2Degrees Data and Billing Unreliable

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › 2Degrees Data and Billing Unreliable - moved to One NZ

kodogo

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#323568 16-Dec-2025 16:33

This topic has come up before, but the issue seems to have got much worse for me recently. My wife and I have been on 2Degrees mobile prepay plans for years. Recently, we have had the situation where large amounts of data usage have been reported by 2Degrees which bear no relation to what the phone thinks it has done, and money taken out of my top up bucket without asking, and on dates and for amounts which bear scant relation to what 2Degrees report as data usage. I phoned the 2Degrees help line to try to get a full explanation and reconciliation on my account, was treated like a moron, and the woman on the other end just kept repeating that I was out of data and credit, and claimed that my phone would continue to use data even when connected to Wifi, and eventually just hung up on me when I thought I was being polite under the circumstances.

Anyway, I was so annoyed I went out and switched over to One NZ. Just hoping they are better, but still wondering if anyone else has had weird data usage reporting and unexplained charges from 2Degrees, and if you managed to resolve the?

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#3444616 16-Dec-2025 16:38

@kodogo The mobile data counting / usage is 100% correct the confusing part for customers is they can put a number of days mobile data usage that will show it was used on a single day in the 2degrees App when other days will show no usage

This is cause they have installed a new EPC that can hold data sessions open for many days

Edit: Check out this thread 2degrees data pay monthly no usage

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#3444617 16-Dec-2025 16:44

@kodogo If your handset / mobile phone is connected to Wi-Fi then no way this traffic will be billed as mobile data

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#3444620 16-Dec-2025 16:49

@SaltyNZ Have I explained this correctly? Please correct me if not

richms

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#3444623 16-Dec-2025 16:54

Linux:

@kodogo If your handset / mobile phone is connected to Wi-Fi then no way this traffic will be billed as mobile data

My phone often tells me that its using mobile data too when browsing on wifi to make it faster. I don't care because I am on unlimited but if you are getting by on a pathetic data allocation that could really ruin your day if you were not expecting it.

Richard rich.ms

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#3444625 16-Dec-2025 16:56

Apple calls it "Wi-Fi Assist", and I believe it's on by default. It's something you need to turn off if you only have a small data plan.

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#3444626 16-Dec-2025 16:58

richms:

Linux:

@kodogo If your handset / mobile phone is connected to Wi-Fi then no way this traffic will be billed as mobile data

My phone often tells me that its using mobile data too when browsing on wifi to make it faster. I don't care because I am on unlimited but if you are getting by on a pathetic data allocation that could really ruin your day if you were not expecting it.

Yes Samsung / Android handsets can do this as well if the option is enabled it does not do it by default

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#3444693 16-Dec-2025 19:04

@kodogo Do the replies above answer your question?

kodogo

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#3444702 16-Dec-2025 19:52

Wi-fi assist is off. $7 was taken out of my wife’s account overnight while she was asleep and phone was on wi-fi but no data used. Impossible to make spending history consistent with data use as shown by 2degrees or phone, and they don’t provide proper itemised statements so am cutting our losses and moving to One NZ. Also customer service was useless and rude and dogmatically wrong in saying that data would be used when wifi on and wifi assist off. Am giving up and moving to One NZ, was just curious if anyone else had issues with them

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#3444705 16-Dec-2025 20:01

You don't need to be awake for a handset to use mobile data as it is a smart phone and apps can run in the background when out and about for the day

At 50 cents a MB it can clock up quick if your plan has run out of included mobile data

You called 2degrees and they told it was for casual data usage so really they did answer your question

SaltyNZ

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#3444761 16-Dec-2025 22:29

2degrees cannot bill you for data that was used on Wifi. Like, the mobile core network literally cannot any more than it can bill you for your water usage. I can't tell you what or why your phone would use mobile data for when it said it was on Wifi, but if it said mobile data was used, then it was used.

As @Linux says, though, records are only generated at the end of a data session and those can run for days or weeks. The handset will often hold them open even in Wifi so it's fast when you leave the hotspot, so just because it said the usage was "last night" does not mean it actually was.

Your balance remaining is always accurate to within a reservation amount as this is a real-time query against the system.

Best of luck on One NZ. Hope they serve your needs better.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

MartinGZ

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#3445104 17-Dec-2025 21:50

SaltyNZ:

As @Linux says, though, records are only generated at the end of a data session and those can run for days or weeks. The handset will often hold them open even in Wifi so it's fast when you leave the hotspot, so just because it said the usage was "last night" does not mean it actually was.

That may be how the system works, but from the point of view of a user I wonder if it is reasonable. Let's take the absurd, where the phone streams data continuously for two months, are you saying that the user will not see that data use reconciled until the end of those two months? Surely it would be better for the user to have the use reconciled to the account each day, even if the use was ongoing?

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SaltyNZ

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#3445138 18-Dec-2025 08:50

MartinGZ:

SaltyNZ:

As @Linux says, though, records are only generated at the end of a data session and those can run for days or weeks. The handset will often hold them open even in Wifi so it's fast when you leave the hotspot, so just because it said the usage was "last night" does not mean it actually was.

That may be how the system works, but from the point of view of a user I wonder if it is reasonable. Let's take the absurd, where the phone streams data continuously for two months, are you saying that the user will not see that data use reconciled until the end of those two months? Surely it would be better for the user to have the use reconciled to the account each day, even if the use was ongoing?

There's a bit to unpack here. First: if you want to know how much data you have, you can check that at any time - and it will be accurate to within a reservation* - in self-care. What you cannot check in real time is how much you used in the past. So yes: if hypothetically you had a single session that was held up for two months, you would not see the final record of that for two months. But you could see your remaining data going down in real-time.

Would it be better to cut a CDR each day to reconcile the account? It depends what you mean by reconcile. As I indicated above the system is tracking your usage in realtime. The record isn't required. The record is just ... for your info.

We do recognise that this can be an issue but for the time being there is little we can do about it. Imagine if I suddenly increase the CDR load by 2M a day (and all appearing at midnight, just to make it better). Not something you can do on a whim.

In the short term we are piloting new account controls for corporate customers that will reduce the impact. In the medium term there are projects in flight that will address the issues more fully and should allow us to be able to produce partial CDRs more frequently. The exact frequency won't be nailed down until later in the project but it might be hours between rather than even daily.

*Reservation sizes vary depending on the plan type.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

yitz

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#3445461 18-Dec-2025 17:13

2degrees sounds a bit complicated.

My experience with One NZ prepay updating of data pack balance is real time and dollar usage records in a matter of minutes / an hour or two at the very most (such as in case of casual data where there is no bar graph to show the balance). I would say most accurate or even under reported.

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#3445462 18-Dec-2025 17:26

@yitz the data bundle remaining / balance is updated real time that is not what the OP is talking about

In the 2degrees app you can see a break down of daily usage and this is what is causing the confusion to end users

Edit: Minutes used is real time as well and reflected in the 2degrees App as well

MartinGZ

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#3445516 19-Dec-2025 09:42

As a consumer I don't want to know about what happens in the backend, all I want is for the data to be presented in a clear and true manner. I have more data than I know what to do with, but it seems the OP did not and I assume was checking their usuage to ensure they stay within limits. I can see the points the OP was making about the presentation of data.

2Degrees seem to present the data in two forms, a daily usuage bar chart, and a realtime number showing how much data is left. So I find the following from @SaltyNZ rather perplexing.

SaltyNZ:

What you cannot check in real time is how much you used in the past.

...................

But you could see your remaining data going down in real-time.

So it would seem the realtime data is available to 2Degrees, they have just chosen to present the historical data in a way that makes no sense to the average user. Surely it is not all that difficult to take a "meter reading" at the end of each day and a simple subtraction from one day to the next gives the daily usage to be graphed in the bar chart?