How to Set Wifi Connection as Metered on Android

Android is designed to be gentle on your mobile data. Until you connect to a WiFi, all your background bandwidth usage is put on hold. However, there are hotspots that are set are metered connection. Android P makes it easier to know that, and it will also let you set a network as a metered connection. You could see the type of connect on some previous versions of Android too, but it was buried way deep in the Data Saver settings. Fortunately, on Android P, Google has taken note of this and made it way easier to mark a network as metered or unmetered than on the previous versions of Android. Here’s how to set Wifi connection as metered on Android.

Set Wifi Connection as Metered on Android

So exactly what is a metered and unmetered connection? The answer is in the name itself. A “metered” connection has limited bandwidth to offer whereas an unmetered connection gives you unlimited bandwidth for a fixed period of time. A common example can be WiFi and Mobile Data. Wifi is usually unmetered and gives you unlimited bandwidth usage, whereas Mobile Data can be metered. This may not be the case every time though. Some ISP provides plans which come with data caps. also, if you are using mobile data without a plan, you have to pay for each byte you use. These are all metered connections.

Android automatically restricts heavy data usage like online backup, updates, etc when it is connected to a metered network. Good boy Android will always try to save your data when you are on a metered connection. While most of the time Android can find out if the connection you are in is metered or not, there may be some time you need to configure it yourself depending on your subscription plan. You can do this on some previous versions of Android too, but this article focuses on Android version 9 or Pie.

Follow the following steps

Step 1: Open Settings.

Step 2: Tap on WiFi.

Step 3: There you will find a small gear icon just beside the WiFi network you’re connected to. You will also see if it is set as metered or unmetered. Tap on the gear icon.

Step 4: Scroll down and find Advanced. This will reveal advanced settings for the selected Wifi network.

Step 5: Tap on the text next to the $ icon. You will see if it is set as metered or unmetered.

Step 6: You will see 3 options – Detect automatically, Treat as metered and Treat as unmetered. The first option should be set by default. If you want to set the connection as metered, select Treat as metered. If you want to set it as unmetered, choose Treat as unmetered.

You can also change these settings through the Data Usage setting. Just open Network Restrictions and set the connection as metered or unmetered. Note that not all devices come with these settings; every connection is treated as unmetered. So be careful while connecting to a network. You might end up losing a lot of data and money

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