Question Can the ISP send a signal to its router that bumps cell phone off wifi?

[Agump]

Is it possible for an internet service provider to send a signal to the ISP provided router which has the effect of bumping a cell phone off using WiFi, and on to the (affiliate) cell phone service provider’s data plan?
We’ve been going through cell data like crazy, and are looking for the cause (s).

 

[AllanGH]

If you have teenagers carrying cell phones on the same plan, look no further than that.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

look at your phone reports from the data service provider. they break the usage down by phone. or they should.

 

[Agump]

If you have teenagers carrying cell phones on the same plan, look no further than that.

Not as simple as that, sorry to say.

 

[AllanGH]

OK...how many handsets on the plan, and what sort of overages are you looking at, and what have you observed in terms of dropped WiFi connections to handsets?

 

[bill001g]

The ISP in general has no access to your router...especially if you own it. Most routers are configured so only a device inside you house can configure them. The default for many is to only allow access to admin function via ethernet. You can of course change all this to allow access via the internet and via wifi but it is not really recommended.

It would be a massive undertaking to do this. They would have to know the mac address of the wifi radios in the phone and some how know that these were the same as the sim ids used on the mobile broadband. Highly unlikely because of technical reasons but the political blow back if they really did this is not a risk I suspect their lawyers will allow.

The handset disconnect from wifi must be something else. Maybe just tell all involved to disable the mobile data so the only option is wifi when they are using the device inside the house. Maybe I am weird but I keep the mobile data off at all times unless I am actually using it.

 

[AllanGH]

With wireless providers offering some seriously inexpensive unlimited everything plans, I would have thought that this would be less of an issue than it was, back in 2002, or so.

You may want to contact your wireless provider and negotiate for different plan terms.

 

[Agump]

look at your phone reports from the data service provider. they break the usage down by phone. or they should.

Yes, the available usage history is per phone, but that’s a macro view. All users have iPhones, 6s model. Most of the time each phone is using our WiFi for data, with iPhone setting for cellular data “on”, so the phone uses cellular data automatically whenever the WiFi connection is not available. There’s no problem with WiFi signal strength; we have no idea what disrupts the WiFi signal on our end (from router to iPhone); whatever the cause, it is transient, and not enough to cause the WiFi icon on the phone to show less than a full strength signal.
Is it possible that the iPhone doesn’t return to the wireless network and WiFi data exchange after being bounced?

 

[Deleted member 14196]

does it happen on all phones? or just one or two. who is getting disconnected all the time in other words? if it's everyone, something really weird is going on to where they can't stay connected. if it's a few, I would try resetting the phones to factory standard everything and see if they still have the problems

maybe something wrong with you router.

 

[Agump]

The ISP in general has no access to your router...especially if you own it. Most routers are configured so only a device inside you house can configure them. The default for many is to only allow access to admin function via ethernet. You can of course change all this to allow access via the internet and via wifi but it is not really recommended.

It would be a massive undertaking to do this. They would have to know the mac address of the wifi radios in the phone and some how know that these were the same as the sim ids used on the mobile broadband. Highly unlikely because of technical reasons but the political blow back if they really did this is not a risk I suspect their lawyers will allow.

The handset disconnect from wifi must be something else. Maybe just tell all involved to disable the mobile data so the only option is wifi when they are using the device inside the house. Maybe I am weird but I keep the mobile data off at all times unless I am actually using it.

The ISP provides and owns the router. I don’t believe that the service can be used with anything other than the ISP-furnished router. The router network is protected by password and the router has a list of all devices and MAC addresses with approved access. Device<—>wireless connection, password protected <—>Router
Router<—>ISP
Perhaps the way to explore this is to turn off mobile data on all phones, to limit the possibility of inadvertent usage of wireless data while connected to WiFi, and compare the phone’s cell data usage with prior months. Not exactly an isolated, single variable experiment, but perhaps revealing nonetheless.

 

[kanewolf]

Yes, the available usage history is per phone, but that’s a macro view. All users have iPhones, 6s model. Most of the time each phone is using our WiFi for data, with iPhone setting for cellular data “on”, so the phone uses cellular data automatically whenever the WiFi connection is not available. There’s no problem with WiFi signal strength; we have no idea what disrupts the WiFi signal on our end (from router to iPhone); whatever the cause, it is transient, and not enough to cause the WiFi icon on the phone to show less than a full strength signal.
Is it possible that the iPhone doesn’t return to the wireless network and WiFi data exchange after being bounced?

Is it possible that the kids are purposefully turning OFF WIFI to prevent you from having any parental controls?

 

[Agump]

does it happen on all phones? or just one or two. who is getting disconnected all the time in other words? if it's everyone, something really weird is going on to where they can't stay connected. if it's a few, I would try resetting the phones to factory standard everything and see if they still have the problems

maybe something wrong with you router.

Two of 3 phones show significant increases (several gigs) in cell data usage over time, and the third shows a modest increase. If there is a disruption in the WiFi signal, it is transient enough that I haven’t seen a change of signal strength on the phone’s WiFi icon.

 

[Agump]

Two of 3 phones show significant increases (several gigs) in cell data usage over time, and the third shows a modest increase. If there is a disruption in the WiFi signal, it is transient enough that I haven’t seen a change of signal strength on the phone’s WiFi icon.

And the original router was replaced by the ISP. I don’t recall when.

 

[Agump]

Is it possible that the kids are purposefully turning OFF WIFI to prevent you from having any parental controls?

All adults. Not an issue.

 

[kanewolf]

Obviously poor WIFI coverage, or signal could cause the phone to drop the WIFI in favor of cellular.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

the isp didn't replace the router, just the modem/gateway, right? you may need a good wifi router

 

[TJ Hooker]

Obviously poor WIFI coverage, or signal could cause the phone to drop the WIFI in favor of cellular.

Agreed. There may be a phone setting that controls how aggressively it will switch to mobile data if wifi is degraded, I'd take a look for that setting.

 

[jsmithepa]

Is not ISP, is human, more specifically ur kids.

Am cheapskate myself and program my phone, only a handful of applications can use cellular data, the rest are told NO. But without parental control on smartphones, kids will override this easy enough.

Another issue maybe massive, Yes Notification. Kids like to be popular, yes tell me everything, anytime, 24x7. Massive Notification=Massive Data.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Is not ISP, is human, more specifically ur kids.

Am cheapskate myself and program my phone, only a handful of applications can use cellular data, the rest are told NO. But without parental control on smartphones, kids will override this easy enough.

Another issue maybe massive, Yes Notification. Kids like to be popular, yes tell me everything, anytime, 24x7. Massive Notification=Massive Data.

already stated no kids.

All adults. Not an issue.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Is it possible for an internet service provider to send a signal to the ISP provided router which has the effect of bumping a cell phone off using WiFi, and on to the (affiliate) cell phone service provider’s data plan?
We’ve been going through cell data like crazy, and are looking for the cause (s).

Anything is possible. Especially if you have apps installed by the carrier. Some brands like republic wireless will tell you how much data each app is consuming and show it to you on a graph based on day. That will give you a clue where your data is going. For me it's the kids using YouTube kids on roadtrips.

Your other option is to turn off the wireless data. That would force usage of wifi.

 

[digitalgriffin]

And the original router was replaced by the ISP. I don’t recall when.

Do you have bad Wifi coverage with any of your other devices like computers? I'm talking about signal dropping in and out without explanation? I diagnosed my brother-n-laws connection going to crap. The source of which was the ISP router which kept turning the radio on and off.

The vast vast majority of ISP Wifi Routers are garbage. They really are. They give you the cheapest thing they can get away with.

 

[TJ Hooker]

I always run my own modem and router if possible.