Database Info

Any way of knowing if data is coming through 3G or WiFi?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...

[Q] How to force the phone to never use anything but wifi?

I sometimes uses the wifi connection to surf the web on my touch pro, problem is that the wifi reciver don't look to be very strong so sometimes I loose the connection, especially if I'm moving around.
I have found the program nodata, but it doesn't seem to work that well. Even if I activate nodata and have it running in the background while surfing the phone still connects to gprs/3g connection if the signal is lost. My guess is that if I click a link after I loose the wifi connection the phone seem to override the funtion of nodata. Is there any other software that I can use instead?
I want the phone to wait until a wifi connection is established again instead of changing to a 3g/gprs connection.

I'm not sure. Once I removed all the data connection settings, but then I couldn't use the data ever. I've been keeping an eye for a program that does this, but it seems that everyone under the sun other than me has a data plan.

hahaha yo are noy allone out there, I would alslo like to know how to disable data conection.

the answer - modaco nodata. Its not the neatest but the only one
EDIT: and also you can do this in Advanced Configuration Tool from "connections" menu item. If you want a more permament solution (because of the long way to the choise in the app)
All the apps I mention are really easy to google for

darfri said:
the answer - modaco nodata. Its not the neatest but the only one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes...nodata is the one you want.....just search and you shall find

Not sure if this helps but when I handed down my Hermes to my Father in Law just so he could use it for phone calls and TomTom (via BT GPS). I had AT&T block all data so he can only use wifi.
It works great! when his wifi is turned off and he tried to go to the web it says connection refused.

Thanks for the input guys, but nodata don't seem to help me. It's the software I use now, but it seems that somethign is able to override the nodata software leading the phone to dial up when the wifi connection gets a low signal.
I'll give the Advanced Configuration Tool a go, but it seems to be a lot of work going in there turning things off, just to go back and activate them again if I want to check my mail "in the field".

I have an at&t Fuze with no data plan, just unlimited text/mms. I cannot disable data by using Modaco's NoData because mms requires Media Net.
What I have done so that all apps use WiFi is the follows:
Under Start / Settings, select the Connections tab.
Launch Connections.
Select Advanced tab.
Click on Select Networks.
Under Network Management, change "Programs that automatically connect to the Internet should connect using:" to "My Work Network".
With this setting, I don't have Internet connection unless WiFi is active, which is what I want. Maybe the Touch Pro has something similar.

Thanks icwinner, that seem to have made the trick.

Captivate Turn off Mobile Data?

I noticed there isn't an option like on the HTC devices that let you choose WIFI ONLY or MOBILE + WIFI. It appears they took that out completely on the Samsung Roms? Is there anyway to disable DATA all the time? I'm in a wifi access point 24/7 literally. Sorry folks, only thing im curious about.

I would like to know also. None of the apps I have tried have worked yet.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Did you try to remove AT&T APN in Settings? It will not be able to connect to 3G without APN.
If you do not want to lose your APN nsettings, create new one, dummy, without any real data inside, and make it default one. Same results.
Another thought, if you have your Wi-Fi turned on all the time, your 3G connection should be switched down automatically. At least it works like this on N1. I am just thinking of bying Captivate, if it will have good custom ROM with Froyo, not taking it with all AT&T bloatware on board and Android 2.1

in the market check out the apps APNdroid and quick settings. Both have toggles for data connection

You can also put it in airplane mode and them just turn wifi on.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

tonysunshine said:
in the market check out the apps APNdroid and quick settings. Both have toggles for data connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude I picked that up works Great on Captivate. I'd rather use something like that than enabling wifi 24/7 to eat more battery etc.

I've tried downloading a number of free apps (including APNdroid) to turn off mobile data on my Captivate, but none of them seems to work. All the widgets give the impression that it is off, but I can still open the browser and navigate to websites. Am I doing something wrong, or is it just not possible to fully disable mobile data access on a Captivate?

Yeah you're right
@alobotnad
Hey you're right, APNdroid does nothing it doesn't even shut down the 3G icon on my device now and yes it still connects either way like you said.

Apndroid works fine on my captivate!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

hazard96 said:
Apndroid works fine on my captivate!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You see the 2G icon when you run it?

On my Captivate APNdroid only partially works. Let me explain. If WiFi is on I can disconnect 3G using the APNdroid widget (then if I turn off WiFi and try to surf the web I can't.) However turning 3G back on is more complex. I can turn it back on using the widget if I m connect already to a WiFi network and it will turn 3G on when I turn off WiFi. HOWEVER you must be connected to a WiFi network to turn 3G back on not being connected to a network means the APNdroid button doesn't work. The only solution I found to turn on 3G if I wasn't connected to a WiFi network was to turn on 3G through the APNdroid widget and then restart the phone.
On the other hand I am currently using Juice Defender and their 3G WiFi widget works without having to jump through all those hoops.

@icedfire101
Thanks for the info. I downloaded the free version of JuiceDefender today and so far I am happy with the results.

Samsung Captivate 3G Toggle Solution
After all the digging and searching around, I found two apps that work perfectly on Samsung Captivate for toggling mobile data (3G)
- Juicedefender (it has a widget you can use to toggle 3G quickly)
- SMODA Widget (It doesnt have too many 5 star ratings but works fine on my samsung captivate).
My phone is rooted but I believe it is not a requirement of either of the above apps. Hope this info is useful for other captivate owners.
Most of the other APN / 3G toggle apps on the market try to put a suffix on the APN names in settings. On the samsung captivate this works only with a restart/reboot. Meaning if you disable 3G using the app it would put a suffix like 'disabled' or something to the APN name. But your phone still has the 3G connection using the original APN settings. Only after you restart the phone does it see the 'disabled' APN name and is not able to use and hence no 3G. Vice versa when you want to enable 3G back - needs restart.
I dont know what process the above 2 apps use but they work instantly on my samsung captivate. No need to restart or click a bunch of other settings. They work perfectly and as simple as it should be.

Concepts behind Reliable 3G Toggling on Captivate
First time poster, hope its not immediately dismissed as TLDR.
For the quick-and-dirty just read the “Reliable Data Disabling”.
I am an advocate for understanding concepts. Solutions, hacks and work-arounds have their place, but, if we can understand more about how and why those solutions work, we might be able to repurpose those ideas and use those ideas to make better applications.
Upload and Download of data coming from the cellular network (as opposed to wifi) is likely determined by which network adapter the network connections are making use of. This might be determined by the android sub-system, by looking at the details of currently open sockets; or by lower-level processes looking at the addresses associated with Rx/Tx data. There are several other ways this could be achieved, and I am sure there are countless people who know exactly how that little 3g icon gets on screen; I am merely laying the groundwork to point out that the Captivate (and possibly the Samsung ROM specifically) is apparently more adept at retaining these residual 3g connections than other Android ROMs.
Let’s assume background data opens a series of sockets to communicate with all of the servers that a person’s phone will sync with. By obfuscating the APN like APNDroid does, we are changing the source of the configuration settings, but connections which are "kept-alive" would not check for new settings. This is why those connections remain open after we activate APNDroid. From this idea we derive at least two strategies that work:
Reliable Data Disabling:
Once an APN obfuscator has effectively disabled 3g by spoofing APN information, you can follow up the data-shutdown with the one-two punch of either disabling the cellular radio, or by intelligently terminating connections that don’t match the current APN paradigm. My understanding is there are no apps that take advantage of the latter.
Disabling the radio: Those who have a shortcut-to-activity application, one might feel compelled to use the “Testing” activity to disable the cellular radio, but, the contents of Testing can be dangerous. It is possible to cause problems with your phone using the Phone Information section of "Testing".
The Captivate is nice and fast, enabling flight-mode and disabling it after 10 seconds terminates all residual data-connections 95% of the time.
1. Activate APNDroid (or other APN Obfusctor)
2. Activate Flight Mode (or disable cellular radio some other way)
3 Disable Flight Mode (or reactivate cellular radio)
----
In the past 2 weeks I have discovered that when I re-enable my data, the 3g icon comes back right away but my phone makes no attempt to create new connections using the restored settings. The only solution I have found (so far) is to reboot the phone which only works about half the time. I have not stepped through the problem with the android debugger.
Has anyone else noticed this?

i use smartbar , it turns on/off data and does much more.

Best way to turn off 3g data in samsung captivate
To disable data connection.
In phone menu type *#*#4636#*#*
a menu will appear. In that click "phone information".
click the option button (which is the bottom left button you have in phone).
In that go to "more" option.
inside that click "disable data connection".
Thats it 3g icon will not appear up there in phone. but you can use wi-fi.
To enable it .
do the same thing above . but at the final moment you will be shown a menu with option "enable data connection".
clicking it wont immediately enable data connection. you have to restart your phone.
If you dont want to restart your phone .
then go to settings->wireless and networks->mobile networks->access point names.
there should be apn called "ATT WAP".
Click the more option button at the bottom left and click "reset to default".
Thats it. Now your 3g icon will appear at the top (provided wi-fi is turned off).

tonberry1031 said:
1. Activate APNDroid (or other APN Obfusctor)
2. Activate Flight Mode (or disable cellular radio some other way)
3 Disable Flight Mode (or reactivate cellular radio)
----
In the past 2 weeks I have discovered that when I re-enable my data, the 3g icon comes back right away but my phone makes no attempt to create new connections using the restored settings. The only solution I have found (so far) is to reboot the phone which only works about half the time. I have not stepped through the problem with the android debugger.
Has anyone else noticed this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good post. You are correct that the captivate will indeed hold onto the valid connection even after modifying the APN. Flight mode toggling will sever the connection forcing it to use the modified settings which should prevent it from reconnecting to data.
The way I disabled my data connection before froyo (all hail froyo data power- button toggle) was to make a shortcut to my APNs and I made a "disabled" APN that was just called disabled. I would have to select it and then toggle flight mode to disable, but reconnecting was as simple and just selecting the real APN and it would immediately reconnect. Never had to restart phone to reconnect, except when using programs from the market.

mettup said:
To disable data connection.
In phone menu type *#*#4636#*#*
a menu will appear. In that click "phone information".
click the option button (which is the bottom left button you have in phone).
In that go to "more" option.
inside that click "disable data connection".
Thats it 3g icon will not appear up there in phone. but you can use wi-fi.
To enable it .
do the same thing above . but at the final moment you will be shown a menu with option "enable data connection".
clicking it wont immediately enable data connection. you have to restart your phone.
If you dont want to restart your phone .
then go to settings->wireless and networks->mobile networks->access point names.
there should be apn called "ATT WAP".
Click the more option button at the bottom left and click "reset to default".
Thats it. Now your 3g icon will appear at the top (provided wi-fi is turned off).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how well does this work?
I'm going to Europe tomorrow and I don't want to be eaten alive on roaming data.
Thanks,
Super

Quick Settings in market, works great on my captivate.

Superguy said:
So how well does this work?
I'm going to Europe tomorrow and I don't want to be eaten alive on roaming data.
Thanks,
Super
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on what countries you're visiting and for how long, you might consider getting a prepaid local SIM card from that country. I've done that in a couple of different countries and was able to get prepaid data deals for a $2-$3 a day. Will vary greatly depending on country and carrier. And, of course, your phone will have to be carrier-unlocked to use the SIM card.

[Q] How to make my android enable data at boot

I am using Avast on 3 different stock rooted phones and it's anti-theft features are pretty nice. only problem is to get a GPS fix it not only needs the GPS enabled, but also needs a data connection, either connected wifi or 3/4g to recieve the coordinates back at their server (at least in my short testing that seems to be the case). Avast anti-theft has the ability to reboot the phone, so Is there a way I can get my phones to enable 3g by default at startup?
Also, if their is better anti theft with location capabilities please feel free to chime in, but it must be able to give proper location information no matter what the state of the data connection or be able to enable data when pinged for its location.
Any help is appreciated.
Phones (Ting network, a Sprint MVNO):
Samsung Epic 4g Touch SPH-D710 stock rooted
Samsung Epic slider SPH-D700 stock rooted
Lg Marquee LS855 stock rooted

Sorry i didn't simply edit my post. Figured a reply would help to bump it up the threads.
In further testing (on the Epic Touch) it appears avast auto enables wifi, but does not enable 3g. Avast gives me ability to disable/enable a "forced data connection" when it is sent a locate command. When this 'forced data" option is enabled and a command is sent it only enables wifi, not 3g.
I have turned my wifi router off, disabled my wifi and 3g on the handset, sent the appropriate commands and still 3g never enables. I had hoped that when avast triggers the "forced data connection" that since i have no wifi signal available it would enable wifi, never connect to a wifi signal and fall back to 3g but this just isn't the case. wifi turns on, never connects and 3g never enables.
I would presume that if i left the "forced data connection" option of avast disabled i could simply send a command to reboot the phone, the reboot would turn on 3g (provided someone knows how to make it happen), then I could send locate command and this would be an acceptable work around. If anyone understands what I'm getting at and knows how to set up my phone so 3g enables on bootup that would be a huge help.
I have yet to test the avast features on the other phones, but am presuming they will operate in the same fashion and will need the same work around to be implemented. The whole reason for all of this is that I don't have unlimited data and don't want to leave my 3g on all the time to be able to locate my phone in the event of loss. kinda useless if I lose the phone and have no way to engage the features needed to track and recover it.
Again, all help and suggestions greatly appreciated

Changing the android mobile data connection string.

Hello All,
For older phones you use to be able to access the mobile data connection strings that tells the phone how to connect to the network and initiate a mobile data connection for ie. allowing you phone to brows the internet over a mobile data carrier and not Wi-Fi.
I hope I've explained that well.
What I want to know is if there is a section in an android phone, maybe the developers section, that I can change so that the mobile data portion of the phone will not be able to connect. I'm not looking for the normal data on/off in the settings as that can be changed at will, this would be something that not just anyone would be able to access to change. I do have a programming background so I should understand what your responses are but just need some direction.
I'm not quite sure where to put this so I thought this place would be good but let me know if it is not.
Thank you in advance.