage is disabled. I think you missed the point - think "green" messages. There are SMS and MMS (multimedia, like pics or group messages). It's a real simply issue - 10 days ago, I was holding onto my LG Cosmos touch, (a basic phone) and able to fully communicate via all types of messages (SMS/MMS) with all my friends wielding any type of smart phone well within my $10 a month unlimited texting... I finally took the plunge (and starting to regret) into the smartphone. While I can afford the extra $30 a month, I was not happy to learn that MMS messages will now count as DATA and not be part of my $10 unlimitted texting..

Thats it - in a nutshell. A very simple concept - had to be by design?

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
rcschnoor
Legend

JHA123 wrote:

perhaps the $10 "unlimited" texting is a dinosaur, and all messages will go the way of data someday, so all we pay for is data. iMessage is useless if you friends with android users.  I still think this is a very unfair business practice, MMS should not be "device or carrier specific" it's a universal means of communication.

MMS IS NOT "device or carrier specific", however iMessage DOES NOT use MMS to other Apple devices using iMessage. THAT is the distinction. iMessage bypasses SMS/MMS to other Apple devices with iMessage activated.

As a comparison, you can use UPS and FedEx. Say you had unlimited FedEx but you went to a retailer which ALWAYS used UPS if it was available UNLESS you instructed it otherwise to use FedEx. If you don't instruct it to use FedEx that retailer would simply charge you for the shipment on UPS even though you could have gotten it for free with FedEx. It is the same way with iMessage. IF you have an unlimited texting plan and use iMessage, UNLESS you instruct iMessage to ONLY use SMS/MMS then it will use its preferred method which in the case of sending to other Apple devices is via data, NOT SMS/MMS.Smiley Happy

This is further exacerbated for people who discontinue using Apple devices UNLESS they deactivate iMessage on their device prior to switching to another platform. All Apple devices will CONTINUE to send via iMessage and that user will no longer receive messages from Apple devices because the messages are being sent via iMessage and NOT SMS/MMS.

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
rcschnoor
Legend

If iMessage is disabled the data usage for MMS will not count against your data allowance.Smiley Happy

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
JHA123
Enthusiast - Level 3

I respectfully disagree - I just proved that false and Verizon also confirmed that ANY MMS message (even with iMessage disabled) subtracts from Data if you have a smart phone.  A basic phone - will be covered under your normal texting plan. I can show you that 11:36 AM today when I turned back on "cellular data" that 8 pending MMS came across and used exactly 391KBs of data. iMessage was disabled. Called Verizon- they confirmed 100%.  

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Re: Data Usage accruing while on WiFi?
basil1091
Enthusiast - Level 2

Interesting.  I was told by Apple that the cellular data had to be on for picture messages and MMS because they had to "verify" that I had that service with my carrier but it was never charged against my data plan.  I'll have to watch more closely and test it.

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