WIFI and 3G data conflict - billed excessively - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
Is it possible that my WIFI usage somehow faultily gets counted as data usage(3G), in any android device, particularly in Galaxy S2 I900?
I know it sounds silly, but here's what happened:
I just got 3G activated yesterday.
Through WIFI i downloaded about 600+ MB of data (Sygic)
Through 3G I browsed 2-3 small YouTube videos.
Today when i contacted my carrier (Vodafone India), They say my data usage is about 700 MB in last 2 days. That looks like my WIFI + 3G usage.
Hence this doubt.
Does anyone know of anything like this happening before?
Also, is there any way I can analyze my data usage for the past 3 days?
Now I have learnt my lesson and installed MyDataManager from android market, but it can only analyze data usage from the day of it's installation. Is there any other way I can analyze previous data usage?
PS: I swear I did the download through WIFI. I could see the WIFI signal strength indicator in my status bar. Neither the e(edge) nor the H(hsdpa) was seen.
Please help.
Thanks.

Network cannot charge for data downloaded over WiFi they do not know what WiFi you used . WiFi and network data re separate components .
You made a mistake and did not use WiFi but mobile data .
WiFi signal on and Data in use .
jje

JJEgan said:
Network cannot charge for data downloaded over WiFi they do not know what WiFi you used . WiFi and network data re separate components .
You made a mistake and did not use WiFi but mobile data .
WiFi signal on and Data in use .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, im pretty sure i used WIFI.
That's the reason im asking, is it possible that due to some fault in the device, it will somehow log the data downloaded through WIFI as 3G data, because unless there is some fault at the device's end, the network couldn't even know of our WIFI usage.
Also would it be possible that the device does an auto switch from WIFI to carrier data (due to any reason like weak WIFI signal strength) and fails to reflet this on the notification bar(still shows as WIFI on the bar)?
Has anything like this happened to anyone? I just want to cross check before I contact my carrier further. Anyways once i get my connection logs from carrier, it should show the server from which data was downloaded and that should make it clear.
>> WIFI signal on and data in use.
Is this possible? Doesn't the device switch to WIFI whenever its on? I thought WIFI takes priority over data by default

Pretty sure yep thousands if not millions say that when they get a big bill from the network . Network measures data at source and charges they dont get the data from your phone and charge you .
jje

JJEgan said:
Pretty sure yep thousands if not millions say that when they get a big bill from the network . Network measures data at source and charges they dont get the data from your phone and charge you .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that the phone shows as WIFI on the notification bar while it is actually using carrier data?
I don't have any issues paying the bill if i have done the usage. I just want to analyze what happened here so that it won't repeat again.
I am pretty sure the notification bar had only the WIFI symbol and not the data indicator. since i had 3G activated recently, i was very conscious about it and watching it quite frequently.
Also previously i had similar over billing issues with my carrier and they promptly gave a reimbursement upon thorough analysis of the situation. so carrier mistakes isn't also something unusual.

I don't know how old your signature is but if you are running ICS rom then you can use built-in data usage monitor (in settings) to verify the volume of data used.

Installed Data usage monitor
samydroid said:
I don't know how old your signature is but if you are running ICS rom then you can use built-in data usage monitor (in settings) to verify the volume of data used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The signature is update to date mate.
I don't have a build in data usage monitor, but I have installed one from the market - My Data Manager

Resolved
JJEgan said:
Pretty sure yep thousands if not millions say that when they get a big bill from the network . Network measures data at source and charges they dont get the data from your phone and charge you .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After much analysis and discussions with the carrier, I have finally found out the issue.
As pointed out by jje, the usage has actually happened at my end.
The WIFI had become unavailable many times in between the download, and the download had switched to carrier data.
To avoid any such occurrences again, and to help people manage their data usage better, I have compiled a simple list of best practices here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25660370#post25660370

Download 3G watchdog
Hey buddy! a great app to keep watch of your 3g plan is 3g watchdog, it advices you when your plan is getting low on data, and its also very useful and user friendly, there is also a paid version with more features
Market: 3G watchdog
Also Onavo count is useful too!
Market: Onavo Count

Tried it
Tuner420 said:
Hey buddy! a great app to keep watch of your 3g plan is 3g watchdog, it advices you when your plan is getting low on data, and its also very useful and user friendly, there is also a paid version with more features
Market: 3G watchdog
Also Onavo count is useful too!
Market: Onavo Count
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate... I have tried 3G watch dog and many more apps.
I find My Data Manager more likable.
It's simple, free and has all the same functionality - it notifies when ur usage is reaching threshold.
One good thing about it is that it stays cleanly in the notification area. When you pull down your notification bar, you can see it there, it shows 2 horizontal progress bars indicating 3G usage and WIFI usage each. It also shows number of days left in your bill cycle.
Pretty handy

Related

S743 on AT&T Data Conn. off big bill from AT&T

So I've had this S743 for 3 days now 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.
Under the comm manager data connection is off.
I have a very simple $45/mo plan with no data plan.
Over the last 2 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.
Then after 2 days I get an email from AT&T that I have extremely high data usage exceeding my account limit 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 it's 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.
Thanks for any light you shed on the subject.
One th 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 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.
Is there any way to stop this?
The only way to completely stop data usage is to delete the APNs from within the Settings->Connections dialog.
ashasaur said:
The only way to completely stop data usage is to delete the APNs from within the Settings->Connections dialog.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly are APNs? I don't see anything labeled that way in that section on my phone.
Thanks for the reply.
Try to download the NoData app; google it. I believe it's freeware. Toggle all connections to "Disabled" and that should do the trick..
About the GPS; all I can think of is that the QuickGPS app (under desktop accessoires or whatever it's called in english) automatically downloads new info about the GPS locations.
GorillaHuman said:
Try to download the NoData app; google it. I believe it's freeware. Toggle all connections to "Disabled" and that should do the trick..
About the GPS; all I can think of is that the QuickGPS app (under desktop accessoires or whatever it's called in english) automatically downloads new info about the GPS locations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you.
I did manage to delete the APN and that did work but now I've decided to keep this phone, put it on an AT&T GO-Phone plan and add a very limited data plan. So I will be trying to find a better way to make certain it doesn't always automatically go for the GSM even when you have it turned off.
I looked at your suggestion but it sounds like it conflicts with netframe 3.5 which I have installed.

Traffic meter questions

New to android and I'm looking for a network traffic network meter that works on the galaxy s.g. I have tried 5 from the market and every one gives a different reading, some nothing at all. Any suggestions got what you use and how much you trust it.
Nut
Galaxy s2 stock on bell canada
I use 3G Watchdog and it seems pretty accurate.
I had two of them,
Data Counter Widget, Traffic Counter. They both were pretty accurate but the first one was more.
Regards.
3d watch dog was a no go for me. did not see any cell data activity at all on my phone..
no idea why.
traffic counter see my wifi and can track my tethered data but for whatever reason is very hit or miss with cell data.
so far the only ones that seem to be working are "traffic statistics" and traffcounter ( it reads 20% less than trans stat) and data counter widget, but it reads a lot less than the others 50% and it see none of my tethered data (which is only about 15-20%)
i read that the Gs2 had issues with traffic counters.. and for me it does
im still looking..
nutz
In 3G Watchdog, go into settings... all the way to the bottom.... uncheck "pre-froyo traffic counting" as gingerbread is after froyo. BAM... Problem solved
Sent from my GT-I9100M
3g watch dog does not seem track tethered data. And has some issues of counting accurately if you turn off or change the access point for cell data
One problem i found is that 3g data is added to the wifi counters. Only edge/gsm is shown on the mobile interface.. :-(
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I've tried them all and none of them are accurate you always have to keep manually entering inn what you've used after you checked yourself.

[Q] Turn off background data if wifi off?

Hi,
Is there an app, script or something (which MUST be lightweight for RAM and battery) that would turn off background data when wifi is off?
Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk
If you enabled background data at any point, you would know that 3G and 2G networks are only used when wifi is not connected. By turning it off when wifi is off would effectively make your data connection and plan redudant.
Disabling background data while is not on WiFi
Actualy, this is not a bad and dum question, these days, that many people have limited data, I really don't want my apps and other stuff on the background access the interent and I prefer these to get done on wifi, specialy market which I really don't want it to access the internet and check for updates while I'm driving, I would like this to get done when I'm on wifi, I noticed that my phone used 10 MB / day even if I don't use it myself.
please let me know if such a app exist
You can use DroidWall to get an exhaustive control over apps. Really easy to use, and you can decide app by app if they can get internet acces on 3g, wifi, 3g and wifi or not at all.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.droidwall.free
SORRY IGNORE ABOVE!! That is not what you're asking for. But you can use CPU tuner for that https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.amana.android.cputuner&hl=en
Go to wireless
Then scroll down and last one choose
Then untick the one wich is ticked
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium
I've tried each of these suggested options, but none of these have I found satisfactory.
The problem is that one wants to be able to retrieve and send MMS messages, without other data being exchanged (at least in my contract in Sweden, MMS messages are included in the contract, and is not counted as regular data. I'm guessing your contract is under the same premises...). So that rules out the option os switching off the 3G network.
Next, the problem with DroidWall in this situation, is that there is a 0.4kb data leak through the firewall every time the Wi-Fi successfully connects to a wireless network. Don't ask me how or why (I used two or three different apps to ensure that this was the case). Even if this data amount was fairly small, I wasn't satisfied, since I pay a correlating fee for every byte sent or recieved by my phone, and I wanted all other data stopped.
The solution I finally came to was simpler than I imagined. I altered the API (or APN) settings in the "mobile networks" menu found in the network settings in the device menu. I simply accessed the settings for my account and changed API-type (APN-type), so that it only said "MMS" (erase "default" and "supl"). The only flaw with this option is that one has to fill out "default" in this Space again if one actually desires to use 3G data for some reason. Anyway, this has worked solidly for me for a couple of months (no data leaks).
Hope this helps you!
Sincerely, yitzhaq

4G icon still showing during WiFi

Just bought the Razr Maxx and I noticed the 3G/4G icon is still present in the status bar when I connect to wifi. It has disappeared when connecting to wifi with all of my other phones in the past.
Am I really connected to the mobile network at the same time as wifi or is this just a display bug?
When I am connected to wifi the 3G/4G icon turns to white. When wifi is off and I'm connected to the mobile network it turns blue.
Blue just tells you what data source your using, if the Wifi is in blue it means you're using Wifi, if the 3G/4G is blue it means you're using that for your data.
I've been having an issue lately where both the Wifi and 3G/4G are blue though and hvaen't quite figured that one out yet.
One of the battery saving tips I used on my old Bionic which I carried over to my RAZR is to create a smart action to turn off the 3G/4G radio whenever I am connected to my work or home WiFi. I know blue tells you what is your active data connection, but the 3G/4G radios still use battery even when gray.
With that one smart action I could easily get a day of use on my Bionic without any issue. Without the action I needed an afternoon charge.
wingdo said:
One of the battery saving tips I used on my old Bionic which I carried over to my RAZR is to create a smart action to turn off the 3G/4G radio whenever I am connected to my work or home WiFi. I know blue tells you what is your active data connection, but the 3G/4G radios still use battery even when gray.
With that one smart action I could easily get a day of use on my Bionic without any issue. Without the action I needed an afternoon charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'm going to have to learn how to use the smart action feature.
Seihaku said:
...
I've been having an issue lately where both the Wifi and 3G/4G are blue though and hvaen't quite figured that one out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too, mine has always done this.
It seems like an odd glitch, the Razr has some of the better radios on Verizon but still has some issues apparently.
I just used wingdo's tactic and added a Trigger - Wifi Connection, Action - Cellular Data (Disable) to Smart Actions, works pretty flawlessly and does seem to do a good job conserving battery life.
Seihaku said:
It seems like an odd glitch, the Razr has some of the better radios on Verizon but still has some issues apparently.
I just used wingdo's tactic and added a Trigger - Wifi Connection, Action - Cellular Data (Disable) to Smart Actions, works pretty flawlessly and does seem to do a good job conserving battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just added that Smart Action. So far so good!
wingdo said:
One of the battery saving tips I used on my old Bionic which I carried over to my RAZR is to create a smart action to turn off the 3G/4G radio whenever I am connected to my work or home WiFi. I know blue tells you what is your active data connection, but the 3G/4G radios still use battery even when gray.
With that one smart action I could easily get a day of use on my Bionic without any issue. Without the action I needed an afternoon charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I been doing! Just go to my data monitor, shut mobile data off, and voila... no more 3g icon, and... it saves battery. I think its a good thing the icon is still there even when connected to wifi as it reminds me to shut off my mobile data to conserve my precious battery life.
DontCome2MyHouse said:
Just added that Smart Action. So far so good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And how do you make it ignore "not usable" wifis?
For example, in airports, where there is no WEP/WPA password - you're ON wifi, but without authentication, you don't have access to external data.
It gives you a list of SSIDs, you select the ones you usually use and it will only shut off your Mobile Data when you're connected to one of them.
It seems like Google has taken some simple basic things in Android that made intuitive sense and made them more complicated or hidden, and this appears to be no exception.
I just bought a Maxx and updated to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4), and both the Wifi and 4G icons are blue... I've never seen them any other color, in fact. I had to go into Wifi settings and disable mobile data to get the 4G icon to disappear... I have no idea if it was actually using 4G, but the point of connecting to Wifi is to prevent my limited data plan from being used.
Just so you know, turning off mobile data when connected to wifi will stop you from receiving any MMS messages.

How to use 3G data connection same time wifi?

I have a technical question ... you can use the 3G network for surfing the Internet and at the same time the wifi network to move files only?
Simply put no. Phones are not made to use 2 different wireless signals at once.
Bat cave One
The only way to use both is setting a Wi-FI access point on your phone. Still, you can't do things you want to: PC connects to smartphone just to get internet data.
No there is no way around it.
Bat cave One
zelendel said:
Simply put no. Phones are not made to use 2 different wireless signals at once.
Bat cave One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not? I can call when I have wifi turned on
massimiliano.peloso said:
why not? I can call when I have wifi turned on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you even understand what your asking? Voice and data are 2 very different things. Data and call signals are handled by different process. The antenna are set to do one voice and one data. Think about it. Even dual sim card devices can only use one at a time.
Bat cave One
Yes I understand ... so it is not technically possible to manage wifi and 3g antenna at the same time because data can only handle one job at a time? I thought the wifi module and the module 3g were managed separately...
This is an android software limitations?
When you use the wifi 3g module is put into the off state to save battery, works only the incall module. When you disable the wifi 3g module change the status to up. About your question no, it's impossible to use wifi and 3g at the same time to make 2 different operation
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app
thanks for the reply. just in my office I have a wifi router with no internet connection, are connected with the phone to surf the intranet. so I would keep the connection 3g to receive notifications from whattsup or other ... every time without having to turn off and on the wifi. It does not seem like a stupid question.
This is not directly related to your problem but using wifi and mobile data at the same time seems to be possible: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1667025
Tank you, i see that... But you can only download a file....
I read of a change made to the file system / framework / services.jar
But i don't know if it work....
massimiliano.peloso said:
I have a technical question ... you can use the 3G network for surfing the Internet and at the same time the wifi network to move files only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm doing it on my Nexus 4, check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1640472
Another guy is doing it on an Optimus G, he did it first as far as I can tell:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2197776
zelendel said:
Simply put no. Phones are not made to use 2 different wireless signals at once.
...
There is no way around it
Bat cave One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's incorrect. Android phones can use multiple wireless signals at once (wifi, cell, mobile data, bluetooth, nfc). And they can have multiple network interfaces up at the same time just like any linux box can. It just happens that the network manager turns of mobile data when you turn on wifi, but that's on purpose (to save you battery/cost), and not because the phone isn't capable of it.
Not sure why you say with such authority there's no way around it. If you don't know the answer to something for sure, better don't give a wrong answer.
There's even an app on the play store that can loadbalance a download over wifi and mobile data at the same time:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.opbyte.superdownload_lite
sordna said:
Yes, I'm doing it on my Nexus 4, check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1640472
Another guy is doing it on an Optimus G, he did it first as far as I can tell:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2197776
That's incorrect. Android phones can use multiple wireless signals at once (wifi, cell, mobile data, bluetooth, nfc). And they can have multiple network interfaces up at the same time just like any linux box can. It just happens that the network manager turns of mobile data when you turn on wifi, but that's on purpose (to save you battery/cost), and not because the phone isn't capable of it.
Not sure why you say with such authority there's no way around it. If you don't know the answer to something for sure, better don't give a wrong answer.
There's even an app on the play store that can loadbalance a download over wifi and mobile data at the same time:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.opbyte.superdownload_lite
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I say this from past experience that the WiFi antenna could not get a signal at the same time as the data antenna.
Now while this may have changed. I will look into it myself before I pay much heed to it as anything more then smoke and mirrors.
zelendel said:
I say this from past experience that the WiFi antenna could not get a signal at the same time as the data antenna.
Now while this may have changed. I will look into it myself before I pay much heed to it as anything more then smoke and mirrors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the future, I guess...
http://galaxys5guide.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-features-explained/galaxy-s5-download-booster/
But this has been around for awhile (though not as advanced, obviously...)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1667025
But as far as being able to use both separately at the same time would probably be a pain to implement in many phones.

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