INSANE Data Usage, >5 GB in <4 Days!?!?

[Dudley99]

Please, please, please help me. Anyone!

For the past two days, I've noticed my battery has drained exceptionally quickly. I have no idea why - I'm not on it much at all, don't make many calls at all, etc. It never dies at school, but for the past three days it has.

This morning, I unplugged it from fully charging all night, played 5 words on "Words with Friends," and browsed a message board for about fifteen minutes. By 10:45 that morning, my phone died due to no battery.

Luckily, I brought my charger, and when I got around to turning it back on, I got a message from my carrier about my data usage. They say I have used >5 gigabytes in not even four days! I have unlimited data, but they say that my data speed will be reduced for the rest of the month due to my data usage.

After going to a physical store (no help at all), calling my carrier (no help at all) and being transferred to android support, all I learned is what I already knew - somehow an insane amount of data is being used by my phone. He said to check back next month and that there was nothing they could do, unless they sent the phone to "engineers."

I don't tether (to my knowledge?) and am hardly ever on my phone. An employee at my carrier's store suggested that I am using a lot of data because I have the phone "synced" with my Gmail and Facebook account. Please!

Any help? Here is a breakdown, sorry for the size. But look at the numbers!



Data: 5.0989 GB / Unlimited

Service Used Included Remaining Charges
Data 5.0989 GB Unlimited Unlimited $0.00
* Usage for active or recently ended calls or data sessions may not be displayed. For billing, data is rounded up to the nearest MB.

All recent activity

In Network

Date Time Megabytes
03/04/11 10:08 AM 44.1367
03/04/11 08:47 AM 260.0478
03/04/11 08:43 AM 15.0009
03/04/11 08:41 AM 10.0009
03/04/11 06:43 AM 300.0009
03/04/11 05:42 AM 30.0664
03/04/11 04:24 AM 6.6875
03/04/11 03:08 AM 168.4541
03/04/11 01:08 AM 360
03/03/11 11:09 PM 290.0009
03/03/11 09:35 PM 7.1787
03/03/11 09:18 PM 40.0009
03/03/11 07:41 PM 168.205
03/03/11 07:37 PM 15.0009
03/03/11 07:34 PM 15.0009
03/03/11 05:40 PM 350.0009
03/03/11 05:22 PM 0.0058
03/03/11 04:42 PM 37.8867
03/03/11 04:15 PM 0.0009
03/03/11 04:13 PM 0.0048
03/03/11 03:11 PM 12.6621
03/03/11 01:36 PM 227.5566
03/03/11 11:38 AM 323.6103
03/03/11 10:09 AM 224.6142
03/03/11 08:15 AM 260.0009
03/03/11 06:37 AM 100.8076
03/03/11 05:53 AM 73.8564
03/03/11 05:51 AM 10
03/03/11 05:48 AM 10.0009
03/03/11 03:49 AM 380
03/03/11 01:48 AM 360.0019
03/02/11 11:46 PM 400
03/02/11 09:41 PM 355.0009
03/02/11 08:58 PM 0.0185
03/02/11 07:28 PM 0.0058
03/02/11 05:33 PM 86.8847
03/02/11 05:09 PM 6.1318
03/02/11 05:07 PM 5.0019
03/02/11 04:02 PM 192.7695
03/02/11 03:52 PM 0.0166
03/02/11 03:04 PM 8.8027
03/02/11 02:13 PM 10.2041
03/02/11 11:52 AM 4.0722
03/02/11 09:52 AM 4.371
03/02/11 08:19 AM 3.3984
03/02/11 06:19 AM 5.3388
03/02/11 05:21 AM 1.8222
03/02/11 03:21 AM 0.0019
03/02/11 01:21 AM 0.0019
03/01/11 11:21 PM 0.0019
03/01/11 09:21 PM 7.8496
03/01/11 08:11 PM 9.6269
03/01/11 06:16 PM 9.5722
03/01/11 04:32 PM 6.1015
03/01/11 02:32 PM 0.0585
03/01/11 12:32 PM 7.2138
03/01/11 10:32 AM 6.1767
03/01/11 09:13 AM 9.6103
03/01/11 07:13 AM 8.8681
03/01/11 05:36 AM 9.6533
03/01/11 04:26 AM 0.0009
03/01/11 02:26 AM 0.0019
03/01/11 12:24 AM 0.0019
Total Megabytes 5,259.373

 

[deferom]

Are there any applications you have installed recently? Try uninstalling those, they may be the culprit.

Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.

 

[Dudley99]

Thank you for the reply, I really appreciate it. I've tried thinking, but I don't believe I've downloaded any apps at all during the past three days (which is when the insane amount of data seems to have started). Because my battery was running low (and before I noticed the data usage), I started deleting some things from my phone to see if it'd help, but I can't remember all of them.

Here is what is on my phone now (besides the preloaded apps):

Advanced Task Killer Free
Amazon Kindle
Facebook
Market
Music Online Lite
Newton Lite
Pandora
ScoreCenter
Shazam
Unblock Me Free
Wikidroid

I remember deleting a few apps a couple of days ago, including:

Slice It
Pic Say
(Some other random photo editing program)
(Some other scrabble-like android game)
Words with Friends (bc I heard you needed to update to the newer version in order to conserve battery life, etc.)
X Construct

I'm sure there were others also.

I know there was a photo editing program that was recently found to be included in the malicious apps, but it had been on my phone for a while and I've never noticed any problems.

Again, thanks for the help. Is there any other advice anyone else has? I am at a total loss...

 

[ls377]

If it was in the malicious apps, just deleting it doesn't help. You have to completely factory reset the phone.

I have a feeling that is the cause of it. That's a scary amount of data, especially since it looks like you're using more data at one time than I use in an entire month.

What phone do you have?

 

[greydarrah]

I would definitely do a factory reset. Sounds like something has highjacked your phone.


Edit:

If you haven't done a battery pull yet, I'd try that. Maybe you just have an app that's gotten in crazy way and can't shut itself down. Otherwise...factory reset.

 

[ls377]

I would definitely do a factory reset. Sounds like something has highjacked your phone.


Edit:

If you haven't done a battery pull yet, I'd try that. Maybe you just have an app that's gotten in crazy way and can't shut itself down. Otherwise...factory reset.

I wouldn't bet on that, no app should be using that much data, even if they go crazy.

OP: You're probably going to need to do Odin/ruu/sbf on your phone to wipe it out.

 

[Dudley99]

If it was in the malicious apps, just deleting it doesn't help. You have to completely factory reset the phone.

I have a feeling that is the cause of it. That's a scary amount of data, especially since it looks like you're using more data at one time than I use in an entire month.

What phone do you have?

I know! The most I've ever used in a month is ~800 mb. Something is definitely not right.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant.

 

[Dudley99]

@ grey and ls377

Thanks a lot. I'll try this.

I'm not sure what "Odin/ruu/sbf" is, but i have google.

I hope this gets resolved.

 

[ls377]

Odin is what you need for a Samsung phone. I don't know if the Vibrant has a one-click option, but if so it's incredibly easy.

 

[Dudley99]

Is odin the same thing as rooting?

I'm sorry, I'm relatively new to all of this. I had an old nokia for forever.

Once I figure out what odin is and install? it, what then?

Oh and thanks again!

 

[ls377]

Is odin the same thing as rooting?

I'm sorry, I'm relatively new to all of this. I had an old nokia for forever.

Once I figure out what odin is and install? it, what then?

Oh and thanks again!

Odin isn't rooting, although it does technically modify your phone. Afterwards, you'll have a fresh out of the box (software wise) Vibrant. If this scares you, you can try to bring it in the the carrier store and tell them what's happening, and see if they'll replace it, but this is the easiest method (and there's always the chance that the rep won't know what they're doing and just reset it through the settings).

You'll need the files to go in the right spots. There are a few files floating around, but I'm not sure which one is the official build. I'll do some research and get back to you.

 

[Dudley99]

^ This doesn't scare me at all.

Thank you for looking into this for me, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

 

[ls377]

Ok, these all should be the right files.

If anything bad happens (very unlikely, just putting this just in case), take it to T-mobile and play dumb. They should replace it or find a way to fix it.

Use the directions HERE except:

Replace that Odin with THIS. It's the .exe file inside the zip. Ignore the PIT.

Replace that Vibrant image with THIS.

Don't use the PIT.