Would being on 3G rather than wireless for 24 hours have used 2 weeks' data allowance!?

[letseatgrandma]

Our o2 home Broadband had problems last night and my son's iphone switched from wifi to 3G-it was still on 3G when he showed me this evening and he'd just got a text saying he's used up his 100mb of data for the month (it just slows right down after that-he won't get charged any more).

On Tuesday-I checked and there was only 35% of the data used-so 65% has been wiped out in 24 hours! He's been at school all day and barely used it, so would just 'sitting there' on 3G have used all this data!?

I've gone into the settings and turned off 'push' notifications, but is there anything else I can do to stop this? I've had the phone for ages (it's my old one) and have never gone over 100MB ( I know this isn't a lot for some people)-this seems really odd!

Does anyone have any advice?

On mine I can turn mobile network off ,so it only uses wireless.What sort of phone is it.

100MB a month is very very little. My teenager should be on wifi at home but still somehow manages to run over 1.8GB a month (18x 100MB). Thankfully she's on Giffgaff so it's unlimited (even though it's O2 network)

Was your son streaming music or watching movies on Youtube whilst he was on 3G? Those are the usual culprits.

I appreciate 100MB it's very very little-but that's what I've used for months. I only gave it to him this Wednesday (I had already used about a third of the 100MB-I checked), but Thursday at 8pm he had a text from o2 saying that he'd run out of data. He had been at school all day and not used it in the morning. He hadn't been downloading any music or even used the internet!

It's an iphone 3G

Would the fact that the wifi had turned off and it was solely running on 3G been enough to use 75MB of data in 24 hours if it wasn't being used??

If he isn't using it he should switch it off. My phone uses Android OS but I use 3G to google things and check emails when out and about. I never get anywhere near my 100MB limit. Mind you, I wouldn't dream of downloading anything or looking at films/images on my phone because that uses up a lot of data.

On my phone you have to switch off Packet Data to not get 3G - Wi-Fi is a different thing entirely. I don't know what it is on an iPhone though.

Yes-good idea. I've just spoken to the internet provider and they think it's to do with the Broadband problems and are looking into it!

That doesn't sound right at all. I never switch off 3G when I'm outside the house and I've never even come near my 500MB limit. Most months I average about 150MB. If he wasn't doing anything with it, or even if he was using it for email/general browsing/push notifications but not for youtube, music and other intensive things there is basically no way he should've used that in a day. Glad to hear the provider are investigating.

Doesn't keeping 3G switched on all the time drain the battery more quickly?

75MB in 24 hours is very easy to do if he's watching youtube clips, listening to music and generally surfing the Internet on sites with lots of images.

So in direct answer to your question, yes.

And does it drain your battery faster on 3G, yes. But that's also practically the whole point of a smartphone.

"And does it drain your battery faster on 3G, yes. But that's also practically the whole point of a smartphone."

But I would only switch 3G on when I want to use it. I switch it off when I don't, but I use my phone as a phone with occasional internet use, not primarily for internet access. It is like leaving a light on when you go out of the room in case you want to go back in a couple of hours later.

75MB in 24 hours is very easy to do if he's watching youtube clips, listening to music and generally surfing the Internet on sites with lots of images.So in direct answer to your question, yes.

Yes, but as I mentioned-he wasn't using the internet/you tube or downloading music. He added a few contacts, went to bed and then was at school all the next day-the phone was just sitting there!