iphone 5 usage overage

mkadl

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Mar 17, 2006
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my son received his new iphone about 3 weeks ago. His data usage is way over what it was with his old phone. Verizon waived this months overage but it looks like it is continuing. He is hooked to wifi 98 percent of the time. I am not a tech type guy. I am a user only. Is this a common problem with the new iphones? And why does this use more data with the same style of use. Again is this a common problem for the new iphones and what is the common fix? .
 

urb1

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Jan 23, 2010
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Guy at the Verizon store told me kids turn off WiFi if 4g is faster. Teach him to use wireless at public places with free WiFi. And give him the bill if you are over next month.
 

mkadl

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Mar 17, 2006
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Guy at the Verizon store told me kids turn off WiFi if 4g is faster. Teach him to use wireless at public places with free WiFi. And give him the bill if you are over next month.

He has paid is own bill since he was 14. Does the new iphone automatically pick which is faster 4g vs a poor wifi connection.?
 

Let's Go State

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Nov 6, 2007
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You know- when my wife got her phone the first week - the same thing happened... I'd say get through the first month, and I bet it won't be a problem anymore. I think it's on Verizon's end during setup.
 

cstrunk

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Mar 21, 2006
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The same thing happened to me when I got a new HTC One. Went over in the first month. I'm waiting to see how it levels out. I did use GPS a lot and now I'm using WiFi whenever possible.
 

Chipper

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Dec 8, 2008
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Tell him to watch the video streaming. Close out of Facebook app or Google Maps when done as those are data heavy. Download a data monitor app. I use dataman that will tell me how close I am to my allowance
 

simply1

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It would be helpful to know how much data is being used. make sure the apps have update on wi-fi only.
 

theantiAIRBHG

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You know- when my wife got her phone the first week - the same thing happened... I'd say get through the first month, and I bet it won't be a problem anymore. I think it's on Verizon's end during setup.

I think this may be it. Ms A and I share a line through Verizon and get 2 gigs between us. Both of us have S4s. She doesn't use hers a ton, but I am constantly on my phone, and it's pretty rare for us to even use 1 GB. The first month after we upgraded to the S4s we were right at 2 gigs. I think activating the phones must take a pretty big chunk. My guess is your son will be fine in the coming months.
 

c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s

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Feb 21, 2007
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Not trying to turn this into an Android vs iPhone argument, but on my LG Droid I can go into system settings and see how much data each app is using. I'm surprised that an iPhone wouldn't have something similar.
 

ISUCyclones2015

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Get Sprint man... you never have to worry about that. I use probably close to 5gigs a month when I am not at school (everywhere on campus has wifi).
 

RollsRoyce

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Not trying to turn this into an Android vs iPhone argument, but on my LG Droid I can go into system settings and see how much data each app is using. I'm surprised that an iPhone wouldn't have something similar.

You can download the verizon app from the App Store and it displays how much data you use. Make sure when he isn't connected to WiFi that he isn't streaming any videos: YouTube, Netflix, ect. Also he shouldn't use any radio apps those drain so much data.
 

ISUCyclones2015

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You can download the verizon app from the App Store and it displays how much data you use. Make sure when he isn't connected to WiFi that he isn't streaming any videos: YouTube, Netflix, ect. Also he shouldn't use any radio apps those drain so much data.

I've used 1gig since Oct 23rd from Pandora Alone :v_SPIN:
 

ruxCYtable

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It would be helpful to know how much data is being used. make sure the apps have update on wi-fi only.
This is a big one. Every app that has been pre-loaded on his phone will probably have new versions since manufacture. Also, there are probably huge updates to the operating system that have occurred since manufacture and the time it reached your door. Unfortunately most, if not all, phone makers do not set your default to only update on wifi and that just kills your data plan. No reason most users can't wait till they're home and on wi-fi for automatic updates.
 

ricochet

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Not trying to turn this into an Android vs iPhone argument, but on my LG Droid I can go into system settings and see how much data each app is using. I'm surprised that an iPhone wouldn't have something similar.

Settings -> Cellular will tell you how much each app has used. I'm not sure if it automatically resets each billing period or not as I haven't had my phone long enough yet. As others have said, video can eat through quite a bit. As an example my Sunday Ticket app has used 474MB and I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of that was streaming the Red Zone channel for 40 minutes on the drive to Ames yesterday for the basketball game.

Edit: Just to clarify - the "Settings -> Cellular" menu option I mentioned is on an iPhone with iOS7.
 
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