80% of mobile data was used up in like 2 days

glassyo
glassyo Posts: 7,724 Member
edited September 25 in Chit-Chat
Ok, so, I'm with Mint Mobile (love it) and get 5 gbs a month. Normally, I use less than that but there was a surge in data used at the end of last month and now, this month, I get a warning text I've already used up 80% of the 5 gbs.

Impossible!

I'm wi-fi all the time except the 5 days a week I escape work for 30 mins at the most and then I turn on the mobile data feature to stream music and check out tumblr or surf the web.

I don't download files and rarely stream videos or anything.

In checking the data usage on my phone it showed some apps with background data on. I don't usually go in there so not sure if it's always been that way and it's difficult to figure out which apps may be the culprit because the timing on my phone doesn't match the timing of my phone plan. And prior months looked normal.

Does background data on even work like that? Anything else it could be?

Replies

  • redux686
    redux686 Posts: 9 Member
    Background data is normal in many apps, yes; the apps will prioritise WiFi when it’s available - but yes, they will eat into your data allowance if you’re not connected to a WiFi network.

    You should be able to check cellular data usage by app. Is it an iPhone or something with Android?

    It’s also possible your phone decided to download a major update when you were connected to mobile data.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,724 Member
    I'm an android girl running vers 11 on a 2021 (?) Moto g6.

    I just checked my phone and no huge downloads. We're talking 4 gigs used up in 2 or 3 days.

    I literally physically turn mobile on during those 1/2 hours and turn it off before I go back to the office. Even when I've had to use my phone at home when the power went out and forgot to turn it off, it sat idle and didn't do anything like this.

    The most data 1 app has used is 2.5 gigs but that was for the whole month....not 3 days....and any other app I use while on mobile is paltry compared to that.

    Mint cs just told me they couldn't find anything and to upgrade to a higher data plan which is not an answer.

    For now, I turned off all background data and am just streaming the music (8 songs at the most each day) to see how far it takes me.

    Thanks tho :)



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