Question

T-Mobile Shows Hotspot Data Usage When it is Disabled in My Phone Settings

  • 22 November 2022
  • 40 replies
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40 replies

E

I just started with T-Mobile on the Magenta Max 55+ plan.  I activated my new phone using the plan 10 days ago.  I am noticing that my mobile hotspot data usage goes up a little bit each day and is now at 2.13 gigabytes.  But I have all "Mobile Hotspot & Tethering" settings disabled on my phone settings, and they have been disabled all along.  So, how am I using mobile hotspot data?  I looked at all the apps that have used mobile data on my phone, and "Mobile Hotspot & Tethering" is nowhere in the list, which is as it should be.  I am sending screenshots of the top 5 apps under mobile data usage; and showing that all my "Mobile Hotspot & Tethering" settings are disabled.  Furthermore, my TOTAL mobile data usage for the 10 days is only 5.6 gigabytes, so this “error” makes up almost half of my total data usage.  What happens if I use 100 GB of mobile data, will T-Mobile say I’ve used 50 GB of hotspot data? I was going to try the mobile hotspot feature today for the first time, but I don't want to do that until I get a good answer as to why I am using data with this feature turned off.  Please let me know what's going on.  Thank you.

 

Have you received a resolution for this issue yet? 

D

I just got the Hotspot message and checked all 3 phones on our plan. We have an iPhone 14 and 2 S23+. None of them have been running the Hotspot. What is really going on?

S

If you are using VPN"s.  This can cause the data you are using to be misinterpreted.  Disable the VPN to ensure this doesn't happen.  A third party DNS can also sometimes cause this issue as well.  I have never experiences this issue personally on my s23 Ultra using Cloudfire for all DNS queries.

Not using a VPN. 

R

Is happening to mine as well the last month. Told about it, they replenished and gave me a couple months of added hotspot Gs.. to only find out today the same issue is happening and now the Gs being taken is more based on my quantity.  Ticket is submitted again and now that I'm reading all these other ones, don't know if they will find out what's going on. S20Note

E

Still not fixed as of July 19th, 2023.  I last heard from a T-Mobile representative named Kirsten Hartford on March 24, 2023 with the message below.  I don’t think any “engineer” is looking at this “bug”.  They should be embarrassed.  I was a software engineer myself.  I’m thinking about offering a cash reward for the T-Mobile employee who can fix this.

Good morning, Mr. Hall. I see the issue with the system reporting smartphone mobile hotspot/tethering usage when you are letting us know there has never been that use, has been an ongoing concern for several months. This has led to you reaching out on multiple dates. I am already up to speed on the issue and all steps we have taken so far. While the reporting is not service impacting, I can appreciate your desire for the usage records to reflect properly. I want that reflecting properly too. I have sent this issue with all information and all prior tickets filed to our highest support teams. I don’t want you to have to spend more of your valuable time reaching out to start all over with someone new, so I will take this concern and stick with you until we have a definitive reply from our teams and all resolution paths have been worked. ^KirstenHartford

 

 

What are you going to do?  It's clear they don't think it's an issue to resolve.  Wondering if a report from BBB would help in getting a response and resolution?  I've now had this problem twice with two different phones.  It's happened after the updates they push to the phone.  But they will not accept responsibility.  

R
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Mine is an s23 ultra also. I paid cash for mine in July and it is still locked  and I can't get a straight answer on that either.. I think if you pay cash for the phone outright it should have been unlocked to start with.

F
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Mine is an s23 ultra also. I paid cash for mine in July and it is still locked  and I can't get a straight answer on that either.. I think if you pay cash for the phone outright it should have been unlocked to start with.

probably help iif you posted in an area more dedicated to unlocking devices and not so much in a thread talking about hotspot usage.

 

but seeing as how you brought it up..no..if you bought a phone from TMO there are requirements that must be met in order to unlock it..which are listed in here..

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/policies/sim-unlock-policy

 

if they are not met it wont be unlocked until then.

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
Cynically_Sane

My two cents here… I too have this issue, among many others but to throw a wrench in this thread I have an iPhone, not an android. I don't use a VPN. And, I have a physical SIM as opposed to an e-SIM. So, it's not just the Android users that experience it. As for the comment regarding the engineers should be embarrassed by this, I agree and would add a laundry list of other reasons why the entire company should be embarrassed beyond measure. 

K

 

Same thing is happening to us. We have an s23 ultra. Got it August of 2023. Everything seemed ok until we started using streaming services/ apps to watch movies. Then we started getting this message. 

I just left Tmobile yesterday in person to confirm the plan we have for this phone is unlimited (regular data) and they said yes. Hotspot is not being used. 

We also an s21 on our plan. Never ran into this issue. I appreciate everyone sharing at least I know I'm not the only one lol 🙏🏾

Just received the same message like clockwork.  Still happening and at time the data is throttled on my device. 

syaoran
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Userlevel 7
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I have never seen that message on my s23 Ultra and I have had mine since just before launch.  

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
H

I traded in my old phone 4 months ago and got a S23 from T-Mobile on a magenta plan and as all of you experienced I received texts about 80% and soon after 100% hotspot data usage alert and after that some apps such as WhatsApp and telegram get slow.

It is happening every month and I called the costumer service couple times but no answer. They asked me to check the devices that connected to my phone. I disabled my hotspot and changed the password. Even I don't know what it is. I guess it is related to the e-sim which I activated without any physical Sim card

F
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the recurring factor im looking at in here is just about every one of you have a S23 and are running into this..with at least one person with a Note 20 i think it was..

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
S

If you are using VPN"s.  This can cause the data you are using to be misinterpreted.  Disable the VPN to ensure this doesn't happen.  A third party DNS can also sometimes cause this issue as well.  I have never experiences this issue personally on my s23 Ultra using Cloudfire for all DNS queries.

I use a VPN to block ads. This is unacceptable to me, it should not be counted as hotspot data and I refuse to have advertisements shoved down my throat. 

O

I upgraded my phone to the 24U and chose to use ESIM. Had the same issues like everyone else, so switched back to physical SIM, which became a whole thing. It did not want to work at first and took way longer to setup (over an hour of customer support troubleshooting) than if I had just stuck with the physical SIM in the first place. I think that solved my issues, even though they tried to convince me that it couldn't be the problem.

Also, T-Mobile support, without my authorization, added a 10gb data add-on to my plan, even though I made it clear MANY TIMES that I did not want any upgrades or add-ons. The add-on was also not listed in managed add-ons and was 5 bucks more expensive than the one we can select for ourselves. Make sure you guys check your account activity as it tells you everything you and T-Mobile does to your account. Also, view your T-Mobile data usage and plan details frequently. Mobile hotspot usage category disappeared from my account after this whole debacle.

I've always sung support's praises since they're usually very helpful and professional, so I couldn't believe what they did to me. While troubleshooting with them not only did they downgrade my plan (which I had to make them correct since they claimed to not know my plan was upgraded FOR FREE from a Simple Choice 6gb to unlimited years ago) they added data without my permission.

For some reason, even though I have an unlimited plan, it still shows my original plan. Usage details does make clear it's an unlimited plan though. Make sure you guys save all your texts, emails, chats, and any other correspondents with them, ESPECIALLY when it comes to changes made. I still have the info from when my account was upgraded to unlimited, so it's grandfathered in, which is not great for them and their pursuit of making more money.

I'm disgusted and furious. If they mess with my account again, I'm closing it and making sure no one I know uses them. There's many more options now.

H

I’m having the same issue.  I have two S23’s and on both mobile hotspot have been disabled.  One shows over 2.5GB used and the other about .5GB.  Searched here and found this thread.  Will call customer support to inform them.  Too bad the Usage report doesn’t show you any details on Mobile Hotspot usage like it does for mobile data.

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