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How to Make Sure You're Not Being Overcharged for Data on Your iPhone 5

iPhone screen displaying various apps, including Messages, Calendar, and Photos.

Tons of iPhone 5 users with Verizon Wireless hit the message boards last week complaining about their phones sucking down massive amounts of cellular data when they were actually using a Wi-Fi connection. Of course, that means Verizon customers could have been getting charged for cellular data they weren't actually using.

Over the weekend, Verizon customers received a pop-up message on their iPhone on how to remedy this error, prompting them to restart their iPhone to update the carrier settings.

For those of you that did not receive the message—or simply forgot about it—make sure you shut down your phone and start it back up for the carrier settings to update.

To make sure you're running the newest carrier settings, on your iPhone, go to Settings -> General -> About and make sure it says Verizon 13.1 by the carrier info. If it doesn't, the message bubble should actually appear telling you to restart.

When your phone is back on, make sure to confirm that you're running Verizon 13.1, and after that, you should be go to go.

Mobile device settings showing carrier information for Verizon.

Verizon vows that customers will not be charged for unwarranted data usage. But how they will decipher the unwarranted from the warranted is beyond me. If you're worried about the possibility of going over on your allowance this month, make sure to contact Verizon to verify you won't be charged for that data.

UPDATE:

Seems this issue may not have been just a Verizon problem, but an iOS problem. Reports are coming in from users on AT&T and Sprint who are also claiming abnormal data usage while connected to Wi-Fi. So, if you see abnormal usage, make sure to contact your carrier and demand a data refund!

Cover photo by Engadget

Apple's iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 updates are packed with new features, and you can try them before almost everyone else. First, check our list of supported iPhone and iPad models, then follow our step-by-step guide to install the iOS/iPadOS 26 beta — no paid developer account required.

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