Huawei Y6 Elite - Cannot Stop Mobile Data from Being Used, despite Turning off Mobile Data

bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 20:33
Last edited 12/03/2017 - 20:42

I bought the Huawel Y6 Elite from this deal, which included a Vodafone sim card.

I found that mobile data keeps getting used (causing the credit to keep decreasing). So I tried to stop this (just want wifi use only) by doing all these steps :

  • turning off mobile data in settings.

  • restricting background mobile data use on all apps, as well as system apps.

  • turning off 4G and using 3G only (as some articles suggest this would help).

But I just cannot stop mobile data from being used. For e.g. Whenever I take a picture, the mobile data usage increased by about 5 KBytes. The only way to stop this that I know of, is by going into Aeroplane Mode.

The phone itself is in quite pristine state, as when bought. Have not downloaded many apps yet.

BTW, this is not related to the Vodafone sim, because if I replace it with a Telstra sim, the same thing happens. So, it is more than likely to do with the Huawei phone.

Hope some OzBargainers have figured this out, and can help.

I found a few articles about Huawei phones collecting user data, and wonder if this is related to the mobile data being used, e.g.

At this stage, I am keeping an open mind, perhaps it is just something I missed out doing.

Thanks and appreciate any feedback.

Mobile Huawei Mobile Phone Android

Comments

  • supnigs super skids on 12/03/2017 - 21:32
    +5

    Change your apn to some random letters and data will be disabled

    • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 21:34
      +1

      Good suggestion, I will do this :-) Thank you!

  • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2017 - 21:35

    Ye, I am having the same prob but I dont mind because its using a tiny bit of data.

    • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 21:38

      I activated it on the 365 day plan, trying to stretch the credit, to last as long as possible; so critical to save every Kbyte :-)

      • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2017 - 21:47
        +1

        Oh, dang. Last time on their website I saw them charging $2 per mb.

        • Gravy on 12/03/2017 - 23:09

          Yeah, they seem to do that on one of the 365 day plans, but the 365 day one I activated my $40 initial credit with seems to only take about 2c per mb from my credit. It think its also in 1kb blocks now although not sure where I read that.

      • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2017 - 21:48
        +1

        However you can fix this problem by contacting Vodafone and ask them to disable mobile data. This surely fixes the problem but you won't be able to use data again until you enable it again.

        • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 22:29
          +1

          Sometimes I switch the sim to another mob, say Telstra. And also when overseas, will be using overseas sim. I found the change apn solution to be the neatest and most elegant.

  • PJC on 12/03/2017 - 21:43
    +2

    My humble Huawei Ascend Y550 bled data monotonously until I went to Settings>Mobile Networks and unchecked Data enabled, Data roaming, and Enable always-on mobile data. Now, if I wish to download an MMS I temporarily check Data enabled, download the photo, and then uncheck Data enabled.

    • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 22:27
      +1

      Yes, I took all these obvious steps like yours, but it would still not stop the mobile data use completely. (Perhaps this is specific to the Y6 Elite, and not your Huawei Ascend).

      Strange stuff was still happening, like taking a photo, and finding some mobile data being used for no obvious reason each time. And it seems supnigs super skids's change apn solution is the one that can completely stop this mobile data use. And yet, allow the phone to be usable generally-speaking.

      • PJC on 12/03/2017 - 23:53
        +1

        I also have Settings>Location services>Access to my location switched off.

  • Gravy on 12/03/2017 - 22:48
    +5

    Hmmm… that's some fairly alarming news in those articles. Although doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

    Try turning off your location services completely, I remember a while back I was having a similar problem on Aldi mobile on my iPhone and apparently location services was using GPS assist mode to ping the cell towers to get a faster location fix. These tiny packets were seemingly getting through even with data disabled and because Aldimobile used to charge in 1mb blocks it was a bit of a problem (even though the packets were only a few kb, they were being charged as 1MB each as minimum block size).

    So maybe try disabling "Access to my location" in Location services settings.

    The fact that its using a small amount of data when you take a photo is perhaps a clue, as it may be getting a GPS fix to add to your image data. Try disabling GPS data on your images and see if it still happens each time. Open the camera app, click the settings menu at top right of the app, then click settings and disable GPS tag if its enabled.

    Likewise, if you have Google Opinion rewards or something similar installed it may be using data when tracking your movements, which may get through even when data is disabled similar to GPS Tagged images.

    • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 23:02
      +2

      You are spot-on about the GPS location mode. When I turned location off, there was no more mobile data use, after taking a picture.

      In the settings, I noticed that there is an option to choose "device only" location, which supposedly does not use mobile network/wifi to determine location with higher accuracy. Yet, mobile data is still being used.

      Well, at least one mystery solved, thanks very much :-)

      Fortunately, with the change apn solution, I can still have location turned on. So I might still stick with that. Just in case there are other leakages I am not aware of.

      • Gravy on 12/03/2017 - 23:13
        +1

        Glad it helped. It is certainly strange that phones do this even with data disabled.

        are you on the Pay As You Go Plus 365 day prepaid??? It only seems to charge me 2c per MB on that plan. Ive got my sim back in my iPhone 5 now though and just using my Y6 for wifi around the house. Although dropped my iphone and shattered screen just at the airport a couple of weeks ago and just got back from OS and need to replace the screen now… luckily they seem cheap if I have a go myself.

        • bluesky on 12/03/2017 - 23:25

          Yes, I am on the Pay As You Go Plus 365 plan, and it has already taken $1.20 credit out of the $40 :-( So, trying to conserve as much as possible.

          I have also dropped my phone a number of times, fairly clumsy; although less worried now that I have free screen insurance from my Amex card. This is the main reason why I bought this phone as a backup, for when unfortunate things happen. At least you can replace the screen yourself, so will save quite a bit.

        • Gravy on 12/03/2017 - 23:59
          +1

          @bluesky: Yeah iPhone 5 screens are around the $30 mark which is great… gonna do some research on here though to see which particular sellers people have used and happy with as Im sure there is huge variation in screen quality.

          Another suggestion for your problem, try switching the phone 2 2G/3G mode only. The thread below seems to indicate that may help with a variety of phones.
          https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=66124

          BTW, if you ever break your Y6 Elite screen, I think you may need to find a Y5 II screen as a replacement, not 100% sure though, someone on whirlpool asked and I did a bit of research and they appear to be the same screen from the outside at least and specs seem the same, unsure about the internal connector though. They are about $30 as well on ebay.

        • bluesky on 13/03/2017 - 00:05

          @Gravy:

          Another suggestion for your problem, try switching the phone 2 2G/3G mode only

          Yes, already tried this.

          BTW, if you ever break your Y6 Elite screen, I think you may need to find a Y5 II screen as a replacement

          Thanks for info. You are right, someone suggested the phone covers for Y5 II also fit the Y6 Elite. But need good eye-sight to do this replacement. So probably will let someone else do it :-)

  • HeWhoKnows on 13/03/2017 - 16:13
    +1

    Sounds like you have a faulty phone. Its up to Vodafone to sort this out. Call them and tell them about the problem and ask for a credit for the data used.

    • bluesky on 13/03/2017 - 17:30

      Thanks. Now that I have a workaround, I will let things be, don't like the hassles of dealing with telecomms companies.

    • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2017 - 20:51

      Certainly isn't a faulty phone as many other people and myself are also experiencing this problem.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2017 - 19:35
    +1

    I know this isn't related but I just found out that the right speaker is a dummy. The only speaker that I hear is on the left side. Is yours the same?

    • bluesky on 14/03/2017 - 20:05
      +1

      Yes, you are right. The right speaker is dummy. Luckily, for headphones output, it is OK. Must have something to do with the cost - so they cannot afford another speaker in it :-)

      • [Deactivated] on 14/03/2017 - 20:50
        +1

        Lol, at first I freaked out and thought my phone was faulty.

        • 4KGrubby on 30/03/2017 - 01:24

          iirc the right speaker grill is where the microphone is located, so not quite a dummy ^^

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