I vaguely remember (anymore everything I remember is sorta' vague) that
there was an Android setting which would accelerate the switchover from
cellular to Wi-Fi data. The was probably under developer options. Does this
still exist? Is there some other way to accomplish this? My phone is way to
slow to make the transition when I come home even though the signal is
strong even outside my home and it seems to take forever to use the phone
app to switch off the alarm.

Bodger <nobody@nowh.ere> wrote:

> I vaguely remember (anymore everything I remember is sorta' vague)
> that there was an Android setting which would accelerate the
> switchover from cellular to Wi-Fi data. The was probably under
> developer options. Does this still exist? Is there some other way to
> accomplish this? My phone is way to slow to make the transition when
> I come home even though the signal is strong even outside my home and
> it seems to take forever to use the phone app to switch off the
> alarm.

Don't remember a specific option to "speed" the switchover from wifi to
cellular (not the other way around). For my phone, the option switches
from wifi to cellular should the phone decide the wifi connection is
unstable. Alas, the phone maker never defined just what constitutes
"unstable".

On my LG V20 phone, the option is under Settings -> Network -> Wi-Fi ->
3-dot menu -> Advanced Wi-Fi -> Switch to mobile data (must be enabled)
-> Include unstable connections, which merely says:

Switch automatically to mobile data when Wi-Fi connection is unstable.

Your navpath in settings will differ since this is one of those
customizations that phone makers employ to differentiate their brand and
models.

I did also find a setting under Developer Options (after you enable it)
in its Networking section labeled:

Aggressive Wi-Fi to Cellular handover
When enabled, Wi-Fi will be more aggressive in handing over the data
connect to Cellular, when Wi-Fi signal is low.

This more about the handoff from wi-fi to cellular occuring when signal
strength for wi-fi reaches a low threshold, but is higher than without
this option enabled. That is, the handoff occurs at a higher wifi
signal strength instead of allowing a lower signal strength which could
result in a less stable or slower wifi connection. I don't have this
option enabled.

Both this options will speed up the switchover from wifi to cellular,
not the other way around as you requested. That the transition from
cellular to wifi is slow could be due to a background app that is still
using a cellular connection. While cellular calls are designed to
automatically switch between cell towers, there is no automatic switch
between cellular to wifi for calls. Could be the same for a data
connection: some app is doing an update or download that is still in
progress when you were travelling and then got home.

Instead of switching data connections between wifi and cellular, you
could try enabling the "Cellular data always active" option in Developer
Options. That says:

Always keep mobile data active, even when Wi-Fi is active (for fast
network switching).

The problem there is your phone will be consuming more power for a
connection that is unusable. Once you switch to wifi at home, the
cellular radio would still be active and trying to repeatedly get
connections to towers, but it isn't being used. It's like leaving your
car running after getting home to have it immediately warmed up and
ready to drive while consuming all that gas (or battery for EVs), like
you're in a wintery climate.

I don't know what "alarm" you mention. My phone app, the one that was
bundled with the phone, and Google Voice that I added, do not issue
alarms. Maybe you are using some app that is monitoring your signal
strengths for wifi and cellular, and alerting you when either is weak.

On 12/24/2022 1:52 PM, VanguardLH wrote:

> I don't know what "alarm" you mention. My phone app, the one that was
> bundled with the phone, and Google Voice that I added, do not issue
> alarms. Maybe you are using some app that is monitoring your signal
> strengths for wifi and cellular, and alerting you when either is weak.

Sorry I didn't make that clear. The alarm in question is my home alarm
system. I can enable/disable/monitor the system from my phone but I find
that, when returning home, even though the wi-fi signal is very strong in
the driveway and in the garage the phone seems to keep depending on the
cellular data for up to a minute so switching off the alarm system takes
overly long (and yes, I'm an impatient guy). Of course I could always dig
the alarm dongle out of my pocket and press the "off" button but that gives
no feedback as to whether it worked or not until I open the door from the
garage into the house.

Thanks for getting back to me. I guess I'll have to learn to mellow out...

Bodger <nobody@nowh.ere> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> I don't know what "alarm" you mention. My phone app, the one that
>> was bundled with the phone, and Google Voice that I added, do not
>> issue alarms. Maybe you are using some app that is monitoring your
>> signal strengths for wifi and cellular, and alerting you when either
>> is weak.
>
> Sorry I didn't make that clear. The alarm in question is my home alarm
> system. I can enable/disable/monitor the system from my phone but I
> find that, when returning home, even though the wi-fi signal is very
> strong in the driveway and in the garage the phone seems to keep
> depending on the cellular data for up to a minute so switching off
> the alarm system takes overly long (and yes, I'm an impatient guy).
> Of course I could always dig the alarm dongle out of my pocket and
> press the "off" button but that gives no feedback as to whether it
> worked or not until I open the door from the garage into the house.

Seems you need to contact the author of the alarm app to ask why it
doesn't maintain 2 concurrent connections: cellular and wifi (when both
are available), and why the app even has to switch to wifi because it
would've worked immediately on the existing cellular data connection.
Or is the home alarm system only accessible using a local wifi hotspot
at your home? If so, how would cellular even work with your home alarm?

Have you tried configuring the alarm app to NOT use wifi, so it always
uses and reuses a cellular data connection? Go into Settings -> Network
-> Data Manager, select Mobile list (apps that have use mobile data),
click on the alarm app, and check if the following option is available:

- Background data. Enable usage of cellular data in the background.

Alas, that's just the opposite of what you want. If disabled, the app
is not allowed to use background cellular data connections. I did this
to a web cam app for a security camera at my home. When I was
travelling, I was monitoring my home, but didn't realize the app was
using a cellular data connection. The app ate up my entire data quota,
and I couldn't do anything via cellular data until I got back to the
resort to reconnect to their wifi network to get a data connection that
way. Since I'm not monitoring my home when I'm moving around, like at a
theme park, or anytime I'm driving, limiting the app to wifi-only when I
got back to the resort, an Internet cafe, library, or other wifi hotspot
was more than sufficient to watch the web cam, and without consuming any
of my limited cellular data quota.

Since the only place you are using the alarm app is at home, and you
have good wifi signal strength when in the driveway or garage, why do
you need the app to connect using cellular data? Restrict it to wifi
only. When you get home, the app will use your home's wifi network.
The question is how long it takes for your phone to reconnect to a saved
wifi connection. It must be a saved wifi hotspot, and your phone
configured to automatically connect to saved wifi hotspots, to have your
phone automatically connect to saved wifi hotspots without any prompting
to you on whether to allow the wifi connect or not.

VanguardLH wrote:

> - Background data. Enable usage of cellular data in the background.

Mobile data always active = on/off
"Always keep mobile data active, even when Wi-Fi is active
(for fast network switching).
<https://i.postimg.cc/BQyYWpj3/devopt-verbose-wifi-log.jpg>

Bodger wrote:

> I vaguely remember (anymore everything I remember is sorta' vague) that
> there was an Android setting which would accelerate the switchover from
> cellular to Wi-Fi data.

Always keep mobile data active, even when Wi-Fi is active
(for fast network switching).
<https://i.postimg.cc/BQyYWpj3/devopt-verbose-wifi-log.jpg>

*Mobile Data Always Active: Is This Feature Good?*
<https://internet-access-guide.com/mobile-data-always-active/>

*'Mobile data always active'*
<https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/mobile-apps-services/mobile-data-always-active/td-p/5582147>

*Mobile Data Always Active, on or off?*
<https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/mobile-data-always-active-on-or-off.3862842/>

*How to Make Cellular Data Always Active on Android M*
<https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-make-cellular-data-always-active-on-android-m/>