Develop Bugs

TP2 ate up 400MB of data in a Month w/o actual use!!

Hey everyone,
Last month I gave a TP2 as a gift to a relative of mine, who is not the most tech savvy. Now, after having been in use for a month, my relative complained about an unsually high phone bill. So I checked it out, and it turns out that the phone used just short of 400 MB in a single month!!! The itemised bill showed that the phone sent or received several megabytes (usually around 4 MB) during times, when the noone was using it (like the middle of the night, 5 in the morning and so on).
The following services were enabled on the phone, that potentially use data:
- Automatic downloading of weather data
- Push notifications for Windows Live Hotmail (
- Windows Update
- Windows Customer Feedback Program
I've now disabled all of the above. Nevertheless, I have to say that blocks of 4 MB without actual use seem pretty excessive. I get push emails on my phone with Google Mail and I never have any more than a couple hundred kilobytes a month. And things like the Customer Feedback Program shouldn't use any data at all (if i recall the dialog explaining the service correctly).
Does anyone have any idea what could be the cause of all this? I actually feel bad for giving someone a phone that causes an astronomical phone bill without having been used excessively. Do you think my relative has some chance of getting at least part of the bill refunded?
Thanks for your input.

Easy.
Just delete the t-mobile setting under connection.
Or change the server to epc.1tmobile.com
Done!

Thank for the input, but I'm sorry to say that that does not actually apply in this case. It is a generic HTC Touch Pro 2, bought in Germany, running on the E-Plus network. Deleting the internet settings all together is not an option, since the phone is supposed to be able to go online (eg. to check stock quotes).
What I'm really wondering is:
- What, out of the services I mentioned, would use up such rediculous amounts of data for no aparent reason?
- How much data do other users see, who do not go online with their phone all day long?
PS: I forgot to mention that Google Latitude was also engabled at some point in time, but was then disabled on account of the fact that it does not update the location when the phone is in standby, and is thus, utterly useless.

Is there some kind of data service on that line? Is this a prepaid line or a post paid(monthy bill). The bill for this overage shows what? Does it show a charge per mb?

A program like SPB wireless monitor can report usage split between which applications are using the data. I don't know whether the trial version would be good enough to get to the bottom of this, but even paying for the full version would be worthwhile if it saves the big bills.
I agree that this is a very large amount of data for the phone to be using by itself!

Did you use Google Maps?
Edit: If not, I would definitely install spb wireless monitor.

xanthene said:
- How much data do other users see, who do not go online with their phone all day long?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I go online with Exchange push, Gmail every 4 hours, Hotmail push, weather, web browsing, facebook, upload pictures, etc
and my monthly useage are around 100-150MB on average.
User who are not go online with their phone all day would be much less than my usage.

Check if she has websites set to push during those times.

Hey everyone,
The phone is on a prepaid plan, but it shows you very exactly how much data was used when.
By now I am fairly confident that the problem lies with Windows Live and Hotmail push notifications. I have in the meantime reactivated the Windows feedback thing (after all, we all benefit from the information I submit to MS ) and have not noticed any additional data charges. I have disabled automatic updating of weather data, but syncronized once manually and was shocked to find that it used a whopping 1.2MB!!! Absoulutely rediculous.
I have not reenabled Windows Update, but since there are no updates available anyway, I fail to see how that might cause as much data as was used.
Which only leaves Windows Live as the culprit. What I fail to see is how it managed to use up so much data when downloading E-mails. Even newsletters, which arrived on the phone too, rarely have more than a hundred or so KB.. and that includes pictures, which the phone does not download automatically.
Well, I'll install the SPB Monitor and let you know what my findings are.
xanthene
PS: There are no push pages set up

I 100% agree with you about the SPB Wireless monitor.
The new version of SPB wireless monitor is great. It will break down which programs are using what data amounts, which connections are being used and will even give a chart showing these things. You can view daily, weekly and monthly. It monitors USB, MMS, GPRS, and even WiFi but all you want is the gprs.
A weather program that uses 1.2 megs is rediculous. I use Weatherpanel (free) it updates once an hour including radar images for 3 cities and it uses about 400k per day!
It is a necessity on my Kaiser and if and when they bring the HTC to North America it will go on that as well.

Do you have facebook sync set up up? When I had it set to auto sync on the 2.1 beta I use on my Touch Pro it was blowing through data and battery.

She may have used less than the bill shows...some carriers round up on up on the data use/cost.

Thanks again for all your input, the matter is basically settled now. I've disabled data connections on the phone, preventing it from accumulating such rediculous charges without reason. Now the data connections just have to be manually turned on before going online - which isn't really an issue considering how little the phone is being used to surf around the net.
SPB Wireless Monitor obviously shows next to no data, on account of the fact that data has been turned off. I used it to read two news pages once and SPB reported 2.5MB. Again, pretty rediculously high amounts for some news. Looks like Opera isnt the most efficient browser. I should benchmark it against Skyfire and Opera 9.7b with Turbo when I have some time.
Regarding the units that get charged: data gets counted in increments of 10 kilobytes, which is more than fair on a prepaid plan.
Facebook sync is turned off.
I guess the matter is settled. Weather uses way more data than it should, and the only other service that I haven't tested yet is Hotmail Push. The cold, hard process of elimination clearly blames Hotmail.
Thanks for all your input.

Whats using data?

Hi Folks,
Just checking my data balance with my operator.. and its showing i am using on average 12 megs per day... seems a little high as i'm on wi-fi at home..
does synching with yahoo mail eat a lot of data? i sync news reader subs on the wifi ini the morning.. and only use browsing a little on the phone.. nothing major..
does google maps use a lot of data?
Just seem a little high.. my current data plan offer 250 megs a month.. so might be a little low!
Cheers,
Mick

Ive noticed this as well. I think it has something to do with google maps. According to my data usage program I have uploaded 15mb and downloaded 5mb today. What on earth is doing all the uploading and why?

i assume this is because of the my location service
if you have this enabled you agree that the service can withdraw these details at any time during the day.
try disabling the my location service from the settings menu and try again.
especially if you have gps disabled in which case it will find your location based on your GSM which will use your phone's connection?
again it's just a theory but this definitely applied to my hD2

Its a shame nobody has written an app to show data usage per application. I`ve searched and found nothing

when you say "a little bit of browsing". it won't take many pages to add up to 12mb these days. on graphics heavy, or just badly made websites this could easily be as few as 10 pages!
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

Google maps only stores a limited amount of the map to it's cache and all the rest it pulls from your data bundle to update what you see on your screen. There are a few apps available with the maps downloadable to your SD card. These apps will remove the need for maps to cache if you use it.

I'm having a problem with something using data on my phone. I have the data counter widget and if I havent used wifi or 3g all day then turn one of them on it shows me as downloaded around 20kb. I disabled auto update on the weather and the set the download frequency in the mail app to manual. Can't think of anything else. Anyone got other suggestions?

Bet you've got Latitude enabled.

Whats latitude and how do you disable it?

The part of Maps that tells you where your buddies are and your buddies where you are.
If you don't know what it is, it's probably not enabled.
Open Maps, press menu and tap Latitude, menu again then privacy settings. You disable it there.

paulruk said:
Its a shame nobody has written an app to show data usage per application. I`ve searched and found nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try 'Spare Parts'. Whilst its doesn't exactly show this you can see Network usage under the battery section. It's by application but am not sure if its really network usage or just battery usage by network functions.

I would also be interested in such application. On my WinMo device I used SPB wireless monitor, which did the job very well.
I am using around 1MB of data per day (gmail-only emails-sync, weather sync 3 hours), but even if I disable everything, there are still some data transfers. This could be a problem when abroad...

slokii said:
This could be a problem when abroad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
APNdroid...

This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

same here.. i switched tariffs yesterday to get a 1gb monthly limit..
you can turn off internet connection via mobile networks.. might be worth trying to save data.. also i'm using the opera web browser as it uses a lot less data.. also turn off background sync altogether.. wont stop your emails etc....
wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone goes into standby, by default it turns off WiFi and switches to cellular data. It's in the setup Wireless menus, there's options on when to do this, including never which means all network connectivity will cease when the phone is in standby, so no push email etc.

no, never means that the wifi never turns off and it will continue to use wifi when in standby.
however, if you have it set to 15 minutes, then yes the wifi will turn off and go back to cellular data.

wonderstoat said:
This is freaking me out. I'm on Wi-fi practically all the time and have still used 80mb in three days!
My frequencies in terms of auto updates for Facebook etc are the same as on my previous hd2 but it didn't chew up anywhere like this amount.
Any ideas? Is it really Google location?
I can't believe that there hasn't been more talk about this. I have a corporate limit of 500mb per month.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd install 3gwatchdog (which monitors your data usage, excluding wifi), and then start quitting apps, making whatever changes you want to try and see what's causing it.

Thanks guys, I already had Wi-fi sleep set to 'never'.
Ok today I have no Wi-fi and up to 1600 I have used over 30mb.
These are the apps I believe are drawing data down (28mb is data in).
BBC headlines widget, set to 2hrs
Guardian app, only downloads on Wi-fi
Facebook 2 hrs
Twitter 2 hrs
Google location - allow wireless location
Email for both corporate and hotmail accounts.
I can't think of anything else. This is all consistent with my hd2 but it was using far less. I can't believe there isn't an app that can slice it by app.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

slokii said:
I would also be interested in such application. On my WinMo device I used SPB wireless monitor, which did the job very well.
I am using around 1MB of data per day (gmail-only emails-sync, weather sync 3 hours), but even if I disable everything, there are still some data transfers. This could be a problem when abroad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By default, data when roaming is disabled so this should not be an issue unless you are like me where I am roaming from the second I walk out of the office door so need to have this enabled. I must remember to turn this off when I get on a plane

Data hungry Defy

Hi
Wonder if you guy's can help. Just got a sim free defy and have noticed it seems very data hungry from the off.
Installed a data app and its saying im using 5 mb + a day.
What is it doing, to use all this data all i seem to have done is put my location in the weather app thats built in, logged on to my face book and thats about it. oh and set up my o2 email account.
Cant seem to find how to limit the size of email download in the accounts.
How can i monitor each individual program and find out which ones causing the problem.
Dave

doliver55 said:
Hi
Wonder if you guy's can help. Just got a sim free defy and have noticed it seems very data hungry from the off.
Installed a data app and its saying im using 5 mb + a day.
What is it doing, to use all this data all i seem to have done is put my location in the weather app thats built in, logged on to my face book and thats about it. oh and set up my o2 email account.
Cant seem to find how to limit the size of email download in the accounts.
How can i monitor each individual program and find out which ones causing the problem.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could try setting up something on 'data manager'

Whats everybody else's usage average out each day only asking cause its my works phone sim and don;t want to get stung for data usage.

Today it's 2,76MB, though I've used 1,39GB over the last month.

I have 3GB included in my contract. couldn't care less about traffic ...
but if you want absolute control install droidwall and see what connects to the internet.

doliver55 said:
Whats everybody else's usage average out each day only asking cause its my works phone sim and don;t want to get stung for data usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An Android phone was a mistake if you're looking to avoid heavy data usage.

my average is about 30 mb on weekends (out of wifi range) and like 2 mb on weekdays as I'm on school holidays and moslty always in wifi range

[UT] X-RAY said:
I have 3GB included in my contract. couldn't care less about traffic ...
but if you want absolute control install droidwall and see what connects to the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for the droidwall tip, seems a good way of restricting a lot of things

I also observe that Android sometimes produces traffic without an order to do so. 3gwatchdog counts the traffic and shows the origin-applications, some are just google or motoblur stuff but without any option to deactivate traffic or updates or whatever they're doing.....

mrt3k said:
I also observe that Android sometimes produces traffic without an order to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, the OS is designed to be used with an always-on data connection.
If you don't have one of those, an Android phone is not a good idea.

I do have unlimited traffic, but a speed limitation after 200 MB to 64kbit/s which isnt fun anymore.
Thats the problem of the big ans usually good providers in Germany, even the highly priced agreements have that little traffic included.
Thus, I think it should be possible to deactivate useless data traffic even in Android, mh? There should be some options that deny traffic usage in general and also for single apps. (btw. I tried droidwall, but some apps tunneld the firewall and produces traffic anyway!)

mrt3k said:
Thus, I think it should be possible to deactivate useless data traffic even in Android, mh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are ways to completely disable data usage but I'm, not sure it's possible for individual apps.
But, like I said, if heavy data usage is a concern, Android is not the right OS for you.

Ignore Step666 his talking crap, android is a good OS even if ur not connected all the time, (I dont even use 3g connection, I mostly use only wi-fi) ..not everyone hangs on facebook all day or needs those weather widgets and stuff like that... really depends on a user.
but if u have a problem with heavy data usage i can help
-first a program that will help u monitor your usage (u can also reset counters monthly) - try traffic counter extended, there are also other apps that help u limit how much data u can transfer over wifi/cell
-second i think droidwall is the app u are looking for
(its a firewall for Android. This is for users that don't have an unlimited data plan. It allows unrestricted WiFi access, however it blocks all access over the cellular network unless you add the application to the whitelist.)

Also, try disabling auto sync on the power control widget.

Peglezn said:
Ignore Step666 his talking crap...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'm not.
The fact you're having to install third-party apps to prevent the phone from automatically connecting to the internet merely proves my point - it is designed to be used with an always-on internet connection.

there was a third party app called DROIDWALL...it allows you to block all the unwanted apps from connecting with internet.. and yes it allows only specific apps to be blocked..

yeah use droidwall, its easy - set it to "white list (allow selected)" then select the google system apps and the apps you like to have internet access, any new apps you install wont get net access unless you add it to the white list, making it easy to manage.
you can also restrict wifi and/or 3G per app.
nice for apps like notepad that somehow need internet access.

Thanks for your ideas.
I did already use Droidwal for some time, but it did not function properly.
I blocked certain apps and for some time I blocked all apps, includig system apps. And what happened? There was data usage by any program, at least the traffic counter showed traffic usage. Thus, it seems not to block really what I set to block. :-/

Thx for the tip with Droidwall! Works great
mrt3k said:
...Thus, it seems not to block really what I set to block. :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to apply the rules manually... Did you try?

What do you mean by "manually"? You can manually set apps to white- and blacklist, yeah, or what u mean?

[Q] Google Music Beta using a lot of data

Hey all, I'm going to be switching to Verizon in the next couple months, I am getting tired of sprint's 3g "dial-up" speeds. The problem obviously is verizon's data plans. I normally use about 3gb of data, and I am trying to get it down to under 2gb so I can get that plan with verizon. I have been using 3g Watchdog Pro for the last few days to monitor my data usage.
I use Google Music Beta a few times a day, but I see it's using WAY more data than it should. I cleared out the data usage from 3g watchdog pro, and then opened Music Beta, and streamed 2 songs that were each about 3 minutes long. After streaming those two files, 3g watchdog shows Music Beta used 80MB of data. I don't know how that is possible since those songs are each about 4mb big.
Anyone else who uses Music Beta and 3g Watchdog notice this?

Use an SDcard with music that you actually want. remove google music. enjoy 2gb of data.

Indirect said:
Use an SDcard with music that you actually want. remove google music. enjoy 2gb of data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but that doesn't really help me. I have 100gb of music, there is no 100gb card.

Verizon Data Plan
Or wait until tomorrow, and get 4GB data plan for the 2GB data plan price - [can't post URL - google "Verizon Data" and see articles about "Verizon Offering Double Data Package On LTE Phones Beginning November 8th"]

But there is also no 100gb data plan. Lol
Sent by breaking the sound barrier

And it's interesting how Verizon calculates their data as well.
I have an aircard through them which is still under an unlimited cap (don't ask), but they do send me automated messages when the card gets up over 5GB/mo..
During the data period, I think they also count some internal packet overhead. In checking the logs for my use on both the card and the server I connect to, they bill out a little more than 1k for every k you actually send and receive. YMMV

sitlet said:
Thanks, but that doesn't really help me. I have 100gb of music, there is no 100gb card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'Technically' you could get a 128gb SDHXC...but that's 100$+ and not for micro.
Though I haven't noticed it. Have you tried downloading via wifi only, and try caching the music?

Google Music downloads stuff even when not using the application
I have noticed that Google Music is constantly downloading things at random times. Sometimes LOTS of things. I had it somehow download 250MB in the middle of the night when I wasn't using my phone a few times, and the application was not running ( at least not as far as my task manager knew ). What is it doing? I have gone through all of the applications' settings, and I don't see anything that stands out as an option. I ran through my 2GB data plan in 5 days. This is my first experience using Google Music, but let me tell you, I am very close to removing it, and going back to sync'ing music to the SD card.

Any sort of streaming service (Pandora, Crackle, Netflix, Hulu Plus, et cetera) is not really ideal for plans with bandwidth caps. I'm sorry, dude, but you are going to be paying through the nose unless regardless unless you only stream over wifi. I know it sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it.
If you stay with Sprint, though, you can do this, which may solve your speed issues. However, you will not be able to get unlimited Any Mobile calling (if you have the 450 minutes plan). I would do that first and see if it works. If it doesn't, then consider switching to Verizon.
I hope this helps.

I totally understand the part about streaming services not being ideal for mobile service plans that are capped, but I guess I only expect for the streaming application ( in this case Google Music which is more like on demand than "streaming" - like Pandora ) to consume data while I am actively using it.
In the example I'm trying to make, it appears that the application is using large amounts of data when I'm not using it. That's the question I was hoping to have answered here.

Check your background processes and see what's running.

google is meant to cache... and it downloads the files in a pretty big block... so after it's done downloading for the moment... you can skip... five or more songs... and it will pick back up... so unlike pandora... google actually caches.. and instead of only streaming one song at a time.. so it uses even more data then pandora does because of that...
the only thing i can really say to help has pretty much been mentioned... have it set to only stream/download over wifi... download a sizable playlist... and go from there

So no one has any other solution to getting Google Music to stop downloading so much data?
I have been grandfathered under the unlimited plan (as long as that lasts) and I too was surprised when I saw how Google Music used 1.3 GB for me when I at most played 20-25 songs the whole weekend.
my slacker.com account - which I used much more during the holidays only used 35mb. That is over 37x the data usage!

Pay for spotify 10$ a month all u can listen too, sink playlists to phone over WiFi whenever u want, u can stream too if u want
Sent from my PC36100 using Xparent Green Tapatalk

Mystery outgoing SSL traffic. Lots of it

Few days ago I installed the new Kernel that fixes the network counters from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1468626 (thanks to ardatdat).
Immediately I noticed that the traffic is counting up way too quickly. I looked at my bills to see if this is new, and realized that since I got the phone, my monthly traffic was consistently at 200-400MB per month, even though I can explain maybe 30MB per month (I have access to wifi pretty much anywhere I go).
So, started digging. In the last 3 days there's been 25MB down and 50MB up. With all the testing I was doing, I can explain maybe 10 down and 5 up. So, using the TrafficCounter app, I found that a system app called "Task Manager" is responsible for the traffic (attached screencap displays traffic over 4 hours).
It doesn't slowly count up. Instead, it will stay at the same mark, then all of a sudden change by 2.2MB. Every time. So it looks like it packages something and sends it off. The most interesting thing? It only does it when on 3G. If I'm connected to WIFI, it's silent. Like it doesn't want me to see what it's doing.
So, installed Shark, and made a traffic capture. I was able to capture the outgoing SSL stream that was exactly 2.18MB. Destination IP 74.125.226.65 resolves to yyz06s07-in-f1.1e100.net. Browsing there gives google's front page......
Checked the TCP stream, right before the transfer, there's a DNS lookup for android.clients.google.com, which responds with that IP address.
Checking SSL Cert gives me *.google.com cert. Same one as for all of their sites
So it turns out every 3 or so hours there's a 2.2MB transfer from my phone to the google servers via encrypted channel.
Looking further, my wife's and my mother's androids are showing just as much data on their bills, they got Nexus S and Galaxy S. While I can see my wife using so much data, it's doubtful my mom has even figured out how to consume so much traffic.
Anyone else notice this?
What is the purpose of it? If it's legitimate, how can they justify using so much of my limited monthly bandwidth?

You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T

If it is the sync feature using all this data, you can disable the automatic sync from Settings > Accounts and Sync. It doesn't appear there's any way to tell it to only sync on Wifi, but I'm sure most of the data monitoring apps out there can stop apps from using mobile data. Onavo, for instance, claims to have this feature, but I haven't had cause to use it yet.

Lookin4Trouble said:
You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter

kvantum said:
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, could you append [SOLVED] to your original post?
Thanks
L4T