30 Minutes of Internet Access Costs Vacationing Family $13,470

cageymaru

cageymaru

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A San Jose, California family learned the hard way that airplane mode does not shut off the internet to a cellphone. As their flight crossed over Vietnam, the family's son Nicholas Chung was playing chess offline with airplane mode enabled. Little did he know that apps are still allowed internet access in airplane mode and he inadvertently racked up a $13,470 bill in 30 minutes. T-Mobile offered the family a steal of a deal when they lowered the bill to only $3,800 but the Chung family wasn't buying it. They contacted their local news station and 7 On Your Side convinced T-Mobile to shred the bill.

However, when ABC7 looked into the matter, we found that many mobile apps that don't require an internet connection still use data. Users may not even realize it, but the apps operate in the background, silently gobbling data for purposes such as updating software, refreshing social media, and sending ads . Nicholas realized his chess game is one of those apps that run data in the background, which likely explains the huge bill.
 
It's kind of shitty for the media to pressure T-Mo into shredding the bill. They should have gone after the app and phone designers. An offline app should never have a constant internet connection and Airplane mode should shut down all internet access, especially from game apps. I'd like to blame the parents here too, but I can understand expecting an offline game to actually be offline and for airplane mode to do what it actually says it does.
 
gxp500 said:
He downloaded 1.1gb of stuff, definitely not chess, he probably had data on and now I'm sure he's just playing dumb and the parents believe him and here we are... on TV.
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According to the article your apps are allowed to download anything that they need while in airplane mode. This includes advertisements, system updates, etc.

So, how can you stop apps from using data in the background? With an iPhone, go to settings, then look under Cellular Data, and switch the data use to the OFF position. It's similar for Android phones. Go to settings, find the app that may be using data in the background, and tap it to enable "restrict background data."
 
"Airplane mode, aeroplane mode, flight mode, offline mode, or standalone mode is a setting available on smartphones and other portable computers that, when activated, suspends radio-frequency signal transmission by the device, thereby disabling Bluetooth, telephony, and Wi-Fi. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_mode

So if his phone really was in airplane mode, then some app or the OS is overriding the feature. Could malware be the cause?

Most consumers are not as tech savey as most of us here. When they are told to put their device in airplane mode and they know airplane mode as how it is defined in wikipedia, they are assuming that feature is doing what it is designed to do and what they are told it will do.
 
I know you can enable Wifi in airplane mode but that has to be done after airplane mode is enabled (in my case)... still, ISP should ask/notify before doing such charge...
When in US for a training trip, my ISP automatically enabled me in the X$ per day special,.... I disabled DATA and had to fight their decision in the end... still had to pay some money...

I really don't understand the auto-opt-in special those ISP think is good for us...
 
MMitch said:
I know you can enable Wifi in airplane mode but that has to be done after airplane mode is enabled (in my case)... still, ISP should ask/notify before doing such charge...
When in US for a training trip, my ISP automatically enabled me in the X$ per day special,.... I disabled DATA and had to fight their decision in the end... still had to pay some money...

I really don't understand the auto-opt-in special those ISP think is good for us...
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neither wifi nor BT can reach the ground from 35K ft. It would be an airline service in which case the bill would more likely have been from the airline. Plus, all the airline wifi services I have seen require you to sign in and enter your payment info before use. Wifi and BT can be reactivated after airplane mode is enabled, but not cell signals
 
Derangel said:
It's kind of shitty for the media to pressure T-Mo into shredding the bill. They should have gone after the app and phone designers. An offline app should never have a constant internet connection and Airplane mode should shut down all internet access, especially from game apps. I'd like to blame the parents here too, but I can understand expecting an offline game to actually be offline and for airplane mode to do what it actually says it does.
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Airplane mode should shut down all radio emissions from the phone. That's the whole point: stopping them without having to shut down the device. If that part of this story is true, that phone's manufacturer should be in big trouble over this.
 
I'm a Tmo user and kid's story doesn't add up.

T-Mobile has free international data roaming that's restricted to 2G. It's part of their unlimited plans and international roaming defaults to it. I use it all the time and it works well for email and chat. Tmo automatically restricts connection to 2G only so downloading 1.1GB would have taken longer than 30 mins. I just checked and Vietnam is one of the eligible countries.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming?country=Vietnam
 
Untitled.png

1 gigabyte = $13,000... sweet deal yo
 
Teenk9 said:
I'm a Tmo user and kid's story doesn't add up.

T-Mobile has free international data roaming that's restricted to 2G. It's part of their unlimited plans and international roaming defaults to it. I use it all the time and it works well for email and chat. Tmo automatically restricts connection to 2G only so downloading 1.1GB would have taken longer than 30 mins. I just checked and Vietnam is one of the eligible countries.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming?country=Vietnam
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From the linked article:
The company didn't provide an explanation except to say that Vietnam was not included in the T-Mobile free roaming plan, though it is now.
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Youn said:
View attachment 99824
1 gigabyte = $13,000... sweet deal yo
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Chess game in the background... Yeah fucking right :rolleyes:

Even the worst apps don’t download HD videos in the background or other shit, which is what it would take to burn through 909MB in “30 minutes”. What happened here is someone watched bullshit on YouTube, then made up a story about it.
 
if this is anything like every other time this happens it'll get wiped clean and we won't hear of it again... until the next time.
 
Ocellaris said:
Chess game in the background... Yeah fucking right :rolleyes:

Even the worst apps don’t download HD videos in the background or other shit, which is what it would take to burn through 909MB in “30 minutes”. What happened here is someone watched bullshit on YouTube, then made up a story about it.
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That really seems the most likely to me. Or maybe even that he turned on airplane mode, but turned it off with the same swipe or something stupid like that. Either way though, it doesn't quite add up. Still, if nothing else, maybe this will cause some investigation into airplane modes actually suspending all radio send/receive to be sure it really does what most people think it does.

Really though, he was playing PornChess 3.5 which clearly states in its TOS that it disables airplane mode in order to inject more fresh porn into each checker of the chess board. It's plain as day!
 
you know what's fucking bull shit here?

t-mobile will reduce the bill by 10000 dollars!

like 10g's is nothing when it comes to their charges.

i wonder how many fractions of a cent they really had to spend to allow 1 gig of data internationally.

if you wondered how fucked you are when it comes to cell service that should be an eye opener.
 
Master_shake_ said:
you know what's fucking bull shit here?

t-mobile will reduce the bill by 10000 dollars!

like 10g's is nothing when it comes to their charges.

i wonder how many fractions of a cent they really had to spend to allow 1 gig of data internationally.

if you wondered how fucked you are when it comes to cell service that should be an eye opener.
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They figured the 10K was less than attorney fees to fight the family off. :D
 
I'll lay you money the kid had hotspot mode up or some shit.

Nevertheless, this is a reasonable bill. A gigabyte is an entire 1000mg of internet, internet is very, very valuable because the supply of internet is so limited. 1000mg of internet, an entire gram is more than enough to last a family for a year, that's why the cost is so high.

Holy shit, internet is not easy to make, ISPs and cell providers have to charge so much because manufacturing internet takes time and money. If they don't charge a proper amount for this precious resource we run the risk of a future where the internet has run out.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
I'll lay you money the kid had hotspot mode up or some shit.

Nevertheless, this is a reasonable bill. A gigabyte is an entire 1000mg of internet, internet is very, very valuable because the supply of internet is so limited. 1000mg of internet, an entire gram is more than enough to last a family for a year, that's why the cost is so high.

Holy shit, internet is not easy to make, ISPs and cell providers have to charge so much because manufacturing internet takes time and money. If they don't charge a proper amount for this precious resource we run the risk of a future where the internet has run out.
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I think they just opened a new internet mine in Siberia, but it's kind of hard getting it out of there with all the sanctions. Plus, that's unrefined internet. Then it has to be refined. That costs some major money. I think it also gives off asbestos as a byproduct.
 
How do you connect to a cell tower in an airplane, spend 30 minutes in range traveling 300mph+ to download 1gb of data. Was the plane circling the cell tower for 30 minutes at an altitude low enough to be in range? All while airplane mode is on which I'm pretty sure works on the iphone.
 
I call bullshit.
First of all, airplane mode does shut off mobile data. Not even Apple can screw this up.
Secondly, mobile data while roaming is unlikely to be on by default. I don't use an iphone or t-mobile I don't know. But it should not be on without the user's consent.
And 1.1 GB is not going to be background data. Not even an OS version update will be this big.
 
WarriorX said:
How do you connect to a cell tower in an airplane, spend 30 minutes in range traveling 300mph+ to download 1gb of data. Was the plane circling the cell tower for 30 minutes at an altitude low enough to be in range? All while airplane mode is on which I'm pretty sure works on the iphone.
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Of course. The pilot was in on this with T-Mobile! His cut was going to be 20% of 13K for 30 minutes worth of unscheduled flying.
 
I was under the impression that Airplane mode shut off the radios needed for LTE connections... which is the whole reason of having the mode while in an airplane so the radios don't cause interference.
Plus as most of you said, when does a background app.. especially chess, need to download 1GB of data. App would have been reported to Apple LONG ago and pulled from the store.

Pretty sure this falls under 'Fake News!'
 
FWIW it falls out to be $15 per MB which is... a lot. Even for roaming in greater Asia.
 
You know what? I don't care what happened...there's NO fucking reason for 1GB of data to cost goddamn THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the first place!

To me THAT'S the ridiculousness here. Screw what the kid may or may not have done...I want to know how a bill for $13,000 was created and calculated.
 
Wow. Yet another reason I love Project Fi - I spent two weeks in Tanzania last month and got billed... $10 per gigabyte.
 
Wow, that was some shoddy journalism. They came up with the conclusion that airplane mode does not really turn off data, and appear rather nonchalant about it. I mean, it if was true, i.e. that airplane mode does not really shut off all radio, it would be front page news and the FAA, along with many others, would be all over Apple about it (and not the app maker obviously - the OS implements airplane mode).
However I can think of a few simpler explanations that don't require broken airplane mode and 4G speeds at high altitudes, and you know how Occam's razor goes...
 
Does IOS have something similar to the event viewer in Windows? If so, should be fairly simple to check the logs and see if/when Airplane mode was switched. Possible the kid thought he set airplane mode and misclicked. Or it was already in airplane mode and he simply toggled the setting, turning the radios back on.

2nd the disbelief at 30 mins/1 Gig = $13,000. Makes the US ISP over data cap charges seem downright cheap.
 
This story is incorrect. Airplane mode disables wifi and LTE and 3G etc. There are no transmissions of any kind. So he turned wifi off or something stupid and didn't understand how to actually activate "Air-Plane Mode" but you will lie through your teeth to avoid such a drastic bill so we all understand what happens next. Scared family makes a false claim about air-plane mode. News pics it up and runs with it without doing any due diligence. T-Mobile helps them out of idiocy.
 
Derangel said:
It's kind of shitty for the media to pressure T-Mo into shredding the bill. They should have gone after the app and phone designers. An offline app should never have a constant internet connection and Airplane mode should shut down all internet access, especially from game apps. I'd like to blame the parents here too, but I can understand expecting an offline game to actually be offline and for airplane mode to do what it actually says it does.
Click to expand...

was about the same post he same
 
ecuador said:
Wow, that was some shoddy journalism. They came up with the conclusion that airplane mode does not really turn off data, and appear rather nonchalant about it. I mean, it if was true, i.e. that airplane mode does not really shut off all radio, it would be front page news and the FAA, along with many others, would be all over Apple about it (and not the app maker obviously - the OS implements airplane mode).
However I can think of a few simpler explanations that don't require broken airplane mode and 4G speeds at high altitudes, and you know how Occam's razor goes...
Click to expand...

Not to mention... If any app was using 1.8GB an hour while running in the background, it would blow everyone’s data cap in a few hours.
 
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