Verizon Data Usage Skyrocketing

[Lily&Me]

Since heading south about 5 weeks ago, I have noticed an incredible increase in how rapidly I am going thru cellular data.

I have increased from 8GB to 12GB and then yesterday to 16GB, with one week left on my plan.

I have never needed that much data. I keep WiFi assist off, do not stream movies or watch videos, and keep cellular data on only for the half dozen or so apps I use all the time.

Checking my usage history, and calling Customer Service, I didn't really get a satisfactory answer, tho switching between news articles is now considered "Gaming".

Googling the problem, I see some complaints from last fall about this, and some indication it had to do with the system update around that time, but nothing since.

Can anyone shed some light on the changes, and/or share how they keep usage under control?

Thanks in advance.

Maggie

[overlander63]

There was another system update last week. If I had to guess, I would think there is a connection.
I go into "settings", then "cellular data", and turn off everything except Safari, Mail, and my weather app. It's surprising how many things get turned back on during an update.

[Hittenstiehl]

Maggie we'll be watching to see what the replies are.

This has also happened to us.

I had been putting off the marshmallow update on my android phone for the last several months but it was popping up so often it was eating my battery. And I have a good droid turbo battery.

I read the review on the marshmallow update and they were not favorable and lots of people removed it.

I allowed the update because I could no longer find a way around it. ARG😣

I also have turned off a variety of updates and options and deleted several of the "these came with the phone apps"

I love my smart phone but sometimes it all seems part of a racket.😒

[Lily&Me]

I watch that carefully, too, Terry, and have to wonder if Verizon is calculating usage differently.

I no sooner added 4GB than had blown thru 3 of them...like, in a week or less.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I didn't know one could opt out of the updates.

I use cellular for the phone and IPad when I am traveling, but did not notice this going on last summer into fall, when the last trip ended.


Maggie

[NWGetaways]

On an iPhone, go to Settings -> Cellular. You'll see a list of all your apps that use cellular data, and each will show how much data they've used. Scroll all the way to the bottom and you can reset the statistics and then track it over the next few days.

App updates could be chewing through a lot of data. In Settings -> iTunes & App Stores, turn off "Use Cellular Data".

[Lily&Me]

Thanks for those suggestions.

I don't allow app updates automatically, and try to do them only when I have wifi...like in the waiting room of an auto dealership this am.

I'll check and do the tracking thing...

Maggie

[Al and Missy]

Maggie,
Do you close out your unused apps or just switch to another? I didn't know this until someone showed me how, but you double press the home button and it shows you all the apps that are open. I thought they only took up some memory when they are left open but some may be using data all the time. To close them, just swipe them up. It is a good idea to do this often, particularly if your iPhone or iPad is getting slow.

Al

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

Maggie,
Do you close out your unused apps or just switch to another? I didn't know this until someone showed me how, but you double press the home button and it shows you all the apps that are open. I thought they only took up some memory when they are left open but some may be using data all the time. To close them, just swipe them up. It is a good idea to do this often, particularly if your iPhone or iPad is getting slow.

Al

Ditto, I do this several times a day.

[cliffcharb]

Funny that this was brought up. My wife and I were talking about this last week, and just today one of my employees was complaining about his data usage also. He changed his plan last month to a roll over plan as he always had data remaining. After the change he is all of a sudden using his allotted amount. We all have Verizon and have not changed any habits lately. Another one of my employees is with a different carrier, unlimited data, and uses her phone nearly every day, all day, listening to streaming music. She says her monthly usage is generally around 8 gigs.
Personally I think it's a scam, to get you to "upgrade" at a higher rate.

[Lily&Me]

Hmmm....thanks for that, Al.

I do that on the IPad several times a day, haven't done it on the IPhone in a very long time.

I just closed everything on the phone.


Maggie

[Wconley]

You can also settings/cellular (if you have an iPhone) then go to the bottom to see if "Wi-Fi Assist" is turned on. If your wi-fi is not very strong, as is the case in many campgrounds, your phone will use cellular data to make up for wi-fi connectivity speed. You can end up using a lot of cellular data when you didn't expect it. Of course this also slows down your surfing when it's turned off.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by cliffcharb

Funny that this was brought up. My wife and I were talking about this last week, and just today one of my employees was complaining about his data usage also. He changed his plan last month to a roll over plan as he always had data remaining. After the change he is all of a sudden using his allotted amount. We all have Verizon and have not changed any habits lately. Another one of my employees is with a different carrier, unlimited data, and uses her phone nearly every day, all day, listening to streaming music. She says her monthly usage is generally around 8 gigs.
Personally I think it's a scam, to get you to "upgrade" at a higher rate.

I have to think there has been some change in the way Verizon is calculating data usage.

Maggie

[dznf0g]

I'm watching Project Fi very closely. May give it a try when my Verizon plan is up for renewal.

[Jim & Susan]

Originally Posted by overlander63

There was another system update last week. If I had to guess, I would think there is a connection.
I go into "settings", then "cellular data", and turn off everything except Safari, Mail, and my weather app. It's surprising how many things get turned back on during an update.

Thanks for posting this, Terry. We had this issue last fall.....just for one month. Never before or after. Susan is checking our current usage as I type this.

Verizon has wonderful coverage in our part of the country....but their customer service is terrible.

Jim

[paiceman]

Our data usage according to Verizon is about double what it was this past summer. I did not think much about it until I read your post. So, thanks I'm going to ask my IT son today to see what's up.

[Lily&Me]

When I spoke with someone in customer service yesterday, and she looked at my usage, she said something about reading a news story....a lot of those these days ...and clicking on a link to another within that story being "Gaming", also something about looking at a news page with a video link being "Videos", or something like that...even if you didn't click on the link and actually watch the video.

I simply don't watch videos using cellular data when traveling, as I know this eats up data, and I never play games...which is why I called when I saw these large categories of usage.

I am a longtime Verizon devotee, but this is starting to feel like a racket, and I suspect as I have read here and elsewhere that the changes in how activity is categorized and charged to usage are imbedded in the upgrades.

While I hadn't closed out apps in my phone in a long time, it does not get the heavy usage that my IPad does...where apps are closed out... there weren't that many open, and cellular data was turned off for all but my half dozen regulars.

Can't have contributed too much to the excessive usage, it seems to me.

I'm going to watch my usage and lodge a formal complaint if it doesn't settle down.

I don't mind paying for the excellent coverage, and good service, but I don't like feeling cheated and scammed, which I am feeling a bit of right now.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by cliffcharb

Funny that this was brought up. My wife and I were talking about this last week, and just today one of my employees was complaining about his data usage also. He changed his plan last month to a roll over plan as he always had data remaining. After the change he is all of a sudden using his allotted amount. We all have Verizon and have not changed any habits lately. Another one of my employees is with a different carrier, unlimited data, and uses her phone nearly every day, all day, listening to streaming music. She says her monthly usage is generally around 8 gigs.
Personally I think it's a scam, to get you to "upgrade" at a higher rate.

I switched to the rollover plan some months back, and called Verizon last month when I got an alert I had used 75% of my data and had no rollover...when I had been at home with wifi in December and was sure I had carryover data.

I was told that for some reason the newest upgrade didn't pull the unused data from the prior month with it, also that rollover only occurs from one month to the next...if you don't use it the following month, you lose it.

Because the carryover didn't occur with the upgrade, they gave me a $15 credit to my account, which basically paid for the upgrade to the next data plan.

Maggie

[Al and Missy]

Maggie,
A lot of the news stories have a window in them that shows a video. Even if you don't click to expand it, it is still using data to run the video in the small window. A lot of the stories have a teaser on the summary page that has a picture and it says video, but I never thought about it using data if the video runs. Our data usage seems high on the road sometimes and I just attributed it to the fact that we are using the WiFi when at home. Maybe we need to watch our usage more closely too.

Al

[Lily&Me]

That certainly seems a sneaky way to take ones allotted data, when you are judiciously avoiding running those clips...


Maggie