# What is the means of network connection



## JFrancis (May 25, 2017)

"Where" is the phone's network connection?

If I am on data, does it come through that? (And so the more bars I see on the phone, the less likely to encounter poor connection.)

Or if on Wifi, is it then through that?

Or is it neither, and is some other kind of signal between phone and network?

Thanks


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## waldowainthrop (Oct 25, 2019)

Perversely in some cases the bars of reception you have are different for voice and data. You can have 4 visible bars of service for voice calls but 1 invisible bar of service for data. If you have an active wifi connection, that will generally supersede any cellular data service you are using.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

JFrancis said:


> If I am on data, does it come through that?


Your question does not make sense. "Data" is not a network connection. One cannot be "on data" - data is the information that travels through a network.

In the same way, one would not ask, "if my house is on electricity, does it come though that?" - this also would not make sense. A house could be connected to a generator or to a utility company's power grid. Like data, electricity is not a connection or a network; it is what gets transferred through a network. Both the generator and the power grid are capable of supplying 110v electricity to the house and the homeowner decides which to connect to.

In the same way, phones have different data connection types which can all be used to transfer the same data from the internet. Phones can connect to cellular towers (3g/4g/LTE) or by Wifi to a router, by ethernet cable to a router or by USB to a computer, among other methods. Apps on the phone will normally not know/care which data connection type is being used, however there are some exceptions such as VOIP phone apps that can prevent calls being made over certain data connection types.


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## Grokit (Sep 8, 2019)

waldowainthrop said:


> Perversely in some cases the bars of reception you have are different for voice and data. You can have 4 visible bars of service for voice calls but 1 invisible bar of service for data.


Thank You &#128591;

Finally, a plausible explanation for why I've been having soooo many network issues, while being at 3-5 bars


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## gooddolphins (Apr 5, 2018)

Data would be using cell towers and WiFi would be like your home internet connection


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## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

JFrancis said:


> "Where" is the phone's network connection?
> If I am on data, does it come through that? (And so the more bars I see on the phone, the less likely to encounter poor connection.)
> Or if on Wifi, is it then through that?
> Or is it neither, and is some other kind of signal between phone and network?
> Thanks


I think I understand your question if by "data" you mean cellular data through your calling plan.

The answer varies by OS. On Android the default is that if the phone has made a wifi network connection (whether authorized through a guest portal or not) it will try and handle data traffic (like Uber/Lyft telemetry) through the wifi network. Otherwise the phone will pass data traffic via your cellular connection. Naturally your cellular plan must have data minutes (separate from voice minutes) available.

Sidebar answer: Whenever I pull into McDonalds I either turn wifi OFF or be sure to bring up a web browser and authorize through McDonald's guest portal. If I don't, the phone (at least on Android) sees what it _thinks_ is a valid wifi connection, auto switches to it, and tries to pass data traffic through it. But the phone is too stupid to know it has not been authorized, so the entire time I am sipping my delicious Mickey Ds coffee inside I will never get a ping for a ride.

Does that help?



waldowainthrop said:


> You can have 4 visible bars of service for voice calls but 1 invisible bar of service for data.


Correct answer. But I would check with member Invisible to validate that assertion about the 1 invisible bar part. She's the local expert in that field.


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## Giantsfan1503 (Sep 18, 2019)

JFrancis said:


> "Where" is the phone's network connection?
> 
> If I am on data, does it come through that? (And so the more bars I see on the phone, the less likely to encounter poor connection.)
> 
> ...


Only Thanos has the answer to this question.


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## JFrancis (May 25, 2017)

I had to lookup who Thanos is. But I lost my connection...



Coastal_Cruiser said:


> I think I understand your question if by "data" you mean cellular data through your calling plan.
> 
> The answer varies by OS. On Android the default is that if the phone has made a wifi network connection (whether authorized through a guest portal or not) it will try and handle data traffic (like Uber/Lyft telemetry) through the wifi network. Otherwise the phone will pass data traffic via your cellular connection. Naturally your cellular plan must have data minutes (separate from voice minutes) available.
> 
> ...


Yes, thanks.


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## VanGuy (Feb 15, 2019)

I've heard it's best to turn off wifi when driving so you don't accidentally connect to a network and drop your connection to Uber/Lyft in the process.


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## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

VanGuy said:


> I've heard it's best to turn off wifi when driving so you don't accidentally connect to a network and drop your connection to Uber/Lyft in the process.


That's a worthwhile consideration, but only if you've connected to the hotspot before. Otherwise the phone will ignore the signal. In the case of some institutions, like McDonald's, they code all the access points at all their locations with the same "SSID", so no matter which location you visit your phone thinks you already connected before, so it tries to connect. And then you're in WiFi purgatory until you authenticate through the portal. *The workaround for this dilemma is to set your phone to not remember connections*.

The argument for keeping wifi enabled is that it improves GPS accuracy. There is a whole other thread somewhere discussing that assertion.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

JFrancis said:


> "Where" is the phone's network connection?
> 
> If I am on data, does it come through that? (And so the more bars I see on the phone, the less likely to encounter poor connection.)
> 
> ...


Cellular calls and cellular data can have different signal strengths. I run into this all the time in my area. Luckily with cellular data my iPhone shows 5GE when I have the best signal, LTE when I have moderate signal, and 4G when I have crap signal. When ever it shows 4G I can pretty much guarantee I won't get a ping. All the time my Cellular data signal shows different strengths my phone signal is pretty much maxed out.

I have found in my area when my phone switches to 4G it will not automatically swith out when I get back to an are with better service. I have to put my phone in airplane mode and back out for it to switch back to LTE of 5GE.

When I am in the Miami Area my phone switches between the different level just fine. Can't figure that one out.

As far as Wi-Fi goes it has it's own problems. My phone is set to not automatically connect to Wi-Fis outside of my home and work. If I want to connect to say McDonald's Wi-Fi or Cable Wi-Fi or what ever Wi-Fi I have it set so I have to manually connect. I found that driving around my phone spends more time connecting and disconnecting to the different Wi-Fi hot spots that I end up missing some pings. I figured this out on accident as I was leaving my house one day. I got a ping while still connected to my home Wi-Fi, hit accept as I was losing the home Wi-Fi and switching over to Cellular Data. I lost the ping and did not get the ride.

A few days later the same thing happened as I was leaving work. Ever since then as I am leaving home or work I turn off Wi-Fi until I get out of range. Than I turn it back on so I don't forget and I don't get those annoying messages about more accurate location services. Having all the misc Wi-Fi's set to not auto connect has eliminated me being in between services and missing pings.

Sorry for the long reply, however I wanted to cover it all.


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## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

FL, did you see the post where I was theorizing that you could have two phones, connected to two different carriers? Do you have a case in your area where one carrier will have a stronger signal than the other... in differing geo locations?

------------------------------
For all, there's this handy Android app that displays cell strength. In my area both Uber and Lyft can ping me at -90 or better.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Coastal_Cruiser said:


> FL, did you see the post where I was theorizing that you could have two phones, connected to two different carriers? Do you have a case in your area where one carrier will have a stronger signal than the other... in differing geo locations?
> 
> ------------------------------
> For all, there's this handy Android app that displays cell strength. In my area both Uber and Lyft can ping me at -90 or better.
> ...


In my area At&t has the least number of dead spots. I use speedtest app from Ookla and average 41.5 mbps on 5GE. On LTE it drops to around 26 mbps on average. When on 4G I can be as low as 2 mbps. I'll have to look and see if I can find a similar app as to what you posted.

I have never tried running two different carriers at the same time.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

JFrancis said:


> "Where" is the phone's network connection?
> 
> If I am on data, does it come through that? (And so the more bars I see on the phone, the less likely to encounter poor connection.)
> 
> ...


" WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY KENNETH"!

" WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY KENNETH " ?


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## Coastal_Cruiser (Oct 1, 2018)

FLKeys said:


> I have never tried running two different carriers at the same time.


I have been experimenting with the possibility of running both the Uber and the Lyft apps on two different phones. It works, with some limitations. Opens up the possibility of being able to get coverage if another carrier is strong where AT&T is weak.


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