the question is, why i see both 3g and wifi icons on the status bar at the same time? i mean, wich one is the one i using it when both are on the status bar? do i lost my MB from my data network while i'm using the wifi?
You see both because they're both available. However, the phone will prefer to use WiFi whenever it's connected. If you had a long-running connection over 3G, it might stay on the 3G, and I think some types of data always go over 3G (MMS? But that shouldn't use data plan limit anyhow). Also, just because the WiFi icon shows doesn't mean it's usable; if the WiFi connection is unable to reach the Internet for some reason, the phone will fall back to using 3G.
Sometimes it's possible that the phone uses 3G even though it is connected to a Wifi network. I recognize this, when the 3G Icon turns to 3G+.
I've noticed my Focus Flash tends to use 3G always for push email whereas the browser and market place tends to use WiFi if both are available. Don't know what the situation is for other apps.
@Der Moloch: That's not what "3G+" means at all. It means your phone is connected to a "faster than 3G" technology, probably HSPA+. Although some carriers (and phones) refer to this as "4G", and some phones will just put "H" or "H+" there instead, it all means the same thing. If you go dig into the registry, you can see the list of text that the phone displays for different wireless data technology connections.
@GoodDayToDie
My 3G symbol only changes to 3G+, when there is an actual data transfer.
That's... REALLY weird. I haven't heard of anybody reporting that experience before. The registry values I mentioned are in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Connectivity\CellularUX\DataConnectionIcon. None of the options on my phone are "3G+" but then, my phone doesn't support a "3.5G" network technology like HSPA+ either...
My device also shows 3G+ sometimes when it is available.If not just 3G.
---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------
What do you mean by data transfer?
@Ttblondey
When I say data transfer, I mean that the phone is actually submitting something through the data connection.
For example, I have my mail sync set to manual. I open up the e-mail interface of my Windows phone. On the top right there is the digital clock. If I put my finger on it, the battery icon and the 3G icon (with the reception bars next to it) show up. Then I press sync and the 3G icon changes to 3G+. Once the sync is done, it changes back to 3G.
Maybe I'll upload a video about that, once I am back at my place and have access to a webcam.
You're seeing the phone switch to HSPA+ when it needs to, and back off to HSPA when there's no data being transferred.
It's a power saving thing.
Exactly and this confirms my post above regarding the wireless situation.
Related
A work colleague is using a sim free touch cruise on the vodafone network but vodafone don't have any support for this device (mind you neither does HTC ). We got the vodafone settings for billpay vodafone off the internet and input them and can now surf, download gmail etc over HSDPA (H icon shows) and then it automatically reverts to 3G when not in use.
The problem is that the icon for 3G/umts in use is always on (ie the small 3G over the signal strength) and when the bigger 3G icon is touched it shows how long connected to 3G and as the device is still connected it keeps counting time even though the application using 3G is shut down.
My questions are as follows:
In this state (big 3G icon showing and small 3G icon above signal strenght) is this costing anything being constantly connected to 3G but not using it?
How can it be set to automatically disconnect?
My own touch cruise is on the 3 network but I don't have this difficulty.
My thinking is that it might have something to do with "vodafone live" but not sure what is happening or possibly have selected the wrong set of settings for vodafone ireland as there is a few different sets.
Sorry this is a bit long winded but any advice much appreciated.
The always ON connection is general behaviour... it doesn't matter which network is the device on.
The big 3G/H icons only represent the available network (G(PRS)/E(DGE)/3G/H(SDPA))
The smaller is the signal strength...
The cost of the always ON connection depends on the dataplan being used... if it's an unlimited or a fairly large one like 5GB, it won't matter... but it realy depends on the data recieved....
In my case the avarage hourly traffic is around 1 MB, but i have a little e-mail traffic going so... whith a few mails and every 30 minute checking the traffic should be around 500 KB or lower...
As for the Auto-Disconnect, please search the forum... there are several threads about this in both subforums.
Thats great gnick666 thanks for your reply.
I know the Advanced Configuration Tool has an auto disconnect feature, but I had some issues with it and never went back to go play around with it.
You can also hold down the End button and a menu pops up and you can end data connection there. Or alternatively you can configure it so that holding down the End button always disconnects your data connection.
I have an unlimited data plan so not worried about data, I'm not sure however what the impact to battery usage is so I disconnect "just in case".
As for the 3G / H icon behaviors. Depending on which part of the country I'm in, I get different icons. Sometimes I get 3G and it switches to H when doing data. Othertimes it's always H whether disconnected or connected. (This is assuming that I'm in a 3G location) and not switching back to Edge.
Mine mostly shows the bigger 3G icon and the signal strenght icon with the little antenna icon (I'm on the 3 network which is 3g) but when I download data the small icon changes to 3G and then both change to H as required. Once finished it disconnects and reverts back to 3G. I have Schapps Advanced config tool installed.
Pretty self explanatory this one - is there any way of knowing whether your mobile internet connection (3G) or WiFi is being used in, for example, a browser session? Just don't want to make the mistake of looking at YouTube on the phone, meaning to use the home WiFi, and end up using my 3G by accident, and paying through the nose for extra feed.
ryanbryan said:
Pretty self explanatory this one - is there any way of knowing whether your mobile internet connection (3G) or WiFi is being used in, for example, a browser session? Just don't want to make the mistake of looking at YouTube on the phone, meaning to use the home WiFi, and end up using my 3G by accident, and paying through the nose for extra feed.
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The icons on your task bar should indicate if you have a active data connection.
Or, you can use Spb Wireless Monitor (which you need to purchase). It produces reports telling you which software uses which connections and the amount of data transferred.
In a discussion I had with HTC Tech Support, they told me that wifi, when enabled, over-rides the cellular data. I'm not sure if this just applies to the settings or always. Hopefully, someone can provide a definitive answer.
Yes that is correct, if WIFI is enabled you WILL NOT have a cellular data connection.
Umm. There is a wifi icon in the taskbar o.o and a signal icon also.....whichever is there means it's active and if wifi is there, your data will not be active, only wifi.
What all you are saying is true but some applications still use the data network even if wifi is turned on and connected it seems. I have the same issue(i don't have a data plan with my fuze since my college has wifi everywhere). But things like weather and other native apps on the phone will just turn on the 3g network and stat using data instead of wifi.
if a device is transfering data over gprs/3g whatever
it show arrows moving in the signal str icon
otherwise it use wifi
Applications can choose to use a certain connection if they are programmed to do so, windows only gives each one a type of 'ranking', the fastest connection having the highest ranking and being the one an application is to use by default, but the application can override this and choose whatever connection it likes. This ranking is called the "Interface Metric" if you'd like to learn more about it.
There's an HTC program called 'bytecounter' that monitors the SMDx: ports in the system, which are the ports the system uses for data.. in bytecounter you will see the values increase if an application is using data over cellular network. let me know if you'd like me to upload it.
Umm. There is a wifi icon in the taskbar o.o and a signal icon also.....whichever is there means it's active and if wifi is there, your data will not be active, only wifi.
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Well that wasn't particularly helpful. I too have made the same assumption, but the question asked if there was any way to make sure.
windows only gives each one a type of 'ranking', the fastest connection having the highest ranking and being the one an application is to use by default, but the application can override this and choose whatever connection it likes
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Well that was the kind of answer I was looking for, and is particularly pertinent in my case, as my connection through my mobile provider is about as fast (or maybe even faster) than my fixed line connection at home. A rather bizarre situation, but such is the advancement of Australian broadband infrastructure.
The last couple of times I have used it, I have taken to turning off the phone connection so that only WiFi is running, and then using the internet. It would be good if you can upload the byetcounter program, seems like a free (?) version of the software programatix mentioned.
Here ya go!
Maybe this is just me, but when I try to unzip that file, nothing comes up....?
lol, i always forget to remove the hidden attribute.. let me go ahead and fix that..
Edit: fixed
Newer Windows Live (including the one that come with Touch Pro) will always dial-up the 3G/GPRS connection when checking for email in Messaging. But if you are checking in Windows Live, most of the time it doesn't dial-up but sometimes, it does.
So far that is the only program that I know of behaves like this. I contacted Microsoft regarding this and they keep asking me to contact my celular provider for help. In other word, they are not helping (or do not understand the problem).
Anyway I solved the problem by changing the Connections setting to "My Work Network" for Internet. The catch is, if I really want to use 3G/GPRS, I'll have to change the setting to my celular 3G/GPRS connection.
Or you could use the nodata application from modaco and disable whenever you like the cellular 3g connection just to be sure you are using wifi.When you are away from wifi networks you can in a matter of 2 clicks reenable the cellular 3g connection...
I'm in Australia with a HTC Legend, currently running CM7, previously had Sense of course.. however I don't thin this problem is specific to Legend at all.
When I have 'Mobile Data' enabled and I'm in a good reception area, it will say '3G' or 'H' in the notification bar.
I'm not really sure what the difference is, I've heard maybe 3G is slower than H or used to save power etc. But they both occur with the same amount of reception.. either I get 3G/H or G/E if I'm at a place with really bad reception.
However the problem is, when it has '3G' showing at the top, the data speed isn't slower, but NO DATA AT ALL is transferred. Then it switches to 'H' and internet works.
The annoying thing is, it seems the switching between '3G' and 'H' is COMPLETELY RANDOM. I could be looking through market, browsing web, using maps, downloading, streaming youtube and it will continuously randomly switch between the two, turning internet off and on as it does. It's incredibly frustrating because even if I'm in an area with great reception and I know it's capable of fast transfer speeds, while it's stuck on '3G' mode I get no internet at all.
Does anyone know exactly why it does this, what it means or how I can make it to stop switching to '3G' and stay on 'H'? If it's the radio switching to 3G to save battery when it thinks internet isn't being used, I'd like to disable this because it does switch to 3G when I DO want to use the internet, or right in the middle of data being transferred.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Can anyone provide any info? I'd really like to sort it out!
i think its depend on your provider, u cant always connect at H if your provider dont give u that signal
Snowtoad23 said:
I'm in Australia with a HTC Legend, currently running CM7, previously had Sense of course.. however I don't thin this problem is specific to Legend at all.
When I have 'Mobile Data' enabled and I'm in a good reception area, it will say '3G' or 'H' in the notification bar.
I'm not really sure what the difference is, I've heard maybe 3G is slower than H or used to save power etc. But they both occur with the same amount of reception.. either I get 3G/H or G/E if I'm at a place with really bad reception.
However the problem is, when it has '3G' showing at the top, the data speed isn't slower, but NO DATA AT ALL is transferred. Then it switches to 'H' and internet works.
The annoying thing is, it seems the switching between '3G' and 'H' is COMPLETELY RANDOM. I could be looking through market, browsing web, using maps, downloading, streaming youtube and it will continuously randomly switch between the two, turning internet off and on as it does. It's incredibly frustrating because even if I'm in an area with great reception and I know it's capable of fast transfer speeds, while it's stuck on '3G' mode I get no internet at all.
Does anyone know exactly why it does this, what it means or how I can make it to stop switching to '3G' and stay on 'H'? If it's the radio switching to 3G to save battery when it thinks internet isn't being used, I'd like to disable this because it does switch to 3G when I DO want to use the internet, or right in the middle of data being transferred.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
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Its HSPA, what you get depends on your carrier's coverage area. A few cities in the US have them, such as Baltimore. When I flew to Minnesota I got 3G. As far as you not having a data connection on 3G, I believe if you're in an HSPA area you won't get data on 3G. I know I don't (I have a Galaxy S 4G). When you're in a 3G only area you should get data.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab running CM7
Hi All,
How do I make it so that my phone will not try and connect to the internet via 3G (the signal icon on the status bar has 3G written on it). Whenever my phone switches to 3G, internet doesnt work. this has been a problem for me here in Aus on multiple phones. While the icon says H, internet works awesome but the second it switches to 3G internet stops working until it switches back to H. It wouldnt be too bad, if it wasnt for the fact that the bloody thing switches back and forth every 5 seconds if Im in a good reception area, which is almost all the time.
Are you rooted/custom ROM? It sounds like it could be a poorly performing radio. Search for the radio/ril thread. You might find some answers there. You can switch your phone to 2G or 3G networks only, but the 3G option also includes H. So even if you left out the 2G you'd still suffer the same issues.
Hello XDA Community!
When my new phone (Huawei P9 Lite Mini) is on 3G/2G auto network mode, it consumes more battery than LTE/3G/2G auto mode even mobile data off.
I do not understand how this happens? For example, while 3G consumption at overnight is %10-15; LTE is only %2-3. This problem is the same in daytime too. Mobile data is off, unneccesary services/apps disabled, and no extra application installed while this happens. I tried all "wipe/factory reset/update firmware/factory reset/wipe/no app install" procedures, enabling all battery saving options, but it did not work. This is a problem for me when I'm in non-LTE areas.
This problem occurs the same result in different locations. There was no problem with my previous phone and I use same nano sim card.
I tried the following but it did not work:
- Wipe cache, factory reset, wipe cache,
- Wipe data/factory reset over recovery menu,
- Update latest firmware, wipe data etc. again.
How this happens and where am I doing wrong? Thank you for your help, best regards!
EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED!
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
UglyStuff said:
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
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Thank you for your reply!
When I googled about 3G vs. LTE battery consumption, everyone says that LTE will consume more batteries. That's make sense on first thought. So what I've been through is very interesting to me.
I think about is there a problem with my phone's 3G antenna. (footnote: I don't know about that 3g and LTE antennas are same or seperate?)
But I understand that you say this is normal, right?
Edit: I found a forum that this problem may be due to the operator (carrier). I'm still investigating...
3G and 4G operate on basically the same principle: receiving and sending "information" via radio waves.
The difference lies in the frequencies each standard uses, the way the data sent over them is modulated and demodulated, and how handsets make and maintain connection, so if you stay in the same location, and set your phone to 3G-only, then switch Airplane mode on then off, it'll take your phone longer to reconnect to the 3G cell/tower with the strongest signal (not necessarily the closest to you), because it'll have to go through the whole getting-acquainted process again, whereas in 4G, it'll go straight to the "Hey, how do you do? Long time, no see".
Now, if your phone antenna has a problem, you could be standing a few feet from the tower, in line of sight, and still get a crappy to non-existent signal. How many bars are showing on your screen is just an indication of how well your phone is receiving the signal from the tower; it doesn't mean that this signal is consistent and steady, hence the bars coming and going in real time.
If I were you, I'd download and install the Hidden Settings app from the Play Store, and run it; there, you go to RadioInfo, and you'll get a lot of information about how your phone modem actually works. It's a bit technical, but it would give you an indication.
I will try and looking for a new carrier. Thank you again. See you.
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...