Data usage when there should be none

[ComcastKenF]

My billing cycle begins and ends on the 24th.

Hmm, I looked at your account on my end and I don't see that exact billing cycle. I wonder why it is presented that way on line. It ends on the 24th, not both. 

[WindsurfMaui]

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@ComcastKenF wrote:

My billing cycle begins and ends on the 24th.

Hmm, I looked at your account on my end and I don't see that exact billing cycle. I wonder why it is presented that way on line. It ends on the 24th, not both. 

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Ken are you in a different time zone than the people who are showing the same date on the start and end of the cycle period? Could it be that it presents  differently in different time zones?

[ComcastKenF]

WindsurfMaui, perhaps but I wouldn't see why that would matter. For what it's worth, I'm in Philadelphia.

[WindsurfMaui]

Normally I would agree with you but after all we have seen strange things  here. Either it is presenting differently or because they are on the west coast and the ending period is linked to eastern time maybe their end and start period is 9PM pacific time so that is how it shows as the same day on both start and ending.

[ComcastKenF]

WindsurfMaui, that's fair. I can only go by what I see on my end and what I'm seeing are start and end dates on different dates. The only thing I could think to explain this would be a prorated charge for a data plan change. 

[siudimsum]

I didn't change my data plan and I am in Mountain time zone.

[ComcastKenF]

I didn't change my data plan and I am in Mountain time zone.

siudimsum, I do not believe online is reflecting the proper billing cycle. The billing cycle end and start shouldn't be the same date of a month.  

[Johncap523]

Okay, so let me throw a monkey wrench into this discussion.

My wife is on her third month of Xfinity Mobile. She has only once in 10 years of owning an iPhone EVER gone over 1GB of data in a month. Her first month in Xfinity she used 3.2GB. So I complained and they gave me a breakdown showing her peak usage at times like 3AM, 2PM in the office, or the middle of weekends when she had been at home on WiFi.

Last month was normal.

Last Thursday I received a text saying we (shared data, 2 phones) were at our first GB after about 10 days into the month. Monday I went into the account and discovered she had somehow used 12.6GB. Now they're telling me she used over 6GB last Wednesday night at 11:45, when she was sleeping.

So, at the end of the day, I'm completely and utterly skeptical of how they're metering data and they'd need to prove it to me because I'm not buying.

[Johncap523]

And let me add to the above, my usage so far after 7 weeks on Xfinity is perfectly consistent with my historical usage on AT&T. So, I'm completely perplexed.

[WindsurfMaui]

I believe you that Xfinity is measuring inaccurately. When you go into mobile data which app does it say is using the data? I have my mobile data turned off. But I have a tendency to run the Comcast speed test over WiFi every couple of days and found I had used 3Gb's of wifi data just running this test. No idea how I could use so much data just on the speed test.

[ComcastAmir]

Hello Johncap523 and WindsurfMaui, you can always track your data usage so that you make sure you don't go over your limit. You would just sign into your Xfinity Mobile app then go to data usage from there you can set up notifications that will make you aware you are at your data limit. For more information on this or to see step by step instructions on how to track your data usage please click on this link. 

[mvenanzi]

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@Johncap523 wrote:

Okay, so let me throw a monkey wrench into this discussion.

My wife is on her third month of Xfinity Mobile. She has only once in 10 years of owning an iPhone EVER gone over 1GB of data in a month. Her first month in Xfinity she used 3.2GB. So I complained and they gave me a breakdown showing her peak usage at times like 3AM, 2PM in the office, or the middle of weekends when she had been at home on WiFi.

Last month was normal.

Last Thursday I received a text saying we (shared data, 2 phones) were at our first GB after about 10 days into the month. Monday I went into the account and discovered she had somehow used 12.6GB. Now they're telling me she used over 6GB last Wednesday night at 11:45, when she was sleeping.

So, at the end of the day, I'm completely and utterly skeptical of how they're metering data and they'd need to prove it to me because I'm not buying.

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I am not turning on mobile data until they figure out whats going on and fix it. Read too many strange stories.

[-Mike]

Johncap523, how much data has your wife's phone used if you go to Settings->Cellular? If that shows a lot of data used, which app or apps are using all the data? I'm suspicious that your wife's phone may be losing wifi signal and then doing app updates or something like photo/video backups using cellular data. If the problem is limited to one or two specific apps, you can prevent those apps from using cellular data by disabling the switch to the right of the app name on this Settings->Cellular page.

[mvenanzi]

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@ComcastAmir wrote:

Hello Johncap523 and WindsurfMaui, you can always track your data usage so that you make sure you don't go over your limit. You would just sign into your Xfinity Mobile app then go to data usage from there you can set up notifications that will make you aware you are at your data limit. For more information on this or to see step by step instructions on how to track your data usage please click on this link. 

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If you read Johncap523's post, the data notification that xf offers is useless - 6GB used while asleep! (unless his wife is sleep browsing/streaming)

[ComcastAmir]

mvenanzi wrote: If you read Johncap523's post, the data notification that xf offers is useless - 6GB used while asleep! (unless his wife is sleep browsing/streaming)

I understand what you mean but that was one occurrence, what stands out to me is that her peak usage every day is from 3AM to 2PM when she is home connected to Wi-Fi. As (Mike) stated this could be caused by the phone losing connection with their Wi-Fi therefor using her cell data to pick up the slack.

[mvenanzi]

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@ComcastAmir wrote:

mvenanzi wrote: If you read Johncap523's post, the data notification that xf offers is useless - 6GB used while asleep! (unless his wife is sleep browsing/streaming)

I understand what you mean but that was one occurrence, what stands out to me is that her peak usage every day is from 3AM to 2PM when she is home connected to Wi-Fi. As (Mike) stated this could be caused by the phone losing connection with their Wi-Fi therefor using her cell data to pick up the slack.

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I don't read that from Johncap523's post.

[-Mike]

Has Xfinity considered adding configurable data usage limits per line? The notifications are nice, but as mvenanzi says, they are useless for preventing large, sudden spikes in usage. It would be much better if you could set a hard cap on each line where data stops working once it is reached (until you either configure a higher limit or a new billing period starts). Usage limits would also be really useful for parents to control the maximum allowed usage/billing per child. Verizon offers this and it's an area where Verizon currently has a competitive advantage over Xfinity.

[mvenanzi]

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@-Mike wrote:

Has Xfinity considered adding configurable data usage limits per line? The notifications are nice, but as mvenanzi says, they are useless for preventing large, sudden spikes in usage. It would be much better if you could set a hard cap on each line where data stops working once it is reached (until you either configure a higher limit or a new billing period starts). Usage limits would also be really useful for parents to control the maximum allowed usage/billing per child. Verizon offers this and it's an area where Verizon currently has a competitive advantage over Xfinity.

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I agree, notifications are useless, they are after the fact indicators. A stop limit would prevent over usage especially while not actively watching phone like when your sleeping. Adding a stop at 100MB for those who don't want any data charges, this isn't possible on the notification setup.

[bigbw1]

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@mvenanzi wrote:

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@-Mike wrote:

Has Xfinity considered adding configurable data usage limits per line? The notifications are nice, but as mvenanzi says, they are useless for preventing large, sudden spikes in usage. It would be much better if you could set a hard cap on each line where data stops working once it is reached (until you either configure a higher limit or a new billing period starts). Usage limits would also be really useful for parents to control the maximum allowed usage/billing per child. Verizon offers this and it's an area where Verizon currently has a competitive advantage over Xfinity.

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I agree, notifications are useless, they are after the fact indicators. A stop limit would prevent over usage especially while not actively watching phone like when your sleeping. Adding a stop at 100MB for those who don't want any data charges, this isn't possible on the notification setup.

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I have the LG X and it has a settings for both warnings and limits..  You do have to enable mobile data in order to set them..  I have the limit set to 80mb, but  I have data turned off so I don't know what happens if you reach the limit you set..  My Asus also has these settings..  

[-Mike]

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@bigbw1 wrote:

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I have the LG X and it has a settings for both warnings and limits..  You do have to enable mobile data in order to set them..  I have the limit set to 80mb, but  I have data turned off so I don't know what happens if you reach the limit you set..  My Asus also has these settings..  

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Good point, that helps for some users, but data limits enforced by Xfinity are still desirable:

1) iPhones don't have the ability to set limits based the quantity of data used. Johncap523 indicated his wife has an iPhone.

2) Johncap523 was suspicious of Xfinity's data metering. If it really is a problem at Xfinity's end, a phone limit wouldn't help but an Xfinity cap would.

3) An Xfinity limit would allow the account holder who pays the bill to be in control, instead of relying on each phone user to manage their own cap.

[ComcastKenF]

Johncap523, if you could post your data usage on that night while your wife was sleeping, from your phone's internal meter, that would be a great help to see if we're seeing a large discrepancy here. 

[TikkiC]

I am having the same issue. I only use Xfinity Hotspots or my home wifi (Which is Xfinity). Occasionally I use a free hotspot at the library or hospital. I am always charged an extreme amount of usage. I have a ticket in with them and waiting to hear back. I had another carrier before this and never hit 2gb of data, now that I am with Xfinity I am racking up 4 plus gb a month!!!!! Something is definitely fishy.

[WindsurfMaui]

So do I under stand you. You have mobile data shut off and you are using wifi data only? And what apps does it say are using all your data?

[LTM0]

Same here...  0.5 GB for ladt month amd now 3.3 GB for this month.  Both exact phones (Xcharge) have mobile data turned off.  One shows 0GB and the other shows 3.3GB.  Call Xmobile and they said sometimes the phone turns on the mobile data itself when not connected to wifi.  This is rediculous explaination.

[TerriB]

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wrote:

First I want to apologize to every one here b/c I gave out bad information on mobile data usage. I believed when we shut off the data usage in the settings that it was a hard wall that only the O/S checking for updates could penetrate.  I thought this b/c I had my phone for a couple of months and the only thing that showed data usage was the O/S. Then I startd to use Google Hangouts. I tried to make video calls and checked the mobile data section to make sure I wasn't messing up and using mobile data. Turns out I was using a very small amount of mobile data even though the mobile data was shut off. So I opened the app and found that buried in that app and every other app was a setting under the data section that says background data, enable the use of cellular data in the background and this is turned on in every app. I'm not sure why  this section over rides the main shut off valve. There must be a way to set all apps as disable with one check mark, but I haven't found it yet so I am opening each app and turning it off one by one.

I have turned off background data also on each app. On the data saver screen under 'unrestricted  data access'  it shows Voicemail,xfinity mobile and WIFI settings turned on. I am not sure what the heck I would be doing if I shut those down to not have unrestricted access or what WIFI settings has to do with data in the first place? I do know I want Voicemail to be available no matter what. Suggestions? 

[WindsurfMaui]

And are you still using data? Which apps?

[TerriB]

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wrote:

And are you still using data? Which apps?

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Not using data. I turned data on to set up data saver and disable background usage and so forth and then turned it off. 

[Grr1]

I have the same problem.  Grrrrr

[TerriB]

We do not turn our data on at all but I am so paranoid that I am checking the XM app every couple of days to make darn sure there is no data being 'charged' to us.

[WindsurfMaui]

I'm on the last day of my monthly billing cycle for both my primary phone and my back up which is left on but is never used. Both are the LG X Charge. the primary phone uses 2.xx of data each month only on the Android O/S. While the back up which is not used except to get scam phone calls only uses 1.xx of data each month again for the android O/S. funny that two identical phones use different amounts of data.

Let me also thank Xfinity b/c I seem to use about 7GB of wifi data each month all free from home or street hotspots.