SIM Card Data Consumption - Best Practices

[StrayCam]

I had heard most everyone could get by with 2 gb/month for SIM data usage... lol... First month I was about 3.5 with a couple days to go. So, I increased my 2gb SIM card to a 5 gb plan. And now, just about 2 weeks into my new month and I'm at about 5.06 gb, with 2 weeks to go!...lol And here I thought, with the exception of some occasional "live views", that I was being frugal with my data! - Wrong!

I normally only review dashcam files on a laptop w/ SD card. Obviously I'm doing something that's eating up lots of data. - - I plan on touching base with Pittasoft/Blackvue to determine exactly what is eating my data. I'm curious which views/activities are data hogs.

Have others had similar problems with SIM card data usage? What are some best practices?


Btw I have a paid Blackvue Cloud account as I didn't want to count downloads/or video plays or worry about 10 mins/day for Live View. Maybe this is what's causing my huge data usage... maybe I should go back to the free plan!

 

[DrekiTech]

Original quality downloads will take up the most data. You can see this demonstrated on their pricing page:



Approx 200 min of live view or auto event upload = 5 full resolution videos.

If you are copying any substantial amount of footage using cloud, it will take a lot of data.

Not sure how easy it is to switch to wifi direct to your phone with the LTE cloud turned on, but if possible I would do that for transferring full clips.

 

[StrayCam]

Thanks for your reply. Somehow I didn't see the live view and downloads/playback listed at the bottom of each of Blackvue's SIM data plans. That is helpful!

First off, pretty much the only downloads I do from camera are in WiFi mode... and at all times when using my phone for the downloads, it only lets me download compressed files (lower bit rate: aprox 12.5 mbs; so those are 1/2 of normal video size which are 25 mbps.

Meanwhile, I just learned something that I had no clue about. If you are connected to the dashcam via wifi and your phone is using other apps (background or not) the data from those activities will be coming from your LTE/SIM card. So, if you have a gps map app opened (google maps/waze) or a music app, or facebook (not me) while connected via wifi to your dashcam, that will use LTE Data. - - I do not recall that being mentioned anywhere in Blackvue instructions, and I think it should be. This may be the reason why my 2-3 gb usage is going up to 10 GB!

Hopefully this info is helpful to others. Thanks again for your reply!

 

[rcg530]

Thanks for your reply. Somehow I didn't see the live view and downloads/playback listed at the bottom of each of Blackvue's SIM data plans. That is helpful!

First off, pretty much the only downloads I do from camera are in WiFi mode... and at all times when using my phone for the downloads, it only lets me download compressed files (lower bit rate: aprox 12.5 mbs; so those are 1/2 of normal video size which are 25 mbps.

Meanwhile, I just learned something that I had no clue about. If you are connected to the dashcam via wifi and your phone is using other apps (background or not) the data from those activities will be coming from your LTE/SIM card. So, if you have a gps map app opened (google maps/waze) or a music app, or facebook (not me) while connected via wifi to your dashcam, that will use LTE Data. - - I do not recall that being mentioned anywhere in Blackvue instructions, and I think it should be. This may be the reason why my 2-3 gb usage is going up to 10 GB!

Hopefully this info is helpful to others. Thanks again for your reply!

In the BlackVue Cloud overview page it talks about the various "X Plus" and LTE models that now support up to five (5) Wi-Fi clients and those clients can access the internet using the LTE data connection.

BlackVue Cloud

New Mobile Hotspot Function​

for BlackVue “X Plus” models​

With Mobile Hotspot Function, your compatible BlackVue can now turn into a mobile internet router for up to five devices concurrently. This means you and your passengers can now use your BlackVue’s internet on your laptop, portable game console, tablet or mobile. To connect to the BlackVue, simply open your devices’ Wi-Fi menu, select the BlackVue and enter the dashcam’s Wi-Fi password.
Supported models: BlackVue X Plus Series models with built-in LTE or with BlackVue LTE Connectivity Module (CM100LTE) and active data plan.

 

[StrayCam]

In the BlackVue Cloud overview page it talks about the various "X Plus" and LTE models that now support up to five (5) Wi-Fi clients and those clients can access the internet using the LTE data connection.

BlackVue Cloud

New Mobile Hotspot Function​

for BlackVue “X Plus” models​

With Mobile Hotspot Function, your compatible BlackVue can now turn into a mobile internet router for up to five devices concurrently. This means you and your passengers can now use your BlackVue’s internet on your laptop, portable game console, tablet or mobile. To connect to the BlackVue, simply open your devices’ Wi-Fi menu, select the BlackVue and enter the dashcam’s Wi-Fi password.
Supported models: BlackVue X Plus Series models with built-in LTE or with BlackVue LTE Connectivity Module (CM100LTE) and active data plan.

Thanks for that info. I have a Verizon cell phone plan with unlimited data as well as 50 gb of hotspot usage which I seldom use. I do not need alternative sources of phone data.

I had no clue that using the direct wifi-connection from my phone to my Blackvue Dashcam was going to make my phone default to using my 2 GB SIM card... which evolved to a 5 GB card and just last night grew to a 10 gb card!

Somehow, Blackvue/Pittasoft should make it possible for consumers to connect with their dashcams via WiFi without routing all phone data uses to the Blackvue SIM card. Obviously other dashcams, ie Viofo do not use any data when using their direct WiFi connections.

I believe Blackvue should post a warning about the use of your SIM card data when merely trying to directly connect to your dashcam... otherwise people can get blindsided on excessive data charges, and many already have...

My suggestion, if you care about going over your 2gb data plan for your SIM card, is to make sure most all of your phone apps and/or background activity are "turned off" while using the Blackvue WiFi direct connection.

Also, because of the above, only turn-on your Blackvue App in the car when you absolutely need it to be on.

 

[rcg530]

Thanks for that info. I have a Verizon cell phone plan with unlimited data as well as 50 gb of hotspot usage which I seldom use. I do not need alternative sources of phone data.

I had no clue that using the direct wifi-connection from my phone to my Blackvue Dashcam was going to make my phone default to using my 2 GB SIM card... which evolved to a 5 GB card and just last night grew to a 10 gb card!

Somehow, Blackvue/Pittasoft should make it possible for consumers to connect with their dashcams via WiFi without routing all phone data uses to the Blackvue SIM card. Obviously other dashcams, ie Viofo do not use any data when using their direct WiFi connections.

I believe Blackvue should post a warning about the use of your SIM card data when merely trying to directly connect to your dashcam... otherwise people can get blindsided on excessive data charges, and many already have...

My suggestion, if you care about going over your 2gb data plan for your SIM card, is to make sure most all of your phone apps and/or background activity are "turned off" while using the Blackvue WiFi direct connection.

Also, because of the above, only turn-on your Blackvue App in the car when you absolutely need it to be on.

When you have a dashcam like the X series with LTE connectivity and you connect your phone to it over Wi-Fi, it would use that as the default internet routing path unless when the phone connects to the BV dashcam over Wi-Fi and it finds no internet connection, it will display "no internet" or similar message. Pittasoft has documented this on their cloud web page and a YouTube video about the BV dashcam acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five clients. If you plan to use the BV dashcam as a Wi-Fi hotspot, a data plan with far more than 2GB would be needed to use it in that manner.

A connection to a VIOFO dashcam won't use any LTE data because (currently) VIOFO does not have a cloud or LTE solution in their dashcams. The VIOFO Wi-Fi connectivity is only for a phone to connect to it to manage/access the dashcam.

 

[Bakertz]

Somehow, Blackvue/Pittasoft should make it possible for consumers to connect with their dashcams via WiFi without routing all phone data uses to the Blackvue SIM card.

A workaround: while you are connected to the Blackvue WiFi, change the DNS server address setting for the Blackvue access point to "manual" entry and remove all DNS server addresses.
Do that from in your iPhone/Android WiFi settings, not in the Blackvue app.

 

[StrayCam]

When you have a dashcam like the X series with LTE connectivity and you connect your phone to it over Wi-Fi, it would use that as the default internet routing path unless when the phone connects to the BV dashcam over Wi-Fi and it finds no internet connection, it will display "no internet" or similar message. Pittasoft has documented this on their cloud web page and a YouTube video about the BV dashcam acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five clients. If you plan to use the BV dashcam as a Wi-Fi hotspot, a data plan with far more than 2GB would be needed to use it in that manner.

A connection to a VIOFO dashcam won't use any LTE data because (currently) VIOFO does not have a cloud or LTE solution in their dashcams. The VIOFO Wi-Fi connectivity is only for a phone to connect to it to manage/access the dashcam.

Thanks for the information! But I don't know what world Blackvue is living in where in the opening of their video they say, "Finding wifi-Internet while on the go can be difficult"... as the person in the video is glancing at her mobile phone. - I don't know anyone who doesn't have a phone that has some form of data that's available to them, if not unlimited, which handles all of their internet needs.

I know firsthand in talking with tech people at Blackvue that many people have been blindsided by this novelty of their phone going to the LTE card when they thought the LTE card was only being used for their dash cam activities. This is clearly wrong...

I've learned precisely what is happening and I can assure you, I will not get caught again! I will ride out the next 2 weeks with the remainder of my 10 GB SIM plan with T-Mobile. In 2 weeks I'll go down to 2 or 5 GB, and ultimately I'll probably give up my Cloud Smart Plan at $12/month.

Btw I was told by Blackvue tech people several times that being on the Blackvue WiFi mode will NOT be using any data. Wrong!

The issue I faced would only affect others if they are using parts of their phone while driving with Blackvue WiFi on... those who mighty be using Waze/Google maps, Spotify, etc.

And as I said, having family/kids and or friends using the LTE is crazy. Blackvue charges $40 for 5GB of data whereas T-Mobile is charging me $30 for a 10GB SIM card plan. Not really a good deal. And btw I have 50 gb of hotspot from Verizon that pretty much costs me nothing (included in my plan) which I could share if someone was desperate for WiFi. But as it said at the outset, must people with phones are NOT desperately looking for a WiFi connection.

I have read through plenty of stuff from Blackvue... starter guide, web pages dealing with my phone, etc... and did not read anywhere about the above Blackvue protocol... well, now I know. And hopefully others have learned something as well.

I think it would be prudent if Blackvue clearly spelled-out what could be the downside when using their wifi mode.

 

[StrayCam]

A workaround: while you are connected to the Blackvue WiFi, change the DNS server address setting for the Blackvue access point to "manual" entry and remove all DNS server addresses.
Do that from in your iPhone/Android WiFi settings, not in the Blackvue app.

I always say I'm more tech-savvy than the average person (I guess that's not saying much... lol ) but you're clearly above me!

I have an Android phone... can I do what you suggested and have my phone use my Verizon data for my phone use while my dashcam is using the SIM card/LTE? That would be fantastic!

Thanks for offering your advice!

Edit: Does your workaround merely ensure that other DNS addresses are not being accessed when in "Blackvue WiFi mode" ? That wouldn't be bad. - - At least those apps would not be able to access the WiFi and use my SIM card data. And when I shut off BV WiFi my apps are still open and able to connect to my Verizon data.

My alternative, I think, would be to close all apps on my phone whenever I connect to Blackvue's WiFi and then turn them back on when I leave BV WiFi.

 

[rcg530]

The average use case for the BlackVue Wi-Fi has been and in most cases remains to manage the dashcam settings and view videos on the microSD card. You can't/shouldn't be doing that while your driving, so why have your phone connected to the BlackVue Wi-Fi at all unless you need to access videos or settings when you're not driving. With the seamless pairing feature in the X Plus dashcams, there's no need to have the BlackVue Wi-Fi network connection info stored in your phone's "saved networks". The BlackVue app will manage the Wi-Fi connection while in the BlackVue app without using a saved network entry on your phone. By not having the saved Wi-Fi network info or by adjusting the settings on that entry to not allow your phone to auto-join that Wi-Fi network, you know your phone won't be using the BlackVue Wi-Fi unless you allow it to use it.

If you have a Wi-Fi only device (like my iPads) and you want to have a passenger in the vehicle to be able to access the internet while driving, the BlackVue Wi-Fi hotspot feature can be a nice thing to have. For any Wi-Fi device you want to connect to the BlackVue Wi-Fi hotspot, they could have a saved network entry for the BlackVue Wi-Fi to make it easier for them to connect.

 

[StrayCam]

The average use case for the BlackVue Wi-Fi has been and in most cases remains to manage the dashcam settings and view videos on the microSD card. You can't/shouldn't be doing that while your driving, so why have your phone connected to the BlackVue Wi-Fi at all unless you need to access videos or settings when you're not driving. With the seamless pairing feature in the X Plus dashcams, there's no need to have the BlackVue Wi-Fi network connection info stored in your phone's "saved networks". The BlackVue app will manage the Wi-Fi connection while in the BlackVue app without using a saved network entry on your phone. By not having the saved Wi-Fi network info or by adjusting the settings on that entry to not allow your phone to auto-join that Wi-Fi network, you know your phone won't be using the BlackVue Wi-Fi unless you allow it to use it.

If you have a Wi-Fi only device (like my iPads) and you want to have a passenger in the vehicle to be able to access the internet while driving, the BlackVue Wi-Fi hotspot feature can be a nice thing to have. For any Wi-Fi device you want to connect to the BlackVue Wi-Fi hotspot, they could have a saved network entry for the BlackVue Wi-Fi to make it easier for them to connect.

I probably don't watch videos when driving any more than 4 or 5 times a week... just kidding!!! - - As I've been trying to learn about the ins & outs of this new Blackvue Dashcam, I've done things initially, like paying for the Cloud Smart Plan... that I will not continue much longer. And I can assure you one practice I'll never do going forward is leave my wifi on while driving... and if/when I have my Blackvue wifi on, I'll make sure "everything else" is turned off on my phone. I'm just a little gun shy now, having gone from SIM card data plans of 2GB to 5GB, and not even 2 weeks later to 10 GB... which costs me $30/month; based on Blackvue's plans' pricing, they would probably charge about $65 per month for 10 GB. At those prices I'd just as soon let someone use my 50 gb of my phone hotspot which costs me nothing.

A good thing T Mobile provides is a real-time display of any data I used (in megabytes) and precisely when I used it. I can even download a csv file to Excel to look over my numbers. - I know how exciting that must sound! /s

I'll have to look into the pros & cons of what @Bakertz suggested. I'm open to any tips or practices which will make my Blackvue dashcam experience better! - Thanks again for sharing @rcg530.

 

[Eskat8r]

Thanks for the information! But I don't know what world Blackvue is living in where in the opening of their video they say, "Finding wifi-Internet while on the go can be difficult"... as the person in the video is glancing at her mobile phone. - I don't know anyone who doesn't have a phone that has some form of data that's available to them, if not unlimited, which handles all of their internet needs.

I know firsthand in talking with tech people at Blackvue that many people have been blindsided by this novelty of their phone going to the LTE card when they thought the LTE card was only being used for their dash cam activities. This is clearly wrong...

I've learned precisely what is happening and I can assure you, I will not get caught again! I will ride out the next 2 weeks with the remainder of my 10 GB SIM plan with T-Mobile. In 2 weeks I'll go down to 2 or 5 GB, and ultimately I'll probably give up my Cloud Smart Plan at $12/month.

Btw I was told by Blackvue tech people several times that being on the Blackvue WiFi mode will NOT be using any data. Wrong!

The issue I faced would only affect others if they are using parts of their phone while driving with Blackvue WiFi on... those who mighty be using Waze/Google maps, Spotify, etc.

And as I said, having family/kids and or friends using the LTE is crazy. Blackvue charges $40 for 5GB of data whereas T-Mobile is charging me $30 for a 10GB SIM card plan. Not really a good deal. And btw I have 50 gb of hotspot from Verizon that pretty much costs me nothing (included in my plan) which I could share if someone was desperate for WiFi. But as it said at the outset, must people with phones are NOT desperately looking for a WiFi connection.

I have read through plenty of stuff from Blackvue... starter guide, web pages dealing with my phone, etc... and did not read anywhere about the above Blackvue protocol... well, now I know. And hopefully others have learned something as well.

I think it would be prudent if Blackvue clearly spelled-out what could be the downside when using their wifi mode.

When you say your giving up the Cloud smart plan!! I thought we needed that to look and download videos. Are you sating we don't need the smart plan to view videos. Without it, how can we? I'm using a unlimited Verzion card in my LTE plus.

 

[DrekiTech]

Both iPhone and Android have a setting for "Metered" network. Essentially telling the iPhone / Android to not perform auto app updates over it as if it's a limited mobile data network. Wording may be different on iPhone but it's the same idea.

@StrayCam I highly suggest setting your BV hotspot network to this on your phone, otherwise the phone will think it's an ordinary unlimited wi-fi network and perform background tasks, app updates, and all sorts of file handling as if you're on an unlimited wifi network.

Metered network setting is very useful as I only have a 750mb phone plan and I hotspot for my work phone occasionally (which doesn't have a SIM card). Note this does not prevent foreground tasks from using your wifi data (ie spotify, maps, youtube, whatever), but it does prevent a lot of background data use.

 

[StrayCam]

When you say your giving up the Cloud smart plan!! I thought we needed that to look and download videos. Are you sating we don't need the smart plan to view videos. Without it, how can we? I'm using a unlimited Verzion card in my LTE plus.

Sorry for any confusion. Blackvue has a free plan which apparently most people use. They also have a Smart Plan which costs $12/month.

I went with that plan because the free plan only allows 100 video file views... and any such view, front and rear, counts as 2 views. So 50 views per month is only about 1.5 per day. Plus live view under the free plan is limited to 10 minutes per day; normally that's probably enough, but since I was and still am fiddling with my cameras (removing somewhat frequently) I didn't want to have to keep tabs if I was under the 10 minute limit.

So, yes you're right. One does indeed need a Blackvue Cloud plan... either the free plan or the smart plan. I was considering dropping my paid smart plan since I was having so much trouble with SIM card data usage. But now that I have figured out exactly why my data use has gone through the roof, I just might keep the smart plan...

 

[Eskat8r]

Cool, thanks for explaning. After the talks on how the sim card data was getting used, I'll make sure I'm not using the dashcam wifi ( which I don't).
Same reason, I choose the $12 plan. I didn't want to worry about when I can look or how much I can download.

 

[StrayCam]

Both iPhone and Android have a setting for "Metered" network. Essentially telling the iPhone / Android to not perform auto app updates over it as if it's a limited mobile data network. Wording may be different on iPhone but it's the same idea.

@StrayCam I highly suggest setting your BV hotspot network to this on your phone, otherwise the phone will think it's an ordinary unlimited wi-fi network and perform background tasks, app updates, and all sorts of file handling as if you're on an unlimited wifi network.

Metered network setting is very useful as I only have a 750mb phone plan and I hotspot for my work phone occasionally (which doesn't have a SIM card). Note this does not prevent foreground tasks from using your wifi data (ie spotify, maps, youtube, whatever), but it does prevent a lot of background data use.

Thanks much @DrekiTech for your advice. I will look into that metered setting change for sure. I'm also looking into what @Bakertz suggested above about changing DNS settings to manual on my Blackvue WiFi connection.

Btw, although my dashcam (DR750X-2 Ch LTE Plus) will allow up to 5 devices to connect to it, that is a feature that I will never use, so changing the DNS settings just might work fine for me.

Also, because I now know where the data leakage was occurring with my SIM card, I am confident this data overage will not happen again.