How to know how fast your mobile internet connection is

If you're in the UK, like we are, you'll have heard all about how 4G is going to revolutionise mobile internet and spread across the country like wildfire. We all know that 4G is going to be incredibly quick when you can get it, but before it comes to where we are we decided to find out what speed our mobile internet could get up to.

If you're like us, and curios as to what speed you can browse the net on your phone we'd advise downloading the "Speedtest.net" app from Ookla.

The app, that looks something like the image on the left is incredibly simple and gives you 3 important measures of your internet's speed.

Firstly the app finds your "ping" speed. This number, displayed in the top left of the screen, should ideally be a low number. Below 100 is good with a mobile. The best we've seen through mobile internet is a 54 so anything better than 50 should be viewed as amazing.

The app then finds your download speed. This is how quickly data goes from the internet to your phone. This speed determines thinks like how quickly a movie downloads to your phone, how smooth internet radio or streamed music is and how quick general browsing is. For this test the higher the number the better.

The final test the phone does is find your upload speed. This number relates to how long it takes to upload things, for example pictures to facebook and videos to youtube. As with the download speed, a bigger number is better though it'll be incredibly rare for this number to be anywhere near your download speed (in fact it'd be a shock to even be 1/2 of your download speed).

Unfortunately whilst the three tests are excellent, you speed can change at a moments notice, doing tests one after another can render very different figures due to changes outside of your control. Unfortunately this is just something you will need to put up with.

Note-If you're ping is over 1000 and your download speed is 0 it's often best resetting your phone's internet and doing another test as it's likely your phone isn't actually getting a "true" connection at that point.

How to get around Vodafone's "Adult content" filter

By default all phones on Vodafone have a rather annoying "Adult Content" lock which is there to prevent youngsters from getting on sites associated with pornography, gambling and other adult based websites. Whilst we understand the idea of doing this on PAYG (Pay As You Go) handsets we think it's a bit stupid to have it on contract phones so we decided to try and find a "work around"...what we didn't realise was just HOW easy it was to get around.

The first option is that you connect your phone to the internet via Wi-Fi. This actually cuts out anything to do with your network, so obviously you won't be charged "Data" for using your own Wi-Fi and in many cases you'll also likely get a quicker connection to the internet. The problem with just using Wi-Fi to get around the Adult Content is that you can't always be connected to Wi-Fi and this brings us nicely to option 2.

Option 2 is that you download the "Opera Mini" internet browser. Opera Mini, in one version or another, can be used with almost any phone capable of browsing the internet. For many smartphones you will find it on the associated "Store" or "Market" for older phones that can run Java visit http://www.opera.com/mobile/ on your PC (and see if a version is available for your phone). After installing Opera Mini you need to open it and then use it to visit a website, you should quickly realise that you can get on the previously prohibited website.

Opera Mini manages to get around Vodafone's content filter as the Opera servers actually deal with your request (as opposed to Vodafone's) this means that you are sent a website that Opera has processed (this saves you money on data as well as gets around the the pesky Adult Content warning). Rather interestingly the Chinese Government were afraid of Opera customers using Opera Mini to get around the "Great Firewall" in a similar manner to the way that users can use Opera Mini to get around Adult Content filters!

So next time you want to place a sneaky bet, look at something dirty or read up on drugs use Opera Mini.

*We do expect this to work on ANY networks using adult content filters but sadly we're unable to test at the moment

The quick way to turn off the data connection on a Samsung Galaxy S2

In a previous guide I showed you how to turn off the "packet data" internet connect on a  Samsung Galaxy S2 by going through the menu screens. You may be happy to know that it's actually a lot, lot easier than doing that and can be done almost in an instant.

If you hold the "Lock" button for a few seconds you will see a "Phone options" screen pop up like the one on the right hand side. As you can see the second option is "Data network mode" if you decide to "Disable" it, by simply pressing it, then you've turned off the mobile internet from the phone. Again to enable it you can just hold the "Lock" button and re-activate the Data network mode option.

3G Watchdog

 After having used 3G Watchdog since getting my HTC Wildfire (and subsequently my Samsung Galaxy S2) it seems only fair to look at one of the must have apps for any mobile internet using android phone users. The basic app is available for free from the Market and is one that you should already have (and if you don't, get it now!).

What is 3G Watchdog?
The application is currently the best way to keep track of your data usage on an Android phone. It does this by recording all your usage in a screen like the one in the image to the right hand side.

 For those who are on a capped allowance of mobile data, this is an application that will allow you to set a your plan into the app and then track how much data you are using. The screenshot to the left is the plan setting, which allows you to select your allowance, you time span, you reset date and when you want the phone to alert you that you're getting close to your limit (i.e. when 75% of your allowance is used).

As well as tracking usage through the month the app also allows you to see data usage for the last 31 days as both received and sent this is where the application can do that little bit extra.

If you're on a capped allowance, no matter how big, 3G Watchdog is a must have app that will allow you to track the usage on your phone. It adds a feature that SHOULD have been put in the phones when they were made.

How to turn the internet OFF on a Samsung Galaxy S2

 Whilst lots of people will be wanting to use their fantastic new Samsung Galaxy S2 to play about on the internet some people will either not have a contract that allows for mobile internet or will be wanting to save battery. One of the ways of dealing with both of these issues is to turn off the mobile internet. If you are not connected to a Wi-Fi connection your phone will always be searching for the internet even if it won't be using it. Of course if you have things synced up then the phone will syncing all the time which really drains the battery and can even add to your bill.

To "turn the internet off" you need to enter the settings menu (press the menu button
and then settings) then open up the Wireless and network sub settings men before scrolling down to the option called "Mobile networks". What you then need to do is untick the box that says "Use packet data". This will completely stop you from using the internet AT ALL on your phone and as a result you won't be able to search the net, sit on facebook or receive MMS messages.

Of course you can, at any point, go back and tick the box to turn it back on if you decide you do want to sit browsing the internet via mobile internet services (you can however still use Wi-Fi even with packet data turned off).

Hope this helps to both save you money and save your battery.