Safaricom reveals why your phone may drain data bundles despite being connected to Wi-Fi

Safaricom has shed light on why customers' mobile data bundles may disappear even when their phones are connected to Wi-Fi. This issue surfaced after a customer named Aleckie Ronald noticed his 4GB data vanished within an hour while connected to Wi-Fi. He had purchased the bundles at 4:00 am and 5:00 am, only for them to be depleted shortly after.

In response, Safaricom requested the customer provide the exact date of purchase to investigate the specific transactions. The company later explained that when a phone is connected to Wi-Fi but mobile data is also enabled, the device will prioritize mobile data if the Wi-Fi ISP experiences downtime. This means that even if the Wi-Fi symbol appears on the phone, the device can fall back on the cellular network when the Wi-Fi connection becomes unavailable or experiences issues.

This often happens without the user noticing, especially if the Wi-Fi signal remains visible but the internet connection temporarily fails.

The explanation doesn't confirm that this is what happened in Ronald's case, but it highlights a feature that can go unnoticed by smartphone users. Background applications that continue exchanging data in the background, such as automatic updates, cloud synchronization, social media refreshes, photo and video uploads, can also consume a customer's mobile bundle.

Safaricom advises customers to turn off mobile data when using Wi-Fi, especially if they know the network is reliable. They can also restrict background data for apps that frequently consume large amounts of data and monitor which apps are the heaviest data consumers. Checking the device's built-in data-usage dashboard can help identify apps that have consumed mobile data during a specific period.