Verizon WiFi issues

   / Verizon WiFi issues #1  

EddieWalker

Epic Contributor
Joined
May 26, 2003
Messages
25,144
Location
Tyler, Texas
Tractor
Several, all used and abused.
I have a Verizon MiFi Jetpack for our internet usage and WiFi. It works fine and we don't have any complaints about it, but I am having a serious issue with how much data it's using. Randomly during the day when we are not here, early in the morning when we are asleep and late at night, my account says I've used half a gig of data or more. At first we where told that we need to keep our Ipads in airplane mode and not allow them to connect to the cloud because they never stop sending data when they are turned on. I just got off the phone with customer support and they said that there is no way for them to know what is using all the data because of all the apps out there and what they are doing. Their suggestion is to turn off the MiFi Jetpack when we are not using it. Seems simple enough, and what I'm going to do.

Does this make sense? Is there some way to eliminate or stop our Ipads from sending data, even when they are in airplane mode?

Could the MiFi Jetpack itself be doing this? Karen thinks that it is sending data on it's own, or that it gets caught up in some sort of cycling mode where it's trying to connect to one of our devices and sending data trying to make that connection.

Thank you,
Eddie
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #2  
If you want to know who/what is using your wireless network...there is (some free) software available to show you what devices are connecting to your network...

search suggestion: wifi monitoring
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #3  
Could the MiFi Jetpack itself be doing this?

I use a 4620LE MiFi Jetpack and haven't had issues with high usage. I do turn it off when not in use. I think it sends small amounts of data (ACK/NAK) to Verizon in order to maintain a connection even when you are not using it. But doubtful that's your problem. If your Jetpack WiFi is open (not password protected) there is a possibility other people are connecting to it. As I recall it has a range of 300 feet. Any neighbors or roads that close? Don't have Ipad so can't comment.
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #4  
Do you have auto update on? iPad and you installed apps will automatically update and install in the background. Also-if you have location services activated, this can be using data. My wife leaves her iPad on 24/7. At least twice a week it pings in the middle of the night and lights up. Every time that happens, it's some update being pushed to one of her apps.

As others suggest, turn off the Wi-Fi on your iPad when not in use. If you continue to see high data usage when you are not around, that means someone is pirating your signal.
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #5  
My jetpack rolled into the next month a week ago and when I looked at the usage next afternoon it showed a 2.75 gig at 3 am exactly. I guarantee no one was even awake at that time. I did not bother to contact Verizon because they constantly add charges etc that they explain away. I am sure they will tell me some BS story. No one lives close enough to hit my signal and exactly 2.75 gig at exactly 3 am is awfully coincidental. I will shut it off next month at the same time during rollover night.
If another service would work at my house I would switch. They seem to know things like this.
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #6  
I have a Verizon MiFi Jetpack for our internet usage and WiFi. It works fine and we don't have any complaints about it, but I am having a serious issue with how much data it's using. Randomly during the day when we are not here, early in the morning when we are asleep and late at night, my account says I've used half a gig of data or more. At first we where told that we need to keep our Ipads in airplane mode and not allow them to connect to the cloud because they never stop sending data when they are turned on. I just got off the phone with customer support and they said that there is no way for them to know what is using all the data because of all the apps out there and what they are doing. Their suggestion is to turn off the MiFi Jetpack when we are not using it. Seems simple enough, and what I'm going to do.

Does this make sense? Is there some way to eliminate or stop our Ipads from sending data, even when they are in airplane mode?

Could the MiFi Jetpack itself be doing this? Karen thinks that it is sending data on it's own, or that it gets caught up in some sort of cycling mode where it's trying to connect to one of our devices and sending data trying to make that connection.

Thank you,
Eddie

Are the iPads the only WIFI devices in your house?
Do you have any cell phones with WIFI enabled?
Do you have any WIFI entertainment devices, like AppleTV, internet TV.
Do you have a Satellite receiver that has an internet connection?
Any other computers with internet?

Just some things to think about. :confused:
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #7  
My concern about turning the device off would be that devices could be waiting to cennect during the "off" time and transmit whatever they were waiting for when you turn it back on. I think you need to find out what is using the data and disable that feature.

Something that helped us, (we have similar setup) is when the wife was on facebook, all the embedded video on a page would play automatically. She turned off that feature and it cut her data usage nearly in half.
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues
  • Thread Starter
#8  
My house is 800 feet from the road and my closest neighbor is half a mile away. The next closest house is over a mile away. I don't think anybody is steeling data. Heck, I can't even connect on it if I'm out in the yard with my mini Ipad. Karen has a regular Ipad and she has a lot better luck connecting to it. Both of us keep them in airplane mode when we are just reading on them or not using them. She uses hers more then I do, and it's possible that she might forget to turn it back to airplane mode when she isn't using it, but I find it impossible to believe that happens very often. This is almost daily when the data spikes at half a gig or more. Times vary from 3 in the afternoon when we are both at work, to 2 am when we are asleep and in the early afternoon when we are almost home, like 4:30pm

When we are online, our usage is between 100 to 200 with an occasional 300 megabyte day. We don't watch movies, but from time to time will watch a youtube video. That might happen once a month, and it might be for half an hour worth of videos, so that's easy to account for.

Karen has and Iphone 6, I have a Samsung 6 phone. Both have their own data plans and rarely break a gig for the month.

I do have smart TV, but we've never tried to download a movie onto it. Do they do anything with wifi on their own?

Eddie
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #9  
If you do turn your jetpack off does it still run that half gig? If so does it happen when you first turn it back on as Mike suggests?
 
   / Verizon WiFi issues #10  
check who is using it under lan tab http://mifi.admin . Compare your mac id of your wifi devices you have and the list on your mifi .
I suggest using assign static ip address to mac addresses instead of dhcp this way you have complete control of you mifi.
 
 
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