Hefty bill from 02 - Data download on Iphone

amf

I've never before surfed the net using a mobile - considered screen too small.

I got my Iphone a couple of weeks ago and jailbroke it - used it with my current 02 SIM which has 100KB data use included in the monthly contract. I thought I'd connect it wifi with my home network. Did so quite happily - no problem yet.

I've just received my online bill from O2 with a £40 + VAT data usage included. Since I've never before gone over my monthly calls and texts limit I checked to see why suddenly my bill is almost £50 higher than normal. It turns out I've downloaded 16,277KB of data, at the cost of £40 + VAT on one occasion.

From the date and time shown for when the download occurred I can see that this happened at Heathrow, after a flight to that airport. I'd time to kill before starting work so hung about and started playing with the new phone. I'd forgotten that I'd switched off wifi and started surfing the net - I only accessed a list of available networks, tried to enter one and was about to give up when it asked for a password. At that time I noticed that I was connected via EDGE so I switched the wifi back on and tried to access free wifi networks again. Same thing happened, so I went back to the home screen.

This is the only occasion I've been charged - my time mucking about trying to connect would have been no more than 5-6 minitus so I can't believe that I've worked up a bill of £40 + VAT:mad:.

I freely admit I've very little knowledge of accessing outside wifi networks or data downloads via EDGE. Would a few minutes playing with the phone cause me to download 16,277KB of data? Would returning to the home screen disconnect from the net (the statement doesn't show how long I was connected)? How do I avoid this in future - simply avoid tapping on safari when I'm outside the home ? Is there any way the phone can be automatically connecting to the net without my knowledge?

As you can see I'm very confused. I'm not really sure what's happened here. Any and all advice welcome.

SlyOne_2

amf wrote: »

I've never before surfed the net using a mobile - considered screen too small.

I got my Iphone a couple of weeks ago and jailbroke it - used it with my current 02 SIM which has 100KB data use included in the monthly contract. I thought I'd connect it wifi with my home network. Did so quite happily - no problem yet.

I've just received my online bill from O2 with a £40 + VAT data usage included. Since I've never before gone over my monthly calls and texts limit I checked to see why suddenly my bill is almost £50 higher than normal. It turns out I've downloaded 16,277KB of data, at the cost of £40 + VAT on one occasion.

From the date and time shown for when the download occurred I can see that this happened at Heathrow, after a flight to that airport. I'd time to kill before starting work so hung about and started playing with the new phone. I'd forgotten that I'd switched off wifi and started surfing the net - I only accessed a list of available networks, tried to enter one and was about to give up when it asked for a password. At that time I noticed that I was connected via EDGE so I switched the wifi back on and tried to access free wifi networks again. Same thing happened, so I went back to the home screen.

This is the only occasion I've been charged - my time mucking about trying to connect would have been no more than 5-6 minitus so I can't believe that I've worked up a bill of £40 + VAT:mad:.

I freely admit I've very little knowledge of accessing outside wifi networks or data downloads via EDGE. Would a few minutes playing with the phone cause me to download 16,277KB of data? Would returning to the home screen disconnect from the net (the statement doesn't show how long I was connected)? How do I avoid this in future - simply avoid tapping on safari when I'm outside the home ? Is there any way the phone can be automatically connecting to the net without my knowledge?

As you can see I'm very confused. I'm not really sure what's happened here. Any and all advice welcome.

Does your itemised bill show the whole of the 16MB in one session? Even so, I don't think that should have amounted to £40, although this would depend on your tarriff. With respect to returning to the home screen, then the iphone does disconnect the GPRS if the browser isn't being used (in any case, GPRS is billed by the downloaded amount, not the time you stay on). On the other hand, if you were downloading something in the background, then that is a different story. 16MB is racked up fairly quickly, especially if you're viewing images in Facebook for e.g.. Try checking if your liability isn't capped daily as well?

Worth a fight IMO, £40 is a lot of money.

amf

SlyOne wrote: »

Does your itemised bill show the whole of the 16MB in one session? Even so, I don't think that should have amounted to £40, although this would depend on your tarriff. With respect to returning to the home screen, then the iphone does disconnect the GPRS if the browser isn't being used (in any case, GPRS is billed by the downloaded amount, not the time you stay on). On the other hand, if you were downloading something in the background, then that is a different story. 16MB is racked up fairly quickly, especially if you're viewing images in Facebook for e.g.. Try checking if your liability isn't capped daily as well?

Worth a fight IMO, £40 is a lot of money.

Thanks

Only one entry - 8.23am on 9 May. I didn't even manage to get online.....gave up when a password was requested! That's what I find mystifying!

Since making the above post I've done some research. As I don't want to surf other than at home (via wifi) I think that I need to turn off edge. I don't get this option via network settings so I installed Boss prefs. Unfortunately trying to turn off edge via Boss prefs doesn't work....it tries but 30 seconds later edge is still shown as on:mad:

I will take it up with O2 as you suggest (my rate isn't capped) and ask if they can bar data downloads.

SlyOne_2

Try putting in fake settings for your Edge connection settings by changing the APN etc. It shouldn't allow you to go online then. You may get annoying pop-ups though saying edge isn't activated each time you try and go online when your wifi isn't on.

123oleary

did you activate your iphone on to a proper iphone contract? if not you may have broken o2s terms and conditions, if so you may want to be careful what you tell them as they wont be very sympathetic.
if your iphone was on a proper iphone contract all uk data is free.
where i live edge turns itself off pretty regularly!!!!