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Anesti33's avatar
Anesti33
Contributor
2 months ago
Solved

Smartphones Are Not WiFi Devices

Greetings,

I was excited when Cox began offering Mobile Wireless service, that I could bundle it with my Home. Internet connection, reducing complexity and going with a provider I know and trust.

Cox issued a Google Pixel and I'm set up on the mobile network. During Christmastime I began having connectivity issues and fears about malware, and I took a few moments to consider what services I needed.

In the process, I discovered that smartphones on Cox Mobile service are expected to use Mobile Data only. At home with Panoramic WiFi, I had been connecting the Pixel to that home network, but the cable-modem data is metered and accounted separately from Mobile Data.

Now this surprised me as a consumer, because I always considered Android phones as just another versatile computer, but fits in a pocket, runs unique apps, and features many modes of connectivity. And many of us have moved away from Landline service or VoIP in favor of just the mobile wireless SIM service.

My first Android device was WiFi-only, which was cool with home WiFi or public WiFi most places I went. My Pixel phone is not designed as a Mobile Only-device. Android devices make significant distinctions between metered WiFi, unmetered WiFi, and Mobile Data connects to the Internet.

In Europe for decades, many/most Internet providers metered and capped all usage, and there were overage charges, and those consumers hopefully have experience in good management of bandwidth usage. But American's don't really, and this represents a Cost of Living increase across the board.

Smartphones aren't optional; every business and service I interact with promotes their Mobile Apps in the app stores, and SMS message phones are required, and voice calls haven't gone away. And Mobile Apps can't be run on a typical desktop or notebook computer, so even at home, I'm using my smartphone and its data, constantly.

So it makes sense to the providers and the respective backbone/cellular networks that phones should be accounted and treated separately, but for me as a "Power User" it's a difficult adjustment to accept, that this phone won't be using WiFi at all, and figuring out most of all, how to configure it so that uploads don't fail or that it decides a download is "too big" or "too often" for a Mobile Network connection, because the Pixels that Cox is selling do indeed assume that their users have frequent, ubiquitous WiFi access.

wifi
  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    2 months ago

    I made a long post countering all your points, but in the end, I know it does not matter. You have insulted me, so I no longer want to help you or even talk to you. Goodbye.

  • Anesti33's avatar
    Anesti33
    Contributor
    2 months ago

    Since this OP, I have switched my Cox Mobile service to "unlimited" which is throttled at "20 Gigabytes" each month.

    I've been unable to determine whether data usage is measured in Gigabytes (GB) 1,000,000,000 or Gibibytes (GiB) 1,073,741,824 by Cox Communications or Android devices. "Gigabyte" is often a colloquial term used when people mean GiB. Gigabits are in powers of 10, so it would stand to reason that Cox is using the actual Gigabyte in powers of ten to match data usage with the signaling rates they advertise.

    Also it seems extremely inconvenient to properly use an Android smartphone without regularly connecting it to WiFi. I suppose that they could be configured to do without it, but it would be onerous, because there are many settings not only in the system, but also in individual apps, and even more onerous if I needed to find change them all, more than once in the lifetime of the device itself. One of the main issues I've found is that uploads and streaming defer to WiFi. My Google Drive uploads often fail if I'm "out and about".

    It occurs to me that my use of streaming itself may be frowned upon, because my primary streaming provider is Google, who compete with Cox Communications in this space, and Cox would also rather provide TV service to my home, and has an interest in blocking/throttling/hindering streaming services that are not originating in Cox's television or backbone network. This is an ongoing "Net Neutrality" question.

    I hope that Cox and Verizon are both accepting that Cox customers use our Panoramic WiFi instead of Mobile Data. Honestly I wish that at home, I could plug in an Ethernet cable to every device and stop using the quite-congested airwaves. I've already disabled the 2.4GHz network because there is so much local interference. My devices can all see dozens upon dozens of neighbors' SSIDs broadcasting. I can't imagine how many devices on the cell-towers. There are maximum 1-2 bars of 4G or LTE reception from inside on good days.

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II
    2 months ago

    "I discovered that smartphones on Cox Mobile service are expected to use Mobile Data only."

    Where did you learn/read that? Android phones, including Pixels, can use wifi calling, which sends the traffic over the wifi connection. See here. On top of that, Cox Mobile also connects to any CoxWifi network in range and sends traffic over that. This is similar to wifi calling but uses the public hotspot instead of your private wifi.

    ::edit:: Have you updated to Android 15? Looks like it didn't work with Pixels until that update. See here.

    "My first Android device was WiFi-only, "

    What device is that? I have been using android since it came out with the G1. Technically android started as an OS for cameras, but starting 2004, it shifted to be for cell phones. This was before wifi calling I think, and every phone is going to have cellular connectivity. 

    " I had been connecting the Pixel to that home network, but the cable-modem data is metered and accounted separately from Mobile Data."

    Yes, that is the whole point of wifi calling, to use your home internet bandwidth and not your cellular bandwidth. Why is this a problem? It doesn't count against your bandwidth if you allow it to use the hotspot(Coxwifi) instead. Also, internet traffic will go through the wifi. If you want it to go through cellular, turn off wifi on the phone.

    "But American's don't really, and this represents a Cost of Living increase across the board."

    I think you have it backwards. In my experience, capped bandwidth is more a thing in the US then Europe. Europe has more fiber ISPs, and fiber ISP rarely use bandwidth caps. I am not sure what this has to do with anything though.

    "Smartphones aren't optional; every business and service I interact with promotes their Mobile Apps in the app stores, and SMS message phones are required, and voice calls haven't gone away. And Mobile Apps can't be run on a typical desktop or notebook computer, so even at home, I'm using my smartphone and its data, constantly."

    Wow, a lot wrong here. First, SMS isn't used much anymore. You might want to do some homework on that. Also, text messages for 2FA isn't safe anymore since Salt Typhoon. You should use either email or an authenticator app. Also, android apps can be run on desktops. See here.

     

    • Anesti33's avatar
      Anesti33
      Contributor
      2 months ago

      Oh dear. I'm sorry that I attracted your attention or confused the issue by mentioning a lot of unimportant details.

      The point of my post was nothing to do with voice calling, origins of Android, Fibre Optic in Europe, or SMS 2FA.

      Where did you learn/read that?

      I learned it as the result of several conversations with Cox Communications officials: on the tech support line and in-store in person. That's the nature of the service as envisioned by Cox Communications.

      Here's where we've got it backwards:

      It doesn't count against your bandwidth if you allow it to use the hotspot(Coxwifi) instead. Also, internet traffic will go through the wifi. If you want it to go through cellular, turn off wifi on the phone.

      But here's what I'm saying. Cox informed me that customers with Cox Mobile phones shouldn't be using their Panoramic Wifi while at home. The Cox Mobile service provides Mobile Data for us to use instead of WiFi, and it's metered and capped separately, and so to use Panoramic WiFi at home is "cheating" or "hiding" the actual data usage of the Android device.

      In view of this restriction, I used the Panoramic WiFi app to "Pause" the Android/Cox Mobile device, so it won't be permitted to use Cox Home Internet bandwidth instead of its designated Mobile Data connection.

      Panoramic WiFi, Home Internet connections are far faster and with far more capacity than the mobile network. At this time, it appears that the "Gig Unlimited" mobile plan offers 20GB per month before throttling bandwidth. Mine's using 6-8GB, if I'm out and about, using it freely. "Pay as You Gig" is a fixed cost per Gigabyte used each month, and throttled above 5 or so.

      I have a second Android phone, which I'm using WiFi only, and I was mulling over a second "Cox Mobile line" and installing a SIM card, but this would degrade my service and cost more, so I will need to pretend it is a tablet and not a "phone" because I choose not to utilize the SIM card/Mobile Wireless option on it. Cox issued this Pixel to me, and it's natively running Android apps where I need them, especially in my pocket while not at home.

      But a Mobile Wireless plan is the only sane way to access voice calling and SMS texting, and believe me, the 4G/LTE/5G service is the only way to go. My voice calls are crystal clear with great reception, and I use dozens of SMS per day for important tasks, quite reliably. You'd be surprised how many millennials communicate solely by SMS/RCS.

      Mobile phones are mobile and used outside the home. Cox offers a telephone service for customers to use inside their homes, so there should be no need to use a Mobile Phone while sitting around the Home Internet/ Panoramic WiFi service area.

      It's not a question of how I, Anesti33, want to communicate, but how my contacts choose to reach me, and how Cox Communications architects their services.

      • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
        WiderMouthOpen
        Esteemed Contributor II
        2 months ago

        I think it comes down to this; proof is in the pudding. Try it and find out. Does it work better? Do you save bandwidth? Does Cox say anything?