Phantom 3G Data Connections

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mrtim

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Sorry if this is a known thing and I'm just the last to find out . . .

But like a lot of people I looked at my data usage after hearing about the new AT&T data plans to see what might make sense for me. I both live and work in a wifi area, so I wasn't too surprised to see I could probably live under 200MB per month, and certainly under 2GB.

However while going over these records I found something very strange: my iPhone (3G) is often making a data connection over the 3g network. These connections are almost always:

Between 2 and 2:30 am
Occurs close to once a week
Is always using the 3g network instead of the readily available wifi
Typically uses at least 10MB and sometimes closer to 30MB

I can't imagine what would cause such a large data transfer, and what *could* cause such a large transfer over 3g when wifi is turned on and available. I'd say it was some strange app I downloaded, as I have several, but of course none of them are able to run in the background (as of right now that is).

And then the kicker is I asked a few friends to check their records, and they all have similar transfers as well. One reported a transfer of nearly 40MB!

Does anybody have any idea what is causing this?
 

wePhone

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Jun 8, 2010
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same happens here

Sorry if this is a known thing and I'm just the last to find out . . .

But like a lot of people I looked at my data usage after hearing about the new AT&T data plans to see what might make sense for me. I both live and work in a wifi area, so I wasn't too surprised to see I could probably live under 200MB per month, and certainly under 2GB.

However while going over these records I found something very strange: my iPhone (3G) is often making a data connection over the 3g network. These connections are almost always:

Between 2 and 2:30 am
Occurs close to once a week
Is always using the 3g network instead of the readily available wifi
Typically uses at least 10MB and sometimes closer to 30MB

I can't imagine what would cause such a large data transfer, and what *could* cause such a large transfer over 3g when wifi is turned on and available. I'd say it was some strange app I downloaded, as I have several, but of course none of them are able to run in the background (as of right now that is).

And then the kicker is I asked a few friends to check their records, and they all have similar transfers as well. One reported a transfer of nearly 40MB!

Does anybody have any idea what is causing this?
The same happens here and I noticed it ever since I got the iPhone. It seems that the iPhone uses the cellular connection whenever in stand by (the screen is off), which maybe has something to do with preserving battery life by keeping the wifi radio off when the phone "sleeps". I was surprised nobody was making a big deal out of it, because the issue generates unnecessary and significant data usage, but I thought nobody cared because of the unlimited data plans.
Now with these new plans if Apple does not change the algorithms of the phone (maybe through the iOS4) it should be a big deal. The press seems just to be blind at the issue for the moment.
 

hedon

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Oct 27, 2009
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The same happens here and I noticed it ever since I got the iPhone. It seems that the iPhone uses the cellular connection whenever in stand by (the screen is off), which maybe has something to do with preserving battery life by keeping the wifi radio off when the phone "sleeps". I was surprised nobody was making a big deal out of it, because the issue generates unnecessary and significant data usage, but I thought nobody cared because of the unlimited data plans.
Now with these new plans if Apple does not change the algorithms of the phone (maybe through the iOS4) it should be a big deal. The press seems just to be blind at the issue for the moment.
Hi,

As creators of famous 3G and Wi-Fi data traffic tracking app Download Meter, we know the matters.

Yes, you are correct - iPhone really turns off WiFi transmitter & receiver while it's locked, so if it decides to download something, it downloads it over 3G.

Also note that Safari reloads open tabs even when Safari is not active - if webmaster of the site configured the page to autoreload! So either force quit Safari each time you stop using it or close all tabs that may decide to reload themselves.
 

mrtim

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Jan 2, 2009
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Now there's something I never heard before.

The other explanation I've heard suggested is that this is just AT&T recording all your short 3g uses throughout the day as one large connection at the end of the day, for recordkeeping purposes.

But I think both of these fail to account for the amount of data transferred. I show 20-30 MB in several cases, and I know people with twice that. This is not a boating accident!
 

hardcle

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Jun 23, 2007
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I think these have to be your daily totals. I use 3G data 3-5 times a day at about the same time, but the timestamps on my bill don't match up with when I know I use data.
 
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