Contributor
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83 Messages
high data usage
we just changed over to xfinity mobile. I got a low by the byte data plan to start. this morning had an email that we had used up half our data already. it was at .01 gb yesterday, now it's at .6 gb. my wife's is the only phone active right now, and she has been home, using wifi, the whole time. I looked at her phone and the wifi was on, but the wifi site she was connected to was "xfinity". do we get charged data for this? I switched it back to our home wifi server. she went out for a bit today, when she came home it was back on xfinity. what gives here, anyone have a clue? I set the xfinity site to "don't auto reconnect" for now. (I never manually connected to it).
thanks.
jr
rightfooted
Expert
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1.4K Messages
2 years ago
We keep mobile data turned off on our phones. We only turn it on if needed, which is hardly ever.
You can check the mobile data settings and see which app or apps might be using data, so you can make any adjustments if needed.
Mobile data isn't used when connected to the xfinitywifi or XFINITY hotspots.
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/about-xfinity-wifi-internet
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DaveO3
Problem Solver
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755 Messages
2 years ago
On XM, Visual Voicemail and MMS don’t work unless you have cellular data turned on, and the data used goes against your data. However if you are connected through XM WiFi Calling they will work, and the data used also goes against your data.
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DaveO3
Problem Solver
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755 Messages
2 years ago
Several things:
1.) Turn off WiFi Assist
2.) Determine what is using cellular data and disable cellular data for most items
3.) Even with cellular data turned off you will be charged for text with pictures or videos, and maybe group text.
4.) With cellular data turned off voicemail will not get transferred to your phone until you turn cellular data back on
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requa
Contributor
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143 Messages
2 years ago
I don't think you mentioned what phone you are using. On my Samsung, I can go to Settings/Connections/Data Usage/Mobile Data Usage and identify which apps are gobbling data. In my case this month, I had a one-day data blip when I updated some apps in the Galaxy Store while my Wi-Fi was not functioning properly, so it used data instead. If you can identify the data hog you may be able to check its settings to confirm it is only downloading over Wi-Fi. Typically, my wife and I stay just under our 1 GB plan together unless we are traveling.
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jim_r1
Contributor
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83 Messages
2 years ago
thanks. it's a galaxy s21. I did that, and almost all the data usage is from facebook. so, it seems that either she used all that data during a couple of trips outside the house, or the wifi wasn't switching back on properly when she returned home. I suspect that I'm getting docked for data that is coming from either the xfinity or the xfinitywifi wifi connections, which I did see the phone connected to, all by itself. I can do some experimentation on that. right now with mobile data turned off, at least I've stopped the bleeding while I try to solve my other problems with XM (activation of my phone, and switching to unlimited data) then I will turn my full attention to figuring this out.
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requa
Contributor
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143 Messages
2 years ago
The Xfinity and Xfinitywifi signals by default are broadcast from your Xfinity gateway and possibly a neighbor's as well, depending on your location. This should not be counting as data usage in any way. I got annoyed that my phone kept connecting to one of these instead of to my secured SSID, so I disabled the public Wi-Fi in the gateway settings, but they generally seem not to be harmful otherwise.
The figures you reported sound high for any app, but I know Facebook has a tendency to auto-play videos. We have run into accidental data usage beyond what we expected as a result. Have you checked the FB app for any settings to restrict high-demand feeds to Wi-Fi?
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jim_r1
Contributor
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83 Messages
2 years ago
yes, I did notice that FB had the auto-play video setting turned on, and did turn that off. it's hard for me to believe that FB managed to use almost a gig of data in just the 2 or 3 hours that she was out of the house over the weekend but perhaps. if my phone still is not activated this morning, I'm going to stop in at the xfinity store while running errands today, perhaps they can help with my activation, and my inability to switch over to unlimited.
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jim_r1
Contributor
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83 Messages
2 years ago
after getting my activation issues worked out (thank you so much, XM support team!) I was able to get both my lines changed over to unlimited data, so this isn't going to be an issue for us anymore. after I turned off mobile data, the data use stopped completely. so that's one solution...I judged that it wasn't a total solution for us so I switched to unlimited, it'll still be less than half of what I was spending on verizon, even with buying a new phone for kathy, and I turned her mobile data back on. that 1gb a month was never going to work for us so unlimited is not bad.
thanks to everyone on here for all the information.
jr
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djmabf
New Poster
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7 Messages
2 years ago
The sad part of this resolution is that the way Xfinity Mobile counts data caused you to go to their more expensive plan. One has to wonder if that's exactly what they intended. I am having the same issues. I was with straight talk for 8 years and I never went over 1 GB. Now, in about a week and a half I have already used 2/3 of my 1 gig.
It took me 3 weeks to get my phone activated and was an absolute nightmare. I was hoping the drama was over but I can see now that I have a whole other week or two sorting this out and my guess is... I will go crawling back to straight talk. I liked their service and I only went to Xfinity Mobile because it was cheaper. However, it's not cheaper if they're constantly forcing me to go over one gig.
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user_a92825
Visitor
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2 Messages
2 years ago
Same here. I called them and their answer was that you have to manually turn off mobile data to use wifi data. This is inverse to literally every other mobile company in the world. So then you have to turn on mobile data when you leave the house. I think this should be against FCC laws or something
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user_a92825
Visitor
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2 Messages
2 years ago
Yup you have to manually turn off mobile data to use the wifi you are already connected to, then remember to turn on mobile data when you leave the house. I think this should be against FCC rules. What if you forget to turn it on and get in a wreck and call 911? How will they find you.
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