Database Users

new to wifi - quick question

sorry for the newb questions but couldn't find an answer searching and figured someone who knows would be able to give an answer easily
the question is, when in the office, sitting near my laptop (dell lat 620 w wifi) I connect my phone to the wifi network 'wfield1' and the display on the laptop turns green, and the phone shows the little antenna signifying wifi connectivity. ok- now does this mean
a) that all data sent/rec'd will not appear on cingulars bill?
b) will my works firewall (vpn) infringe upon my browsing (ie if I hit a blocked site will it say blocked on my phone?)
I originally thought it would but I turned wifi on and walked away from my laptop and realized that the wifi connection stayed on throughout the building so therefore it has nothing to do with my laptops connection to our vpn server then right?
if so, c) would I be able to use the phones wifi connection and then usb tether the phone to the laptop to browse on the laptop off the firewall and off cingulars rate charges? I have unlim anyway but keeping usage down seems worth the small step it takes to tether
hopefully I am at least a little accurate in my guesses and not way off wack. if anyone could drop some knowledge on me id appreciate it

Your phone's connection to WIFI has nothing to do with your laptop. It should connect to your WIFI router in your office. Your phone should display a different symbol on the top line of the LCD, rather than your regular "antenna" symbol.
You need to check the above before you can confirm if you are actually connected to your WIFI router.

When you are on WIFI, it is subjected to the same firewall regulations as your laptop

yes it changes from the normal "phone" antenna to the wifi icon, i do know that much.
however i'm still unsure of whether or not it is using routered data vs cingular data. i think it is using the wifi data because as i said it is showing the wifi symbol and not the E or G that shows up when connected to cingulars service
and i think i mispoke, i dont actually use the wifi on the laptop to connect to the internet. i need to dial up with a verizon card, and it connects that way, and also launches a VPN which i think is what regulates the internet usage.
i am less worried about the routers firewall than i am my (proxy?) servers abilty to record sights that i visit, ie the forums/ebay. if i visit those on wifi and my server could see that (not worried about the wifi router seeing it since i am in different offices a lot), i will just stick with using GPRS/EDGE. confusing? sorry

If it was using Cingular data, you would get a message that your phone is 'Connecting to Cingular GPRS' ..in which case you would be billed, you don't get billed for using wifi because you are NOT using cingulars network to connect to the internet, you are using your own.

after checking it again, it seems that i cannot get to the iinternet with the wifi alone. i turned off the phone and had wifi enabled and could not connet to the internet.
so normally, if it wasn't a work firewalled network, wifi will let you get to the internet without being charged via cingular. got it, thanks all

hey i was going to do wifi connection to my work laptop too till i decided its pointless cause im sitting right in front of the thing and if i actually walked away from it its going to be a decent distance and the wifi wouldnt connect anyway.
besides theres not a whole lot you can do with the connection other than read a web page or browse a network folder.

Using the HD2 as a 3G modem for laptop: use bluetooth or the new Wifi router ?

In one hand, using the Wifi router is simple. On the other hand, Wifi draws more battery power than bluetooth...

How long do you intend to use it for as, in my opinion, both are a poor long-term solution due to the power draw.
Also, bluetooth may use less power but it will also create a bottleneck that will mean that you have to use it longer.

Yes both will eat power. Cable is much better, however if you have no choice then I'd use bluetooth it consumes a bit less power than wifi.
That said if you use Linux, as I do on some laptops, (and maybe Mac? I dont use.) you might have some trouble getting internet to flow through bluetooth, in which case wifi is better.

I would use WiFi, much easier to setup and use on the fly just as any wireless router is. In either case, I believe your best bet is to have it plugged in during use as power usage will be high either way!

The Wifi router of the HD2 only supports WEP.
That's a "no go" for me...

Jack Daniel's said:
The Wifi router of the HD2 only supports WEP.
That's a "no go" for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not? What secrets do you have on your pc....and do you live in an apartment block surrounded by hackers?

I can plug my hd2 into my laptop and surf the net via mobile web. But how do i set it up so I can use the hd2 as a WiFi modem ?. Even with WiFi on, it still uses mobile web. Updating my laptop via my hd2 takes hours lol.
BTW I have WiFi router in my home.

fallenmonk said:
I can plug my hd2 into my laptop and surf the net via mobile web. But how do i set it up so I can use the hd2 as a WiFi modem ?. Even with WiFi on, it still uses mobile web. Updating my laptop via my hd2 takes hours lol.
BTW I have WiFi router in my home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to have the WiFi router app. Google XDA WiFi router for Windows Mobile you will find it. Oh and by the way just because it is WiFi does not mean it will increase the speed. The speed is dependant on your cellular data signal you know Edge or 3G.

I have never used the wi-fi app, and have had no need to do so so far. Bluetooth works two different ways--through DUN or PAN.
However, I could see certain situations where that could come in handy. FOr instance, with a device that cannot BT tether, but can access wi-fi--for instance if one has an Ipad

SpeedTest reports lower speed

I used 2 apps to compare. SpeedTest.net and Xtremelabs Speedtest. I have a 2Mb connection and it test correct on my laptop both wired and wireless but with those 2 apps, my DHD reports ~223Kbits. I run the test several times (around 20 times) and it always shows similar results. Only one run which I did after returning home showed 2Mb. Never saw the same again.
Anyone noticed the same? maybe it's the way those apps measure or is it my phone?

You tested what ? Your phone connected via WiFi to your home internet, or your phone GSM/EDGE/HSPA connection ?
The home internet can be explained by downloading something else through other computers on your network or by lower wifi speed negitiated between your phone and wifi router.
If you measured your mobile connection, it could be that you simply don't have HSPA inside your house and it drops to EDGE or UMTS -> sub-300kbit speeds.

faugusztin said:
You tested what ? Your phone connected via WiFi to your home internet, or your phone GSM/EDGE/HSPA connection ?
The home internet can be explained by downloading something else through other computers on your network or by lower wifi speed negitiated between your phone and wifi router.
If you measured your mobile connection, it could be that you simply don't have HSPA inside your house and it drops to EDGE or UMTS -> sub-300kbit speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks,
I already know what you mention.
I test wifi connection. It is supposed to check data transfer rate between my local wifi connection and the Internet. I do the same on my laptop at same location and get 2Mbits.
My mobile connection here is unstable=(sometimes GPRS sometimes 3G) so I won't bother to test from here. I am only concerned about wifi results.
Are you getting those correct?

In case of WiFi, there are many factors which can slow it down. But since you are using the WiFi on your laptop too, we can exclude factors like interference from other WiFi networks or any other factors which could make your connection to your router problematic.
This brings it down to the phone itself. Now the questions is - do you use any kind of WiFi security ? If yes, can you turn it off just for test (yes, i'm asking you to have a unsecured WiFi network for a while). This way you can exclude the possibility that it's the encryption which slows you down. If it will speed up, your problem lies in encryption, and that brings up the question if you have USB debugging enabled or not - you should have, as it fixes the 100% CPU usage bug. If your CPU is used up thanks to this bug, then of course all encryption is slower, which means your data transfer is slower.

faugusztin said:
In case of WiFi, there are many factors which can slow it down. But since you are using the WiFi on your laptop too, we can exclude factors like interference from other WiFi networks or any other factors which could make your connection to your router problematic.
This brings it down to the phone itself. Now the questions is - do you use any kind of WiFi security ? If yes, can you turn it off just for test (yes, i'm asking you to have a unsecured WiFi network for a while). This way you can exclude the possibility that it's the encryption which slows you down. If it will speed up, your problem lies in encryption, and that brings up the question if you have USB debugging enabled or not - you should have, as it fixes the 100% CPU usage bug. If your CPU is used up thanks to this bug, then of course all encryption is slower, which means your data transfer is slower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, you know what? I connected to USB in order to sync and verify USB debugging (it was on anyway) but after sync, I run the test and it shows above 2mbits but one time it showed 1,2Mbits. The same goes with xtremelabs speedtest.
Now, I can't tell if it's due to the usb connection. I restarted my phone earlier anyway and it still measured slow connection at the time that my laptop was measuring high.
I ran the test so many times that I am 99% sure that the only difference this time was the connection to usb for sync.
I can't exaplain this, I don't know if you can

Then, after a while I try again and it goes down again. I sync but still stays down so that's irrelevant.
I perform the same test on my laptop right after this one and from the same location and it's always high.
I don't know how to explain this

Nexus 4 ruins my home wi-fi !?

Every time i connect nexus 4 to my home wi-fi. Every other device gets terrible connection speed... Before nexus 4 my Nexus 7 had steady speeds up to 20mbps. With nexus 4 connected speeds go down to 5-3 mbps and even when i disconnect n4 from my home wi-fi router still acts really strange and i have to reboot it. Anybody experienced anything like that?

skyrocket727 said:
Every time i connect nexus 4 to my home wi-fi. Every other device gets terrible connection speed... Before nexus 4 my Nexus 7 had steady speeds up to 20mbps. With nexus 4 connected speeds go down to 5-3 mbps and even when i disconnect n4 from my home wi-fi router still acts really strange and i have to reboot it. Anybody experienced anything like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have three desktop computers, an iPad, an iPod, a Roku unit, and two smartphones sharing the same wifi signal. My speeds don't seem to vary any regardless of the number of devices sharing it at any given time. I would have to call my service provider if I found myself in your situation.

Buddy3927 said:
I have three desktop computers, an iPad, an iPod, a Roku unit, and two smartphones sharing the same wifi signal. My speeds don't seem to vary any regardless of the number of devices sharing it at any given time. I would have to call my service provider if I found myself in your situation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, same.
To the op, I'd say either reboot the router (which you probably have done) and / or see if there's a firmware update for the router.
If no cure, call your internet provider.

Ok.. Forgot to mentioned that n4 also loses wifi connection from time to time.
Seems like im not the only one.. People post similar problems.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40065

my nexus has never dropped wifi connection to any router you may have hardware issues..

skyrocket727 said:
Ok.. Forgot to mentioned that n4 also loses wifi connection from time to time.
Seems like im not the only one.. People post similar problems.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40065
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen this before. It happens in mixed networks (old B laptop used to crash the WiFi AP when G clients were also connected).
1) Check for a firmware update to your router. This is most likely where your issue is. The router speed should drop and increase as needed, but buggy firmware may only keep in last slowest speed until a reboot.
2) Mixed encryption (WPA & WPA2) is a nightmare Force "WPA2 only with AES only" -or- "WPA only with TKIP only". Some clients may try to use WPA with AES and this was what was crashing my AP at the time.
3) If you still have issues, try using "G&N" only, or even force G only. Some older G clients don't hear N traffic, so they just transmit on top of it.
4) Last resort, look for a used router that can run DD-WRT firmware. Personally, I will never go back to OEM router firmware.
Hope this helps...

i used Wi-Fi Analyzer and it showed 2 really strong signals on the same channel.. one being mine and the other someone's else. i manually changed it from 11 to channel 5 and everything back to normal/// 20mbps just like before!

skyrocket727 said:
i used Wi-Fi Analyzer and it showed 2 really strong signals on the same channel.. one being mine and the other someone's else. i manually changed it from 11 to channel 5 and everything back to normal/// 20mbps just like before!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess your neighbour will be pleased too !:laugh:

Hi every one. I just got my N4 last week and i experiense the exact same thing!!!!
this is realy bad because every time i use the wireless network every body in the house starts complaining because my N4 shuts down all connections here.
It works alright with the main router wich is a thomson. but it fails with the other two routers (that are Belkin - N) that are only access points!
I realy want this fixed because not having internet at home is quite bad!

will android switch to a better wifi if available?

Heyho, i currently have access to my wifi as well as to my neighbors network as my wifi gets weak while i am in the garden. I feel like android isnt awitching to my neighbors wifi automatically. Only when my wifi is completely gone, android will look for a new one.
I thought about making a task with tasker which looks for another wifi as soon as the current wifi strength goes below 25%.
Or is/should android do that aleady on its own?
Thanks

In wifi -> Advanced settings there's an option to avoid poor connection. I have no idea what it actually does, but give it a try.

I did the test with my router, which supports 2 frequencies.
Assuming both networks are saved in the phone, it connect automatically to the one with better signal or look for an alternative if signal is lost.

Thats what I mean, it will connect to the other WiFi if the connection is lost. But if the connection is crippled (bad) enough to not handle a music stream, but still "availabe" it will not switch to the other WiFi eventhough that other WiFi has 100% signal strength ?
I activated the "use wlan only if good strength available".. lets see how this works

I have multiple APs in my house and the only way I've ever got it to switch is by toggling wifi off and on (or loosing the first signal completely). This is an Android issue IINM, my GS2 and my N4 both have this issue.

I tried the "do not use weak WiFi".. didnt work.

zakazak said:
I tried the "do not use weak WiFi".. didnt work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has never worked for me either. Didn't work on my GSM GNex or with the N4.

I think it's how most WiFi clients work, otherwise if you were in the middle of 2 equal signals, it would spend more time disconnecting and reconnecting creating a DOS attack on the 2 AP's and leaving you with no data.
As for 2 home wireless routers, use the same SSID and authentication settings for both, and put one on channel 1 and the other on channel 11.
Make one a AP only (no router, no firewall, no dhcp server) and connect it to a client wired port on the first one. You can roam between them like people in large offices do.

or I try to make a tasker profile
if wifi strenght below 20% and another wifi is available with more than 30%, connect to that one.. then wait 5 minutes ?