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Help: What's eating my data

2

2000a

Lurker
Hi,

I need your help solving this mystery...

Every few hours (about 8) I lose about 780kb of data. This only started a week ago, and I have not installed new applications since. I am not surfing or doing anything that requires data. Whatever the reason, it's processed by an application or the OS.

Using "TrafficStats", I see that the following two entries (nothing else):
> 558 kB received, 192kB sent
drm protected content storage
media storage
download manager
>14kB received, 17kB sent
Contacts Sync Adapter
Google Services Framework
Calendar Sync Adapter

A couple of hours later, I reset TrafficStats, and turn off and back on data, and the same processes consume the same amount of data again. I also use 3G watchdog to confirm.

How can I find out what application or function is causing this drain in my data? I didn't add any functionality, and it used to consume much less (<100kB instead of 780kB).

I use DroidWall to block most apps (including the market - only via wifi), but I need to leave the above for gmail (mail, calendar, contacts, etc.

I already did "Clear Data" for all 3. Also rebooted.


Please help me :)
Thank you
 
Honestly, 780kb of data is nothing to be worried about. Your phone has about 15 different things that check/sync all the time, and that amount of data is not that much.
 
I rarely text and it doesn't count towards data usage.

I'm not asking if <1mb / day is a lot of traffic. If I wanted, I would have asked that. My question is what can cause those apps to download automatically every 12 hours.

It's like clockwork. Every 12 hours since it started. Since I did not install anything new nor changed my sync settings, I'm clueless.

I tried de-activating all auto sync accounts, but it still happened. 462KB received, 96B sent. what is android downloading.

Is it possible to monitor what actually is being downloaded?
 
Unless your carrier charges you for the data usage I wouldnt worry about it as android phones do have certain core elements that communicate with the internet. If you are being charge for the usage I would reccommend getting a data plan
 
Alternatively you could wipe your phone completely to factory default and then monitor it to see if the data usage occurs.

If so, you'll know it's part of the operating system and you can either live with it or ditch Android.

If not, then add the app's back, one at a time, until you get the data usage and then you can decide if the app is worth it or not.

Hope this helps. :D
 
So you don't have any email, google voice, weather (including widgets like fancywidget, etc), or any other program or account on your phone that might be pulling data?

It is quite possible that some app you have installed systematically "phones home" too. Personally I wouldn't worry about it if you carefully selected your applications and actually paid attention to the system components that each app uses. If you willy nilly installed a bunch of apps on your phone without really paying attention to what each app can access, then you might want to SBF and start over if it is just killing you to know there is a tiny bit of data being used.
 
Came across this thread while searching. I have noticed a goodly spike in my data usage over the past couple of months and tracked it back to the "media storage/DRM protected content/download manager". Each night, right around midnight, my bill shows a data hit...I'm usually not up at midnight so it's not me. I installed TrafficInfo and can see that this is the culprit.
Yes, I have unlimited data but that is not the point. What is this and why does it chew through data?
12:06 AM UNLIMITED MEGABYTE ALLOW 4329.41 KB - from my bill (not last night)
And TrafficInfo shows (from last night) 5.4 MB for media storage/DRM/dwnld mgr.
I just want to know what it's doing. Eventually Verizon is going to go to tiered data and I don't want to have to pay 'extra' data for all my lines because of this mystery usage.
Can't seem to find anything on this really...?? Has anyone looked into this more or have any better idea of what it is?
 
Clementine_3 said:
Can't seem to find anything on this really...?? Has anyone looked into this more or have any better idea of what it is?
Click to expand...
I know that Market downloads will stall if you disable its internet access with Droidwall. Do you have automatic app updating enabled? I've also heard that it is used for Verizon OTA updates, but your data usage seems too small for that.
 
No, I don't have automatic updating enabled for apps. It's right around midnight, consistently. Around 1 AM for my sister and around 3 AM for my son.
The amount varies each night but it's there none the less.
 
Clementine_3 said:
No, I don't have automatic updating enabled for apps. It's right around midnight, consistently. Around 1 AM for my sister and around 3 AM for my son.
The amount varies each night but it's there none the less.
Click to expand...
The time may not be too reliable if you're getting it from the website. I'd trust TrafficInfo more, but unfortunately that doesn't record the time the data was used so you would have to sit up and wait (or find a different app).
 
That is very similar (looking) to TrafficInfo. When I go into 'system' that is where I'm finding the usage. I clear it right before I go to bed so I'm getting overnight info/usage figures. It's odd, odd I say!
I fully understand that my phone sends and receives data that is not directly related to app usage, it's just that lately it's a lot more data.
I also posted on Google's help page, let's see if that ever gets answered.
 
If i keep my phones data on (without background data), it uses like 2mb's in 10 mins, so i would be happy if i was you....
 
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