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You all have no problems with this app?
For me it shows a lot less have been downloaded than it actually was.
Example:
app shows 400MB, but on my providers page it shows 600MB has been downloaded this month!
I need a nice widget that shows correct 3G download numbers!
A number of factors can effect the readings and monitoring of your device.
When did you install can effect the reading as you might have been downloading prior to installation.
Incorrect date setting with regards to when your monthly data download starts.
Not running. If you tend to kill applications you might have killed watchdog by accident so was not running at the time you were downloading.
I think some kill applications allow for you to add other applications to an exemption list, applications you don't want to kill. You might need to check these settings.
Hope this helps you solve your data miss match.
yani2000 said:
You all have no problems with this app?
For me it shows a lot less have been downloaded than it actually was.
Example:
app shows 400MB, but on my providers page it shows 600MB has been downloaded this month!
I need a nice widget that shows correct 3G download numbers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the "month" of your provider, is not usually the "month" that you have in mind.
they go by your billing cycle
so reset your data count to match the next billing cycle
I'm using Automatic Task Killer and I've also double checked that 3G Watchdog isn't starred.
The moment I installed 3G Watchdog I've also set "Last started on" to 1st July 2010.
Now, I have corrected my quota under: Menu->Set quota Counters... to reflect my providers data and will see how it will go through.
Thx for all your replies!
yani2000 said:
Now, I have corrected my quota under: Menu->Set quota Counters... to reflect my providers data and will see how it will go through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankyou for sharing this information. I didn't know that myself.
I'm back to inform you all that 3G Watchdog is still off target!
First it showed 20MB less now it shows 40MB less.
First I thought that it doesn't count 2G, but I double checked and saw that in fact it did took 2G data into account.
Now I'm leaning towards that my network provider is cheating or something.
Does your provider count your network traffic exactly like 3g watchdog or e.g. 100kb-parts...that would have an impact!
Does any one know how to find out if your provider counts the data in blocks?
Send them an e-mail and ask them.
Is there an alternative to 3g watchdog it is definitely not calculating my usage correctly and this could potantially be very costly for me, unfortunately an unlimited data plan in this recession hit country is like everything else way too expensive so i just pay 69 cents a day for 50MB and if i go over than (which i have done before) they charge you a fortune which is why i use 3g watchdog which incidentally used to run fine on my old HD2 but since ive got the GS2 it's been constanly wrong if i send a text to check my balance which ive just done i can see ive used 41.69MB so far today yet 3g watchdog tells me ive only used 20.69 that is over half so imagine i forgot to send a text to get my balance and just keep surfing the net,suddendly i discover all my credit is eaten up, Meteor don't care they aint in the business of warning people who go over their 50MB daily limit which is why it's imperative i have the correct usuage.
Sorry for the long post but you can see my prediament.
Try Dodol phone usage. In settings, make sure the refresh time is 1 minute (which should be the default value).
Hi!
Yes, I see 3G Watchdog had some problems:
Overview:
* KNOWN PROBLEMS:
- [June 2011] Inaccuracy reported on Samsung with Gingerbread 2.3.3. Might be solved in 3GW 0.28.2 with the new option to use the old counting interface.
What's new:
Fixed accuracy problems on some Samsung phones with Gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope the updated version helped!
Hi
Wonder if you guy's can help. Just got a sim free defy and have noticed it seems very data hungry from the off.
Installed a data app and its saying im using 5 mb + a day.
What is it doing, to use all this data all i seem to have done is put my location in the weather app thats built in, logged on to my face book and thats about it. oh and set up my o2 email account.
Cant seem to find how to limit the size of email download in the accounts.
How can i monitor each individual program and find out which ones causing the problem.
Dave
doliver55 said:
Hi
Wonder if you guy's can help. Just got a sim free defy and have noticed it seems very data hungry from the off.
Installed a data app and its saying im using 5 mb + a day.
What is it doing, to use all this data all i seem to have done is put my location in the weather app thats built in, logged on to my face book and thats about it. oh and set up my o2 email account.
Cant seem to find how to limit the size of email download in the accounts.
How can i monitor each individual program and find out which ones causing the problem.
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could try setting up something on 'data manager'
Whats everybody else's usage average out each day only asking cause its my works phone sim and don;t want to get stung for data usage.
Today it's 2,76MB, though I've used 1,39GB over the last month.
I have 3GB included in my contract. couldn't care less about traffic ...
but if you want absolute control install droidwall and see what connects to the internet.
doliver55 said:
Whats everybody else's usage average out each day only asking cause its my works phone sim and don;t want to get stung for data usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An Android phone was a mistake if you're looking to avoid heavy data usage.
my average is about 30 mb on weekends (out of wifi range) and like 2 mb on weekdays as I'm on school holidays and moslty always in wifi range
[UT] X-RAY said:
I have 3GB included in my contract. couldn't care less about traffic ...
but if you want absolute control install droidwall and see what connects to the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for the droidwall tip, seems a good way of restricting a lot of things
I also observe that Android sometimes produces traffic without an order to do so. 3gwatchdog counts the traffic and shows the origin-applications, some are just google or motoblur stuff but without any option to deactivate traffic or updates or whatever they're doing.....
mrt3k said:
I also observe that Android sometimes produces traffic without an order to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, the OS is designed to be used with an always-on data connection.
If you don't have one of those, an Android phone is not a good idea.
I do have unlimited traffic, but a speed limitation after 200 MB to 64kbit/s which isnt fun anymore.
Thats the problem of the big ans usually good providers in Germany, even the highly priced agreements have that little traffic included.
Thus, I think it should be possible to deactivate useless data traffic even in Android, mh? There should be some options that deny traffic usage in general and also for single apps. (btw. I tried droidwall, but some apps tunneld the firewall and produces traffic anyway!)
mrt3k said:
Thus, I think it should be possible to deactivate useless data traffic even in Android, mh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are ways to completely disable data usage but I'm, not sure it's possible for individual apps.
But, like I said, if heavy data usage is a concern, Android is not the right OS for you.
Ignore Step666 his talking crap, android is a good OS even if ur not connected all the time, (I dont even use 3g connection, I mostly use only wi-fi) ..not everyone hangs on facebook all day or needs those weather widgets and stuff like that... really depends on a user.
but if u have a problem with heavy data usage i can help
-first a program that will help u monitor your usage (u can also reset counters monthly) - try traffic counter extended, there are also other apps that help u limit how much data u can transfer over wifi/cell
-second i think droidwall is the app u are looking for
(its a firewall for Android. This is for users that don't have an unlimited data plan. It allows unrestricted WiFi access, however it blocks all access over the cellular network unless you add the application to the whitelist.)
Also, try disabling auto sync on the power control widget.
Peglezn said:
Ignore Step666 his talking crap...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'm not.
The fact you're having to install third-party apps to prevent the phone from automatically connecting to the internet merely proves my point - it is designed to be used with an always-on internet connection.
there was a third party app called DROIDWALL...it allows you to block all the unwanted apps from connecting with internet.. and yes it allows only specific apps to be blocked..
yeah use droidwall, its easy - set it to "white list (allow selected)" then select the google system apps and the apps you like to have internet access, any new apps you install wont get net access unless you add it to the white list, making it easy to manage.
you can also restrict wifi and/or 3G per app.
nice for apps like notepad that somehow need internet access.
Thanks for your ideas.
I did already use Droidwal for some time, but it did not function properly.
I blocked certain apps and for some time I blocked all apps, includig system apps. And what happened? There was data usage by any program, at least the traffic counter showed traffic usage. Thus, it seems not to block really what I set to block. :-/
Thx for the tip with Droidwall! Works great
mrt3k said:
...Thus, it seems not to block really what I set to block. :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to apply the rules manually... Did you try?
What do you mean by "manually"? You can manually set apps to white- and blacklist, yeah, or what u mean?
I have all sorts of auto-sync, auto-update etc. features switched OFF. My mail, contacts, and calendar only sync when I tap on sync, I've disabled auto-updating in every app on my phone, I've unchecked "auto system update", "background data" is switched off, etcetera. To cut a long story short: every available setting that disables automatic use of data has been applied.
But when I booted my Defy and left it sitting idle for a while it still downloaded almost a megabyte of data, even though I didn't touch my phone at all.
So I made a backup with Titanium and MyBackup Root, reset my phone to factory state, went into the settings again to disable all user-configurable ways of automatic data use, and rebooted.
And then my phone auto-downloaded 0.7 MB for reasons unknown.
I don't care about a bit of data when I'm in my home network where I have an unlimited data plan, but if I would have been roaming abroad this unsollicited data could have cost me 10 euros or more. International data roaming is horribly expensive.
I could use the sledgehammer approach and disable data completely to avoid unwanted data roaming charges, but this would also disable data traffic that I'm willing to pay for (like manually checking my mail). So I need something more sophisticated than a sledgehammer.
Tools available:
1) DroidWall
2) Titanium (with the "freeze" option)
3) AdFree
Question: which apps and services should I block/freeze to ensure that my phone only uses data when I tell it to, and to make sure that it never ever downloads a single byte of data behind my back?
If DroidWall, Titanium, and AdFree are not enough, which other apps give me full control over which apps and services can use data?
Give juicedefender a try
Sent from my MB611 using XDA Premium App
ApnDroid, but kills all data by rewriting APNs. I use it all the time. You can still use wifi, text and call and, if you choose, use MMS. Otherwise...?
I'm curious as to what is taking your data. When I disable the data connections, I don't use a single byte of data. Even with data enabled but background data disabled, I don't use any data.
I know you asked for an app to kill the data...but I think it's best if you can find the culprit...sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
For starters, which rom are you using?
Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
@darule_2011:
I don't believe something nasty is eating up my data, because my phone is hungry for data even after a factory reset without any 3rd party apps installed.
I'm using firmware version 2.1-update1, which came with the phone straight out of the box. I doubt Motorola would have pre-installed malware, unless we count Motoblur as malware.
On my old Nokia, each and every app could only go online after asking me for permission first. No permission, then no data. Not even a single byte. And it was up to me to choose between "ask me once" or "ask me every time."
Is there an app that forces Android to do the same?
rogier666 said:
Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood. Can't see how that can work. If your data is on, everything that wants it is going to jump on it.
darule_2011 said:
sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an app that logs which app connects when and to what? The data meter in Android's built-in data manager is completely useless, and DroidStats counts the amount of data used but doesn't tell which app was using it.
Droidwall has a log function for blocked apps.
Sent from my MB525
I told DroidWall to block internet access for "MotoBlur Services" (I don't even have a MotoBlur account), and now the amount of unsollicited traffic is down to about 40 kb in the 30 minutes since rebooting my phone.
So it looks like I found the stowaway. Motorola tries to keep my phone hungry for data even though I never signed up for MotoBlur.
DroidWall's log told me it blocked some unsollicited packets from GO Launcher EX, so at least my firewall is doing its job. (Why would a launcher need to go online if you don't enable anything internet-related in its settings?)
Unfortunately DroidWall only logs what it blocks. It doesn't log traffic that it allows, so I can only guess about those 40 kb. Maybe even an unused data connection needs to talk a bit to stay alive?
You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.
DroidStats has the possibility to watch for which app consumes data. Not only total amount. It is integrated in the donation-addon
There's an app to tell which programs and services been using data and how much, and it's on your phone already. It's way more informative than the disfunctional data meter in the data manager menu.
Dial *#*#4636#*#* (the 4636 part spells "info" on the dialpad) to launch an app called "Testing." Then hit "battery history->network usage->total since boot." It doesn't count the bytes of data that are pingponged back and forth to keep an idle connection alive, but it monitors everything else.
You can make a shortcut to "Testing" with Any Cut.
First offender: MotoBlur. Even without a MotoBlur account and every possible autosync option disabled the MotoBlur Service eats data. I blocked it with DroidWall so now it doesn't phone home anymore.
Second offender: GO Launcher EX. I also blocked it with DroidWall, because a launcher doesn't have to talk to the world outside my phone.
Third offender: An all-in-one package that's shared by GMail Storage, Google Apps, Google Search, Google Settings Provider, Google Talk Service, Google Talk Storage, and com.google.android.syncadapters.contacts. Doesn't matter if you tell your settings menus not to call Google behind your back, 'cos Big Brother doesn't listen unless you ram the message home.
Fourth offender: WinAmp. Play an mp3 from your local SD card and WinAmp still tries to go online to do things, even with scrobbling etc disabled. It probably sends out usage statistics without asking for permission first.
Fifth offender: NQmobile Anti-virus. Even if you disable all automatic connections in the settings the program phones home anyway. Most of the traffic is outgoing, so apparently it's collecting hundreds of kilobytes worth of usage statistics, even if you're not installing new apps or doing manual scans. A day of launching offline apps can easily make NQ burn a full megabyte of data where it shouldn't have been using any.
Sixth, seventh, etc. offenders: apps that go online for the sole purpose of downloading ads. All DroidWalled, of course. I'm not gonna pay international data charges to see the junk from AdMob.
I've firewalled MotoBlur, GO Launcher EX and the Google package away from the web and everything on my phone still works. Even Google Search can live without the all-in-one service, because it sends the search queries to the web browser. I guess it only needs to go online for web suggestions, which I don't use anyway. The Google Talk app is dead, but I never use it because fring and Nimbuzz are much better and they only go online after I tell them to do so. But just leave it to Google to make GoogleTalk dependent on a piece of code that phones home even when you're not using GoogleTalk.
But DroidWall is not a convenient way to tame NQmobile (NetQin), because then I'd have to manually unblock it everytime I want to update the virus database. Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?
ABC_Universal said:
You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.
scrannel said:
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freezing 'em with Titanium makes more sense.
But those are all workarounds, not solutions. As Android matures we should get an option to control the data behaviour of each and every app in full detail. If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
If you think about it, it's totally ridiculous that you need to root your phone and jump through hoops to make sure that your phone bill doesn't explode when you set foot across the border. Didn't the inventors of Android ever hear of international data roaming rates?
Thanks for the useful info. I use Go Launcher too. I wondered how they moneterised their apps - probably collecting/selling usage stats.
Is roaming data being used even without the option checked?
When the G1 came out those of us who travel soon found out that certain apps would over-ride the option to prevent data roaming, thus programs like apndroid.
rogier666 said:
If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that's not how it's designed to operate.
Pu simply, you've picked the wrong OS for your needs.
That's hardly Google's fault.
rogier666 said:
Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Lookout - that's what I use and it only updates when you allow it too (at least mine does).
What do you think about flashing a blurless rom? There is a barebones rom in the dev section (haven't tried that one yet), this will allow you to add back in apps that only you want...this might do the trick. I'm using Pays rom and loving it.
Thanx darule_. Lookout indeed doesn't phone home behind my back, even with automatic scanning enabled and a couple of new apps scanned.
Over two hours since last boot and not a single app has squeezed a byte through my open data connection without my permission. Looks like I've got Android tamed and fit to travel.
All I can say is, all the contemporary smartphone OS use background data stupendously.
Shut down data roaming if you don't want a hefty bill.
I'm trying to check to see if the APN workaround to bypass throttling with my 2GB unlimited data plan, but when I call #932# to check my data usage, I get a different amount of usage than the usage shown on my my-tmobile page.
On my my-tmobile, I have ~30mb used, whereas when I use #932#, it shows around ~130mb. The 130mb is closer to my "true" usage (the actual amount while using the modified APN). I don't know if the trick is working for me or not. Can someone explain to me why the two measurements don't match up?
Thank you for your time.
Possibly lag between the network and the my-Tmobile Web page.
You can download Traffic Monitor from the market and it will give you fairly accurate data usage numbers. You can even monitor what uses data and how much. Set it up so it resets on the same day as your Billing cycle.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I'm using a data manager that I downloaded from the market. It matches up with the #932# data. The problem is, it's been like this for a couple days, so the possibility that it is simply lagging is becoming less and less plausible..
I think the apn trick doesn't show up the website.
Not too sure though.
That could be true, but why would it be monitored via #932#? I really don't know if the APN trick is working for me or not
Few days ago I installed the new Kernel that fixes the network counters from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1468626 (thanks to ardatdat).
Immediately I noticed that the traffic is counting up way too quickly. I looked at my bills to see if this is new, and realized that since I got the phone, my monthly traffic was consistently at 200-400MB per month, even though I can explain maybe 30MB per month (I have access to wifi pretty much anywhere I go).
So, started digging. In the last 3 days there's been 25MB down and 50MB up. With all the testing I was doing, I can explain maybe 10 down and 5 up. So, using the TrafficCounter app, I found that a system app called "Task Manager" is responsible for the traffic (attached screencap displays traffic over 4 hours).
It doesn't slowly count up. Instead, it will stay at the same mark, then all of a sudden change by 2.2MB. Every time. So it looks like it packages something and sends it off. The most interesting thing? It only does it when on 3G. If I'm connected to WIFI, it's silent. Like it doesn't want me to see what it's doing.
So, installed Shark, and made a traffic capture. I was able to capture the outgoing SSL stream that was exactly 2.18MB. Destination IP 74.125.226.65 resolves to yyz06s07-in-f1.1e100.net. Browsing there gives google's front page......
Checked the TCP stream, right before the transfer, there's a DNS lookup for android.clients.google.com, which responds with that IP address.
Checking SSL Cert gives me *.google.com cert. Same one as for all of their sites
So it turns out every 3 or so hours there's a 2.2MB transfer from my phone to the google servers via encrypted channel.
Looking further, my wife's and my mother's androids are showing just as much data on their bills, they got Nexus S and Galaxy S. While I can see my wife using so much data, it's doubtful my mom has even figured out how to consume so much traffic.
Anyone else notice this?
What is the purpose of it? If it's legitimate, how can they justify using so much of my limited monthly bandwidth?
You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T
If it is the sync feature using all this data, you can disable the automatic sync from Settings > Accounts and Sync. It doesn't appear there's any way to tell it to only sync on Wifi, but I'm sure most of the data monitoring apps out there can stop apps from using mobile data. Onavo, for instance, claims to have this feature, but I haven't had cause to use it yet.
Lookin4Trouble said:
You've checked the "keep my phone backed up to my google account" button on setup. You can re-run the setup to uncheck that option, but until then it'll continue to send those big packages, and it prefers the 3G connection. I've taken to leaving my WIFI on and connected at all times. With a measly 200MB/month plan (AT&T can blow me for un-grandfathering my unlimited data), a 15MB backup nightly was killing me...
L4T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter
kvantum said:
Thanks, that was it! Didn't expect that setting there. It's upsetting that there's no way to configure that feature - such as how often to send data, to only send incrementals, or such an advanced setting as upload only when connected to WIFI.
Problem with leaving wifi on all the time is the fact that it eats battery a lot. If my wifi is on all the time, the battery life is about 40% shorter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, could you append [SOLVED] to your original post?
Thanks
L4T