How To: Keep Track of Your Data Usage With iPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G is a data monster. With speeds of 400, 600 or more than 1400kps reported in some areas, it sucks down information faster than El Jobso does veggie smoothies. Unfortunately, not every carrier in every country provides unlimited data plans to go with Apple’s next generation revolutionary internet device, or even reasonable data. And even those that do typically have a “soft cap” (e.g. 5GB) after which they either throttle down your speed, or put a black mark in your record as a problem customer and eventually give you the boot.
If you’re in one of the Scandinavian countries, in Mexico, Belgium, or any other Pacific or European, Latin or African country with very expensive data, or if you just want to keep track of how much you’re using and when, Apple has provided you and easy way to do it. Read on to find out how!
From the Home screen tap the Settings icon.
In Settings, tap General, then tap Usage. Near the bottom, you’ll see Cellular Network Data, both Sent and Received.
WARNING: Your iPhone may not always exactly match the data usage of your carrier, so if you’re near your limit, or have any reason to be concerned, always check directly with your carrier for updated, billable data usage.
To reset your usage data (for example, if one month ends and you want to start a fresh count for the next month), just scroll down and hit the Reset button.
As an alternative, you can consider using it like a car’s odometer instead, and just note down where you are at the end of one month, and subtract that a the end of the next to get each month’s total, and an overall total.
July 13th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Does the 3G enable you to get data transfer stats as of a certain time/date and keep a running total (even if the phone is powered off)? I’m thinking of the AT&T overseas roaming deals that give you 20GB or 50GB/month for a fixed price. Would be very helpful to know how you’re doing against those limits.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
are we able to reset the counter to zero to keep track everymonth?
July 15th, 2008 at 2:23 am
yeah, theres a reset stats button.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Is there a way to log the data usage at each sync?
I know that “The missing Sync” software can do this but I dont want to pay $40 for just that feature.
My thoughts are that without having to manually reset the data usage (which is an option in the menu) you could work out your monthly data usage by using the log.
This is help for us in Australia who dont get unlimited data plans
Dave
July 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Well know what I just found out? My “cellular network data” suddenly, and all by itself, RESET! Last night it was 14.2MB. I turn the phone off and wused it a few hours, checked and now it is 2.8MB. At the bottom of the screen under ReseT Stats, it says “Last Rest: Never”
THIS IS DANGEROUS. I called Apple Tech in Canada and they said that it is a Rogers issue. NO WAY I said, and they are checking into it. Better keep tabs on this buddies…
July 17th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
@Fatakra: Updated with screen cap of how to do the reset.
@Floyd: Yikes! That’s scary. However, it’s SOP in tech for one company to blame the other just to get customers off the phone.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:31 am
The very same thing happened to my iPhone today! Yesterday it was at 6.3 MB on received. I switched it off today and used it again after an hour. When I checked the data usage, it was down to 5.8 MB on received. Last Reset also says Never, just like yours. I’ll definitely check with Roger’s sometime. But this could also be good to those who have limited data plans, as they can argue they only used a small amount, and not over their limit.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:10 am
This may be a dense question, but my cellular network data keeps going up (albeit not by a lot, perhaps 0.5KB a day) but I never use the internet as I’m not on an iphone contract (just using an O2 sim card and using it as a normal mobile phone) I’m allowed to use some data as part of my normal O2 contract, does anyone have an explanation for why the data keeps going up though…?
August 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am
To switch off Wi-Fi. Settings, Wi-Fi, off. To switch off 3G network. Settings, General, Networks, Enable 3G, off. To switch off Data Roaming. Settings, General, Networks, Data Roaming, off. To switch off Push. Settings, Fetch New Data, Push off. To switch off Fetch. Settings, Fetch New Data, Fetch, Manually. To switch off Bluetooth. Settings, General, Bluetooh, off. To switch off Location Service. Settings, General, Location Services, off.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Okay.. does the data usage screen include the MBs you used thru wi-fii and your network. or does it only tell you the data usage used thru ur netwrok. i didnt even use my network data and its says i have used 5.2mb. i m so scared. i dont have the data plan. and 5.2 mb will cost me $266. Can anyone PLEASE answer my question.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I believe it’s just your network (EDGE/3G) data. Call your carrier asap and check with them. If you can, get a cheap data plan to cover the cost (i.e. even $5 for 5 megabytes or whatever). Then, if you really don’t want data, cancel the plan and make sure your carrier blocks all data to your iPhone. Even on WiFi, if data isn’t blocked, the iPhone will still hit the cell network for GPS, visual voice mail, for push/fetch email, and whenever the WiFI doesn’t pick up quickly.
If you’ve already had all data blocked, you shouldn’t get billed regardless, and should be able to contest it if you do.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:11 am
yeh i found this useful. however when i use some internet based apps outside of wifi (e.g. using my three subscription) it doesnt change the usage. its not too much of a problem cos i live in Hong Kong and the packages are not that bad here in term of usage but if u go over its very expensive and i dont want to pay extra costs. any help would be appreciated thank you
October 7th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
hi to turn off all cellular data and still use wifi go to apn settings in network and enter wrong username and password. Renter correct settings to use again.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
@ fred my cellular network data also reset and im with fido. they dont even know why. ******** if my phone bill is off the roof im not paying
March 16th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I am with an iphone 3g, and I don’t have a present APN or a password but I am still using cellular data network, how can I stop this?
March 27th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Do you know an “acceptable” difference between the cellular network data tracker on the iphone and the one read by the carrier?.. I’ve had months where the reading on the iphone is 95MB and i’ve been charged for 182Mb!!! is that possible???…
April 21st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
dennis: I have noticed this issue as well.
In NZ the iPhone’s come with an APN preset as http://www.iphone-vodafone.net.nz this DOES NOT work. It appears they changed the APN just after launch. The correct one is the standard http://www.vodafone.net.nz. If I leave it blank, it still connects, using some ‘ghost’ default setting somewhere to get the APN info.
My suggestion would be to enter and ‘incorrect’ APN into the field to override the default – that seems to work for us
OR there is always the ‘other’ way to get more control over your device…which (as a new visitor to this blog) I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to go into the details of.
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 am
When I got my iphone from rogers the guy told me that the usage count on the phone might reset automatically when I connect it to the computer.
August 12th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
PLEASE HELP. purchased the iphone 3g less than 1 day ago. now ever time i turn it off/on. the data usage gets reset. no one can figure out why and i cant track my usage. rogers is giving me a hard time. any clues? PLEEASE HELP ME email me at: four1six at hotmail . com thanks,
August 31st, 2009 at 6:35 am
i have an iphone 3g and on my mobile plan it says that i have a 1gb free data bundle. does that mean i can use the internet for free?
September 10th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
This looks promising for Virgin and Optus users in Australia but I haven’t tried it
http://www.shihab.com.au/mobileusage/
October 26th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Rogers in Canada has a 500mB for $40 plan which you can just tack on your present bill PLUS they also allow you to change your plans several times if your usage exceeeds that and will pro-rate it. They also have travel packages for voice, messaging and data which are good for one month from their activation dates.
October 31st, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Help I have the iphone 3G without the iphone package on att. it is not unlocked but jailbroken. also i have the data package for the LG cu720 for 15.00 a month, but i no longer use the lg shine, i use the gsm on my iphone, so now i cant get the data? will someone tell me how i can fix this? is there a way i can use my data on the iphone,without paying the iphone package? i pay 15 for it and 30 for unlimited mms on a family package, and so far im feeling screwed! Thanks all!
November 8th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Does anyone know how to find out exactly what internet data you are using, ie an itemised bill, for eg when you make a call, the number you have called is recorded. There is no itemisation on data useage, just mb downloads… i am getting $80. at a time downloads at 5am in the morning, when i am asleep!!!! but the telco carrier insists i am making these downloads (which i;m not) because its on the bill. how do i find out if an application or something has an automatic download as part of it, i’m certainly not making these downloads manually but am getting charged for it, so i need to find out if its recurring mistakes on their bills , or something dodgy is happening behind the scenes on my iphone….
December 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Do you add up recieved and sent or does just recieved count?
December 29th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
My Usage option is not under the About option. Any idea where to find it? In a mix now. @.@
December 29th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Finally, on the Usage page check the Cellular Network Data section. This will show how much data you’ve sent and received. You’ll need to add the two numbers together to get your total usage. It’s a good idea to set a reminder in your iPhone’s calendar to reset the usage (tap the Reset Statistics button) at the beginning of each billing cycle (which you can find on your cell phone bill or from your mobile provider).
December 30th, 2009 at 8:19 am
hi this might be a dumb question but what is the difference between sent and received data.
which one counts towards the bill, because im on the 150mb plan and my usage says Sent:31.6 MB Received: 1.4 GB so im pretty scared if i need to play for 1.4 gb of downloads
December 31st, 2009 at 7:09 am
Just wondering if there is an app that tells you what each apps data usage is? I’ve used SPB Wireless Monitor for WinMob which is awesome and does just this, just want to find out hat the data hog is on my iphone. Cheers, Dev