[Q] 3G/WiFi data connection access control per App - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi Guys,
I've been looking for a solution to my problem but found nothing solid so far.
Case looks like this: I'm traveling a lot. In Malaysia (where I live) I have unlimited data package and I don't really care how much data is downloaded by my apps via 3G or WiFi - in short, i don't care.
Problem starts when I'm traveling - if I'm abroad, I'm trying to minimize 3G data usage to save some money. Problem is that many "data hungry" apps start downloading the data as soon as they detect there is internet connection available. Most of the apps doesn't care if it's 3G or WiFi data connection. Some apps allow you to configure if they can use 3G or WiFi only - but not all.
I would like to be able to control if particular app has access to Internet via WiFi only or 3G+WiFi. Is there any way to achieve this?
P.S. O course - it would be a "dream coming true" if there was a way to control if App can use WiFi only or 3G+WiFi or "WiFi+3G (local) and WiFi Only (roaming). I don't this something like this exists but ... it would be nice
Thanks for hints in advance.

Related

[ISSUE] How to prefer Wi-Fi to 3G

I have a HTC Fuze. The last few ROMS that i have been using (Energy, RRE, Tael), all the Apps always use the 3G internet to do their work even if a much faster Wifi is connected. Is there any way to make all apps(including things like email) globally prefer the Wifi when available? Also I dont want to have to keep changing settings to do this, It simply needs to be "If Wifi available use it, else use 3G"
Thanks in advance.
What i did was to go to start>settings>connections>advanced>select networks and change the default connection to the internet to "My work network", rather than my 3G network. This way, if theres any connection to the internet needed, my phone will use my wifi connection. The problem with this, however, is that when you dont have a wifi connection available, the phone will not connect to the internet unless you change the above setting back to your 3G network. If anyone knows a better way, please let us know
no i cant keep switching. thats too much trouble. there must be a better way.
redskilldough said:
What i did was to go to start>settings>connections>advanced>select networks and change the default connection to the internet to "My work network", rather than my 3G network. This way, if theres any connection to the internet needed, my phone will use my wifi connection. The problem with this, however, is that when you dont have a wifi connection available, the phone will not connect to the internet unless you change the above setting back to your 3G network...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it automatically connect to WiFi when a known network is within range even when the phone is in sleep? If yes, does it disconnect once not in use for a while?
k.electron said:
no i cant keep switching. thats too much trouble. there must be a better way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know there is no way to do it automatically. You can use one or the other but they must be switched manually. All HTC phones have always worked this way. Maybe if the demand was high enough which apparently it is not a Chef could come up with an app that would do it. But for now you must do it manually.
rexian said:
Does it automatically connect to WiFi when a known network is within range even when the phone is in sleep? If yes, does it disconnect once not in use for a while?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i leave wifi off normally to conserve battery.
Solarenemy68 said:
As far as I know there is no way to do it automatically. You can use one or the other but they must be switched manually. All HTC phones have always worked this way. Maybe if the demand was high enough which apparently it is not a Chef could come up with an app that would do it. But for now you must do it manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is extremely failurous. not preferring the fastest internet connection is major fail. did not know that.
My phone does this automatically. It uses the WiFi whenever it's on. If the WiFi is off, it uses the data connection.
Maybe I'm understanding it wrong?
|Jason8| said:
My phone does this automatically. It uses the WiFi whenever it's on. If the WiFi is off, it uses the data connection.
Maybe I'm understanding it wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what the heck? how? u must help me find out..
i think it does prefer wifi over 3g in WM 6.5...!!
to check it out here is wt i've done....turn data connection off...check that its on in the notification manager "when u click on the task bar"..then run any app that needs internet " opera, msn messenger, email...etc" while this app is online..
now there r two ways to check it
1-the notification manager & see if it turned to 3g data connection...if so u should find a timer running in ur service provider section, if not then its only using wifi
2-check the communication manager & see if it turned the data connection on, if its off then its using wifi...
thats how it is with my touch pro...i'm using energy rom nov. 08 build
Indeed it prefers wifi connections 2 data, but You have to :
1. Have Known wifi spots in range
2. Keep wifi connection on, while in stand by
Keep in mind that if a program starts to use the data connection it wont change to use the wifi one. So firstly connect and then open programs.
wakady said:
i think it does prefer wifi over 3g in WM 6.5...!!
to check it out here is wt i've done....turn data connection off...check that its on in the notification manager "when u click on the task bar"..then run any app that needs internet " opera, msn messenger, email...etc" while this app is online..
now there r two ways to check it
1-the notification manager & see if it turned to 3g data connection...if so u should find a timer running in ur service provider section, if not then its only using wifi
2-check the communication manager & see if it turned the data connection on, if its off then its using wifi...
thats how it is with my touch pro...i'm using energy rom nov. 08 build
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firiel said:
Indeed it prefers wifi connections 2 data, but You have to :
1. Have Known wifi spots in range
2. Keep wifi connection on, while in stand by
Keep in mind that if a program starts to use the data connection it wont change to use the wifi one. So firstly connect and then open programs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
apparently its some sort of combo of this. i am using 6.5. any apps that have been using 3g continue with it. and i have to go to the comm screen and turn off data to force new apps to consume wifi. which isnt too bad, certainly not as bad as going to the network options. i would wish they made this a bit more seamless like with the desktop technology, i can switch from wired to wireless lan without even dropping a skype call.
firiel said:
Indeed it prefers wifi connections 2 data, but You have to :
1. Have Known wifi spots in range
2. Keep wifi connection on, while in stand by
Keep in mind that if a program starts to use the data connection it wont change to use the wifi one. So firstly connect and then open programs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now i have discovered a new problem. even if i open the app after i have wifi turned on and data turned off, some apps just dont want to use the wifii.
Bing maps and google maps for example just tell me there is no internet.
this is really pissing me off, whats the point of having wifi on a phone if the apps wont use it. i dont really care about the google location service if the data is through the internet, but atleast turn on.
lame.

[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

[Q] Data switch per app

Hi,
In my data plan I have only little roaming data included. (10mb per month or so)
Anything over that is WAAAY to expensive.
Now, when going abroad I'd like to be able to use my data connection just for selected applications. Now, when I turn on my data, practically every running app is going to try to connect, check for updates, syncronize,...
Is there any way to just switch on data for, say, the email app?
Thanks!
You'll need to be rooted but there are a firewall app like DroidWall should work. It has separate toggles for wifi vs 3G so you can let everything access data when on wifi and block most apps from 3G:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.googlecode.droidwall.free
Droidwall is a good choice. Another alternative is Avast Mobile Security which also has a built-in firewall that will allow you to toggle wifi, 3g and roaming.
Sorry, I forgot to reply. That is exactly what I was looking for!
Thanks!

[Q] Lock every data connection

Hey,
A friend of mine wants to lock the data connection of his 11 years old daughter's phone. So i thought, this would be easy, change the DNS as root to localhost or something like that. I read that it is possible to do so with the Wifi connection, but not permanent with the mobile data. This would just work for the current session, after a phone reboot, the normal mobile data DNS is back.
So my question is, what could i do, to lock every data connection? Is it possible?
Thanks for the answers!
why not just remove all apns and saved wi-fi networks? then there would be no mobile networks or wi-fi networks to connect to.
also, why does an 11 year old girl have an s2? if one isn't able to check on what their child is doing on the internet, and/or won't let them on the internet at all, might the s2 not be a little much?
This girl is not stupid, she knows how to connect to a Wifi network. Also it's thus a metter of time, till she knows to add the correct apn, or a friend of her does it.
I need a solution to realy change someting, that data is no longer possible. So she, or someone who knows a little bit about smartphones cannot enable it.
well that certainly is respectable, she knows how to crack wpa2 wi-fi keys?
then your dns trick, even if it were stored permanently, would be no use either.
i don't know, what country you are from, but at least here, every carrier offers the possibility to disable mobile data connections for your sim card. that way, no matter what you try to set up, the carrier would not accept you into their mobile network.
Could you delete APNs and wifi keys, then lock the settings app so the 11 year old cannot access it to edit the connection settings?
ZDBox is freeware and contains a reliable app locking tool.

Using data while on wi-fi?

Hey people!
I will have mobile data for the first time next week, and I would like to know something.
Basically, as far as I know, mobile data is automatically turned off by Android when connected to a wi-fi. Now, my phone is a nexus 4, and since I have limited storage, I use a wi-fi external hard drive, which means I am always connected to wi-fi on the road. Now, if I want to use mobile data while I'm connected to a wi-fi network, is there a way to make it work?
Thanks a lot!
Yup, using DroidWall (free app) you can decide which apps can connect to the WiFi (you can block them all, and only allow specific apps).
Thanks a lot for the suggestion, going to look into that!
Update: Droidwall doesn't work the way I'd like it to. I can indeed block access to wi-fi for certain apps, but my mobile data remains deactivated. Is there a way to use mobile data if I'm connected to a wi-fi on a rooted n4?

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