3.0 Posted March 30, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I had a recent experience with a Cellular Phone Company service; which appears to have exposed something ... at least to me. Hear' s my story: I signed up for a cell phone with a super cheap service, which had a good public endorsement from an organization. The phone (from a major manufacturer) came to me in the mail, and I set it up according to the directions. Tested it , it worked fine. One of the benefits of the phone was Wi -Fi which allows you to download off the internet, without using the Data plan for the phone. So I downloaded some Apps, using the Wi -Fi; the Wi - Fi station ( A router from a reputable service) is next to my computer. After two days I was 150% over my Data Plan; the plan was small and cheap since I was using the Wi -Fi to save money. This raised two questions in my mind. One, is this service charging its customers for downloads using Wi - Fi? Second, How does the service know that I downloaded anything using Wi - Fi; what else could they monitor? Any similar experiences out there? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketgirl Posted March 30, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I heard about something similar happening to someone else a couple of years ago. They was using an app that was suppose to let them text for free but ended up getting charge for the text they sent and received while using wi-fi. I don't know if the guy ever got the situation taken care of or not. You should try contacting your cellphone company and see what's going on. I know other people who have used up their data within days but they wasn't using wi-fi. But you should really see what's going on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaise Posted March 30, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I am currently using the WIFI feature on my Lumia 710 and there is no data use showing on my bills. I only connect to the internet on my phone when there is a viable WIFI connection near by. I cant see how they would know the device is being connected to a wifi. Is it possible you may of downloaded an App that has always online function and when your leaving the area of wifi its switching to your data? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daughter of the Nine Moons Posted March 30, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 30, 2013 You should be able to disable the data on your phone manually, so it doesn't switch between data and wi-fi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchp Posted March 30, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 30, 2013 this is the reason why i bought an Iphone 4S. It's simple and easy to use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpandMyMind Posted March 30, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I had a recent experience with a Cellular Phone Company service; which appears to have exposed something ... at least to me. Hear' s my story: I signed up for a cell phone with a super cheap service, which had a good public endorsement from an organization. The phone (from a major manufacturer) came to me in the mail, and I set it up according to the directions. Tested it , it worked fine. One of the benefits of the phone was Wi -Fi which allows you to download off the internet, without using the Data plan for the phone. So I downloaded some Apps, using the Wi -Fi; the Wi - Fi station ( A router from a reputable service) is next to my computer. After two days I was 150% over my Data Plan; the plan was small and cheap since I was using the Wi -Fi to save money. This raised two questions in my mind. One, is this service charging its customers for downloads using Wi - Fi? Second, How does the service know that I downloaded anything using Wi - Fi; what else could they monitor? Any similar experiences out there? I don't think there is a conspiracy to steal your money but I do think that there has been a case of human error, either at your end or the provider's end. I wasn't aware of what Daughter suggested, but if it is possible then it would seem to be a good solution - but you should definitely speak to your provider about the crazy charges you have been given. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daughter of the Nine Moons Posted March 30, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 30, 2013 this is the reason why i bought an Iphone 4S. It's simple and easy to use Ok fanboy... The question is not if his phone is simple to use or not and he didn't specify what kind of smartphone he is using. It is a question of not understanding how a smartphone uses data. First off 3.0, Most importantly make sure that wi-fi is actually enabled If you have a limited data plan regardless of what type of phone you have (I'm looking at you pitchp) you need to switch your data setting to "off" That way you won't get any accidental data usage when you are away from your home's wi-fi network. On an Android device you can easily check data. Go to settings > data usage and scroll down. This is the same place where you can turn mobile data On/Off or even set a mobile data limit to get a notification from your phone that you are nearing your limit. You can also download apps that will break it down further On iOS (iPhone) to my knowledge you can't actually track which apps are using data unless you are jailbroken but a few things can give it away, are you using data heavy apps away from home? Streaming music/video/tv? Skype? Facetime? Also take a look at what's running up your battery. That might give you a clue as to what is munching away on your mobile data. Hope some of this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 30, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 30, 2013 (edited) You should be able to disable the data on your phone manually, so it doesn't switch between data and wi-fi Yip, this is how you fix it. Happened to my housemate as well. this is the reason why i bought an Iphone 4S. It's simple and easy to use It happens on the Iphones as well. lol Unless you turn it off. Edited March 30, 2013 by Coffey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchp Posted March 30, 2013 #9 Share Posted March 30, 2013 guys i did turn it off. that's why i said it's easy to use. I thought the OP was struggling to understand his phone. I was just saying the iphone is very user friendly. either that or may be I am a fan boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3.0 Posted March 31, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I am currently using the WIFI feature on my Lumia 710 and there is no data use showing on my bills. I only connect to the internet on my phone when there is a viable WIFI connection near by. I cant see how they would know the device is being connected to a wifi. Is it possible you may of downloaded an App that has always online function and when your leaving the area of wifi its switching to your data? I don't think any of the Apps I downloaded has an always online function; but I'll watch for that in the future. I hadn't used any Apps or data away from my Wi - Fi station, so that isn't it! I don't think there is a conspiracy to steal your money but I do think that there has been a case of human error, either at your end or the provider's end. I wasn't aware of what Daughter suggested, but if it is possible then it would seem to be a good solution - but you should definitely speak to your provider about the crazy charges you have been given. I didn't let it go that far, cancelled it right away! I should add when I cancelled the service agent offered to REMOVE the data plan! A tacit admission about ringing up my data plan with Wi - Fi? Ok fanboy... The question is not if his phone is simple to use or not and he didn't specify what kind of smartphone he is using. It is a question of not understanding how a smartphone uses data. First off 3.0, Most importantly make sure that wi-fi is actually enabled If you have a limited data plan regardless of what type of phone you have (I'm looking at you pitchp) you need to switch your data setting to "off" That way you won't get any accidental data usage when you are away from your home's wi-fi network. On an Android device you can easily check data. Go to settings > data usage and scroll down. This is the same place where you can turn mobile data On/Off or even set a mobile data limit to get a notification from your phone that you are nearing your limit. You can also download apps that will break it down further On iOS (iPhone) to my knowledge you can't actually track which apps are using data unless you are jailbroken but a few things can give it away, are you using data heavy apps away from home? Streaming music/video/tv? Skype? Facetime? Also take a look at what's running up your battery. That might give you a clue as to what is munching away on your mobile data. Hope some of this helps Thanks for the technical suggestions, I'll use them on my next phone. The phone I had from the service was a Motorola Bravo. The manufacturers handbook states the phone will automatically connect to your Wi -Fi, when in range. After you set it up; which I did. So that You can use Facebook with Wi - Fi! I didn't use the Apps away from home, for the two days I used the phone. I only downloaded Apps into the phone, ....using Wi - Fi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theSOURCE Posted March 31, 2013 #11 Share Posted March 31, 2013 What's wi fi? Is that some new fangled game like pong or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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