Mobile data being used despite being turned off

[Murdee1]

I rarely if ever use mobile data on my phone - anything internet-related is always done over wifi. But recently I noticed my credit going down a lot quicker than normal, and after checking the usage on my network's website it seems the phone has somehow been using mobile data despite the option being turned off, as well as restrict background data being turned on.

It's a miniscule amount, between 0.2 - 5kb or so, but as I have no data plan I get charged a flat fee daily for any amount of data that's used, so these tiny amounts are costing me a lot. Has anyone else had an issue with this phone/certain apps bypassing the mobile data setting?

[Jake-SonyXperia]

Hi @Murdee,

Welcome to the community,

I am sorry to hear about this issue. This does seem rather odd, as no data can be used when the Data is turned off so I am not sure where the network is getting its reading from. Have you spoken with the network carrier? In most cases, they can actually advise what time and date this occurred.

It would be worth inspecting with them directly about this just to find the above information. Alternatively, you could also boot into Safe Mode and then see if the issue is happening in this mode, this will let you know if a third party app is playing with your data or not.

safe mode

Let us know how you get on.

[NeoBeum]

That's the phone talking to your carrier to check it can receive.

You'll need to talk to your carrier to give a 5mb allowance per month for free. Be firm or threaten moving carrier or legal action.

Works for me

[Murdee1]

Hi, thanks both for the replies.

Jake, I followed those instructions and put the phone into safe mode yesterday (and made sure mobile data was turned off), but after checking today I see that I was charged again by something accessing mobile data - 0.20kb at 00:59 - when I wasn't even using the phone. So I guess that can rule out third party apps.

I have contacted the carrier but unfortunately their log of activity is simply labeled "internet" whenever anything data-related is active and they say there's no way to pinpoint what it might have been (of which I am very doubtful). And the phone's built-in data log isn't much help either as it only gives a monthly view of what data was used, so has maybe 3 dozen things ranging from apps to background processes. And as I do use mobile data (very seldom as I said in my original post) it's hard to say what was genuine and what wasn't.

Neo, I did suggest that they give me a tiny daily allowance, even 50kb would be enough to cover whatever it is that's running in the background, but they're saying the only option is to disable mobile data altogether for my account. Which would stop the charge, but also make it very awkward in case of a need to use mobile data in an emergency, as I'd need to contact them to re-enable it.

It's quite odd to say the least. I haven't heard of anyone else with this model that has the same issue, although I'm one of the few people without a data plan so I guess it could be happening but it's so miniscule that it wouldn't put a dent in most people's allowance. I have a friend on the same carrier with an Xperia too (a Z though) with no issues either.

[NeoBeum]

This is what you do to your carrier:

You say:

Well, my phone has no data capability, so explain that?


(Unless you bought the phone with your contract, then they will know you're playing knifey spoony with them)

This is one of those carrier issues where they just see revenue.

Your friend may have data already included in their contract.

The session your carrier charges for data is either billed per minute, and any time something transfers data a new session will be billed if it's not within the specified timeframe for the open session.

But tell them your phone is old, and doesn't have interwebs... Like a nokia 3310... See what they reply with.

I got stiffed by a carrier in Australia several years ago, and since then I've been on a vendetta against all of them.
Last year completed my quadfecta for the (now 3, but when I started it was 4) 3 major telcos in .au, where ive gotten a free service or something credited to my account. Last year I got paid a cheque, for a pay tv trial subscription.
Go figure. It was $5.94. But hey, at least it didn't get charged to me. The best thing is the subscription was free.

[NeoBeum]

I forgot to say, the first thing you say when you come off hold is:
I want to speak to a supervisor. You will be unable to assist me with my issue.

Just escalate until you end up with someone with half a brain

[NeoBeum]

I forgot to ask, have you turned off 4G and Mobile Data in quick settings?

[Murdee1]

---

@NeoBeum wrote:
I forgot to ask, have you turned off 4G and Mobile Data in quick settings?

---

Hi Neo, thanks again for the reply! Yes both 4G and Mobile data are always greyed out in the settings.

Sorry for the delay, I've been experimenting on and off with different settings and I've come to the conclusion that it's definitely a phone issue as opposed to the carrier.

I was able to narrow down what was using the data by changing the cycle dates under Data Usage to get rid of all the other apps that have used data in the last month, and the only thing that appeared there was Android OS. After a bit of Googling I've found that this is an issue with Android that's been known for certain devices (Sony Xperia being only one of them) for at least the last 2 years. Here are 2 instances of it:

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=66124

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=76074

So after turning off both the location setting and setting the phone to GSM only (as opposed to 4G/WCDMA/GSM), the daily intermittent attempts to access data ceased and I haven't been charged since.

The thing that was baffling me was why this started happening all of a sudden - I've had the phone since the summer (with Location permanently on in high precision mode) and it was only since December that I noticed my credit going down at a much faster rate. When I read about it being an Android issue something twigged; I went into Software Update -> Update History - there was a system update on the 8th of December.

So basically that update has brought the bug that's been afflicting other Android devices - letting Location bypass all phone settings and access data - to my device, and who knows how many others. I understand that this isn't a major issue for the vast majority of people, given that most have a data plan these days and wouldn't notice a stray daily 40kb or so, but for those of us who get charged a flat fee for any level of data access, this is pretty major and desperately needs a fix.

In the meantime, is there a way to roll back this update to the previous version?

[NeoBeum]

The GPRS+ network will always transmit some sort of data packet to establish carrier connection.

The GSM network worked differently. Data gets sent WAP.

That's why I said carriers are being asshats for charging that packet.

I should link your post to this other thread I replied to because it basically explains what I gave a really short answer to about WiFi and Location services.

To roll back you need to get xperifirm and the firmware version you want and flash.

[daheff]

I'm having similar problems.

Any long term solution for this problem?

vodafone told me its probably my phone and wouldnt reimburse me for all the credit taken.

Again its only started in the last month or so....wasnt before that.

Usage was small amounts lik 5k a day.