topic Re: Data Usage incredibly high in Mobility

Data Usage incredibly high

HYY — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:28:47 GMT

I've been with 2 different carriers before Virgin and I have never had this issue before. My average data usage is between 5 and 20 gb a month but the first month after I switched to Virgin, my usage spiked to 79GB in three weeks (my plan is 80 GB a month). I find that so strange as I haven't been doing anything different and I checked my usage—15 GB in a day, 11 GB on another day. I spoke with a live agent on the phone and they said there was nothing they could do, they couldn't waive the extra data fee just to last me till the end of this month, and they said there was also nowhere we could leave feedback.

I'm concerned as I hopped on a promotion and now facing an issue I've never had before. It feels quite suspicious that my data would surge like this right after I sign up for the Virgin mobile promotion. I know that phone carriers can't see what we're using our data for due to privacy reasons but I mainly use data for social media, spotify, and google maps and very rarely hotspot. I also don't take facetime calls over data (wifi calls only). Can you please advise what would be the issue? Also if it's possible to waive the cost to increase data until the end of the month?

Re: Data Usage incredibly high

VirginPlusKris — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:09:05 GMT

Good morning, @HYY. Thanks for reaching out.

Firstly as you've already said, as a matter of privacy no representative is going to be able to see what is using the data on a phone; only the amount used, a rough time stamp, and any associated charges.

As a result of this, our recommendation is for you to review the data usage in your phone's settings specifically, as this will be able to give you a breakdown app by app, set within a time period of your choosing.

If you're an iPhone user, Apple has a useful guide on their Support website where they go over in detail how to View or change cellular data settings on iPhone, and how to set your preferences for each app specifically. Otherwise, you can also check out this Apple support page on How to view how much data you're using to narrow down what may or may not be using the data in question.

If you're an Android user, the exact steps may vary slightly depending on your phone's manufacturer; they tend to use slightly different iterations on Android. Generally though, the settings would follow as:

Go to your Settings app
Go to Connections,
then Data usage,
then Mobile data usage

Do bear in mind that Android settings will default to showing the first to the last day of the month. You will need to adjust this in your settings to reflect your billing cycle specifically.

Let us know if you have any further questions, or continue to notice any irregularities.

Best wishes.

— Kris

Re: Data Usage incredibly high

sage — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 01:39:23 GMT

Hi, I’m having the same problem. I don’t even get to enjoy my 80 GB of mobile data each month because it gets used up so quickly. I mostly use Wi-Fi, and I only forgot to turn off my cellular data for two days, but my usage suddenly jumped to 78 GB. I still have 15 days left before my next billing cycle.

Now I’m being charged $40 for an extra 2 GB. I never had this issue with my previous network, even when I left my cellular data on all the time. I’m wondering why my data usage is so much higher with this service.

Re: Data Usage incredibly high

VirginPlusAntonie — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:55:09 GMT

Hey there @sage ,

Welcome to the community and thanks for your post.

We can understand your confusion and we're here to help as best as we can to help you find the cause.

Your mobile data is likely draining rapidly due to standard cloud backups, high-definition video auto-playing, or a hidden background system task.

Mobile networks can only track total volume rather than individual app usage, you can find the exact culprit and stop the drain by following these structured steps:

Find the Culprit App

Your phone logs exactly which application requested those 78 gigabytes. Go directly to your hardware settings to look at the breakdown:

For iPhone: Open the Settings app, select Cellular, and scroll down to the "Cellular Data" section. You will see an alphabetized list of apps alongside the exact amount of data they used.
For Android: Open Settings, tap Connections or Network & Internet, select Data usage, and tap Mobile data usage. Change the date range toggle to match your specific billing cycle to see the true culprit.

Turn Off Hidden Data Drains

Disable Wi-Fi Assist / Network Switching: When Wi-Fi signals drop for even a second, your phone silently defaults back to mobile data without telling you. On iPhone, scroll to the absolute bottom of the Cellular settings page and toggle off Wi-Fi Assist. On Android, turn off Switch to Mobile Data inside your Advanced Wi-Fi settings.
Restrict Background Syncing: Large items like photo library backups, operating system updates, or podcast downloads might have defaulted back to cellular permissions. Ensure your primary gallery and cloud backup settings are configured to run strictly on Wi-Fi Only.
Enable Low Data Mode: Turn on "Low Data Mode" (iOS) or "Data Saver" (Android) within your cellular settings to forcefully halt all automatic background updates and pause non-essential syncing across all apps simultaneously.

Let the community know if you have more questions.