Mobile Data Allowance - where is it going?!

[Anonymous]

I use an HTC one X.  I have 1Gb data allowance.  At the beginning of each monthly term almost all my data gets used up within a matter of 3 days - without me browsing or streaming anything.  I have an exchange email account and Gmail which automatically check for new mail every 5 minutes.  I don't receive emails heavy with attachments.  This month I had recived no more than 20 emails (max 3MB of attachments) and I received a notification that I had used 700MB of data - in just 3 days.  Like I say, no browsing or streaming.  Does anybody know what the hell is going on because o2 won't help me.  What's using up all the data?  Any help gratefully received.

[jonsie · Accepted solution]

First off I would download Onavo from goole play to find out where data is being used. It's almost certain you have an app that is running constantly. Check in the settings menu under Application manager to see what is running.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onavo.android.onavoid&hl=en

[Bambino]

If you're connected with your mobile data connection 24/7 you will use your data allowance very quickly. Checking your mail every five minutes uses data, whether you receive any mail or not. Also, unless you have stopped them, your apps will update by themselves in the background.

[Anonymous]

Jonsie:

Thanks for your response.  The HTC onboard analysis says that it is almost exclusively being used by email.  Very little data usage form anything elses - even auto-updates for apps.  It's still a mystery.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bambino.

I agree checking for mail frequently will use data.  But the speed at which it is being eaten up is very unusual.  The mosts recent time it happened i have a usage warning set at 700MB - this was reached in 2 days. I switched off the data for 1 day.  I switched it on the following day and within a couple of hours I had reached my 1GB limit.  Very confusing and annoying.

[Bambino]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Jonsie:

Thanks for your response.  The HTC onboard analysis says that it is almost exclusively being used by email.  Very little data usage form anything elses - even auto-updates for apps.  It's still a mystery.

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It isn't a mystery at all. If, as you've said, you have your phone set to check your email every five minutes, it will use data to do that every time and use up your allowance. Turn off the option that checks every five minutes and see if it makes any difference. That's the only way you can know for sure.

[Toby]

Some fantastic advice here well done guys

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bambino.

i appreciate your advice.  I guess my issue is the fact that I haven't changed the way I use my handset, apps or allowances for the previous 16 months and this problem has only started to occur in the last 2 months yet I still continue to use the handset as I alsways have.  Before this started happening I used to have several hundred MB of data surplus each month.

[Bambino]

I understand what you're saying, and if you've been using your phone like that for a long time, it is unusual for things to change that drastically. All I can say is you'll just have to use a trial and error method. Check if any apps you've updated recently have changed the way they get their updates. See if there is a setting on your phone that permits app updates over WiFi only and turn off your mail checker to see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, you will probably have to call Customer Services and explain your problem. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

[Anonymous]

Check your email outbox...it could be the case that you have an email (or emails) that failed to send and so are constantly attempting to resend. This would very quickly eat up data!

Why not remove your email accounts from the phone and see how that affects the data usage? Then add them again one account per day (whilst on wifi) and monitor your data usage so you can try and determine which account is causing the biggest problem.