What takes priority... wifi or cellular data??

Question

What takes priority... wifi or cellular data??

I can't find a discussion about this...

When the phone has cellular data turned on & is also connected via wifi, what takes priority for e-mail, surfing, etc?

I forgot to turn off cellular when I got home after traveling & now my cellular data usage jumped up.

Is there any way to set which system has priority so I don't go over my plan by mistake?

Thanks!

iP4, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 15, MBP, iPad, iP4

Posted on Aug 20, 2010 5:26 AM

Reply

Answer 1

GZukes

Level 4

1,590 points

Aug 20, 2010 5:42 AM in response to Paula Wilson-Parker

WiFi should take priority. There is a issue that may account for your excessive data. There is a thread on unexplained early morning data useage.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2450738

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Answer 2

Kwopau

Level 4

1,748 points

Aug 20, 2010 6:41 AM in response to Paula Wilson-Parker

Wi-fi takes the priority. so if you have wi-fi on and the cellular data on, it will use wi-fi, and no data will be used on your data plan. But keep in mind that you still need cellular data on to receive voicemails and mms.

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Answer 3

iZian

Level 2

193 points

Aug 20, 2010 7:02 AM in response to Paula Wilson-Parker

Even if wifi is not connected (phone in standby mode); if wifi is "ON" then it will try to connect to any known hotspots before connecting to check emails etc...

HOWEVER
I have noticed; as with OS 3, that if you use PUSH email; the connection maintained to the server for push notifications will be over cellular data as this saves battery compared to wifi (at least it used to).

I have no idea if this applies to PUSH notification for apps also or not as I do not use that feature.

So there is a little more to it than a plain yes...

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