Over-the-air update data charges

[tmanto02]

Hey guys,

I just got a massive shock when my phone bill was over $100 more than it usually is! In one day I apparently chewed up 571MB of data! I didn't even use the net that day!

My question is; could this be the iPhone over-the-air update? I recall recently doing one. But I thought it only downloaded these updates over wi-fi?

Cheers

 

[Intell]

Over the air updates are not that large. They are less then 200Mb. It is carrier specific if they can be downloaded over a cellular data connection. I know AT&T does not allow it and the update will only download over WiFi.

 

[WordMasterRice]

Hey guys,

I just got a massive shock when my phone bill was over $100 more than it usually is! In one day I apparently chewed up 571MB of data! I didn't even use the net that day!

My question is; could this be the iPhone over-the-air update? I recall recently doing one. But I thought it only downloaded these updates over wi-fi?

Cheers

I'm not sure about the requirements, I had to do my OTA update on wifi. Also this most recent OTA was (depending on device) ~50 megs so that wasn't it.

 

[lelisa13p]

Yep, OTA upgrades are wifi.

 

[Daveoc64]

Over the air updates are not that large. They are less then 200Mb. It is carrier specific if they can be downloaded over a cellular data connection. I know AT&T does not allow it and the update will only download over WiFi.

The restriction is not carrier specific, it's an iOS restriction.

 

[Kyotoma]

The restriction is not carrier specific, it's an iOS restriction.

False. This was outlined in the keynote that it could be either Cellular or WiFi. It was enabled over the betas.

 

[Intell]

The restriction is not carrier specific, it's an iOS restriction.

It's set in the carrier bundle on the carrier.plist using the OTASoftwareUpdate dictionary and the AllowDownloadOverCellular Boolean value. Some carriers have it set to true others have it set to false. AT&T has it set to false.

 

[Daveoc64]

It's set in the carrier bundle on the carrier.plist using the OTASoftwareUpdate dictionary and the AllowDownloadOverCellular Boolean value. Some carriers have it set to true others have it set to false. AT&T has it set to false.

The reason that I don't believe this fully is that my carrier (Three UK) has always been vocal that Apple controls all of the restrictions in iOS about downloading things.

They don't support the 50MB (formerly 20MB limit) for App/iTunes downloads.

I don't see why they'd choose to disable the OTA download.

I haven't seen a single carrier in the world that has enabled the option.

Either:

a) The option doesn't actually do anything (yet?)

b) Apple doesn't actually allow carriers to enable it - remember that all carrier updates go through Apple first. It might be possible to hack the device to do it, but if that's the case, then it's still very much a restriction in iOS policy.

I presume it's off by default, as none of the carrier settings plists that I've read mention it.

False. This was outlined in the keynote that it could be either Cellular or WiFi. It was enabled over the betas.

I remember it being enabled in the betas - I used it.

But then, after the beta, smaller updates weren't allowed over cellular.

Everyone at the time simply believed that Apple disabled the feature

 

[Intell]

If a carrier wanted to enable it all they'd have to do is notify Apple. Apple would then change the Boolean key to true and push out the new carrier bundle as an update. Much like how AT&T didn't want MMS allowed until they had built up their network and changed their stuff to support it. Then they notified Apple and on September 23rd, 2009 Apple pushed out a new carrier bundle the enable MMS on AT&T. The same process can be applied to over the air updates downloading via 3G.

 

[Daveoc64]

If a carrier wanted to enable it all they'd have to do is notify Apple. Apple would then change the Boolean key to true and push out the new carrier bundle as an update. Much like how AT&T didn't want MMS allowed until they had built up their network and changed their stuff to support it. Then they notified Apple and on September 23rd, 2009 Apple pushed out a new carrier bundle the enable MMS on AT&T. The same process can be applied to over the air updates downloading via 3G.

A little more research has shown that this indeed the case.

I'm surprised this hasn't been talked about more in the community.

I'm going to contact my Carrier on Twitter to see if they can get the setting changed.

 

[dotme]

Hey guys,

I just got a massive shock when my phone bill was over $100 more than it usually is! In one day I apparently chewed up 571MB of data! I didn't even use the net that day!

My question is; could this be the iPhone over-the-air update? I recall recently doing one. But I thought it only downloaded these updates over wi-fi?

Cheers

Carrier billing & metering is not infallible. Believe me. Step one is to see if "Cellular Data Usage" numbers on your iPhone agree with the carrier's numbers. If adding sent+received on the iPhone roughly equals the carrier numbers, then you really did eat that much data. If not, you may have other problems.

 

[AlphaVictor87]

Carrier billing & metering is not infallible. Believe me. Step one is to see if "Cellular Data Usage" numbers on your iPhone agree with the carrier's numbers. If adding sent+received on the iPhone roughly equals the carrier numbers, then you really did eat that much data. If not, you may have other problems.

EDIT: nevermind