What Android setting did I miss? - General Questions and Answers

Hello all,
My apologies if this belongs somewhere else. OK so here's what I would very much need to see about getting resolved rather quickly. I recently switched phone service. I now have Mint that has 6 months for $45, which has 4GB per month data - https://www.mintmobile.com/plans/
I'm not sure if things are setup correctly. I have a Pixel 4a5G phone and I was listening to music on it and using up my data, before getting home. What was happening before on a previous plan, from another company, was when I was listening to music, I would have my service stopped when I got home. I would think this is happening cause I have a home wifi signal that it is reaching, and it automatically disconnects to connect to the wifi signal. This is what I am ASSUMING is what happens with Android. This is far more desirable than what is happening now. I come home and it's still playing the Mint connection, which is costing me. Yes, yes, the service is cheap and I might get by with 4GBs per month, but I'd much rather it disconnect when there's a "free" wifi signal available. Seems like it used to be that I got disconnected when I got home and it would reconnect with the free wifi, but I'll take just getting disconnected from a charged line, if I can.
I even prefer doing wifi calls, just so I know it works. So is there a normal way to have settings setup to best avoid phantom charges? Thanks for reading this and I look forward to being kicked down some knowledge!
If this belongs somewhere else, please let me know.

Assuming Wi-Fi can connect to Internet - take note that the Wi-Fi network doesn't have Internet access, it's simply a Wi-Fi access point exposed by an external device during setup:
Enable aeroplane mode, then toggle Wi-Fi.

Us3r_1 said:
Hello all,
I now have Mint that has 6 months for $45, which has 4GB per month data - https://www.mintmobile.com/plans/
I'm not sure if things are setup correctly. I have a Pixel 4a5G phone and I was listening to music on it and using up my data,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4GB data per month was good enough 10 years ago but now be very very careful because just a system update can cost you 2GB data.
Bare in mind that there are TWO computer byte standards and businesses take advantages and mislead clients so you think that you get 4GB instead they are much less: byte
And also you listen to music so this is another reason why 4GB per month (not real) aren't enough.
Regarding wi-fi settings, I advice you check with your network provider because sometimes phones don't download the right information.

Us3r_1 said:
What was happening before on a previous plan, from another company, was when I was listening to music, I would have my service stopped when I got home. I would think this is happening cause I have a home wifi signal that it is reaching, and it automatically disconnects to connect to the wifi signal. This is what I am ASSUMING is what happens with Android. This is far more desirable than what is happening now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this happened today as I outlined here. It released the "costly" connection for the free connection. Too bad you can't setup a preferred hifi connection. Would make things way more simple.

Related

[feedback] Using thunderbolt as a primary hotspot/modem?

Hello, I'd like any feedback from any folks using the TB as their main or primary internet connection via hotspot and/or usb modem mode.
I'd like to get rid of my dsl connection, and use the TB with the unlimited 4g data.
Concerns I have include latency (for steam/online gaming), streaming stability (netflix etc), upload/download speeds and hitting any soft or hard xfer caps (usenet etc).
Since this would be the main internet connection and I have alot of devices around the house, avoiding/negating simultanious connection caps is also a concern.
Has anyone used the TB in conjunction with a normal home router, like with wrt-54/dd-wrt or a newer device like netgear wndr3700, or any router with usb modem support.
Ideally I'd prefer plug the TB into a router via usb and use it as the main internet, or alternatively have the router connect over wifi to TB, with the router performing NAT and managing ports/upnp/etc for the rest of the network devices.
Do a search for "home isp".
I have never used it as a main connection before but I have used the Wifi on it many times.. Although it is fast, it will not work as fast as a main line, especially when gaming.. Also, the ulimited 4G wireless hotspot will not always be available, unless rooted, I talked with a verizon rep about it yesterday he said although it is free right now, they will take that away later. When connecting multiple devices to the phone the speed will only go down.
Now, depending on your ISP I could be wrong, it may be faster, but if your signal is not stable your internet connection on your PC will not be either.
Just a couple things to consider before you go through with you idea. One thing you might do is try to set it up temporarily and see how it goes, but keep your DSL service up. That way you can get a better idea of what to expect.
Just because you have unlimited data on your phone doesn't mean you will have unlimited on tethering... I believe its $20 for 2GB. And if you think you'll get away with sneaking behind Verizon's back your very mistaken. They can see your doing it and dont expect them to put up with you sucking down their LTE without paying for it for very long.
th0r615 said:
Just because you have unlimited data on your phone doesn't mean you will have unlimited on tethering... I believe its $20 for 2GB. And if you think you'll get away with sneaking behind Verizon's back your very mistaken. They can see your doing it and dont expect them to put up with you sucking down their LTE without paying for it for very long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree its not going to happen!!!

Please help!!! On 3rd Nexus 5, having same issues. Phone support is abysmal :(

I am having ongoing issues with the wifi on my Nexus 5. To the point I've received my 3rd one from RMA, but still have the exact same issue. At first I thought it may have been a hardware issue with the phone, so I RMA'd it. When I got my second and had the same problem, I started to not think it was a physical defect with the phone. The odds of getting two phones with the same issues would be astronomical. Now, on my 3rd, and still have the same issue. Every time I try calling and speak to phone service reps, they really don't know anything, and based on the questions they ask, or troubleshooting steps they suggest, lead me to believe they don't even understand the issue I'm trying to explain.
The wifi on my phone seems to "freeze", or stop working, stop scanning, something throughout the day. My day starts with my phone connected to my home wifi network. I leave for work, and I can watch my phone picking up random wifi signals on my drive. I get to work, and it picks up 8 wifi networks. None of which I've connected to. When I leave work 8 hours later, my phone is no longer picking up wifi signals, and won't scan for new ones. I get home, and it still says the 8 networks from work are in range, even though I'm miles away.
This is how my wifi list should look sitting in my living room. It has my network that it is connected to, as well as it picks up 4 of my neighbors networks.
This is how it looks sitting in my living room after getting home from work. Those are the 8 work wifi networks, which are miles away. It still says they're in range. You can see the last one cut off on the bottom, is my home one that says it's out of range.
I can hit the 3 dot option button, and choose "Scan", and it won't rescan. If the only issue was that it didn't pick up my network, I could see it possibly being an issue with my home network. But the fact that it still shows 8 networks that are out of range, as well as the fact it won't detect any network, mine or my neighbors, kind of rules out that it's an issue with my network.
Turning wifi on and off won't fix it. However, power cycling the phone will, or if I toggle airplane mode. But I shouldn't have to do that every day when I come home.
With my most recent Nexus 5, when I took it out of the box I didn't do a single thing to it, aside from turn it on, and manually put in the info to connect to my home network. Not a single app was downloaded, just to rule out it wasn't something I was installing on the phone. I absolutely love the Nexus 5, it's probably the best phone I've owned. But I am at my wits end with this issue.
Its probably not an actual fix, but I was having the same problems with mine, and I hate sending stuff back and play the waiting game over and over. So I got pissed off with wifi and just left it on LTE for a week or so and went back to wifi just to check up on the issue and it was gone.
Its been almost 3 weeks now and no problem, everything is working perfectly fine. LTE draining my battery was a pain thou but it paid off in the end somehow.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I'd be happy with just about any fix, as long as it fixes the issue. LTE draining my battery wouldn't be an issue, I'd be more worried about my data. While I have "unlimited" data from AT&T, I get throttled after 5GB. Since I stream large amounts of music, I can blow through that rather fast. So I try to keep my phone connected to wifi as much as possible. But it definitely is something to suck up and try if I don't get a better solution. I have this cross posted just about everywhere I could think of.

Using old unlimited verizon plan as home internet... any one done it?

So I've been waiting to get internet at my apartment, and have been using my one m8 tethered as home internet (thanks to the help on this forum getting a ROM running on it that lets me use the mobile hotspot).
Its working great. However, i'm at 120GB with 5 days to go. Being that this would be, under most carrier plans, an insane amount of data... I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I definitely haven't seen any throttling or slowdown. Runs PS4 games, streaming, whatever. I was actually at 60GB 5 days into the month and have made a concereted effort to slow down lol, otherwise I might be in the 300-400GB range. That said, it really isn't too bad.
I actually just ordered time warner cable for $40/mo, so I guess I'm moving on anyway. But I'm curious if anyone has been doing this for an extended period and if Verizon ever made a stink.
Someone I know does. He canceled all wired tv, phone, & internet service to his home and has been using his verizon S4 for it all for over a year now. He's on the old unlimited data plan. It is apparently working well for him but he had to get a special wifi card for his PC to use the hotspot from the phone. He uses a wifi capable "smart" bluray player to get all his TV programming from youtube, netflix, and amazon prime. He said it was a learning curve to find all the tv programming he used to watch on cable but he has been able to get it all, albeit, at a later release date then the mainstream networks' prime time debuts.
I do it, but with T-Mobile.
Just one thing though....constant wifi tethering will destroy your phone. Specifically the battery, but all that heat and energy use can't be good for the rest of it either. I ruined 2 batteries on my Galaxy Light in less than a year. Ruined 2 Motorola Razr Maxxes this way too. You don't want to be doing this with a phone like the M8 that is practically impossible to repair.
If you choose to go this route, pick up a cheap (rootable, obviously) phone with a removable battery, like a Galaxy S3 to use as your "home" phone.
The S4 is better then the S3 in that regard because it supports that newer faster LTE (aws?), the wifi hardware is quite a bit more advanced (faster), and the repairs (if ever necessary) are easier. Wifi tether does use a lot of power but you'll be plugged in for that most of the time, especially at home. The circuitry holds up just fine in the S4 as long as you're not aggravating the situation with over-volting / over-clocking.
I had been using my old Droid 4 as a home gateway/router before I got the One working. Perhaps I could just use that as my home router.. it worked well enough but would cut out occasionally (annoying during games... the One doesn't do that). If anything the Droid 4 seemed to have a stronger wifi signal when it worked though... better range, just as fast as the M8.
Do you know how much data your friend goes through?
The Droid 4 does/did get really hot while tethering. To the point I'd usually rest it on a cold can of soda or something while using it, lol. The One doesn't get nearly as hot.
Keep in mind that the power consumption and heat generation of the screen still dwarfs that of the wifi module. While using the phone as a home internet gateway the screen will likely be off most of the time.
I don't know about his data useage quantity but he's almost always got something streaming video of some kind. Its probably not ideal for serious gaming because the signal does drop out from time to time. Toggling airplane mode on and off again reestablishes a full-speed connection pretty quick but it would be disruptive in a game.
well. my signal on the One hasn't dropped and I've been logging a lot of Destiny this month. Sometimes you'll get a little lag but it isn't bad.
Just saw that VZW is hiking unlimited prices $20/mo... wonder if that'll get challenged by the FCC (like throttling etc): http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/08/tec...ted-plan-increase/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom
I have old UDP and use my phone hotspot to devices it in my motorhome. All was good until 2 months ago when I used 50-60gb and they throttled me since. No 4g at all from home tower. get 4g elsewhere .
How do I approach customer service to get un-throttled? New reports say they are not throttling anymore.
Thanks.
Try cycling airplane mode on/off to reestablish a 4G data connection.
0reo said:
Try cycling airplane mode on/off to reestablish a 4G data connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that 50 million times. She a no work! Others get 4g at my place not me.
This is my SOLUTION
Verizon 4G LTE Broadband Router With Voice
Works like a charm.
Born<ICs said:
I have old UDP and use my phone hotspot to devices it in my motorhome. All was good until 2 months ago when I used 50-60gb and they throttled me since. No 4g at all from home tower. get 4g elsewhere .
How do I approach customer service to get un-throttled? New reports say they are not throttling anymore.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would just call them and explain your problem as you have here, and leave out the throttle part.
back up your data firs, they will likely have you factory reset at some point.
it could be a problem with your phone, or a problem with the towers in your area. they will determine which.
its very unlikely they are throttling. they wouldnt reduce the 4g signal output on an entire tower to do it, and they are actually prohibited from doing it by the fcc.
bweN diorD said:
i would just call them and explain your problem as you have here, and leave out the throttle part.
back up your data firs, they will likely have you factory reset at some point.
it could be a problem with your phone, or a problem with the towers in your area. they will determine which.
its very unlikely they are throttling. they wouldnt reduce the 4g signal output on an entire tower to do it, and they are actually prohibited from doing it by the fcc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
Thank you. Ended up swapping Sim then got consistent signal a few days later. No idea what they did on their end. Swapped Sim to 6P and all is good now.
I did this when I was doing my internship. I mainly just streamed Netflix and only hit 256GB that month. There was a time Verizon was throttling my data even though they wouldn't admit it until I eventually got transferred to an engineer . None of their support tiers could answer my questions and kept telling me they didn't have the capability to throttle so the problem is my fault. I somehow eventually talked to an engineer at Verizon and the engineer didn't directly admit it but rather, he implied that they do have that capability and the support techs were lying. One tech blamed "tower service in the area" and another tech blamed the unlocked bootloader on my 2013 Moto X DEV for causing the connectivity issues even though I was running the stock ROM and even restored everything back to stock prior to calling. Hahaha.. The funny thing is that the connection went back to normal directly after that call ended. Weird how that works....

Verizon/Moto G4 Plus - any way to improve wireless data at home?

Hey all - so I'm grandfathered unlimited on Verizon and *love* my unlimited 4g. At my girlfriend's house (right near an interstate), the data is absolutely rocking. But at my house, about two miles away, I usually have decent signal (half or a bit better), but the internet seriously struggles. For instance right now I've got my phone on Pandora and am wifi hotspotting to my laptop, where I'm FB Messenging. Every 30 seconds or so, my laptop says that my hotspot has no internet connection, and I have to wait 30 seconds or so for it to come back. I've just paused Pandora and at least I can chat uninterrupted now. Seems like I should at least be able to do these two things successfully...
Is there anything at all I can do to help it?
Many thanks!
thetastycat said:
Hey all - so I'm grandfathered unlimited on Verizon and *love* my unlimited 4g. At my girlfriend's house (right near an interstate), the data is absolutely rocking. But at my house, about two miles away, I usually have decent signal (half or a bit better), but the internet seriously struggles. For instance right now I've got my phone on Pandora and am wifi hotspotting to my laptop, where I'm FB Messenging. Every 30 seconds or so, my laptop says that my hotspot has no internet connection, and I have to wait 30 seconds or so for it to come back. I've just paused Pandora and at least I can chat uninterrupted now. Seems like I should at least be able to do these two things successfully...
Is there anything at all I can do to help it?
Many thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll probably have to move in with your girlfriend
Maybe the area in which you live is extremely congested or there aren't enough/any cell towers nearby.
Nothing you can do about that.
Haha - fair enough!! Just so weird that the connection just stops working even though I've got decent service showing. Is there any merit to any of the "signal booster" stuff you can buy? Can't really see how any of that could work...
thetastycat said:
Haha - fair enough!! Just so weird that the connection just stops working even though I've got decent service showing. Is there any merit to any of the "signal booster" stuff you can buy? Can't really see how any of that could work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're of no use whatsoever. Even worse than all those "cleaner" apps out there (thats supposed to say something).
If you live in an apartment/building with multiple walls/thick walls, that might impact signal strength and speed. You'll probably have to check out various locations inside your house (or even outside) and see where the reception is best. Near open windows good.

Various issues with Verizon V50

Folks,
I am curious if anyone else is having some of the issues I've been experiencing. I am not happy with this phone overall. I am having lots of problems with it:
- HotSpot - I originally found a hotspot issue with this phone, that took them a few weeks to resolve. But even after they've resolved it, I have other issues. The biggest is that after some period of time, my laptop will not get data through the phone. I've tried different laptops. The laptop shows that it is still connected to the phone's wifi but no data. The fix is to disconnect the laptop from the hotspot and then reconnect. This is an issue for me as I use this for work to provide customer demos. In order to get to my lab, I need to make 2 VPN hops. (1 into work and then 1 into my lab) When I disconnect and reconnect my laptop the hotspot, I have to go through all of that again. This problem only affects the connected device. So when the laptop stops "working", the phone can send/receive data just fine. If I kick off a speedtest, it looks good.
- GPS issues - The GPS accuracy seems to drift. Lots of times when I am using Waze, it has me in completely different places going in different directions.
- Phone issues - I drop calls often. I believe (but not 100% sure) that this happens when it uses wi-fi calling. (I just turned off wifi calling, so I'll see how it goes)
- Phone issues pt. 2 - Sometimes I get an error message "Mobile network is unavailable" and I cannot make or receive calls. A reboot fixes this.
Been a huge LG phone fan since the G2 (even loved the G4 despite the bootlooping), but this phone makes me want to throw it against the wall
Hello! You may want to turn off the default 5 minutes timeout. I think this is the problem. Check attached screenshots.
Inerent said:
Hello! You may want to turn off the default 5 minutes timeout. I think this is the problem. Check attached screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not turning off as I have the timeout set to Never Turns Off.
Thanks
I am having the same issue. People have told me that they tried to call me but phone never rang. It also rang on their end and then went to VM. So people assume that I got a missed call but I didn't.
I also at time show no reception. I would have to go into auto connection to network and then it starts working again.
This is really screwing up my business.
I have the same problem with missing calls (never rings) or I can't make a call. Also, sometimes I can hear the other person clearly but they can't hear me or I sound terrible on their end. However, I have an LG V30 (lurking here because I'm looking to buy a V50) so I don't think it has to do with the phone as much as it's Verizon's coverage. For the last 8+ months this issue has gotten worse in my area. I was thinking it was the phone, but I think it's Verizon.
Edit: Just in case it matters, I'm still on the original grandfathered UDP
I must clarify that this issue only pertains when I am home. For some reason, when I loose Verizon connection because the wifi is being used or a dead spot in my house. The mobile connection won't come back on until I manuallly have to reconnect.
I used to have Verizon fios at home and never had issues before but as soon as i switched to optimum this issue might be because of that.
Outside of my home, I don't have any issues with missed calls.
Sent from my LM-V450 using Tapatalk
No issues whatsoever on Korean models.

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