Database Users

Avoiding Data Charges

My wife and I are going to Europe for a month this summer and we would like to bring our phones to use as portable wifi devices. What is the best way to guarantee that we get no data/text messaging/phone charges?
Ideally we could just remove the sim card but I heard you can't use the device when you do this (even for wifi). Is this true even if we have sim unlocked the device? Do we have to install ADP1 for this trip to do this?
I also read that we could change the APN to something invalid and that would prevent data charges but what if someone text messages us?
Thanks

As long as your device is activated, as in you are not prompted to sign into your Google account when you turn on the phone, you will be fine. Just take the SIM out of the phone when you arrive.

you could always disable the radios. There are ways to turn off cell radios and leave wifi or even turn of data all together but leave the cell radio on.

Rekna said:
My wife and I are going to Europe for a month this summer and we would like to bring our phones to use as portable wifi devices. What is the best way to guarantee that we get no data/text messaging/phone charges?
Ideally we could just remove the sim card but I heard you can't use the device when you do this (even for wifi). Is this true even if we have sim unlocked the device? Do we have to install ADP1 for this trip to do this?
I also read that we could change the APN to something invalid and that would prevent data charges but what if someone text messages us?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app on the market that lets you disable/enable your APN settings with a simple tap or two. Search for APN.

it is called APNDroid, its brilliant! Really easy to use. One click to disable APN's, click again to re-enable them!

I'm on prepaid right now so I'm trying to not use data at all. However, even with apndroid and turning off all 3g/data, I was still losing money in my prepaid account. The only thing that I could do to stop the random charges is to uninstall any apps that require internet access (last.fm, skype, etc).
Just a warning for anyone travelling - it looks like 3rd party apps can access data even if you disable it on the g1. You can google reports of people getting charged crazy amounts of roaming data charges even after turning off their data.

I had problem last month where i unlocked my g1 to use with the 3 network, worked great and i was very happy. I did not realise however that the g1 was for whatever reason using the 3g internet rather than my wifi, for some reason or another it continuously was charging me for data i thought i was getting form my wifi! over £100 the g1 cost me in that little incident.
My advice to you is either take out your sim or use the apn blocker. I would not even put your sim in when in another country!

Does anyone see any fault in this plan of mine to avoid data charges after buying the phone (I'm going to get it today or tomorrow).
The phone is already unlocked.
1) Borrow my friend's sim with a data plan. and register phone
2) Do not fill in correct APN info upon setup (so I can't be charged data)
3) Put in my sim
4) Spend 10 hours reading these forums and trying to install custom firmware/tinkering with the phone etc.
5) Download APNdroid, run it 24/7, then enjoy my dataless phone while I browse wifi all night downloading cool apps and tweaking my phone.

Sorry this is a bit later but for anyone who is looking for an asnwere to this i found one -
Here is how you turn off data service on your G1:
------------------------------------------------
1. Use Anycut to create a shortcut to "Testing"
2. Click on Testing.
3. Click on Phone Information
4. Hit Menu button
5. Click on More
6. Click on Disable data connection
This turns off all data access. Note that GPRS service switches to "disconnected".
Now you should have a phone that does voice calls, but no data access.
Wi-fi still works which is great.

try txtFeeder.com to avoid data charges
I am not sure what your planning doing with your phone, but you should try txtFeeder.com - a free mobile feed aggregator to avoid data charges. It'll let you keep up with news, weather, or whatever site you normally read, on your mobile, without paying data charges. it works really well.

try txtFeeder.com to avoid data charges
I am not sure what your planning doing with your phone, but you should try txtFeeder.com - a free mobile feed aggregator to avoid data charges. It'll let you keep up with news, weather, or whatever site you normally read, on your mobile, without paying data charges. it works really well.

G1 without 3G usable?

HI.
My dad would like to buy a G1, but want to use his old handy contract.
There, he is able to make phone calls and write sms, but he will be charged for every kb he is using to surf the web.
This is fine for him. But how can i manage, that the G1 is not "talking" to the internetall the time. Is there any hack or app to disabel data usage? Officially, you can only say, use 2G instead of 3G. But i would like to only use wifi where it is possible and the rest of the time he would like to be offline.
Maybe you have a hint for me how to manage this.
Thanks

Delete all APNs and there you go - no data. Only when on "wifi mode"

but he wants to be able to send sms and make phone calls
changing all the apns really wont help him
i dont really think you can do anything but get a data plan
because the g1 sync with your google account
even on edge you need some sort of data plan so your phone can talk to the google servers and download updates to your contacts or calendar changes (if hes going use all that)
i think there is a different way
in the market there is an app called wisync (chk spelling)
and it synce when you are connected to a wifi connection
so i guess you could get a regular plan without data and have someone else activate the phone for you (With your dads email) and then insert your dads chip into the phone and then turn on wisync and let it sync up. the in the settings put "use only 2g networks"
hope this helps a little

Phone calls + sms have nothing to do with APNs. APNs are used only for DATA connection (MMS too), but not used for voice(except VOIP). You can delete them all and still use the "phone" as "phone" so to speak

What I would recommend for your dad is to download APNdroid which enables you to enable the dataconnection when you need it. This way you can enable or disable data connectivity whenever he wants to.

Zappza said:
What I would recommend for your dad is to download APNdroid which enables you to enable the dataconnection when you need it. This way you can enable or disable data connectivity whenever he wants to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to check out WiSyncPlus. It can control your APNs, has a scheduler to allow automated net access, has far more features and APNdroid+WiSync, and can drastically improve battery life. Click on the graph to zoom in. Its available on the market.

Data connection

Hi there!
I'm eagerly waiting for SGS to be released in my country (Bulgaria) to take my greedy hands on it. I peronally believe that SGS is most finished Andriod mobile as for now. During waiting, I would like to ask all of happy real users a following question:
[QUESTION] Is it possible to turn all data connection surely off?
I know, there is an option to shut data off, but is it sure? In HD2 even you turned off data connection, the phone decides to turn it on by itself in matter of minutes, whithout asking for permition . Temporarily, I have a very limited data plan, so such an situation can easily get me overcharged.
Your detailed commends will be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

it is possible with 3rd party programs like APN ON/OFF, Data On Demand, etc..

Yes, there is an app called APNDroid on the Market that changes the APN settings when you want to turn off data. This way you can be sure it won't use any data as the APNs don't work.

I use APNdroid, a free app, for turning of data traffic. Up until now, a week, it has not been turned on automatically. It pretty much works the way I expect it too.
However no guarantees. Even APNdroid says that some programs might remain active, but my battery certainly improves with turned of 3G.

Thank you for immediate answers. It prety much seems that APNDroid will do the job. However, next question arrose:
[QUESTION] How can you supervise your data traffic, e.g. how many MB you've already spent?
Great forum, tho.
Best.

I use 3G Watchdog. You can set a monthly data limit which is nice. And it works together with APNdroid by shutting off 3G automatically when you for example reach 99% of that monthly quota. It doesn't do this out of the box. You have to enable the feature in the settings of 3G Watchdog after installing APNdroid.
I suggest that you install 3G Watchdog app first.

Yes, I too use 3G Watchdog.
Very nice App and you get to see both Received & Transmitted data for:-
Quota
Today
Week
Month

Thank you very much for the comprehensive answers of yours!
I have no more questions. Waiting for the release date.
Wish you nice day.

New HD 2 user and XDA Member

Hi everyone,
Just joined this forum and got a HD 2 today. Everything seems to be in working order but I had a few questions:
1.) Will T-Mobile tack on the data package to my plan if I am using the HTC HD 2? I bought this phone off of someone from craigslist so I wanted to know about that. Also, will I get charged any kind of data usage if I am without a data plan? I ask this because I heard a story about a Android phone user who got charged a large amount of money because he was roaming without a data plan (somewhere along those lines).
2.) How do I get a picture to not tile when I apply it to my lock screen? I searched a couple of answers, but is there a way to prevent tiling without having to edit the photo outside of the phone itself?
Thanks in advance.

First of all this may depend on if your HD2 is T Mobile or the unlocked version. I asked a Tmobile rep in the US if I used my unlocked HD2 with their service if I would have a data plan added. He told me they wouldn't automatically add a data plan. You will have the ability to rack up pay-per-use data charges. So either pay for a data plan or disable your data connections carefully and use wifi.
I would recommend flashing a custom rom. Head over to the Rom section and try something out. The custom roms like Energy's are huge improvements over stock.
Enjoy your HD2 and Welcome.

Sorry, forgot to add that my HD is the T-Mobile version.
I tried disabling my data connection by holding the end call button then selecting the terminate data connection button, but I was wondering if that was ok to do?
Is there a way to block data completely?

I simply turn off all auto updates like weather stocks etc in their settings and use comm manager to turn of data when i do use it

There is a way to disable GPRS through the settings if you look hard enough. My custom energy rom comes with a data disable application built in.

Really need some help on data from people in the know

Hi guys
wondering if someone can help me with an issue im having regarding mobile data useage. I am in the UK and I live in an area where 3g is non existant so I have switched to GSM only in the settings. My problem is my phone is constantly using data and I dont know why or how to stop it.
I downloaded an app to show mobile useage, calls, text, data etc
My provider charges me £4 per 1 Mb (this is 1024kb yeah?)
Well I then went into the settings and edited the providers auto settings to stop it from connecting, and left my wi fi on. When I went to bed, my data was showing 0.24Mb, when I woke up this morning it was showing 1.23Mb (with a cost of over £4)
What is causing this? Far as I can tell I have manually stopped the phone from connecting but something is using data. I have the Gmail sync option enabled (but wi fi was on) but still, it went up 1 Mb whilst I slept.
Can someone help me out with this issue please as its starting to confuse me

As far as I know, push email doesn't work over wifi. So if you have google syncing enabled, it keeps a small mobile connection open at all times over which email notifications are sent.
I'm not an IT guy, so I might be wrong But just try to disable syncing and see what happens!

I opened the thread "strange bug" related to this. In my case it uses more 3g band only if it's attached to the pc via usb. When I must attach the X10 to the pc I disable the apn with apndroid.
Ciao Angelo
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

gmail does work on wifi as far as I can tell. However, I have now gone further into the internet settings and wiped all of the data and the phone now cannot connect. Now this will save me a bundle of cash, but also means that I cant get my internet connection when away from wifi. The APN apps looked good but a lot say dont work with CDMA networks, which I can only assume im on as the apps do nothing

I use WiFi too. But when X10 is attached to the pc it continues to use 3g band even if in the notification bar the WiFi icon appears.
Ciao Angelo
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

well I didnt know that.
I can confirm that Gmail sync DOES work over wi-fi as I have completely deleted the phones internet settings now and am still getting my email.
So this means I will no longer be getting charged for data useage, but cant get internet other than wi fi

cybrid3, you didnt need to wipe the apn/internet settings, there is a simple tick box in /wireless controls /mobile networks/ MMS and data <<, unticking this will stop the phone from using any mobile data (sms/texting still works).
Turning off 3g doesnt make any difference as the phone still uses data over gprs or gsm.
These phones are real data hogs and its best to get a cheap plan if you can.

yeah, but if I disabled it all, then I would not longer have MMS and that is something I do use

Ask your provider to:
1. block data
or
2. give you APN settings for MMS only.

Theres also the possibility that wifi is set to disable itself after the phone goes to sleep.
I left my wifi settings on and let the phone sleep. Based on testing through the wifi active time on spare parts, the phone accessed data through the carrier.
Sent from my X10a using Tapatalk

ask your provider for wap access not data
its very cheap
this way u can send and get mms

Why don't you get a plan that includes unlimited data? Only cost me £5 a month extra for that on uk vodafone.. Well worth it.
Sent from my x10 using XDA and swype.

I have unlimited data, but they say I have gone over my fair use policy so something has been in the background. It used 1 MB whilst I slept. The plans with fair use of 1GB seem pretty useless now