What does mobile data mean on my AT&T bill? | AT&T Community Forums (2024)

Hello @Morganchris !

Welcome to AT&T Community Forums! That is a great question, and I am delighted to be able to help!

The mobile data that you are seeing is just regular data usage. The text and data usage are combined in both categories. A number will show up in the usage details for both text and MMS messages.

For further information regarding usage, check out our AT&T Support Article Track wireless talk, text and data usage.

I hope this helps! Thank you so much and have a wonderful day!

Tim, AT&T Community Specialist

MMS means multi media service. These are texts sent with free data and include pictures, group text and emoji.

@Morganchris

Yes, either that, or if you have an iPhone, those messages were sent via iMessage or a similar service. Those types of messages always show up as data used.

@Diane22Kwrote:
I don't have any apps running in background, deleted apps that could possibly run when turned off and I have turned off all of my push notifications. Any suggestions as to why this is happening and what I can do to resolve? The last 2 yrs we have n avg data usage of 1.5 for all 4 devices for the monthly billing period. Some how we've hit 2.16 by 6th day into the new billing period. Help please!

Data isn't reported immediately. Not live data is reported most often at those times. It could be hours (and occasionally days) old data that's reported.

You turn your devices OFF? So no one can call you on the phone?

If you reset the data counters on those devices, you can see exactly which apps are using the data. (I set an appointment to reset them on the first day of my billing period and just take 60 seconds to see if any apps are eating way more data than I expect.

When your iOS devices are off OFF, when you turn them back on you get the Apple logo on the screen and it takes a minute to power on...

"Data isn't reported immediately. Not live data is reportedmost oftenat those times. It could be hours (and occasionally days) old data that's reported."

You haven't answered the question. If most of this person's Apple usageis from home on wi-fi, there should be considerably less "mobile data" charged/recorded per month. I don't know about you, but my iPhone automatically switches to wi-fi whenever I am in a location (home, work, etc.) where I have access to the wi-fi. Cellular data or this amorphousthing called "mobile data" shouldn't be needed.

I think the reason this question is so frequently asked is because I've yet to read an even marginally adequateexplanation of just what constitutes "mobile data." Mobile data to me suggest cellular use away from wi-fi - on the bus, in a park, sitting in your car - whether you use an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Razr. There is no way someone can rack up all that much "mobile data" use on the morning commute.

Also, the explanation that iMessage phone numbers are not recorded in one's data use is nonsense. My family all use iPhones and I have other friends who I know use iPhones and the i Message sent are indeed logged in monthly wireless usage.

@Nooneisherewrote:
I think the reason this question is so frequently asked is because I've yet to read an even marginally adequateexplanation of just what constitutes "mobile data." Mobile data to me suggest cellular use away from wi-fi - on the bus, in a park, sitting in your car - whether you use an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Razr.

I'm not sure if this is adequate, but mobile data would be when you are using your phone's cellulardata. If you are using WiFi then you are NOT using your cell phone's WiFi. What you are saying sounds correct to me.

There is no way someone can rack up all that much "mobile data" use on the morning commute.

Sure there is. If they've got appupdates allowed to be cellular, you could rack that up daily. I think I've been getting so many updates of apps on my iPhone lately 10-30 daily, so it all depends on how their settings are; if their favorite podcast is updating at drive time now instead of when there are at the office, it could be anything.

Also, the explanation that iMessage phone numbers are not recorded in one's data use is nonsense. My family all use iPhones and I have other friends who I know use iPhones and the i Message sent are indeed logged in monthly wireless usage.

It shouldn't be. Not if you're getting the bluebubbles in your chat.

You haven't answered the question.

They answered why data is reported at off hours and why data is reported when the phone is off. They really didn't say much about their use to give more info.

That said,@Diane22Kcan check in their iPhone settings under cellular and easily see what apps or processes are eating the most data. You want to reset it monthly on your cycle date and then you can track for the month. But even in the meantime, they could easily see the culprit for the most data since the last counter reset and turn off cellular to the most hungry apps.