T-Mobile Data Usage When On Home WiFi

Hola,

   I seem to be having an issue with Tmobile tracking my wifi data too. I received a text notification stating that I have used 50GB of data & that they are going to start reducing my speeds. When I look up my usage, I have only used 4 GB of mobile data, but 54 GB of wifi data. I have called Tmobile to ask them why I'm getting a text message stating I have used 50GB of data this month, when it's not their data that has reached the 50GB cap. Their solution was to block the text messages I receive on their end & then I should only truly receive them when the account reached 50GB. This makes no sense to me because their system is obviously sending out that notification for a reason. Their next solution was for me to toggle between mobile data & wifi data. She said to just toggle off of mobile data, so that only wifi data was being used & then she thought it wouldn't track it anymore. Then when I leave my home or office & no longer have wifi, go back into settings to toggle back to being able to use mobile data. I honestly laughed that this was an option. I am expected to go into my settings every day (multiple times a day) to toggle on & off the mobile data, just so that Tmobile doesn't slow down my usage, when I haven't even come close to their 50GB cap on the mobile data? This seems crazy to me. I'm thinking this notification is a glitch in their system, but does anyone have any advice as to how I can get this error resolved? 

@HeavenM 

This same issue is happening to me…..I rarely use ANY data away from the house yet I show over 9GB of data logged to my account. Most of this is in 200-300MB chunks of data timestamped when I'm home, on Wifi, and asleep. 

HeavenM wrote:

I am curious if there is a specific reason that you are worried about the data counting against your account. I like to make sure that all your concerns are addressed, so if you elaborate a bit, I would be happy to help any way that I can. 

 

Hola @HeavenM , Why yes, there is a specific reason. I'm not really worried but would like a better explanation. I'm retired and my phone is on my wifi probably 80% of the time. I just found it odd that this data time was showing OTA when things like "only on wifi" are set. Just curious. Since so many time stamps were from when I knew I was home and on my wifi network I was thinking that there may be an accounting error in TMobile's software.

@HeavenM and cc @Emileis 

Here's the perfect reason for asking my original question. The wifi data usage is being counted against the "max" for high speed mobile data, which it shouldn't be doing. the wifi data usage is on my dime on my network. It should not be counted against my mobile data high speed cutoff point.

I switched plans and have been keeping an eye on data usage and notice same issues as above.  I work remote and rarely use mobile data however, the system is showing high data usage when we are at home and when we are sleeping

how do I fix this?

I've been checking the data usage lately on my wife's phone because I suspect possible cheating. I noticed 28.7753 MB being used at 5:30am while at home on wifi and she usually asleep.

Does that much data usage mean she's on her phone? I see the much smaller amount of random usage throughout the night that I assume are apps and whatnot operating in the back ground.

Anyone have any info or suggestions?

Hola @w3wilkes Good on you for keeping an eye on your account and usage details. Does it seem like it is large amounts of data being recorded during the time that you are on your home wifi? There are a few things that I think could be happening. There is a slight delay in when the data is used and when it is timestamped. Since usage can be a continuous thing, the usage details are not tagged minute for minute so you will see chunks used minutes apart. Since you are home and sleeping, I don't assume this is the only cause, but a variable to consider. The data that registers on network could also be times when the phone is connected to wifi but still pinging the T-Mobile network for software updates, T-Mobile App diagnostics, and other things related directly to T-Mobile and your phone. These shouldn't be very large amounts of data, but can vary in size depending on what is happening. There may also be times when the wifi network might hiccup causing the phone to default to mobile data. These are just a few possibilities. 

Any data that you see on the usage details screen is considered mobile data and does add up to the monthly usage on your account. I am curious if there is a specific reason that you are worried about the data counting against your account. I like to make sure that all your concerns are addressed, so if you elaborate a bit, I would be happy to help any way that I can. 

I'm guessing you both are using iPhone's and potentially What's App as well.  

I'm frustrated with this too. The rep could not properly explain to me the difference between usage of my "data plan" vs "on-network data" or why my wifi usage was included in my total data usage. She said my wifi usage through a cable company is totally separate from T-Mobile data usage  but then could now explain why I can't see just cell tower usage which is what I consider data usage. Then why do I see data usage on my usage page online on the T-Mobile website for times when I am asleep at home? I think T-Mobile includes personal  WiFi usage not from their cell towers in their total usage calculation.  There's no reason this should be so confusing. 

Same here. I regularly get notified that I've reached my data limit (and my streaming often degrades in quality) when I've 'reached my data limit' even though I've manually turned off my mobile data in the settings and am exclusively on wifi