Billable data - General Questions and Answers

Hello everyone. I'm running an unlocked HTC myTouch 4g slide on AT&T, but the truth is, I have no data plan. Originally, I had disabled all internet access completely, but it removed my ability to send and receive mms message. This angered me because I wasn't getting the service that I payed for because I chose to ignore their outrageously priced data plans. Needless to say, I quickly reenabled data access, but I'm watching it like a hawk.
On my phone, I've disabled my phones data connection (Android 2.3.4 settings menu) and made it such that it can only connect through wifi. For one reason or another, it still allows me to send or receive messages, which I'm grateful for. On the other end of the spectrum, through monitoring with 3g watchdog, I'm noticing that I'm still sending and receiving data. At first, I thought this just to be texting, because, as far as I'm aware, texting works by bandwagoning on the data.
Unfortunately, my assumption was wrong. After not receiving or sending a text for a few hours, I noticed that I used about 15kb of data. My question is whether or not it's billable, especially since I disabled my cell phones data through the firmware.
Thanks.

SMS wont use data, MMS will.
If those 15kb are billable... no way to find out besides waiting for the bill.
Measuring traffic is not an exact science on android.

Related

S: Instant Messenger without battery drain

I am looking for an instant messenger application that is easy on the battery of my HTC Fuze. I tried Beejive, but it just runs down my battery in no time when connected. I also tried OZ, which uses SMS instead of a data connection. This of course saves some battery life as it doesn't need an always-on data connection, but it would also quickly decrease the pool of my included text messages.
I was searching for a solution that would allow forwarding of instant messages via email. And if I were to receive such an email, I could then fire up Beejive and engage in the conversation. Does anyone know about such a service? I googled like crazy but couldn't find a thing.
As an FYI, I am using my HTC Fuze on T-Mobile with the $20 Blackberry unlimited data plan and a bucket of 400 text messages.
i would say that the im client is the least of the batt drain thing
the fact that the phone have to be online with gprs or wifi all the time
to be connected is what drains the power
which program would not make much of a diffrence
cannondale0815 said:
I am looking for an instant messenger application that is easy on the battery of my HTC Fuze. I tried Beejive, but it just runs down my battery in no time when connected. I also tried OZ, which uses SMS instead of a data connection. This of course saves some battery life as it doesn't need an always-on data connection, but it would also quickly decrease the pool of my included text messages.
I was searching for a solution that would allow forwarding of instant messages via email. And if I were to receive such an email, I could then fire up Beejive and engage in the conversation. Does anyone know about such a service? I googled like crazy but couldn't find a thing.
As an FYI, I am using my HTC Fuze on T-Mobile with the $20 Blackberry unlimited data plan and a bucket of 400 text messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I might have a solution... Scratch the Blackberry plan, add T-Zones 5.99 plan and an unlimited 15$ a month text plan and your good for a buck extra a month.
Not a bad idea, if I wasn't using the Blackberry Connect software to get push-mail -- which is surprisingly gentle on my battery, even though it uses an always-on EDGE connection.
I'm trialing this at the moment, tempted to buy it when my 7 days runs out
http://www.shapeservices.com/en/products/details.php?product=im&platform=pocketpc
Very little battery drain and when signal drops can forward messages to an email address you specify

Picture mail: unsuccessful

i had this error yesterday.fixed it by installing the sprint RUU...im back on fresh 1.1 btw...heres the deal though,yesterday i was getting picture mail errors,id get the "download" button,id push it..n it would give me a "download unsuccessful" message..tried it on the stock app and on handcent and id get the same thing..i looked it up on google n seems other people have this issue too,but no clear fix..just wondering what the problem is?and what's the fix besides resetting your phone back to factory settings...i'd really hate to do this over again if this starts happening..
ps: when i get pic mail,it shows up as a "download" button instead of the slideshow viewer.not sure whats up with this.
edit: i had called sprint customer support yesterday,they transfered me to tech support,tried sending me a picture n didnt work as well...so i just "reformatted" the hero to stock with the sprint ruu.
Im starting to think there was a problem with the Sprint picmail server or something because I had the SAME problem only mine just kept saying downloading and never opened. I then Ruu back to stock and rerooted and flashed Fresh 1.1 and everything was fine again but from what Ive read ALOT of people had this same problem so Im thinking it HAD TO BE something to do with the service. Which means I spent over an hour for nothing,lol
Word lol.freakin sucks.annoying as hell..u think it was just their pic mail service that as down or what couldb it be?cause when u reformat the phone it all starts working again....also,when u get pic mail,do u still get the slideshows or just the download button?
you guys made sure ya wasnt on wifi? my picture messages NEVER worked while i was on wifi on my G1 or Hero, i always wondered why though!
Yup.WiFi was off.I had that happening hen I first got the phone..but this time it had nothin to do with WiFi.it was more like an error.like if the download link was broken or u didn't have picture mail service..its weird.
Yeah there's a problem with MMS downloads when on wifi.
Think it has somethign to do with redirecting data through the wifi network when connected.
Yeah, it's not the Sprint network, its the phone. Pretty much all of out HTC Hero's suddenly develop that problem 4-5 weeks after purchase. A hard reset is typically the only fix. And no, currently pic mail cannot be sent or recieved on wifi. Though we are working to fix that bug. I get this issue countless times a day, along with "I can't play YouTube videos". And my all-time personal favorite, and the most common, is "I set a pattern lock and forgot it, and now it's asking me for my gmail information and I don't remember my email adress or password." But yeah, I've tried everything under the sun on our side of the network to fix the hero pic mail, and nothing works aside from a hard reset.
-Sir Stanley
-Sprint Adv. Tech. Escalations Dept.
Why bother!!
There are two issues here 1 is plain old sending email, the other is picture mail.
On wifi I can't send from gmail . I can send from accounts of both the isp and a web based mail provider. On 3g I can't send from the isp account. I can send from gmail and the web based account. Asking sprint why they block sending from the isp account, they reiterate some company policy. Asking the isp why they block gmail, same answer. As far as I can tell they both refuse to agree to share mail packet user info as it could lead to "spamming" (really loss of customer reliance on their services). Ok some redirection (and encapsulation) from sprint to the isp of email would be needed, but so what.
Now as for the second issue, If it sends email, the account will send picture mail. just verified it.
Could you clarify what you mean? What ISP are you talking about? If you have an email through your ISP, it could be your ISP blocks POP access to their outgoing servers. I know Cox does this, but I ahve found taht changing your outgoing port to 465 will still allow you to send. So if you are more specific with your problem there is a god cahnce I can help you out.
I was having sms/mms issues last nite while at a club...met a couple girls,they texted me,the phone vibrated,sayin i received texts then it would delete them...i was using hanecent...i uninstalled n tried chompsms,problem kept going...meanwhile,just out of curiosity,i tried to update the profile n prl,id get a "1012 error.cant update"....rebooted the phone a few times and nothin,i finally uninstallled chomp n handcent,n started using the stock message app,n voilllaaa..i would receive all sms n mms......this morning i tried doing the updates again and they actually worked....im not sure what the problem is/was...im guessing either 3rd party app's hide/delete messages or maybe a phone or network problem...as of now im leaning more towards the sms app's..cause as soon as i uninstalled,i had a buddy sending me pics n they started showing up.....theres an app in the market,called unread sms or somethin like that,which is to show hidden messages...i tried it but didnt work.just thought id point this app out so you guys know this is a known bug...hopefully newer 2.xxx roms will fix this,or maybe this problem will land in the right hands cause its freakin annoying and a serious ****-block lol....
Yeah, it's not the Sprint network, its the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to completely disagree, but the only time I've had this issue is when my web signal is poor. I don't know why, but for as long as I've been with sprint, my major issue has always been why, at times, if my phone has a signal of any kind, it won't work. And that's been with any phone I've ever had with sprint.
As a matter of fact, the only time I get the "download" button is when the signal is poor. I had a "1" for web and received a mms. It kept failing, tried to browse the web, nothing. Waited about 30 minutes until I got back into good coverage, and it worked fine. That tells me it's the service not the phone.
Yeah, all day yesterday my phone wasnt recieving txts. Luckily I can just reprogram it. (you have to have your unlock code to do this.) But I use handcent, as probably does almost everyone here, and I've never had a problem with it. But there was a major txting issue with the heros yesterday, lot of customers complained about it. If it happens again call Sprint and tell them you need a ##DATA Restore done on your phone. That will take care of it.
Also, updating your profile is just updating your data profile, which is your username and password to use sprint data services. If your internet is working, no need to update your profile, and if its already working it's not suprising to get a 1012.
Your PRL is your preffered roaming list, just tells your phone which companys towers to use first if Sprint is not available. (Based on who is giving Sprint the best roaming rates for that period.) PRL updates only come out every quarter or so, so theres no need to try to update it. If you are within sprint coverage it makes no difference.
@Red250.
Hi. I spend at least 10 hours of every day helping Sprint Android users with every problem you can possibly imagine. I'm sure if you have no internet coverage that would be a problem with getting picmail, which is sent through the DATA network. But as long as you do have internet, they should come through. Yes, for the issue I am talking about, it IS the phone. When customers in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington DC, etc call in and have an EV on their screen with full signal, and they are getting a download button and download unsuccessful, I am definetely not gonna tell them they have insufficient coverage. So, considering you have only your own experience to go by and I have around 300+ cases per week from all over the country......I think that I can confidently say that I know what Im talking about.
sirstanley said:
Could you clarify what you mean? What ISP are you talking about? If you have an email through your ISP, it could be your ISP blocks POP access to their outgoing servers. I know Cox does this, but I ahve found taht changing your outgoing port to 465 will still allow you to send. So if you are more specific with your problem there is a god cahnce I can help you out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I have no problems using the isp's pop servers from the wifi, being hosted by the isp. I can not access the isp's pop outgoing server from sprint's 3g. That would require sprint to have negotiated a service connection from the isp, which would have required sprint to repacket (forward) my mail packets -so my original packets would appear to originate from the isp's out going server.
Sprint and google have this service. Sprint and the isp have reciprocal server blocking.
This was significant to me 3 months ago. Now it's a fact that i have accepted. I do receive from all accounts on both wifi and 3g. If i really need to send across server blocks, I log into the web mail editor page for either.
sirstanley said:
Yeah, all day yesterday my phone wasnt recieving txts. Luckily I can just reprogram it. (you have to have your unlock code to do this.) But I use handcent, as probably does almost everyone here, and I've never had a problem with it. But there was a major txting issue with the heros yesterday, lot of customers complained about it. If it happens again call Sprint and tell them you need a ##DATA Restore done on your phone. That will take care of it.
Also, updating your profile is just updating your data profile, which is your username and password to use sprint data services. If your internet is working, no need to update your profile, and if its already working it's not suprising to get a 1012.
Your PRL is your preffered roaming list, just tells your phone which companys towers to use first if Sprint is not available. (Based on who is giving Sprint the best roaming rates for that period.) PRL updates only come out every quarter or so, so theres no need to try to update it. If you are within sprint coverage it makes no difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u post what the steps to reprogram it were?..i already have the password/code thing..thanks
We honestly do not block any servers. Its a simple matter of whether you ISP Email provider allows access to their servers while not using their internet service. If they don't, I can usually find a workaround. For example, if you have a gmail, you could use gmails outgoing server instead. The email will still come from your ISP email adress, just relayed through gmails SMTP servers. But I can personally assure you that Sprint is not blocking your email. We spend hundreds of man hours every week trying to help customers set up their email on their device. Your email provider may be blocking you, but sprint is not. I am currently looking at a list of email server settings and ports provided by Sprint to help you, the customer, to set up your emails on our phones. So I assure you Sprint is not cackling evilly while we block your email servers.
To perform a ##DATA Restore, which completely wipes your programming and then reboots your phone, then takes it back through Hands Free Activation, completely reprogramming it using the correct settings from our network:
1.Bring up you Dialer
2. Enter ##3282#
3. When given choice of View or Edit, touch Edit
4. Enter MSL (Master Subsidy Lock)
5. Touch 'User Name'
6. Press 'Menu' Button
7. Touch 'Restore'
8. Touch 'OK'
No personal data will be lost, this only reprograms the phone. Please allow phone to go through hands free activation process upon reboot.
I'm definately not gonna argue you'll know more about it than I ever want to. I was just stating an exception to the same problem. But you're comment about major cities and full coverage leads me back to my first statement. 5 years of driving cross country in a truck with sprint as my carrier I've seen both ends of the signal spectrum. With 3 different phones, from a flip phone, to a palm treo, there's been MANY times I can have a full signal, and the phone won't connect, or full evdo and the internet won't work. That's honestly the only pet peeve I've ever had with my service.
In case you cant tell by my activity, I'm bored as hell at work. And yeah, Sprints service is not the best. We do get some of the nicer phones, and we focus more on technology than building towers. But we do have the most reasonably prices plans, and you get what you pay for.
bronxknight28 said:
you guys made sure ya wasnt on wifi? my picture messages NEVER worked while i was on wifi on my G1 or Hero, i always wondered why though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had the same experience w/ my Hero... Would never work if WiFi is on even if I turned off the wifi as long as the message was sent when it was on it just would work. If u have that problem, turn off ur wifi n have them resend the message...

Does AT&T offer an option to disable data, but keep MMS data?

I've had AT&T forever, and I've refrained from getting a data plan because they are outrageously expensive for what they offer. Now that I've gotten a new phone (An Unlocked MyTouch 4g slide!), I'm looking to expand my capabilities a little bit. I'm not looking to get a data plan, but with the option enabled on my account, it's hindered my ability to send and receive mms messages.
What I'm looking for is an option that will allow me to send and receive mms, but will disable all the other data options completely. I realize that an application might be available for this, but I'd rather not have to rely on something on my phone when I could rely on the network instead.
Thanks!
Simple answer is no. Mms uses 1kb of data and if you block it then it blocks the Mms. No way around it

Disable data but receive picture messages?

Is there any way to do this? my friend has a very small data limit and does not want to go over so she only uses wifi. On her last android phone pic messages still worked with data disabled, but this one dies not. She has unlimited picture messaging so that's fine, just that dang data cap.
Any ideas?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA
Bump?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
Reaper0294 said:
On her last android phone pic messages still worked with data disabled,
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Click to collapse
I don't see how that is possible. Just as you can't use T-MO's 'my account' app without data being on. Perhaps on other carriers they always have it on just for messages even if you have 'disabled' the data connection?
It may be possible to do this with wifi calling enabled, but I doubt it. Pictures and video are sent via cell phone data and have always been as far as I know.
FWIW, picture messages do not apply towards data usage (and should not apply towards data usage). Be aware that upon turning on your mobile data connection many programs will begin using it especially if you have 'background data' enabled. I personally leave it off and turn it on PRIOR to looking at messages I've just received to ensure I will receive a sent picture. If you don't have your data on prior to viewing the message thread you will be 'downloading' the messages forever and never get them.
If you believe that they are counting pics in data usage go into a t-mo store and show them your evidence of their evil pink wrongdoings (stay away from india telephone support )
Aaron is right, picture messaging does not count towards data. I know, since I don't have a data plan at the moment, but I can still use 4G for improved call quality, syncing contacts etc., and picture messaging.
You will need a text plan though, obviously

Nexus 5 does not auto recieve MMS

Hey!
Yesterday I bought a N5 and today I noticed my friends dont recieve my pictures if I do not turn on my Mobile Data. This isn't really bad..the worst thing is that if I do not have Mobile Data turned on I do not know I even got an MMS.
So I must get my data always on to even know somebody sent me a picture? If there was a way I could at least get a warning that MMS ciuldn't be downloaded because there is no networtk that would be great.
How is everyone else experiencing this?
Oh, and I have Android Lollipop
MMS (pic messages) is data dependent. Even if on WiFi, MMS will use data
Jojo5678 said:
Hey!
Yesterday I bought a N5 and today I noticed my friends dont recieve my pictures if I do not turn on my Mobile Data. This isn't really bad..the worst thing is that if I do not have Mobile Data turned on I do not know I even got an MMS.
So I must get my data always on to even know somebody sent me a picture? If there was a way I could at least get a warning that MMS ciuldn't be downloaded because there is no networtk that would be great.
How is everyone else experiencing this?
Oh, and I have Android Lollipop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You HAVE to have data on to do anything MMS related. Unless you're using an instant message client like WhatsApp you REQUIRE to have data on.
Actually, in part MMS send and receive configuration is dependent on carrier configurations and not only device or ROM settings.
Somehow, I think data switching for MMS is okay when data is off and other times it is broken. Some kind of receiver or meta-info with the mms transmit.
Textra app on playstore used to have "temporarily activate mobile data for mms" in a troubleshooting section. I don't see it in the current new version for Lollipop, maybe soon though.
Some phones and ROMs and carriers will turn data on for mms and not tally against plan data usage limits, so data could otherwise be technically off so zero or very low data plans don't overage.
Is there a way to make the Nexus 5 auto turn on data whenever sending or receiving a mms?
I'm using go sms and there's a setting for that but it doesn't work

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