sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> On 8/28/2021 6:18 AM, Chris wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> As described by others, by default, Wifi is always preferred when both are
>> available. The reason being that wifi almost never incurs additional costs
>> whereas mobile data often does.
>
> One exception is if you're using public Wi-Fi. In that case, if you're
> doing anything private (banking, shopping, e-mail, etc.), you should
> either use a VPN or turn off Wi-Fi so the phone has to use cellular data.

VPN not needed if you're web surfing to sites where there are no
accounts, or you don't login if you have an account at those sites.
Since all their site content is public (for no-login visitors), you
don't need to secrete it under encryption. Anyone visiting there can
see that public content. Only when you login do you need to secrete
your login credentials, and your account data. If you don't care about
anyone seeing to where you visit, HTTPS is sufficient to secrete your
login and data. A VPN is to hide to where you visit, but you'll still
want to use HTTPS for your logins and account data even when using a VPN
(while a VPN can still spy on to where you visit, you don't want the VPN
provider spying on your sensitive data, either).

Of course, if you're paranoid about others tracking to where you visit
then you need to use a VPN (wi-fi or data). Cellular data doesn't
prevent your provider from tracking to where you visit, just like
encrypted traffic (HTTPS) doesn't protect against tracking to where you
visit over normal wi-fi or data connections. However, if you're doing
porn, do you really care about Starbucks knowing where you visit or your
sexual preferences?

And, if your even more paranoid, remember to disable Bluetooth before
you leave home since it has vulnerabilities, even some that do not
involve user interaction, so the user is unaware BT is being used to
hack into their phone.

On 8/28/2021 12:55 PM, FromTheRafters wrote:
> VanguardLH used his or her keyboard to write :
>> I suspect you confused unlimited text with unlimited data.
>
> My carrier gave everyone postpaid in the usa free unlimited everything.

What carrier? At what price?

--
Ken

FromTheRafters <erratic@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

> VanguardLH used his or her keyboard to write :
>> I suspect you confused unlimited text with unlimited data.
>
> My carrier gave everyone postpaid in the usa free unlimited everything.

How does that qualify your claim "most USA carriers switch to unlimited
cellular data"? One is not most. Also, your claim infers ALL plans
from all carriers include unlimited data quotas.

If you pay a lot for a plan, they'll give you "free" unlimited for
everything, but you're still paying for a high-priced service tier. How
can it be free if you have to pay to get service? The more you pay the
larger the quotas.

"most USA carriers switch to unlimited to cellular data" if you pay for
their highest service tier(s). You pay more. You get more. Obviously
what you get is NOT free.

VanguardLH used his or her keyboard to write :
> How does that qualify your claim "most USA carriers switch to unlimited
> cellular data"? One is not most. Also, your claim infers ALL plans
> from all carriers include unlimited data quotas.

There are really only three major carriers in the usa, aren't there?
Mine is one of the majors. You know, the one that just got hacked.

> If you pay a lot for a plan, they'll give you "free" unlimited for
> everything, but you're still paying for a high-priced service tier. How
> can it be free if you have to pay to get service? The more you pay the
> larger the quotas.

Funny, you don't know what happened even as it was all over the usa news.
They didn't change what you paid. They just gave everyone free everything.

If you were paying $10/month, you're still paying $10/month, but now with
free everything. If you were paying $20/month, you're still paying
$10/month, but now with free everything. If you were paying $30/month,
you're still paying $10/month, but now with free everything. And so on.

It didn't matter _what_ you were paying before.
They charge you EXACTLY the same amount.

The only change is that they gave you free unlimited everything.
In addition everyone who wants one got a free Android 5G phone.

Look it up. It was all over the news in March, April, & May 2021.

Ken Blake used his or her keyboard to write :
> What carrier? At what price?

It was all over the news and on here in the newsgroups too.
T-Mobile in April gave _everyone_ free unlimited everything.
It didn't matter what plan they were previously on.
The price of their previous plan didn't change even by one cent.
It's called the "Magenta" plan now, I think.
They just handed it to everyone in the usa who was postpaid.
No change in monthly charges. Just free unlimited everything.
(Free here meaning an upgrade from whatever it was that you had.)
They even gave everyone a free 5G Android phone if they wanted one.
I think the limit was six free 5G phones on any given postpaid plan.

On 8/28/2021 3:28 AM, FromTheRafters wrote:

> Didn't most USA carriers switch to unlimited cellular data for free
> recently?

Not mine.

However I have post paid 2G of data on Verizon and I have what they call
'Safety Mode' turned on so if I go over I'm not charged extra but rather
throttled to 128K for the duration of the month. Fortunately I've never
had to test it, but I suppose that's a form of free
unlimited data... :-/

FromTheRafters <erratic@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

> VanguardLH used his or her keyboard to write :
>
>> How does that qualify your claim "most USA carriers switch to
>> unlimited cellular data"? One is not most. Also, your claim infers
>> ALL plans from all carriers include unlimited data quotas.
>
> There are really only three major carriers in the usa, aren't there?
> Mine is one of the majors. You know, the one that just got hacked.

And mine is NOT. It is an MVNO. You're claiming that what your carrier
did for you is available for everyone that uses that carrier, and with
any other carrier whether primary or MVNO.

>> If you pay a lot for a plan, they'll give you "free" unlimited for
>> everything, but you're still paying for a high-priced service tier.
>> How can it be free if you have to pay to get service? The more you
>> pay the larger the quotas.
>
> Funny, you don't know what happened even as it was all over the usa
> news. They didn't change what you paid. They just gave everyone free
> everything.
>
> If you were paying $10/month, you're still paying $10/month, but now
> with free everything. If you were paying $20/month, you're still
> paying $10/month, but now with free everything. If you were paying
> $30/month, you're still paying $10/month, but now with free
> everything. And so on.
>
> It didn't matter _what_ you were paying before. They charge you
> EXACTLY the same amount.
>
> The only change is that they gave you free unlimited everything. In
> addition everyone who wants one got a free Android 5G phone.
>
> Look it up. It was all over the news in March, April, & May 2021.

You seem to know all about. Please give some URLs that say all, or even
most, cellular providers (primary *and* MVNO) have gone */permanently/*
to unlimited plans for calls, text, and data, and not part of some Covid
incentive from the FCC. And that those perks are not only for the
highest priced service tiers, but across all service tiers. And apply
when subscribing to a single line, not a bulk plan requiring paying for,
say, 4 lines. Oh, and which ones do not throttle the bandwidth after
reaching a threshold, so you get unlimited unthrottled before the
threshold, but unlimited throttled after the threshold.

I'm definitely curious, as are everyone else here, just where are these
online journalistic quality resources claiming everyone can get a $10/mo
carrier plan with unlimited calls, texts, and especially for data.
Please educate us. I tried looking it up, didn't find anything, but
then you didn't provide the magical elixir of search terms. I even
tried adding site:usatoday.com (but maybe your "usa news" for for lots
of sites besides this one). I didn't find what you claim. Prove you're
not a troll by giving URLs to those articles announcing such a wonderful
development in pricing and service tiers.

https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-unlimited-data-plan
Date: 8/18/2021
Mint - $30/month
Verizon - $80/month
T-mobile - $70/month
Comcast - $45/month
AT&T - $85/month

Why would they have different prices if they are all providing the same
unlimited service tier? They certainly aren't at the $10/month you
stated.

https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans
Date updated (current web page): Aug 10, 2021
Essentials plan: $30/month for 3 lines ($90/month), unlimited but
throttled above 50GB
Magenta: $40/line for 3 lines ($120/month), unlimited but throttled
above 100GB
Magenta Max: $47/line for 3 lines ($140/month), unlimited and
unthrottled

Even T-Mobile, your carrier, doesn't agree with you. Maybe you
qualified for and got on some low-income service tier, like the FCC
mandated Lifeline service that all carriers are required to provide; see
https://www.fcc.gov/lifeline-consumers.

FromTheRafters <erratic@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

> Ken Blake used his or her keyboard to write :
>> What carrier? At what price?
>
> It was all over the news and on here in the newsgroups too.
> T-Mobile in April gave _everyone_ free unlimited everything.
> It didn't matter what plan they were previously on.
> The price of their previous plan didn't change even by one cent.
> It's called the "Magenta" plan now, I think.

T-Mobile is not all carriers as you claim. T-Mobile's web site also
does not agree with what you claim regarding price and quotas. See my
other reply that shows the URL to T-Mobile's pricing page. Essentials
and Magenta are unlimited but throttled (after the threshold the
bandwidth gets severely throttled), and only the highest price tier has
unlimited and unthrottled. You must buy 3 lines, not just 1.

They say the Essentials plan is $30/mo ($90 total for 3 lines required),
not $10/mo, and throttling starts at 50GB. They say the Magenta plan
costs $120/mo for all the 3 required lines, and throttling starts at
100GB; i.e., you pay more to get a higher throttling threshold. They
say they charge $140 for the 3 required lines to get unlimited and
unthrottled. They say the cheapest you can get from them is $30/mo for
3 lines (with throttling), not the $10/mo you state.

Hmm, there's what you say and what T-mobile says. Maybe it was the old
farts (55+ years old) service tiers.

https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/unlimited-55-senior-discount-plans?icid=WMM_TM_P_UNL55PLUS_K91OPRDA8DPCQR8P18514

None of those are at $10/mo. They also have discount plans for veterans
and 1st responders. Nope, they don't list a $10/mo plan for those,
either.

> They just handed it to everyone in the usa who was postpaid.
> No change in monthly charges. Just free unlimited everything.
> (Free here meaning an upgrade from whatever it was that you had.)
> They even gave everyone a free 5G Android phone if they wanted one.
> I think the limit was six free 5G phones on any given postpaid plan.

URLs please.

sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> On 8/28/2021 6:18 AM, Chris wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> As described by others, by default, Wifi is always preferred when both are
>> available. The reason being that wifi almost never incurs additional costs
>> whereas mobile data often does.
>
> One exception is if you're using public Wi-Fi. In that case, if you're
> doing anything private (banking, shopping, e-mail, etc.), you should
> either use a VPN or turn off Wi-Fi so the phone has to use cellular data.

That's a very different issue.

On 8/29/2021 6:44 AM, Chris wrote:
> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>> On 8/28/2021 6:18 AM, Chris wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> As described by others, by default, Wifi is always preferred when both are
>>> available. The reason being that wifi almost never incurs additional costs
>>> whereas mobile data often does.
>>
>> One exception is if you're using public Wi-Fi. In that case, if you're
>> doing anything private (banking, shopping, e-mail, etc.), you should
>> either use a VPN or turn off Wi-Fi so the phone has to use cellular data.
>
> That's a very different issue.

No, it's actually the same issue. WiFi is generally preferred because it
doesn't use mobile data, and even many plans with "unlimited data" will
throttle after a certain threshold. But users should be careful about
their phone connecting to unknown WiFi networks, especially if they only
manually turn on their VPN when using such networks.

If you connect to free Wi-Fi at a store, hotel, library, etc., and use a
VPN to be safe, the phone will often remember that Wi-Fi network and
automatically connect to it the next time it sees it, even if your VPN
is turned off. I've looked at my phone on occasion and not seen the LTE
indicator and thought that something was wrong, but it was just that the
phone had connected to a WiFi network that I'd used in the past.

sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> On 8/29/2021 6:44 AM, Chris wrote:
>> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>> On 8/28/2021 6:18 AM, Chris wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>> As described by others, by default, Wifi is always preferred when both are
>>>> available. The reason being that wifi almost never incurs additional costs
>>>> whereas mobile data often does.
>>>
>>> One exception is if you're using public Wi-Fi. In that case, if you're
>>> doing anything private (banking, shopping, e-mail, etc.), you should
>>> either use a VPN or turn off Wi-Fi so the phone has to use cellular data.
>>
>> That's a very different issue.
>
> No, it's actually the same issue. WiFi is generally preferred because it
> doesn't use mobile data, and even many plans with "unlimited data" will
> throttle after a certain threshold. But users should be careful about
> their phone connecting to unknown WiFi networks, especially if they only
> manually turn on their VPN when using such networks.

You best configure and/or select the services and parameters in such
a way that access is not insecure when you are not using a VPN!

That is usually no problem these days. Configure your e-mail to use
encrypted POP/IMAP/SMTP, use only https sites, etc.

Remember when you use a VPN, the VPN provider can look in your data,
unless you have taken the above countermeasures. So better to do that
anyway.

On 28/08/2021 20.23, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> On 28/08/2021 11.26, NY wrote:
>>> "John" <john@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:sgbs86$1rqj$1@gioia.aioe.org...
>>>> When you have both fully turned on how does the phone know which one
>>>> to use
>>>> in any given situation?
>>>
>>> On my Android phone (Samsung) the rule is very simple: if it has a wifi
>>> connection it will use that one; if it hasn't, it will try the mobile
>>> internet connection instead. This means I can leave mobile internet
>>> turned on permanently, and regulate whether to use wifi or mobile by
>>> turning wifi on or off. The algorithm is fairly primitive: if wifi is
>>> turned on but the router has no WAN connection to the internet, it will
>>> not try mobile :-(
>>
>> Huh, no. Mine, if the WiFi has no internet, doesn't use it, unless I insist.
>>
>> I simply have both enabled and leave it all to automatics. I have
>> disabled the use of free wifis. I very seldom have to check.
>
> NY describes Samsung's 'Intelligent Wi-Fi' feature (earlier know by
> other names.
>
> That feature 'learns' the locations of networks (SSIDs) you use
> regularly. When you're in/near those locations, Wi-Fi will be turned on,
> when your elsewhere, Wi-Fi will be turned off. I.e. both a battery-
> saving and security/privacy feature.

I had that feature years ago with an app that would do changes depending
on the location, but it stopped working after a newer android, because
apps could not turn the wifi on-off, no permission.

However, I don't notice any impact on my current phone by leaving the
WiFi enabled full time.

>
> If *such* a special network has no WAN connection - i.e. router is up,
> but WAN is down - it will not try mobile. I.e. when I'm home and my
> cable ISP is down, my phone will not try to use mobile data. That
> feature is normally an advantage and in the exceptional case when it's
> not, it's easy to turn off Wi-Fi completely and the phone will use
> mobile data.
>
>> There is another setting which is configure a particular WiFi connection
>> as metered, expensive; thus it will not use that connection to download
>> updates or maps, say. I use it when the WiFi comes from another phone,
>> via tethering.
>
> Hmmm! Interesting. I'll look if our phones have a similar setting for
> use in similar situations. (For example on our last holiday, my phone
> had a cheap data bundle, but my wife's phone had not. I didn't want to
> risk tethering her's to mine, because something might decide to download
> 100's of MB thinking it's a cheap Wi-Fi connection.)

Exactly. I use it to tether my tablet, for instance.

>
>>> There may be some apps which allow you to choose which connection they
>>> will use, but mostly (as for Windows and Linux) the choice is taken
>>> automatically at OS level.
>>
>> I have not seen any. Only some that will not use the connection unless
>> it is WiFi, but it does not influence which one to activate.
>
> FWIW, I've seen some, but indeed not many.
>

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

In article <slrnsiniiv.sfc.nomail@xs9.xs4all.nl>, Rob
<nomail@example.com> wrote:

>
> That is usually no problem these days. Configure your e-mail to use
> encrypted POP/IMAP/SMTP, use only https sites, etc.

absolutely.

> Remember when you use a VPN, the VPN provider can look in your data,
> unless you have taken the above countermeasures. So better to do that
> anyway.

yep.

using a vpn just moves the point of trust. which one is better depends
on many factors.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2021 19:59:24 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> However, I don't notice any impact on my current phone by leaving the
> WiFi enabled full time.

There are wifi geofence apps which turn it on and off based on location.

sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> On 8/29/2021 6:44 AM, Chris wrote:
>> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>> On 8/28/2021 6:18 AM, Chris wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>> As described by others, by default, Wifi is always preferred when both are
>>>> available. The reason being that wifi almost never incurs additional costs
>>>> whereas mobile data often does.
>>>
>>> One exception is if you're using public Wi-Fi. In that case, if you're
>>> doing anything private (banking, shopping, e-mail, etc.), you should
>>> either use a VPN or turn off Wi-Fi so the phone has to use cellular data.
>>
>> That's a very different issue.
>
> No, it's actually the same issue.

Nope it's different. The OP was asking about controlling wifi and mobile
data usage. You're talking about VPNs which is not addressing the question.

On 8/28/2021 12:39 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Robin Goodfellow <Ancient-of-Days@Heaven.Net> wrote:
>
>> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> asked
>>> I did not find a similar wi-fi/cellular option in Firefox Mobile.
>>
>> Try NetGuard https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/releases
>>
>> It's not only for blocking ads.
>> It also acts as a firewall.
>>
>> For _any_ app, NG can block its access to wi-fi or to cellular or both.
>
> I don't want to block wi-fi or cellular data access to Firefox Mobile.
> I want it to get an Internet connect using whatever access method
> available. I would /prefer/ it first use wi-fi, if available. If wi-fi
> was not available, then fallback to cellular data. I want to grant BOTH
> access methods to the app. I just want it to use wi-fi over data. It
> is a preference (or priority).

The issue is not as simple as automatically using Wi-Fi when it's
available and only using cellular when Wi-Fi is not available. That's
the default now, but it's not always the best option. If you're staying
at a hotel with free Wi-Fi, you probably don't want to be doing banking
or shopping, or use any app where you're entering passwords, unless
you're using a VPN. Last June, I was in Utah, and my VPN subscription
expired (I had signed up for a 10 year plan with PureVPN but they
reneged on the deal and cut the service off at 5 years). My wife was in
the middle of refinancing a rental property and needed to send a lot of
documentation, and LTE data was slow so hotspotting the laptop to the
phone was not a good option. So I subscribed to a new VPN (Surf Shark)
right away and she proceeded to use Wi-Fi.

On Android, you can already prohibit each particular app from using
cellular data, but you can't prohibit each app from using Wi-Fi when the
phone is connected to Wi-Fi, you'd have to turn off Wi-Fi to stop that.

While it would add complexity to settings, what would be nice to have,
for each app, is a choice of which data to require, permit, or prohibit
from using Wi-Fi and which data to require, permit, or prohibit from
using cellular. You could complicate it even more by allowing apps to
use only certain Wi-Fi networks. The issue is not as simple as
automatically using Wi-Fi when it's available and only using cellular
when Wi-Fi is not available.

All that said, with the huge amount of high speed data included on most
plans, many users never bother to turn on Wi-Fi to reduce data usage.
For those on a low-cost plan with very small amounts of data available,
such as the plans from some MVNOs like Red Pocket with their very cheap
360 day plans (as low as $2.50 a month) then obviously you want to keep
cellular data off except when absolutely needed.

What is more of an issue is when the cellular network is slow or there
is no cellular coverage at all, and Wi-Fi is a better choice. That's
when you really want to be sure to use a VPN for many tasks.

In article <sglh4k$c4t$1@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> If you're staying
> at a hotel with free Wi-Fi, you probably don't want to be doing banking
> or shopping, or use any app where you're entering passwords, unless
> you're using a VPN.

all of those use https, therefore it's not an issue.