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I’ve noticed the same thing.

My data usage is absurd and it shouldn’t be.

I think T-Mobile changed something and they’re showing that we’re using way more data than we are.

Something isn‘t right 😥

Hey there! The data recorded is only going to show what the SIM card requests from the network. What kind of data activities do you do on your phone specifically?


Chris - thanks for the reply. I was not expecting that at all.

Long story short: my usage has been way higher the last two months than it’s ever been before and I can’t explain it. I used to do a lot of hotspot work and regular phone stuff and never had an issue even with a 5 GB cap.

The last month I used my 10 GB in two weeks and I assumed it was due to my computer downloading some update.

Fast forward to today and I’ve used over 2GB of data in 5 days. None of that is streaming anything. Just basic surfing and email on my phone.

To me it seems like I am using data way faster than before but I’m actually doing less with my account. It’s frustrating and it seems like it’s a way to make me go up to the unlimited plan (before the 10 GB was more than enough).


Yes.  TMo doing some funky "calculations" here.  I don't use my phone much except for email/web surfing.  Don't stream, and for 99% of the time, I am on WiFi.  These past couple months, TMo has been completely falsifying my data usage.  My phone is only reporting 419MB of mobile data usage.  Yet, somehow, according to TMo, I used 4.7GB.  I can understand small differences in data usage.  But TEN times the amount reported?  Yeah, ok.  what kind of crap is this.  In all the years I have been with TMo, never had a problem until these past few months. 


Unusual data usage is almost always the result of a rogue app, website, or browser causing the issue.  You should be able to see which app(s) are using the excess data.


And my highest data using app this month is:  YouTube at 183MB

Month Before: Reddit at 330MB

Month Before that:  Reddit 600MB

Shouldn't be anywhere near 5GB lol


Does that include system apps? 


Yes.  Most of my usage is done on WiFi.


What does your phone report as the usage for the month (or month to date).  Also, i usually align the billing cycle to reset the phone data counter and they match pretty well (few MB or so) when i compare.

7 days in, my phone says 1.0GB and My T-Mobile says 0.89GB.

Galaxy S9+


I am having the same experience as the OP.  Our data went from 30-40 to 75gb last month.  Today, one phone put on 4gbs of data and I remember using a phone nonstop all month long and struggling to get more than 3gb for the whole month. My phone reports the data usage as 25-30% of what TM says I used.  I would like answers to this.  Our data habits haven’t changed.   I fell that TM is pushing hard for customers to switch to Magenta Max and therefore padding everyone’s usage to encourage them to make the switch.  I don’t feel this is ethical.  

My phone said I used about 6gb last mouth (I used the hotspot on vacation) but TM said I used over 13gbs!  


I am having the same problem with my Franklin T-9 Hotspot device. I’m signed up for the max of 50GB high-speed data per month, then after that it goes to slow-speed which is useless to me. This month, after only one week, it went to slow-speed, and my device says I’ve used 16GB, but T-Mobile says I’ve used 52GB!!  I understand that there could be a small discrepancy,  but this is ridiculous. I know I haven’t used that much data already. I live in the country and have no other option for wi-fi. Any ideas? Has anyone else had this problem with the T-9?


Sounds like phones have apps that are using inordinate amounts of background data. I suggest going through the app permissions and disputing that where possible. Social media and email apps that refresh often can eat up quite a bit of data. 

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/account/check-your-usage would be a good reference.

 

As far as the Franklin T9 goes, are you looking at this: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/mobile-internet/franklin-9-mobile-hotspot/data-usage-franklin-t9-mobile-hotspot or the "cycle" message that appears on the hotspot display?

  


Yes.  TMo doing some funky "calculations" here.  I don't use my phone much except for email/web surfing.  Don't stream, and for 99% of the time, I am on WiFi.  These past couple months, TMo has been completely falsifying my data usage.  My phone is only reporting 419MB of mobile data usage.  Yet, somehow, according to TMo, I used 4.7GB.  I can understand small differences in data usage.  But TEN times the amount reported?  Yeah, ok.  what kind of crap is this.  In all the years I have been with TMo, never had a problem until these past few months. 

T-Mobile claims I used over 100 GB in less than 3 weeks on my T9.  There's no way.  All I do is watch Netflix now and then, browse and check emails.  When I switch over to using my prepaid phone data from a different phone company,  I do the same activities and never run out with only 2 GB of data on my plan. It isn't a rogue app or any of that nonsense they claim.  Maybe a class action lawsuit will fix the problem.  Nobody likes getting ripped off by big companies who know you need the service they offer.  It IS crap and pretty stinky at that.  


I’ve been with Tmobile for 1 day and its showing that I used 22gb of data, there is now way possible, I check emails, order on amazon, watched a video for less than a minute just to check for lagging this afternoon, something is going on, I may have to switch back to my other carrier, this aint right


If you are domestically roaming then you will see weird usage because the towers not controlled by T-Mobile doesn’t real time send data usage to T-Mobile.  It can take up to 2 months at times for it to show up.  Most plans with limited data plans often have a cap per month of domestic roaming in where the roaming provider governs.  What is reported by partners will not always show up till much later or at times may be higher than what you think it should be.

 

One thing i noticed about data meters on phones are often HIGHLY inaccurate.  For example look at your Google Play Services it CAN use 2GB of data a month and often it only shows a few hundred MB of data in the foreground.

 

This goes with ALL carriers in the US and some other countries.  If you ever us a desktop computer while using tethering you computer drastically uses more data than you think you are using.  My desktop currently used 2.1GB of data in less than 24 hours.  For most of the day it was just one with the monitor just turned off.  For this month as well as windows patch day I’ve literally hit over 90GB.


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