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There are occasions when my Wi-Fi is fully lit but data traffic is slow and patchy (like it's coming over the phone network). If I lose phone signal, internet connectivity fails completely. Meanwhile, all the while the Wi-Fi is lit and happy.

This same Wi-Fi network is delivering internet to a laptop alongside it, so there's no question that the network doesn't have internet.

In order to properly investigate this, I'd like to know at any given moment whether my WP7 deivce is getting data traffic via Wi-Fi or phone. Is there some way of telling?

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If you look at your phone and you are connected to a wifi network you'll see a wifi icon. If the wifi icon shows the connected state you're using your wifi connection.

more information on prioratizing between 3g and wifi can be found in this question:

Does Windows Phone prioritize between using a data plan and wi-fi connection?

on a side note: the wifi icon does not show the quality of your connection. it just has 3 states. not connected (all grey bars), connected (all white bars) and connecting (animation between grey and white bars). to see the quality of your wifi signal go to the wifi settings.

2nd sidenote: you can test your wifi/3g speed with an app that Microsoft research released called "TestMyNet". It's free, you can download it here

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  • "If the wifi icon shows the connected state you're using your wifi connection" I don't think it can be that simple. What if the Wi-Fi router was disconnected from the internet? Then, you'd expect the Wi-Fi signal to show on but the phone to fall back to getting data over the phone data plan. Maybe that's what I'm experiencing. It's hard to tell. – hawbsl May 10 '12 at 13:45
  • did you try the TestMyNet application to test your connection? – GeertvdC May 10 '12 at 15:00
  • i've installed it from your link but at the moment i'm not near the problem wi-fi i'm checking up on – hawbsl May 10 '12 at 15:07
  • @GeertvdC I already tried TestMyNet and it looks like works. I think they have a special permission to choose between 3G or Wifi becouse there are two buttons. – Vitor Canova May 10 '12 at 16:25
  • @hawbsl If you are connected to a WiFi network that has no internet connectivity, then you will be unable to connect to the internet, I believe. This is something that can be easily tested though. – Ben Richards May 12 '12 at 16:11
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Under Settings->Mobile Network it is possible to turn your data connection off. Once you have done this the only option left to your phone is Wi-Fi. Which could then be used to check if Bing is returning results to see if you have an internet connection.

To really prove the phone is not using the mobile connection, you could even take the sim card out.

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You can use the app "ActiveNet Now!". It shows which connection is active. My Lumia 640 also prefers mobile data over wifi. Switching mobile data off is necessary to use wifi.

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