Ridiculously high data usage on Plusnet Mobile

[#1]

I am new to Plusnet, 3 weeks old! Previously on EE. I am currently on 3.5GB data bundle for £8 a month. Came across for the "cheap" price. Little did I know, my data usage of 3.5GB gets used up so quickly with Plusnet and I've been further charged £4.50 for another 1.5GB usage - 5GB in three weeks! I've not changed my usage patterns and in fact when Becky looked up my usage, she said I had high usage on 19, 22 and 23 Sep. 22 and 23 was completely at home (small flat) on strong Wifi using Apple Airport (low chance of disconnects with iPhones!). This is ridiculous. How could I have racked up this much data in three weeks when I did not ever have this issue with EE! I am going to stay on Plusnet for just one more month to tack my usage using an app tracker - I will share the results for all so that you guys can see what a scam Plusnet is to lure people in but you end up paying more! Btw, Plusnet is EE anyways (but cheaper? How? I do wonder...)

Watch this blog as I start to track my data usage using app tracker. We should al share our experience to bring down scams

[#2]

I'm having the same issue! I switched 3 SIM cards to PlusNet mobile and two have gone over the data limit, neither of them exceeded a lower limit on my previous network and one of them has managed to go over with mobile data switched off! Something is going on here.

[#3]

We need this community to help ourselves against scam networks like this. I am travelling so not in uk at the moment. Once I get back, I am going to pay for an app to track this and share on this forum so we see the mismatch in data usage. It's crazy - maybe it's how the network draws on our data packets and therefore we end up higher chunks of data. This is not transparent at all to consumers. We should share our insights here and with enough evidence bring it to the telco watchdog

[#4]

Mine certainly isn't using any more data, I've just checked back through a few bills. @mterrey are you using an iPhone as well by any chance? I'm on Android myself.

Edit: BTW @jack_heng surely any data tracking app is just going to show your usage without proving anything? Which app are you planning on using?

2nd Edit: I've just checked my last 4 bills against the built in usage app on Android and they're all but identical. Does Apple not have similar?

[#5]

At least one of my SIM cards is definitely being dishonest with the data used. All three sims use iPhones, I've never exceeded a data plan before and supposedly I should have more data on this network. I'll be getting a PAC for all three SIM cards, it's just not acceptable and proving anything will be difficult. I'll vote with my feet.

[#6]

I have a few SIMs of different networks and I will use DataMan to play the exact same thing on the same phone and see what happens - whether one network is consistently raking up data faster on the same activity ( WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube of the same file/ video). Then DataMan will monitor as well my usage throughout the day and night and for it to detect any background usage that appear strange to be investigated later

[#7]

Hi did you do any tests if so what were the results I/we are interested if you found any problems 

[#8]

I have not run any successful test yet because I have maxed out on the data and don’t want to buy more. For time being, I have turned off al background app, iCloud sync, auto etc. Dataman Pro picked up that when Personal hotspot is on, the data usage seem to be extremely high. My daughter uses this for her iPad - but nothing heavy on data- just browsing website and not watch videos etc. another one is Photo iCloud sync. It is very strange that sometimes at home, I still see data use even though we are on WiFi. Wifi assist is also turned off

[#9]

Hi jack_heng, thanks for doing a bit of investigating via your data tracking app!
Reading through the thread, including your most recent comment, it does seem aparent that this issue is being experienced on Apple devices only. It does also seem that, from this last comment, the data is being used up on personal hotspot tethering and icloud backups. Both of these can be avoided by taking the following steps:
1. Try to limit the length of time the ipad is connected to the mobile hotspot

2. Change your icloud settings to enable sync over WIFI ONLY.

With regards to tethering the ipad to your mobile, this will be using one data source for 2 devices that could possibly both be refreshing icloud and apple sync systems simultaneously. This means that double the data is being used everytime, hence the abnornmally high readings when your personal hotspot is active.

I hope this helps with any further data usage issues. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to get in touch -Liv

[#10]

@LivRobinson is correct I believe in blaming Apple for this. iOS 11 was released on 19/09/17 and would account for a chunk of the data used (more so if an iPad is tethered as well). Also the new update will enable mobile data for iCloud uploading/downloading. I've seen people complaining across multiple websites about this.

Scam company?

@jack_heng @mterrey

[#11]

I am not sure yet if this is conclusive - I am still monitoring the data on DataMan and will post the results soon. DataMan app monitoring got affected by iOS update and am waiting for fix so I can see which app triggers the large data usage

[#12]

Hey,

You're right - such a high usage really does seem unusual. You can get apps to check how you're using the data, but far easier is to work out your own usage with an estimate. This blog gives a basic run down of how to estimate your usage: https://www.vectonemobile.co.uk/blog/2017/08/22/do-i-need-unlimited-mobile-data

Hope it's useful!