[crackercraig]

Im getting a little worried. I just got my Torch yesterday and have not used it much yet other than playing with all of the settings. I just checked my data usage on the AT&T website. I have already used 78.73mb since yesterday. I was wondering if anyone can suggest the best way to optimize data consumption.

If I change the amount of time between updates for email, facebook, twitter etc... will that help? I have noticed that all day today I have been getting alerts for face book, email, and twitter. I just logged off of twitter so hopefully that will help but Im worried that I am going to use too much.

I have had an iPad since june and I use it constantly for all of the above and have not come close to that amount of data usage in even 2 weeks time. Whats the deal?

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Are you sure you've used 78MB or 78kb?? The AT&T site for BlackBerry display's data in kb's not MB's.. 78MB is a lot in one day.

[Jean-luc_Picard]

Do you have apps running in the background? It's nearly impossible to use up 18MB in a day without trying hard or using youtube. Refrain from using youtube if you have been, otherwise either sleep or check and see if it's 78KB instead of 78MB

[crackercraig]

Thats what I thought when I saw it. I thought for sure it was kb. but on the page on the att site it says


data plan plus 200mb______________78.73 of 200 used

[crackercraig]

Another thing that I thought was strange was that I have been using wi fi almost the entire day today. I've been in my office since 10 am and connected to wifi.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Go to AT&T's site>log in under "MY Wireless">Usage & Recent Activity>Your phone>Data and see what each session is amounting to. I would then call them because something isn't right. I email, sms, browse, use twitter, and lots of streaming Pandora and I don't come close to 78MB in one day. I have to try super hard to do so, and it'll require a secondary charge of my battery to eat up that much data in one day. I'd definitely call them and get down to the bottom of this. BlackBerry's are known for their relatively low data consumption and I suspect(know) that the 9800 didn't use 78MB in one day unless you were heavily browsing & streaming music or videos.

[Laura Knotek]

Are you streaming radio (Slacker, Pandora, iheartradio, Nobex)? Streaming radio probably uses more data than anything else. I can easily use 80 MB in one day if I stream. My data is unlimited. Since yours is not, I would suggest that you do not stream radio unless you are using Wi-Fi.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Another thing that I thought was strange was that I have been using wi fi almost the entire day today. I've been in my office since 10 am and connected to wifi.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Well just so you know, with Wifi, AT&T and your BlackBerry. Unless you have the "Mobile Network"(3G) turned off, all data will route through AT&T's proxies and will count towards your data plan. If you want to use Wifi and have it not count towards your monthly limit, go to Manage Connections and turn the "Mobile Network" off.

[TNCC97]

Well just so you know, with Wifi, AT&T and your BlackBerry. Unless you have the "Mobile Network"(3G) turned off, all data will route through AT&T's proxies and will count towards your data plan. If you want to use Wifi and have it not count towards your monthly limit, go to Manage Connections and turn the "Mobile Network" off.

So in order to use wifi, and not network data, I have to turn the Mobile Network off, and therefore I can't receive phone calls??
That kind of defeats the purpose of having all these data connection capabilities.

I can see where AT&T likes this setup, but why would RIM agree to this. Where can I find out more info on how this works?

[Masahiro]

So in order to use wifi, and not network data, I have to turn the Mobile Network off, and therefore I can't receive phone calls??
That kind of defeats the purpose of having all these data connection capabilities.

I can see where AT&T likes this setup, but why would RIM agree to this. Where can I find out more info on how this works?

No no. It's the "Data Services" option, which is under Mobile Network Options. If you turn it off, the BB logo will disappear from the top right corner, but you can still make phone calls and SMS.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[crackercraig]

Well just so you know, with Wifi, AT&T and your BlackBerry. Unless you have the "Mobile Network"(3G) turned off, all data will route through AT&T's proxies and will count towards your data plan. If you want to use Wifi and have it not count towards your monthly limit, go to Manage Connections and turn the "Mobile Network" off.

I don't understand how that would make any sense but being that this is the first blackberry that I have had with wi-fi Im certainly not an expert. I judt don't get how that would make any sense. If I have my 3g connection turned off and only have wi-fi on, I cant get any calls or text messages then right?
anyhow,

I went on to the at&t site to check the breakdown of my usage anh found this

DATE TIME TO/FROM TYPE DIRECTION MSG/KB/MIN
09/25 02:43 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 179KB
09/25 02:10 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 105KB
09/25 02:06 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 2KB
09/25 02:01 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 99KB
09/25 01:53 PM 141-000-0002 Text/IM Messaging Received 1Msg
09/25 01:31 PM 141-000-0001 Text/IM Messaging Received 1Msg
09/25 01:04 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 8KB
09/25 11:20 AM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 21KB
09/25 10:34 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 6KB
09/25 08:46 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 11KB
09/25 08:43 AM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 119KB
09/25 08:43 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 19024KB
09/24 08:42 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 35KB
09/24 08:42 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 6692KB
09/24 06:24 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 28120KB
09/24 06:22 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 9KB
09/24 06:22 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 5442KB
09/24 06:04 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 39101KB
09/24 03:38 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 295KB
09/24 03:10 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 11KB
09/24 01:51 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 17KB
09/24 01:12 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 11KB
09/24 01:11 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 6KB
09/24 01:08 PM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 6KB
09/24 01:08 PM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 85KB
09/24 11:17 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 11KB
09/24 11:13 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 11KB
09/24 11:10 AM wap.cingular Internet/MEdia Net Sent 44KB
09/24 11:10 AM blackberry.net Internet/MEdia Net Sent 470KB


I do know that I did go to blackberry.net for something (dont remember what) I don't remember going all of those times listed.
The phone is new so im still "playing with it" a lot. but this worries me.

This wap.cingular- is that something that will, show up each time i use the internet on my phone?

[crackercraig]

Are you streaming radio (Slacker, Pandora, iheartradio, Nobex)? Streaming radio probably uses more data than anything else. I can easily use 80 MB in one day if I stream. My data is unlimited. Since yours is not, I would suggest that you do not stream radio unless you are using Wi-Fi.

I never stream radio from my blackberry and almost never stream video. I use my ipad for you tube and I dont really have a need to stream radio. The only thing I really use the bb for is
email
text
social feeds
web surfing
and phone calls.
anything else I do is extremely rare.

[Laura Knotek]

I do know that I did go to blackberry.net for something (dont remember what) I don't remember going all of those times listed.
The phone is new so im still "playing with it" a lot. but this worries me.

This wap.cingular- is that something that will, show up each time i use the internet on my phone?

Emails, BlackBerry Messenger, PIN messages, MMS, native IM apps will use blackberry.net.

wap.cingular will show up whenever you use the browser. Use of Pandora, Slacker, YouTube, iheartradio, etc. will also show up as wap.cingular data.

The blackberry.net data is compressed. You really don't have to worry about it using too much data. It is the wap.cingular data that will accumulate quickly, as it is not compressed.

[crackercraig]

does bbm count for data use? i use that a lot

[mcdanielnc89]

I hate how it works. I think if Wifi is available it should push to use the wifi instead. So stupid how it works the other way.

[Laura Knotek]

does bbm count for data use? i use that a lot

Yes it does, but unless you're sending or receiving huge files (pictures or music) it does not use a lot of data.

[crackercraig]

I THINK SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE WAY THIS WORKS!!!!
I basically cant use my device as a phone to receive calls unless i want to use up my data. its crazy. Right now i have my 3g turned off. i have my wi-fi on. someone could be trying to call me but I guess the call would just have to go to voice mail. HOW ********!!!!

[anon(835884)]

Im getting a little worried. I just got my Torch yesterday and have not used it much yet other than playing with all of the settings. I just checked my data usage on the AT&T website. I have already used 78.73mb since yesterday. I was wondering if anyone can suggest the best way to optimize data consumption.

If I change the amount of time between updates for email, facebook, twitter etc... will that help? I have noticed that all day today I have been getting alerts for face book, email, and twitter. I just logged off of twitter so hopefully that will help but Im worried that I am going to use too much.

I have had an iPad since june and I use it constantly for all of the above and have not come close to that amount of data usage in even 2 weeks time. Whats the deal?

Since I got my 9800 over a month ago I've noticed the same problem. I use my devices A LOT but I don't think no where close to 75 - 100 mb per day tho. On my 9700 I was using barely 200mb.

I've check the usage on the AT&T site and called - as far as I / AT&T can tell there isn't a 'problem' other then using the d@mn thing too much (which I don't believe)

If you uncover what's eating up the data let us know - I'm thinking there might be something about BB6/Torch this isn't as efficient as past RIM devices.

*before anyone asks-no, I do not have any apps running in the background nor do I use Feeds,FB or any other data pulling apps.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Laura Knotek]

I never stream radio from my blackberry and almost never stream video. I use my ipad for you tube and I dont really have a need to stream radio. The only thing I really use the bb for is
email
text
social feeds
web surfing
and phone calls.
anything else I do is extremely rare.

I do not use Facebook at all, and I rarely use Twitter, so I am not sure how much data those apps use.

SMS does not use data at all. MMS does.

Do you use Viigo or some other RSS reader app? If those update constantly, that will use a lot of data.

[Clarkee]

Thank God I'm getting 6GB of Data on my plan.

[crackercraig]

I do not use Facebook at all, and I rarely use Twitter, so I am not sure how much data those apps use.

SMS does not use data at all. MMS does.

Do you use Viigo or some other RSS reader app? If those update constantly, that will use a lot of data.

I rarely use twitter and face book but II have been getting tons of updates and tweets today. In fact, I just deleted both apps from the device. Id rather not have any issues of going over data use. I also dont use rss much but I like that I am able to so I might start to. I just never did before I got the torch. I will use them If I am able to change the frequency that they are delivered to my device.
I am going to play with my seettings and see what happens.

[crackercraig]

What is the process for closing apps in the background?
If I hold the bb key it shows a few icons. Id really like to keep an eye on that and make sure they are not eating up my data.

[crackercraig]

Thank God I'm getting 6GB of Data on my plan.

I didnt know there was a 6gb data plan. I might step up to the 2gb if I think I need it. But one of the main reasons I went to at&t was because on verizon, i had the unlimited plan for $30 per month and rarely ever came close to 200mb. They dont offer a lower priced plan. So when the torch came out I decided I should switch since I like the device anyway. When I was on VZW I had the torch and never used that much data. So If I have to pay 25-30 per month for dats I could have just stayed with Verizon. Too late now because I am in love with this phone and I cant imagine going back to Verizon and getting a bold. Besides, Ive found that despite what a lot of people around here say, I have found the coverage to be as good or better than big red.

[sirk25]

I THINK SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE WAY THIS WORKS!!!!
I basically cant use my device as a phone to receive calls unless i want to use up my data. its crazy. Right now i have my 3g turned off. i have my wi-fi on. someone could be trying to call me but I guess the call would just have to go to voice mail. HOW ********!!!!

I think you might have missed what was said in an earlier post. You don't have to turn off the 3G, just the data portion (Data services) of the settings in the 'Mobile Network Options' screen. That way, you will still be able to send/recieve text messages and phone calls as they do not use the data feature. Then you can use your WiFi for all data usage and it won't run through the proxies as someone mentioned.

hope that helps

[Laura Knotek]

There is no 6GB data plan from AT&T. The poster who mentioned a 6GB data plan is from Canada, and Bell is his carrier. For new AT&T customers, the highest one they offer is 2GB, which also applies to new iPhone or Android customers.

Most likely, since OS 6 has the webkit browser, you will use more data than I will on my device which runs OS 5. I'm grandfathered in, so once I upgrade to the 9800, or whatever other new device running OS 6 is available next May, I won't need to worry about the data usage.

There are rumors that VZW may also discontinue unlimited data plans in the future. It would not surprise me, since AT&T and VZW seem to follow each other re: ETFs, data plan charges, etc.