Mobile data usage spike using Android app when connected to Wi-Fi

Nothing has changed on my end as far as I know, but I was monitoring the camera in my house on wifi the other day waiting for a delivery driver to show up and received a notification from my service provider that there was a spike in my mobile data usage. I’ve been checking periodically since and it appears as if it’s using it any time I view the live feed.

This month the app has used 403MB of foreground data so far compared to 8MB, 68MB, and 2MB over the last three months. I typically will watch the camera for deliveries and have never run into this in the past.

I’m using a Google Pixel 5, if that means anything.

Thanks!

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This is odd to hear of, @user633! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Does this only happen on the android device you are using? If possible, see if the experience of data usage is the same on another mobile device. Some important factors to consider is data coverage/ provider, continuous lengthy streaming (more use generally), and please ensure there is not a vpn enabled on the mobile device.

As this is an android device, please check for any android apps that conflict with the Ring app . While you check these variables, I will be reaching out to you in a private message in the Community shortly, so please ensure to respond to me there. :slight_smile:

I’m having the same issue on iPhone iOS, even though I’m watching my Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro and Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 at home on the WiFi the ring App is using lots of mobile data. In the last month rather than the normal 200MB it used up 1.6GB, most of my allowance. This only seems to have been happening within the last month.

As a workaround I turn off mobile data for the ring App when at home, then the home wifi is used, as it should be over mobile data when WiFi is available.

This issue needs to be urgently looked into by ring and fixed…

This has been an ongoing issue as at:

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Agreed ADT-WJT.

Marley, I have responded to your private message but have not received an email from support regarding this issue.

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Same issue here on android 12 (pixel 5). User633, did your issue start shortly after updating your pixel 5 to android 12?

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I’m experiencing the same issue here and it just started recently. I’ve burned through over 3 GB of data this week , and almost all of it was at home on a strong mesh Wi-Fi connection. I now cannot even use the app (even while home) since it has nearly exhausted all of my monthly data allocation.

This is very unfortunate since I recently invested in another Ring cam (now own a total of 3) and have been a Ring Protect Plus subscriber for almost 2 years.

Pixel 3a running Android 12 and the latest version of Ring app.

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It seems like Android 12 may be the common denominator here.

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The user above noted the same problem on his iPhone, so not sure it’s tied to Android 12.

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Google Pixel is pretty much the only device running Android 12.
Google Pixel has something like 0.5% of the Android market.
The Google Pixel was updated to Android 12 in late October 2021.
3 out of the 4 people in this thread are using the Google Pixel.
The problem just began recently (most likely after the Android 12 update.)

I don’t believe in coincidences, but there’s definitely enough evidence to assume the problem is related to Android 12.

Why is no one from ring addressing this?

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Samsung Galaxy S10 on Android 11. Having the same problem with the Ring App using mobile data while at home on Wifi.

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No, my issue began while I was still on Android 11. It has continued since upgrading to 12.

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What about mobile carrier. I’m on Google Fi. Are any of you also on Fi?

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Yes, I am also on Google Fi.

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I’ve also been experiencing a significant mobile data spike in the past week on my Samsung Galaxy S10 on Android 11.

Appended: Earlier today, I did a simple field test on another home Wi-Fi network that I monitor where the mobile data provider is different from my own. The simple act of deactivating, then activating, motion detection/alerts from within the Wi-Fi network for 5-camera devices consumed 3MB of mobile data. On my own home Wi-Fi network, accessing Live View for a few seconds consumed 2MB of mobile data. This shouldn’t be happening. I don’t think such anomalies from two different service providers are coincidental. Also, the mobile data use shown on my Samsung mobile device is pretty consistent with real-time data use that is shown on my service-provider’s app. That the issue appears to be occurring on both Android (11&12) and iOS devices makes things even stranger.

As an update, I just downloaded a data monitoring app and viewed my Stick-Up Cam for about 10 seconds using the Ring app while sitting here at my desk connected to Wi-Fi. Sure enough, the data monitoring app immediately showed that Ring consumed 5+ MB of cellular data as well as a small amount of Wi-Fi data.

Watching a 20 second YouTube video or browsing Chrome used zero cellular data. Interestingly, using the older “Rapid Ring” app does not consume any cellular data.

Obviously there is a bug in this app, and it’s costing people (including me) real money by burning through mobile data plans. I cannot believe Ring is not even attempting to address this, as it makes the app virtually unusable.

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Marlely, hopefully you can please contact me also, because this is affecting many users recently, so it obviously cannot be a configuration issue, and it has made the app (and therefore my 3 cameras and Ring Protect Plus subscription) essentially worthless. The older “Rapid Ring” app is unaffected, providing even more evidence that this is a bug in the current version of the full Ring app.

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It is 100% definitely a bug in the ring app. The only question is will they ever acknowledge or fix it.

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Wi-Fi Live View is still consuming a significant amount of my limited mobile data. I just did Live View checks of two cams, a few seconds each, from my Samsung Galaxy S10 while sitting next to my router. This consumed 15 MB of my mobile data.

same problem here - android 11 and 12, google fi on a pixel 3xl.

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Reporting the same issue.

It’s a serious issue and burning through my mobile data for no reason. Using Android 12. Did not happen when I was using Android 9.

Please resolve and post here when an updated version of the app is released with this issue corrected.

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