Hi,
I have this big, big problem with my carrier (Orange Spain) where they are charging me an arm and an eye for data connections I didn't make. I mean I just got this month's bill and I owe them 150€! Looking at it in detail I see numerous data connections ranging in the tens or hundreds of megs, made when I wasn't even using the phone. There's even one where I supposedly used 1,7 Gb!
They assure me that the connections have been made even if I'm not aware of them, and said that maybe they're due to a faulty phone. Is there a known problem with the N1 or any Android apps where they might be using those huge amounts of data without the user knowing it?
The apps use as much data as you let them use.
For example, if you have unprotected tethering turned on - you're providing all your surroundings with free internet on your account. Don't be surprised that doing it will result in huge bills.
No, there is no "known problem". Apps use internet connection, some more, some less. Want to control it? Install 3G Watchdog or any other app that checks the amount of data traffic used, and find what's using it.
what apps do you have that sync data?
gallery syncing with Picasa?
Lookup mobile security backing up your photos?
email accounts with sync amount=all?
data is fairly heavy with the phone, I average around 5-8gbs/month
Jack_R1 said:
For example, if you have unprotected tethering turned on - you're providing all your surroundings with free internet on your account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I don't. I wasn't even tethering by USB at the time these connections were made.
Jack_R1 said:
No, there is no "known problem". Apps use internet connection, some more, some less. Want to control it? Install 3G Watchdog or any other app that checks the amount of data traffic used, and find what's using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does 3G Watchdog tell you which app is using / has used the data?
britoso said:
what apps do you have that sync data?
gallery syncing with Picasa?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... but no new photos were uploaded.
britoso said:
Lookup mobile security backing up your photos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, none of that.
britoso said:
email accounts with sync amount=all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes... still, those amount to 5-10 mails a day, tops.
osugsxr said:
data is fairly heavy with the phone, I average around 5-8gbs/month
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never surpassed 400Mb before this, and I haven't changed my habits at all. Suddenly I'm over 3Gb.
No, 3G Watchdog doesn't tell you what app used the traffic. But there are others that do. Recently someone asked about such app, try to search the forum.
frandavid100 said:
I never surpassed 400Mb before this, and I haven't changed my habits at all. Suddenly I'm over 3Gb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that should rule out Android itself from your OP. It must be an app. Newsrob? You should look into any app that autosyncs. Also check their sync interval settings.
Alright, I ran some tests regarding this problem yesterday. First I turned off the phone and removed the SIM card, to see if there was any data traffic. I suspect my carrier is charging me for fake connections, so it was important to rule out the possibility of they registering connections while the card was removed.
I had it off for the rest of the day and, as expected, no connections were registered.
Then I installed 3G Watchdog and something curious happened: 3G Watchdog says I've spent exactly 91,4Kb, but Orange's web says I've spent 3,4Mb.
This brings a question, and the answer is very very important to me: is is possible that the phone is making connections and these are going unregistered by 3G Watchdog? That is, that the phone is using the Internet and 3G Watchdog doesn't see it?
frandavid100 said:
Alright, I ran some tests regarding this problem yesterday. First I turned off the phone and removed the SIM card, to see if there was any data traffic. I suspect my carrier is charging me for fake connections, so it was important to rule out the possibility of they registering connections while the card was removed.
I had it off for the rest of the day and, as expected, no connections were registered.
Then I installed 3G Watchdog and something curious happened: 3G Watchdog says I've spent exactly 91,4Kb, but Orange's web says I've spent 3,4Mb.
This brings a question, and the answer is very very important to me: is is possible that the phone is making connections and these are going unregistered by 3G Watchdog? That is, that the phone is using the Internet and 3G Watchdog doesn't see it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I would also argue that there is a lot more "background" data going on in android than on other mobile OS.
No, the connections don't go "unnoticed" by 3G Watchdog. But the charge for the connections isn't always calculated in "straightforward" way, as one would expect - please try to find earlier threads for it, I remember someone bringing this point already, and if I'm not mistaken - it was for one of the European carriers. For example, carriers can charge for any data packet, regardless of its size, as minimum of X size - so if you have an app that syncs and it has downloaded 5kB from the internet in 10 packets, it'll still register as charge for 100kB of data on your provider's site.
Check if they recently changed the calculation of the data charges - it might be the answer why suddenly you see your data usage blown.
nexusdue said:
Interesting. I would also argue that there is a lot more "background" data going on in android than on other mobile OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is, obviously, your bias showing and nothing more. There is no "background" data besides the obvious data - Gmail? Email? Contact sync (only when contacts change)? Data-syncing apps? Data-downloading apps (Maps/Navigation)? They're not present on "other mobile OS"? If they are - they draw the same data.
You might argue that Android gives a lot more "connectivity" to use by default, so users end up using a lot more data. That's closer to the truth - since Google apps rely on web availability, and they're available by default and easily accessible, they end up being used. On the other hand, it doesn't differ from installing those apps on any other mobile platform that supports it.
Jack_R1 said:
No, the connections don't go "unnoticed" by 3G Watchdog. But the charge for the connections isn't always calculated in "straightforward" way, as one would expect - please try to find earlier threads for it, I remember someone bringing this point already, and if I'm not mistaken - it was for one of the European carriers. For example, carriers can charge for any data packet, regardless of its size, as minimum of X size - so if you have an app that syncs and it has downloaded 5kB from the internet in 10 packets, it'll still register as charge for 100kB of data on your provider's site.
Check if they recently changed the calculation of the data charges - it might be the answer why suddenly you see your data usage blown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already took that into account: some of the connections Orange is charging me for don't amount to a Kylobyte, so we can discard that. And I have single connections that range from the tens of Megs to a top of 1.67Gb. All of them connections I didn't make, obviously.
Install this:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.curvefish.apps.trafficinfo
And check, what is connecting. If it's your phone at all.
Thanks, I've just started using it.
Run:
tcpdump -vv -s 0 -w /sdcard/output.cap
After a while, open that on your computer using WIRESHARK. It will tell you EXACTLY WHERE your phone is connecting to, as well as what protocol it is using, and even (if it isn't encrypted data), what data is being transferred.
frandavid100 said:
Thanks, I've just started using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am encountering the same issue (not so huge leaks but unknown as well)
TrafficInfo says me the following components use that data (every day lots of megabytes):
MediaStorage
DRM Protected Content Storage
Download Manager
have you figured out what that was?
Please let us know.
Thank you in advance
lbcoder said:
Run:
tcpdump -vv -s 0 -w /sdcard/output.cap
After a while, open that on your computer using WIRESHARK. It will tell you EXACTLY WHERE your phone is connecting to, as well as what protocol it is using, and even (if it isn't encrypted data), what data is being transferred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot man,
I don't know what that was in case of frandavid100,
but thanks to you I've figured out what is happening on my side.
I did tcpdump -vv -s 0 -w /sdcard/output.cap as you mentioned.
Your wise advice and mighty tool let me understand that my N1 downloads FRG83 firmware update from Google servers some times per day (but it can't install it because CM6 ROM is on board).
I really appreciate your help ! Thanks again.
I noticed something weird today..
I have a 2 GB per month data plan.
So far I had used 412.1 MB.
After I checked via *3282#
I didn't use wifi and only used h to download a full 200mb rom on my phone, use applications like pulse, xda, etc that need internet connection.
However, I checked it afterwards and it's still the same 412.1 MB..
Is data connected to using the internet and downloading stuff?
Can someone explain because this doesn't make sense.....
Sent from my phone
Keep checking back with it. I don't think it updates right away and before you now it your at your 2GB.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Some "eye openers" based on what I observed:
1. Apps like speed test that are seemingly so simple take up ~8-10 MB per test.
2. Weather updates etc though seem less make up for it by checking for data every now n then depending on updates interval
3. Every message on google voice takes up more than just a few KB per text sent
Not just this, when u download 200 MB of data, its uses more than 200 MB for the initial connection establishment, to verify if the packets reached or not, etc.
I would recommend installing an app like "3G data monitor" to monitor ur data activity so u can find out where the drain actually is.
All said and done, it takes close to 24-48 hours for ur data usage to get reflected when u use the 3282 command.
Thanks for the answer.. I guess the delay is the problem.. I'll think about downloading 3g watchdog... anyway thanks
Sent from my phone
Use the att my wireless app more accurate
Your welcome
Now you say/press thanks
Teaching manners one person at a time
At&t has a disclaimer that I read that says it may not include recent usage. Same applies for texts and minute usage.
Sent from my SGH-I897 Captivate cog 4.3 using Xda app
Cheers,
Im using these 2 apps to monitor my Data usage since im on a 1000MB data
limit. My Data Manager is nice and gives me also my wifi Data Activity and also
breaks down the usage to which apps uses the bandwidth. Droidstat on the other
hand not only monitors my Data Usage but also my Free Calls and Texts, which I
find important as well since im on a 500minutes/500texts plan.
My question tho is that how come these 2 apps gives me different figures for my
data usage? I mean for My Data Manager it says that I have already consumed
542MB with 11days left, while DroidStats says 745MB Data Remaining with 11days
remaining on Billing Month any idea as to which one is more accurate? or maybe im
missing something? I didnt notice this during my first billing period, as of the moment
im erring on the side of caution and just assuming that My Data Manager is the
correct one as I dont want to go overboard my limits.
Thanks.
I have never used those 2 apps.. but just a suggestion, use 3G Watchdog (Pro if u want to buy) best app.. 100% accurate 3G+Wi-Fi usage and very cool design
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.rgruet.android.g3watchdog&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im installing 3g Watchdog while typing this... thanks for the suggestion.
I've just had something really weird happen to me...
I was looking for a company today and had to turn on my mobile data (3G) and location services to use Google Maps. I used it for probably less than one - two - three minutes. However, shortly after Onavo told me that I had exceeded my data plan and that Android OS had just used up 486 MB of data...
I'm running CM9, nightly #28... I found that really weird to be honest and not sure if that's normal activity or (what I'm worried about, really), the effect of malware that somehow got on my phone...
Which type of connection you have?? If it's hsdpa there is chance of consuming that amount of data in no time..
Reasons: maps definitely consume lot, also check whether you have enabled automatic jupdate in Google play this may also consume lit data when updating..
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Yeah, I have HDSPA...
The data was used up by Android OS, according to Onavo, not by Google Play (and I have only one or two apps with automatic update checked), not even Maps. It's now the highest consuming "app" in my phone, which is really weird.
I don't really know anything about Onavo's data counting algorithms, could it just be a glitch on their side?
hsdpa is hardly a 21mbps in its finest moments. If you were lucky you will get 2MB/s so there's no way you would consume 300+ MB in 3 minutes...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
I got a new XT1068 (dual-SIM unlocked) last week. It came with Android 5.0.2 out of the box and hasn't been updated yet.
My mobile data plan starts on the 1st of every month and I get 500MB. I don't browse much on mobile data so I keep it on all the time for push updates and such.
The other day (the 8th) I got a text from my carrier saying I used all the data. This had never happened before on any phone or any carrier I've used.
I went to the carriers website to check my account and it shows mobile data traffic in bursts of 100KB approximately every 10 minutes right up until they cut my access, because I reached the cap.
The odd thing is under "Data usage" I don't see any of these bursts.
A friend of mine had the exact same problem (same model and same carrier) and his solution was to do a Factory Restore. I want to find a better solution, because the phone just came from the factory.
Any ideas?
Try disabling Google location reporting, an use greneefy to other apps
fburgos said:
Try disabling Google location reporting, an use greneefy to other apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I really like all the Google Now stuff, so I won't disable location, but I will look at Greeneefy.
I managed to find some concrete information on this here. The proposed solution was to change the APN settings to not include supl (Secure User Plane Location). Apparently that has to do with A-GPS and uses very little data, but I'm unlucky enough that my carrier deducts 100KB for every connection.
I applied the fix, but since I'm out of data, I can only know if it worked next month. I will report back.
MrBaker said:
Thanks for your reply. I really like all the Google Now stuff, so I won't disable location, but I will look at Greeneefy.
I managed to find some concrete information on this here. The proposed solution was to change the APN settings to not include supl (Secure User Plane Location). Apparently that has to do with A-GPS and uses very little data, but I'm unlucky enough that my carrier deducts 100KB for every connection.
I applied the fix, but since I'm out of data, I can only know if it worked next month. I will report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could restrict Data Usage on Google Services too.
SirRhor said:
You could restrict Data Usage on Google Services too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this fix doesn't work I guess that's the only option. That would probably mess with location, wouldn't it?
MrBaker said:
If this fix doesn't work I guess that's the only option. That would probably mess with location, wouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so, when the phone needs to know where it is, it triangulates its position between cell towers (with no actual data being used) plus GPS and plus WiFi if connected. You can try it and see if it works.
SirRhor said:
I don't think so, when the phone needs to know where it is, it triangulates its position between cell towers (with no actual data being used) plus GPS and plus WiFi if connected. You can try it and see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. It should still mess with some other things, I suspect.
I'll see if this SUPL thing works and if not I'll look into other options. Truth is that issue explains the frequent data use and the fact that it isn't reported under Data usage, so I really think that might be it.
SirRhor said:
I don't think so, when the phone needs to know where it is, it triangulates its position between cell towers (with no actual data being used) plus GPS and plus WiFi if connected. You can try it and see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Sir that's right the phone don't need internet connection to know it's location but if Google reporting is enabled is will connect to send it's location to Google servers I think it will help disabling location reporting also battery is improved a lot
fburgos said:
Yes Sir that's right the phone don't need internet connection to know it's location but if Google reporting is enabled is will connect to send it's location to Google servers I think it will help disabling location reporting also battery is improved a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I'm happy with the battery life so far and I find Google's services very useful, so I'll leave it on for now. If the same problem turns up, I'll really have no choice but to turn it off.