How to stop your airtime from disappearing

[Kevin Lancaster]

How to stop your airtime from disappearing

Many people complain about disappearing airtime and mobile data. Here is what causes it, and what you can do to stop it.

 

[Pythonista]

And the best way to do it : root the phone and install a firewall (like AFWall+), then block all 3g/lte data from apps, after creating a few exceptions. Personally I block everything except whatsapp.

 

[ThinkCentre]

When I was with MTN, I had this problem and all I did was to switch on itemised billing and the problem stopped!

 

[CruelBreeze]

The only people I've heard complaining about this are MTN subscribers. They say their data bundle remains intact but their airtime disappears. Not sure how this correlates with their (Vodacom, MTN) "your using more than think" argument.

 

[Kingofmybbknowitalls]

And the best way to do it : root the phone and install a firewall (like AFWall+), then block all 3g/lte data from apps, after creating a few exceptions. Personally I block everything except whatsapp.

So in other words, convert your smartphone to a Nokia 2110.

If you can't afford the gas, don't buy the car.

 

[midnightcaller]

Those IN platforms are essentially a vault housing a wallet of data, voice, sms , mms bundles and rand value (otherwise known as airtime).

Now when I deposit money into a bank account, I receive a monthly statement which enables me to see what is being debited and credited to my bank account.
If I see a debit order that doesn't make sense , I may investigate it and dispute it.
Just imagine if your bank allowed you to only see the current balance of you bank account.


If you think about an IN platform as an aggregation of "bank accounts":-

I wonder what sort of auditing there is around those platforms to guard the monetary value contained in there.

What the risk of "rogue" processes depleting bundles and airtime without actual usage?

How would a consumer ever know if they are getting taken for a ride by the companies managing/owning those platforms ?


Edit: so after reading the article. All the mitigating actions are placed directly on the end user ( customer).
What mitigating actions / controls are the operators taking to address the problem.

 

[Thor]

And the best way to do it : root the phone and install a firewall (like AFWall+), then block all 3g/lte data from apps, after creating a few exceptions. Personally I block everything except whatsapp.

+1

 

[Pythonista]

So in other words, convert your smartphone to a Nokia 2110.

If you can't afford the gas, don't buy the car.

Ho ho - not at all. All the smart stuff comes thru perfectly fine when I'm on wi-fi. My life seems to consist of roughly 4 "experiences" - 1) work - where wi-fi is fine, 2) home - where wi-fi is fine, 3) car travel - where I do NOT want "smart" phone interaction, and 4) the tiny rest - where I may get wi-fi or not .. But if I really need to do google maps, or browse some site, it's trivial to quickly adjust the firewall setting for that one app - and then revert the setting afterwards.

 

[Jack_Hammond]

When I was with MTN, I had this problem and all I did was to switch on itemised billing and the problem stopped!

This. In fact, the best way to save data and money is to switch to a different provider altogether, no more disappearing airtime.

Instead, we get another victim blaming article from that bunch of thieves who finance boko haram.

 

[backstreetboy]

Prolly a wasp. Had that whenever I recharge the money/airtime was deducted.

 

[access]

that free data expiring can be deceiving sometimes...