AT&T trying to strongarm customers into paying more for a bigger data plan?

[kyle99gtp]

I upgraded to the iPhone 4 a little more than a month ago, I previously had an iPhone 3G. I have had the 200mb/month data plan since they introduced it. With the 3G over the 2 years I had it I never even came close to going near that 200mb limit. I watched videos on youtube, checked email, checked facebook, browsed the web, all that stuff. Now with the 4 I have had to shut off data to the phone entirely on the past billing cycle because it was about to go over my limit, and now, 9 days into my billing cycle I've used 113.xx mb of data. My dad also upgraded to the i4, he uses his phone for work so he's on it constantly, checking and replying to emails, browsing the web, checking the weather, watching videos, etc. He's used 22mb of data over the 9 days into the billing cycle, however, he has the more expensive, 2GB/month plan.

Since I noticed this problem, I have stopped using my phone for email/facebook, even though it was fine with the 3G even though i used the 3G for things that use data much more than the i4. I have all notifications turned off, my phone does not push for data and when I'm at home it's on wifi, over which it does not use data. I double click the home button to close out of an app every time I use an app on the phone, so there's nothing running in the background.

Tuesday morning 5/24/2011, there was 42+mb (approximately 1/4th of my monthly date usage limit) sent to my phone at 4:51am. I was at home, sleeping, not using my phone, and my phone was connected to wifi anyhow (over which it does not use data). Another 12.5mb of data was sent to my phone on 5/19 at 2:03 am, again when I'm at home and the phone is connected to wifi. Sounds like AT&T is trying to force me into paying an extra $10/month for a bigger data plan.


There are numerous reports of other iPhone users having the same problem. AT&T claims that the data usage is from apps updating in the background and them collecting information for my billing, data that I will not be charged for. The thing is, it shows up on my billing statement and I'm being charged for it, so AT&T is full of ****.


Anyone else here getting insane amounts of unexplained data usage on their iPhone in the early morning?

[16MustangVet]

gotta pay for the added coverage and new towers their putting up everywhere just sayin............





Oh and get verizon FTW!

[jcmonteman]

my brother had this same problem..almost exactly how you explain it...so he dumped them and got verizon

[NovoGTP]

just another reason why i hate AT&T and would rather go without a cell phone than deal with them.

Verizon is FTW

[Bio248]

ive never strayed from verizon and i like it that way. i also am not an iphone leg humper and would gladly stay with the droid platform.

[kyle99gtp]

my brother had this same problem..almost exactly how you explain it...so he dumped them and got verizon

There's a lawsuit against them for this and everything. Of course they're denying it all, but it seems like they're overcharging a lot of iPhone 4/iPad users.

I can't get verizon right now, AT&T has the best coverage where I live unfortunately and there's still places that if I drive 5 or more miles from my house into real Amish country I have no service at all, even with AT&T.

[kyle99gtp]

I went to the AT&T store yesterday with a printout showing the unexplained data usage. They tried to tell me that the timestamp isn't when the data was actually used, and just when it finished downloading. Funny that all the timestamps for phone calls and text messages are accurate. Even then, it would only take a few seconds to DL something that's 42mb. I called them out on that and they said there must be something wrong with my phone, and when I asked them if I could get a replacement (since I've only had mine for about a month) they said I don't need one? Da ****?

[NegativeOne13]

AT&T was one of the first to start this. Sometime this month I know Verizon is going to do the same thing. TMO is also going to tiered data plan. The only carrier that has not spoke up about this is Sprint. I wish I still had Sprint, 69.99 a month for unlimited everything. If you have Sprint, get on it. Not to mention the new Android flagship, the Evo 3D. I'm an Android junky and follow around all the carriers and phone hype.

[NegativeOne13]

Also, 200MB monthly limit? How do you live with yourself? I get 200MB in only a few hours. My end of month report is usually around 8-10GB. Though I will have to stat keeping it under 5GB now when Verizon rolls out their tiered data.

[Confusingboat]

Maybe it's because you have an iPhone? Notice how there were no complaints from Android users on the same network. And NegativeOne if you renewed into 4G at the $30/month for unlimited, you get that package for 2 years unless you make changes before then. Plus the new (4G LTE) towers are cheaper to install, cost less to maintain, and have more coverage and better structure/obstacle penetration than their 3G (CDMA) towers. Verizon is duh, winning! Here's a speed test I did from my Thunderbolt:



All for the low price of $30/month for unlimited 4G

[jcmonteman]

^^^ thats so much faster than my land line internet...i hate you verizon...lol

wtf ACE??
my isp sucks

sorry for the thread jack

[Durk Diggler]

That sucks and is def shady sounding. For everyone saying verizon ftw, I just dumped them I dont think paying $150+ per month for two phones is winning. Virgin mobile $25unlimited data ftw.

[NegativeOne13]

I wish I got LTE coverage.

[TLSheff]

This is why I have Sprint... HTC Evo 4G with unlimited data... period, no roaming, I leave GPS on all day, never hit wifi, everything is set to auto update and I stream music all day... no biggy. I just have 1500 daytime minutes, but since im at work for all but 2 hours of that... no worries there.


Girlfriend on the other hand, is still on AT&T and has the HTC Inspire or something like that... android phone and had to go to the 2gb/month plan because she almost capped her plan within the first week from thinking her phone could be like mine and she spent alot of time online and downloading apps. She said when her plan is up shes going to join me on sprint

Verizon is good tho too, buddies have it and love it, I've just been with sprint for the past 10 yrs and can't find a good reason to change, MY rep has always taken care of me, I only talk to him so its worth it to stay cuz he takes care of me. Customer Service wins out everytime

[Bio248]

FYI, verizon uses sprint towers and vice versa. verizon service IS sprint service.

[NegativeOne13]

FYI, verizon uses sprint towers and vice versa. verizon service IS sprint service.

They use each other's towers for roaming. And if you roam say with Sprint on Verizon towers, now Sprint has to pay Verizon the data/voice that you used.

[NegativeOne13]

And on top of all of that... Cellular carriers will probably be merging with cable companies.

[Bio248]

well, i dont roam...and you dont roam...so isnt that the same as having the same network? hm.

[NegativeOne13]

False, when I moved back here, I still had Sprint. I was roaming 24/7. Didn't get charged for it, but a friend in an android IRC does infastructure for Sprint and told me all about such.

[Bio248]

i meant that as if we were all roaming. im using yours and youre using mine so the tradeoff has gotta even out somewhere.