Wifi is off - DATA is intentionally disabled but I'm still connected !?!?!?!

[Steve_Karl]

Hi there, (Android Lollipop on a Galaxy S5)

My first 'smart' phone here, Galaxy S5.
I'm fairly tech savvy with PC and wireless etc. but am stumped by this one.

Back story - I intentionally disabled DATA in my AT&T account. I don't need on the road connection ... just phone and txt
and I have good FIOS wifi here in the building.

So, just out of curiosity and to verify that my data was off, I told my Galaxy to 'forget' my FIOS wifi and also turned off wifi in settings, but I'm still on the internet.
I'm posting this from my desktop PC because it's easier for me to type but I could do this from my phone.

So, I powered off my FIOS router and ....... I'm still connected to the internet.!
Have messaged with a friend on FB messenger to test and yea no problems chatting away.

speedof.me/m/ tells me I have 12 down and 9 up ....

I don't get it!

Does anyone have any idea why am I still getting a connection when DATA is disabled and Wifi is turned off?

Thanks!

 

[RazzMaTazz]

I think the better question is... Can I buy your phone?

But to answer your question, the reason that you're getting cellular data is that don't care about getting cellular data. There's an inverse proportionality of wanting cellular data and receiving it. It's The First Law of Cosmic Irony.

Seriously, I'd guess that either:
1) AT&T screwed up their provisioning. Sssshhhhh!
2) AT&T is still charging you. The bastards.
3) Your WiFi symbol is showing opposite. I've had this happen. If you reboot, do you still get data?

 

[Steve_Karl]

Yea ... my GF has nick named it "The Spy Phone."

"The First Law of Cosmic Irony" - yea ... I was feeling like that all day yesterday.

I did call AT&T 3 times.
The First: (right before I bought this phone) to request that DATA be disabled. They confirmed that it was done before I got off the phone.

The Second: The morning before I went to the AT&T store to get the old SIM deactivated(Moto Razr V3) and get a new SIM for the S5
and that operator also verified that DATA was disabled for the account.

The Third: Yesterday afternoon when I began to notice this odd *always connected no matter what* thing
and their system computer told me I can't have a tech support question about DATA because my DATA service is disabled.

BUT
the "charging me" thing makes sense now, because my balance, (I'm on a pay as you go "GoPHone" plan) dropped from slightly above $180.00 to
$0.00 between 3:30 PM yesterday afternoon and 3:00 AM this morning and I only used the phone for 2 calls that actually connected.
One, timed on my bluetooth car screen as less that 26 min. and the other a quick 3 minute or less. And no texts.

So, they screwed up, or it's just a coincidence and their server is glitching the $0.00 and it'll correct itself by the time customer service opens at 7:00 AM. *IF* they screwed up ... well ...they're going to have records of me calling in twice and talking to live (possibly undead) operators.

Yes, I've rebooted 2 or 3 times and also did a few hard power offs and (let me check ) yes ... wifi is ticked off (unlit / dull),
I have 4 bars on the meter and I'm streaming a video off Face Book and I have a $0.00 account balance.

So, does a DATA connection show on the Wifi meter?

Thanks for picking this up and talking about it.

UPDATE:
I figured out how to see my usage history in my web account and yes ...
they screwed up and were charging me for DATA.

I'll be calling in and disputing it in about 5 minutes and I'll report back after I talk with AT&T.

Final UPDATE
I called them and they're going to refund the DATA usage.

Thanks for talking!

 

[Javier P]

Hello Steve, welcome to the forums! Do you have Smart Network Switch enabled? Check in your settings and make sure it's off.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Hello Steve, welcome to the forums! Do you have Smart Network Switch enabled? Check in your settings and make sure it's off.

Thanks Javier
It's off now.

P.S. AT&T completed my refund.

 

[Javier P]

Thanks Javier
It's off now.

P.S. AT&T completed my refund.

That's good news! Tell us if the same issue comes back or not.

 

[Steve_Karl]

That's good news! Tell us if the same issue comes back or not.

Will do!