Forum Discussion
Usage Data Disparity
So last month I got a text stating I used 1.6gb of my data and if I go over 2gb that I would not receive my kickback. So I stopped using mobile data and made sure I stayed under 2gb. My Galaxy S20 showed I was under 2gb. The t-mobile app showed I was under as well under the usage page. So I thought I would receive my kickback. But I did not. The bill stated I went over and I would not get a kickback for that line. Whats strange is I never got a text saying I went over and that I would lot receive the kickback. Like I usually do if I go over. I checked my phone and app again and both said it was under 2gb. Except when I dug deeper and checked usage details in the app, it did show I was over 2gb. But why does that not match my phone or the app'd usage data section.
So fast forward to today. Again my phone shows 800mb of usage as seen below.
The app usage page matches what my phone says as seen below.
However under usage detail it says 1.49gb. What gives?
Another thing to add is that all of my 5 other lines. The usage detail page matches the usage page and the phone.
I honestly believe something is messed up on tmobile's back end system and calculating my usage incorrectly for my one line. Which is costing me extra money because I am not getting the kickback that I qualify for. Please help.
This is a user to user forum with some Tmobile moderation.
Your best bet is to contact Tmobile on one of their social media accounts using messenger.
switching from 5G to 4G will only slow down your speeds..wont really limit how much you can use.
if the main time you see all of this happening is in the super early AM that might be when your phone is starting to do all of its auto background updates/checks.. unless your phone is set up to auto update every single app you have on your device as the updates come in then maybe..but if its only doing checks and a few updates here and there as they find them
if you pull up that same data usage..does it show what all apps were using the most data? should list them out highest usage to smallest.
JC4 wrote:
Same issue here. Galaxy Flip 3. The discrepancy between what my phone is logging and T-Mobile is showing is 10x. About 2gig according to the phone, 20 gig according to t-mobile. A lot of data usage happens in the early hours of the morning, but at random times as well. I’m nearly always in WiFi, and the 2gig is about what I’d expect, maybe a little low, streaming a little music while driving. I just left google fi, which was on t-mobile’s 5g network, and didn’t have the discrepancy.
I’ll try turning off 5g. My plan doesn’t drop priority data until 100gig, so I’m safe, but I don’t want to hit that cap; and I never should with my actual data usage.Same with LG v60 ThinQ 5G. I am at home so much (WFH) and when I look at the data usage on my bill its between 1am and 4am (I am sleeping). Data usage on my phone is NOTHING like what T-Mobile says I have used. I will try turning off 5G and doing just LTE as I had already put Data Saver on and restricted almost all the apps.
Same issue here. Galaxy Flip 3. The discrepancy between what my phone is logging and T-Mobile is showing is 10x. About 2gig according to the phone, 20 gig according to t-mobile. A lot of data usage happens in the early hours of the morning, but at random times as well. I’m nearly always in WiFi, and the 2gig is about what I’d expect, maybe a little low, streaming a little music while driving. I just left google fi, which was on t-mobile’s 5g network, and didn’t have the discrepancy.
I’ll try turning off 5g. My plan doesn’t drop priority data until 100gig, so I’m safe, but I don’t want to hit that cap; and I never should with my actual data usage.Kudos to magenta1659776. I had for many months experienced the same issue of a large discrepancy between data usage reported by T-Mobile and my cell phone's stock app. Turning off 5G solved the problem, and I don't notice a difference in internet speed running on 4G. T-Mobile shouldn't jeopardize the $10 monthly kickback allowance provided under their ONE plan for 5G users, and their data usage accounting system should be fixed.
One year later an this is still a problem! Why is this thread marked as Solved?
It’s amazing how 6-8 months of denying you have a problem can really delay a solution. Hopefully 2022 will bring us a solution to this problem, unlike the entire year of 2021!
I have the same issue. As soon as I upgraded from a 4G LTE phone to a 5G phone, I noticed that my phone's actual data usage is about a half of the total counted on Tmo site. It's weird that the Tmobile Android App is showing the correct number but the detailed usage on Tmobile site is showing different number. I have disabled 5G and will see how it counts in the next few days. I am super surprised that Tmobile isn't fixing this. Very frustrating as if they want me to use the unlimited and don't get Kickback discount...
Yep, seeing the same problem here. My 5G phones are showing this behavior but the 4G phones on my account are not. I can “fix” the problem on my 5G phones by forcing them to use LTE only. For my phone, this matters because of kickback but for my kids, this double-counting pushes them close to 50GB and deprioritization.
Have been working with Tforce on this to no avail so far.
The 2 people I mentioned in my earlier post turned off 5G and their data usage is now tracking correctly. I believe TMobile is double counting data usage when both 4G and 5G signals are available. Of course only those of us with kickback or limited plans would care.
I just wanted to post that I'm seeing the same issue as well for the past few months. The data plan number when I dial #932# is about 50% larger than my on network data, even though the 2nd number matches what my phone recorded. I'm also on a 5G phone, if that helps.
Another annoying aspect (possibly unrelated) is that my T-Mobile kickback text messages seem to be based off the second number, so I won't get a text saying I'm approaching or going over the limit, but I'll still lose the discount on the bill anyway.
gdefender wrote:
One final note, I am having the problem on two of the 11 lines on my account. These are the only two phones I have with 5G capability, and the issue seems to have started around the time we upgraded to these phones. Maybe it’s related to 5G data usage tracking! It’s just a theory, but I wouldn’t be surprised if when I’m on a NR NSA (non-standalone 5G) network the data is being counted twice, once for 5G and once for LTE.
I’ve come to the same conclusion. There are 2 lines out of 8 on my account that have 5G enabled and both have major discrepancies between what the phone says their data usage has been and what TM claims. Even though I have a 5G phone I’ve never enabled it because I couldn’t see any difference in speed. I’ve suggested that the 2 who keep going over their 2gb kickback limit disable 5G. It’ll be interesting to see if their usage now tracks correctly.
