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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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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.
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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
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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...
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
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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.
So I've had this HTC S743 for about 5 days and I thought I had it setup correctly to use wifi for data comm.
wifi enabled and selected to use my home network. I can see the radio tower status icon and my locally named network is also displayed.
Under the comm manager the data connection is off.
I have a very simple $45/mo plan with no monthly data plan.
Over the last 5 days I have been surfing the web a bit did some email tests with my ISP and used the on board GPS app which is horrible. Not heavy usage but experimentation to see if I like how the phone works.
After 2 days I get an email from AT&T that I have extremely high data usage exceeding my account limit (for having no monthly plan) and that I should sign up for a data plan at once.
$29 over 2 days for this little bit of fluff? A total of 2,900kb in data.
So I call up AT&T and they tell me this and that and want me to sign up for a plan which I may do. But I want to be able to know that the datacomm is happening via WIFI when I can see a selected WIFI is in service.
They also told me that all GPS data is forced through 3G and bypasses WIFI???
Can anyone here give me an idea about what I may be doing wrong and whether AT&T is correct about the GPS service?
Is there a better GPS app that doesn't do this? This one pretty much stinks anyway. A resolution of 1000 meters doesn't cut it.
AT&T also informed me that I can't have a smart phone without a data contract. Really? I've had one for 6 years like that but it wasn't WIFI capabale and too small to bother with web access.
Thanks for any light you shed on the subject.
One thing I have subsequently found out is that if data connection is off and WIFI is off then when I go into IE and start surfing it does bring up pages. Then when I go back to the Comm Manager the Data Connection to check the status of my connections it is still off for an instant and then it automatically turns itself on as though it had been turned on by use of IE and the status was just being updated.
Last night I installed a newer version of Google maps and was only able to install it via the web browser as opposed to via the Activesynch application on my PC. I was concerned that this might trigger turning on the 3G connection. So I had it set up for a WIFI connection ONLY and installed the app. Afterwards I went into the connection manager and once again the data conn. was turned back on so it's possible that it utilized AT&T's 3G network instead.
Is there any way to control or stop this?
GPS data doesn't have anything to do with 3G/Wifi data......
I know it's supposed to be positioning via the satellites through the GPS antenna but the the description data is coming over the network right? So it appears that even though I'm setup for WIFI access and it's showing as connected with an IP address etc. when I try the Googlemaps GPS app it turns the data conn. for 3G back on.
Thanks for chiming in ...
I have been copying over and installing some new apps to try out this morning via usb. WIFI is on and I'm loged in. None are datacomm oriented that I know of (unless they'r trying to make an internet access to notify about being installed) none the less I just checked again and my data conn. is once again turned back on. Is this typical behavior for a windows mobile phone (6.1) or is this just an AT&T "feature".
Sorry, I don't have a WM6 phone!
I don't have a WP7 device yet, but I am considering getting one. I am looking to disable all data (over the network) before actually starting to use the phone.
- Specifically, I was wondering how the network/connection settings were configured on a STOCK WP7 phone (in comparison to, say, WM6.5). The reason I want to know this is because I want to disable data (over the network) at all times... and I want to do this prior to actually using the phone (with my SIM card in it).
In WM6.5 (and earlier), the network/connection settings allowed you to create a "dummy" network that the phone would connect to (instead of allowing the automatic connection to the data network). All you had to do was tell the phone to connect to a network that didn't exist (so that it wouldn't ever connect to the data network)... thus, no data would ever be used because the phone would never connect to a data network.
Do the WP7 network/connection settings allow you to do something like that? And, are you able to access these settings before putting a SIM card in the phone?
- Also, I have seen a few threads mention that there is a button/option that disables network data... if so, does this actually work? As in, does it completely shut off access to the data network?
Obviously, I would prefer to create the "dummy" network if possible, because I know that it will NEVER connect (I used this method on a Touch Pro 2; it would also say the network was "offline" whenever I accidentally tried to use the internet or something without the WIFI being on; this is exactly what I want).
Thank you for your help. Like I said, I don't have a WP7 device yet (which is why I'm asking these questions)... but I hope to get one soon if the data connection can be disabled.
Menu>Settings>Mobile network>Transmission data (or Data transmission, I have Polish language and I don't know how that called in English ROM) - off.
^ Thank you for that... so that confirms that there is a button/option to turn the data off.
But, I am still wondering if there is a way to create a network that the phone will never connect to... in WM6.5, you could choose whether the phone connected to the "Internet", "Work", etc. Basically, you would just change the settings in the "Work" connection to be something that would never connect (a "dummy" network), set the "Work" as the default, and then you were set.
Is this possible with a standard/stock WP7 phone?
No
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
I have a google Pixel on Android 7.1.2 on Verizon. I've had wifi calling activated the whole time that I've had the Pixel, on various cell providers, until yesterday. Decided to root my phone to be able to use "Radio Control", an app that will put the phone into Airplane mode when connected to wifi. Did that yesterday, and since then I've not been able to activate wifi calling. My phone is stock other than being rooted...I tried the Radio Control app, and it worked as it should. I've just removed it again, until I can get wifi calling activated. Oh, by the way, rooted by unlocking the bootloader, putting TWRP recovery on the phone, and then installing SuperSu via TWRP.
I've tried:
-Flushing app caches in "Storage", and flushing the phone app cache.
-Having "My Verizon" app on the phone.
-Resetting network settings.
-Activating with and without being in Airplane mode, always with wifi connected, though.
-Removing and restoring "Advanced Calling" setting.
The only thing I haven't tried is that one with the live chicken, a pentagram, and incense. That's my next thing to try.
Any suggestions? I'm really amazed that I can't activate wifi, since Verizon suggests this to stabilize wifi calling for their customers. I guess that they've never actually tried it themselves. Does anyone have wifi calling activated on a rooted Pixel? Do you remember doing anything in particular to get wifi activated, other than trying repeatedly to turn it on in the phone's settings?
By the way, the reason that wifi calling doesn't seem to work well on Verizon isn't wifi calling functionality, wifi calling itself works fine. It's because Verizon only allows the setting "Cellular preferred" for wifi calling. You cannot set "Wifi preferred" for wifi calling. This means that the cell radio is busy nearly all the time in a low cell signal area (like my house), working to make the cell signal usable. I noticed that there was much less battery drain while I was testing "Radio Control" since the phone was in Airplane mode, but I didn't have wifi calling activated at that point. Wifi was connected (of course), but wifi calling was not activated.
I hope that this is all clear, and that someone out there might remember something helpful for me. Or at least be able to tell me that wifi calling can or can't be activated on a rooted phone. If I can't root and get wifi calling activated, I'm going to sell the Pixel, as it doesn't meet my needs. I also have an iPhone that works perfectly with wifi calling on Verizon, but I'd much rather be using the Pixel.
Thanks!
I'm on Verizon and had that happen and found it was because of the theme i was using. Just had to reapply the theme to settings and all fixed. Also, I just checked the settings and you can set it to WiFi preferred.
Droid1019 said:
I'm on Verizon and had that happen and found it was because of the theme i was using. Just had to reapply the theme to settings and all fixed. Also, I just checked the settings and you can set it to WiFi preferred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good, just a couple of questions. First, which theme? Where do you access the particular theme in settings that you're referring to? The only theme that I've changed from default is the keyboard theme.
The other question is how can you change the wifi calling setting to WiFi preferred? Do you click on the wifi calling setting that has "Cellular preferred", and a menu comes up that includes "WiFi preferred"? I don't get that menu when I click on that setting, all I get is a setting for "roaming", and for 911 address, nothing else.
Also, which Android build are you on? I'm on Android 7.1.2, build NHG47K. Are you on that build? Or maybe N2G47E? I was wondering about that.
I'm on the 7.1.2 K build with a downloaded theme-not in settings. I think you have to set up the emergency address for wifi calling to work. And yes it's roaming preferences where you can change to WiFi preferred.
Just did a factory reset to try removing root and then activating wifi calling unrooted. Then add root again and see if wifi calling sticks or goes away....
So I'm currently unrooted and am not able to activate wifi calling. Sounds like time for a call to Verizon...Should be able to activate wifi calling with stock ROM. Have done this one before *smile*.
Things are not going well...looks like the Pixel may be heading out the door, too much time spent for no results.
RogerSC said:
Just did a factory reset to try removing root and then activating wifi calling unrooted. Then add root again and see if wifi calling sticks or goes away....
So I'm currently unrooted and am not able to activate wifi calling. Sounds like time for a call to Verizon...Should be able to activate wifi calling with stock ROM. Have done this one before *smile*.
Things are not going well...looks like the Pixel may be heading out the door, too much time spent for no results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you update emergency address? That's has to be set up for wifi calling to work. https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-208085/
Any other tips to get wifi calling enable? Whenever I click enable, it just goes to a generic error message and then nothing. So I can't even get to the screen to enter an emergency address. I have a ticket open with Verizon, but since I have an unlocked bootloader, I don't want to do a warranty exchange.
The rest of the story, used iPhone 6S Plus for a couple of months so that I could use wifi calling at home, and sold the Pixel. I did get very tired of the iPhone, even though wifi calling works perfectly on the iPhone on Verizon. So I got the new Verizon 4G/LTE Network Extender so I wouldn't need wifi calling here at home. That's allowed me to get another Pixel phone and use it at home without relying on wifi calling, now have 4/5 bars of cellular signal strength throughout my house. The Network Extender is a really nice piece of hardware, a great upgrade for the old 3G model that had no way to tell what was going on. The new 4G/LTE model has a web admin GUI page that has all kinds of useful status information on it. As well as a one-line display that shows each step in the startup sequence as it comes up.
The new Pixel works just as the old one with wifi calling on Verizon. "Cellular preferred" is the only setting available for wifi calling. Which means that if there's a low cell signal it will generally be used in preference to a strong wifi signal. Don't know why Verizon insists on this setting, I guess that they really don't want to support reliable wifi calling on the Pixel. I've thought about rooting my phone again to see if can get wifi calling working reliably, but now that the Pixel is able to use wifi calling and I don't need wifi calling at home, I'm inclined to leave it alone. In other words, getting wifi calling working perfectly isn't a good enough reason for me to root my phone *smile*. I can root it in the future if I have a good enough reason.
So the bottom line is that I'm pretty happy with the Pixel now, works as I need it to...just tried the Android O Beta, and liked what I saw there. Really glad that I'm back on Android.
Update: found an article here about how to change calling setting to "Wi-Fi preferred" for Pixel on Verizon...tried it and worked for me:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/how-to/verizon-want-wifi-preferred-wifi-calling-t3622700