Mysterious mobile data usage in the middle of the night

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Lizard1977

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#280892 18-Jan-2021 13:55

I just got a text from my mobile provider (Orcon via Skinny) saying I had run out of data (2.5GB plan). I thought I had a few gigs rolled over so this was a surprise. I checked my usage logs on the Orcon site to discover that two nights last week my phone used 1.8GB of data at around 3am (587MB and 203MB one night, 1.1GB the other). On both occasions my phone was on wifi and on the wireless charger. There may have been some updates going on - I think there was an iOS update pushed out last week - and it may have been Onedrive backing up my Camera Roll. But why did it fall back to mobile data when wifi was available? I've withheld mobile data privileges from Onedrive for backing up, so it shouldn't be using mobile data at all.

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#2637381 18-Jan-2021 14:16

Don't know why, but I put my phone into airplane mode at night, or at least turn off data / wifi.

Batman

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#2637427 18-Jan-2021 14:30

Maybe disable fall back on 4g when wifi unavailable?

But other than that it's strange.

Senecio

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#2637440 18-Jan-2021 15:14

It's quite common for iPhones to disconnect from Wifi when in sleep mode or screen locked. At first it was purported to be a feature to extend battery life but that's not the case.

Generally if you follow the following procedure your phone may remain connected when sleeping.

Reset network settings
Turn off Wifi assist
May not be necessary but I also turn off automatic updates so I can control when updates are downloaded and installed

antonknee

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#2637446 18-Jan-2021 15:26

Definitely turn off Wi-Fi Assist (in Settings) if you haven't already.

This feature uses mobile data if it senses the Wi-Fi network it's connected too goes down or has poor/limited connectivity - but I don't find it works all that well and can be a bit hasty to switch to mobile data.

rugrat

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#2637454 18-Jan-2021 15:40

I’m on old iOS, but assuming same in new one:

Settings, mobile.

Then have spinning wheel at bottom, after 5 to 10 seconds it comes up with all applications and how much mobile data used.

Scroll to bottom, can reset back to zero. My wifi assist (also near bottom) is 10.2kb.
May give can idea where leak is. Can also near bottom turn off iCloud Drive on mobile, think just means if enter calendar entry etc, won’t update other devices until connected to wifi.

ANglEAUT

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#2637583 18-Jan-2021 21:20

Agree with Batman & rugrat.

The first changes your phones data usage patterns as it will not use mobile data when connected to Wi-Fi
Keep monitoring which apps use the most mobile data.
iOS updates generally indicate they will only download once connected to Wi-Fi, so it's unlikely to be iOS updates
Also, did yo install any new apps recently? Rogue apps can create traffic for fake ad views, making the developers extra cash

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Lizard1977

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#2637754 19-Jan-2021 09:11

I went through the apps using mobile data, but the "current period" is almost an entire year (since I bought the phone), so it's hard to work out what was consuming the data in the past week. So I don't see any easy way to diagnose which app has been gulping down the data.

I set up an automation that turns off mobile data whenever the phone is in Do Not Disturb mode (11pm to 6am). I think this is better than turning on flight mode, as I still want to be able to easily use my phone on wifi if I need to during the night. Hopefully that will save the mobile data from any vampiric apps...

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timmmay

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#2637811 19-Jan-2021 09:38

Aside, but using a phone before bed or during the night will disrupt melatonin production and will harm your sleep quality. It might be necessary sometimes but should be avoided.

Lizard1977

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#2639726 21-Jan-2021 16:29

So this is getting disturbing...

I purchased a data pack when I ran out on Monday, as as I mentioned on Tuesday I set up an automation to turn off mobile data whenever Do not Disturb is turned on, which is from 11pm to 6am. I've been getting notifications each day to confirm that the automation is running, with last nights notification coming through at 11.16pm and then it notified me at 5am this morning that it had switched off. It's puzzling why it isn't happening precisely at 11pm and 6am, but I figured it was no biggie as it was still covering the vampire hours.

Then today I get a notification that my 1GB data pack has run out (again). So I go to check my mobile usage (again) to see that yesterday at 12.32am it used up 318MB, this morning at 2.53am it used 424MB, and then (bizarrely) at 4.10pm this afternoon it burned through 277MB. All I was doing at that time was browsing a (mostly) text story on the FB app - no videos playing, no music in the background. I have FB set not to autoplay videos on mobile data, and I was using my phone exactly the same way I have used it for years (i.e. frugally).

What is going on here? Why is my phone somehow using mobile data even when the mobile data is switched off? I can't say it with 100% certainty because I'm not staring at my phone through the night to confirm that the mobile data switch is disabled, but the automation I set up (and tested) is clearly running during the times it is chewing through the data, so somehow my phone is able to use mobile data even when it's not supposed to. Am I going crazy here? I really shouldn't have to resort to physically switching my phone off to stop it bleeding data, should I?

timmmay

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#2639728 21-Jan-2021 16:32

You could try airplane mode at night for a week to see if it makes a difference. I wonder if "mobile data off" is more of a suggestion to Apple rather than a command.

mudguard

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#2639732 21-Jan-2021 16:39

Lizard1977:

So this is getting disturbing...

Why is my phone somehow using mobile data even when the mobile data is switched off? I can't say it with 100% certainty because I'm not staring at my phone through the night to confirm that the mobile data switch is disabled, but the automation I set up (and tested) is clearly running during the times it is chewing through the data, so somehow my phone is able to use mobile data even when it's not supposed to. Am I going crazy here? I really shouldn't have to resort to physically switching my phone off to stop it bleeding data, should I?

Can you see which apps have used data in the past 24 hours and how much? I remember way back something like a large email attachment constantly trying to send would eat up data pretty quickly.

RunningMan

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#2639736 21-Jan-2021 16:42

Did you reset the mobile data stats to see which app is using the data?

Lizard1977

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#2639742 21-Jan-2021 16:48

Unfortunately I forgot to reset stats when I purchased the data pack on Monday. I guess I just assumed that turning off mobile data would, you know, actually turn off mobile data. So I can't really work out where the data has gone. I suspected system services, based on time of day, but I think the usage (for the past year) was sitting at about 2.4GB on Monday, and it's about 2.5GB now (so about 100MB, maybe?) I haven't sent any large attachments lately so I don't think that's the cause.

My data plan rolls over tomorrow. I've reset stats now and will monitor it closely to see where the leak is occurring. But the usage in the middle of the night still troubles me.

sparkz25

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#2639743 21-Jan-2021 16:55

Try pulling the sim overnight and see if the data usage is still there, could be something in the back end of the billing system playing up?

SomeoneSomewhere

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#2639791 21-Jan-2021 17:16

No chance you have any kind of shared data pool with a tablet or laptop or something?

Tethering not on?

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