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turn off data and use WiFi

O

otiskatz

Newbie
I am currently using an unlocked nokia n8 and I am able to turn off data and use
Wi-Fi only. Can I do this on the galaxy s4 unlocked?
 
Hello and welcome to the forums. Yes you can and most of us do this when the phone is turned off :eek::D aka didn't pay the phone bill.
 
Thanks for the welcome:) I am fairly new to the smart phone technology. It may seem like a foolish question to someone with your knowledge but I really don't know the answer. I like being able to use my phone and check the internet or my e-mails when I'm on my home network or a Wi Fi hotspot. I see no need to pay for a internet data plan if I don't need to, the problem is nobody seems to be able to give me an answer about the s4. ultimately I would like to put my current sim into the galaxy like I did my last phone
 
As I'm sure other people will mention, there are about a zillion variations of the S4 on the market, so it's hard to give an answer across the board.

That said, my S4 settings have a perfectly good "Mobile data" checkbox. Uncheck the box and mobile data is off. (This is something I tend to use regularly when I'm out of the country and don't want to pay Verizon's crazy international data roaming rates.)
 
Adara said:
As I'm sure other people will mention, there are about a zillion variations of the S4 on the market, so it's hard to give an answer across the board.

That said, my S4 settings have a perfectly good "Mobile data" checkbox. Uncheck the box and mobile data is off. (This is something I tend to use regularly when I'm out of the country and don't want to pay Verizon's crazy international data roaming rates.)
Click to expand...
Best info so far! thanks to all who have replied
 
Adara said:
As I'm sure other people will mention, there are about a zillion variations of the S4 on the market, so it's hard to give an answer across the board.

That said, my S4 settings have a perfectly good "Mobile data" checkbox. Uncheck the box and mobile data is off. (This is something I tend to use regularly when I'm out of the country and don't want to pay Verizon's crazy international data roaming rates.)
Click to expand...
Btw, which model do you have?
 
Yes there are many S4 variants. To help us, help you in future it is very useful to know and preferably post your model number in your profile so it displays with every post. Go to settings>General>About device and the model number is there.
 
I tried to update my profile but I can't connect to the forum. I get a message saying to contact forum administrator. :confused:
 
speedlever said:
However, if you want to send/receive MMS messages, you will have to enable mobile data. That will not go out over wifi.
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There is no need to worry about any of this.

If you have a wifi signal, data will go out over wifi not the 3G connection. Phone calls and SMS/MMS will obviously be sent over 3G regardless of any wifi connection. All of this happens automatically with no user intervention required.
 
lotus49 said:
There is no need to worry about any of this.

If you have a wifi signal, data will go out over wifi not the 3G connection. Phone calls and SMS/MMS will obviously be sent over 3G regardless of any wifi connection. All of this happens automatically with no user intervention required.
Click to expand...
Any recommendations on how to address the standard sim I'm now using V.S. the micro sim I will need. Phone will be in my hands in 4 day's
 
lotus49 said:
There is no need to worry about any of this.

If you have a wifi signal, data will go out over wifi not the 3G connection. Phone calls and SMS/MMS will obviously be sent over 3G regardless of any wifi connection. All of this happens automatically with no user intervention required.
Click to expand...

There is cause for concern if you disable mobile data and depend on wifi alone for messaging.

Early on in my Android experience, I was overly aggressive trying to conserve battery power and used an app (Juice Defender, iirc) to turn off various services (including mobile data). I had lots of issues sending/receiving MMS because of that. At the time, I did not know that MMS requires mobile data.
 
Adara said:
Me? I'm on SCH-1545 (standard US Verizon model).
Click to expand...
Thanks Adara, I'm on a GMS system s4 9500. any advise on sim card modification i.e. new sim, cut mine down, adapter etc... this is open to any who read this.....all advise is welcome
 
speedlever said:
There is cause for concern if you disable mobile data and depend on wifi alone for messaging.

Early on in my Android experience, I was overly aggressive trying to conserve battery power and used an app (Juice Defender, iirc) to turn off various services (including mobile data). I had lots of issues sending/receiving MMS because of that. At the time, I did not know that MMS requires mobile data.
Click to expand...
Great forum, you are all very helpful. best source of info I've found so far. I look forward to the time when I can contribute
 
speedlever said:
There is cause for concern if you disable mobile data and depend on wifi alone for messaging.
Click to expand...
Which is precisely why my advice is to do nothing. Everything will then work as it should with all messages being received/sent and mobile data only being used when no wifi is available.
 
lotus49 said:
Which is precisely why my advice is to do nothing. Everything will then work as it should with all messages being received/sent and mobile data only being used when no wifi is available.
Click to expand...

Agreed... except that the OP wants to shut off mobile data... ergo my warning of a possible consequence in so doing. Don't expect MMS to work if only using wifi.
 
I may be ... no, scratch that, I probably am ... completely and utterly mistaken about this, but I tend to think of the smartphone as having three ways of communicating with the world: as a mobile phone, as a wi-fi device, and as a nifty internet appliance.

Turn off Mobile Data (which I do when abroad), and it will still function as a mobile phone. Even with wi-fi off, it will connect to whatever network it can find and do phone things, but my carrier (VZW) will only be charging me their (somewhat extortionate) international phone-stuff rates, and not their (actually extortionate) international data rates.

Text Messages fall under the heading of Mobile Phone Stuff. Meaning that when Mobile Data is off, you won't be charged for Mobile Data usage when sending/receiving texts. (Indeed, they have special rates for text messages when abroad.)

Now, everyone on this thread saying that the phone will actually be using 3G when sending messages is likely right (I don't know any different) -- but I think that's in the same way that the phone will also be using 3G to make calls. It's just grabbing the nearest network and doing its (phone) thing. The important thing is that when Mobile Data is off, your phone (1) is not functioning as a nifty internet appliance (unless it can be doing so via wi-fi); and (2) you aren't being charged for mobile data.

I confess a certain amount of uncertainty when we're talking MMS as opposed to SMS for the messages. My recollection (which I'd put at about 80% accuracy) is that when my Mobile Data is off, my phone will not process a text message sent with a photo embedded. Nor will that process over Wi-Fi. (My experience with this ended with me texting the message sender and telling them to send the damn photo as an email attachment instead, which I could then download over Wi-Fi.)
 
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