Data Always on, even when the option is disabled?

[confused-data]

Hi,

I'm a desire noob and am a bit confused by the data settings on this model.

As an ex-nokia user i'm used to seeing the data connection appear only when an app is using it. On the Desire I always have the data symbol showing (the H/3G/G with two arrows) even when nothing is using it.

In the network settings menu i've unticked the always-on setting but it still stays on.

Is this normal behaviour for android devices?

I do know how to disable it completely (I use the HTC widget) but it's getting a bit tedious enabling then disabling the data every time I want to use it.

Is there anyway (or app) to set it so that the data connection is only triggered when I need it?

My phone is unbranded with the latest firmware.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Frostation]

The arrows will apear from time to time as the phone has some undercover software running so it sometimes connects, but it hardly uses any bandwidth. I haven't come accross an app that only triggers data, but the best way is to use the widget to switch it on and off.
And yes this is normal behavoir and theres nothing to worry about. If you want to make sure your phone is NOT using a large amount of bandwidth you can get an app called "3G Watchdog" which shows exactly how much bandwidth you used.

 

[confused-data]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The arrows are always there for me, not just time to time. They are grey most of the time as opposed to white whilst data is being transferred but do often flash white for no apparent reason.

The bandwidth isn't as issue for me as i'm unlimited but as you can imagine the main concern is battery life.

 

[lekky]

If its battery life then you'll have to turn it off. You'll probably be interested in an app called juicedefender. It turns it on and off for you.

 

[confused-data]

Thanks lekky, i'll give that app a try.

Is the battery life significantly different between leaving it on or disabling it? The only things I have enabled is weather, facebook and twitter every 4 hours. I've excluded my google account from automatically updating.

I always switch the phone off at night.

 

[TH1882FC]

I always switch the phone off at night.

Put your phone into 'plane mode' at night, unless thats what you meant.

 

[confused-data]

Just tried juice defender and like the setting that disables the APN when the screen is off. I'll use it like this for a while and see how it goes.

Thanks again lekky!

 

[Banzibarn]

ASFAIK, with 'always on' dissabled, it only stops your conneciton when you hit the button at the top to put the phone to sleep.

When you wake the phone you may notice that there are no arrows for a split second before it fires up again, and it will then stay connected for most of the time until you hit sleep again.

To kill it all the time you need to remove the tick in the below...

Settings --> Wirelwss & Networks --> Mobile Network