Skip to content 
How To Access Mobile Data On Android Phone
In this post, we will show you how to access mobile data on an Android phone…
Mobile data keeps you connected to the internet from your smartphone via your cellular network provider. Hence, mobile data ensures that you’re connected to the internet when you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network.
How Do You Access Mobile Data On Android?
To access mobile data from your Android device, try out any of the methods below:
Method 1:
- Swipe down on your screen from the top to display quick access icons.
- Tap on the ‘Data connection’ icon represented by a two-way arrow to toggle on/off your data connection.
- If you’re using a double sim device, you can hold down on the icon to select the cellular network provider you want to connect to for mobile data.
- Toggle on any of the sims you want to use for data connectivity.
- Exit the settings and launch a browser or launch an app requiring an internet connection to function.
Method 2:
- From your device’s home page or app list, scroll through to select the ‘Settings’ icon (gear icon).
- Tap on ‘Network & Internet’ from the displayed list of options.
- Tap on ‘Sim cards’ on the ‘Network & Internet’ page.
- Toggle on any of the sims you want to use for data connectivity.
- Exit the settings and launch a browser or launch an app requiring an internet connection to function.
Signs Of Poor Internet Connection
If, after enabling mobile data connection on your Android device and not connected to the internet, most probably, you’re in an area with poor internet connectivity.
The following are signs of poor internet connection:
- Web pages take so long to load or won’t load
- Your downloads are not starting, timed out, or remains at 0%
Troubleshooting Mobile Data Connection
Apply any of the solutions below to resolve mobile data connectivity issues:
Solution 1: Check for network connectivity
- Check to ensure that you have an active data subscription package.
- Ensure that your mobile data is on, and you have selected the right sim if you’re using a double-sim device. If it is on, you can toggle it off and on.
- Look out for the data connection signal e.g., 4G, 3G, H+, or 2G by the signal strength bar at the top-right of your phone screen.
- If the data connection signal is not displayed, you might be in an environment with low internet connectivity. Try changing your location and look out for the signal. If your phone is successfully connected to a Wi-Fi network, the connectivity signal will not be displayed, switch off your Wi-Fi connectivity, and check for the connectivity signal.
- If you’re not connected, you can request automatic internet settings from your cellular network provider by calling their ‘Support’ or customer care line.
Solution 2: Restart your android device
- Restart your Android device by holding down the power button and ‘Swipe up to Restart.’ Typically, some changes require that you restart your device before they can be effected. For instance, when switching from 3G to 4G, or any of the network connectivity.
- Launch your device’s browser and open a webpage, or try downloading from Google Play Store to verify if the data connection problem is resolved.
Solution 3: Switch off Your Wi-Fi connectivity
If restarting your Android device does not fix the issue, you should toggle off your Wi-Fi connectivity.
Here’s how:
- Swipe-down on your screen from the top to display quick access icons
- Tap on the ‘Wi-Fi’ icon to toggle off your Wi-Fi connectivity
- Tap on the ‘Data connection’ icon represented by a two-way arrow to toggle on your data connection
- Alternatively, you can access your ‘wi-Fi’ connectivity from the ‘Network and Connectivity’ page by
- Launching the ‘Settings’ icon on your device’s home page or app list
- Select ‘Network & Internet’ from the ‘Settings’ page
- Tap on the ‘Wi-Fi’ icon
- Toggle off ‘Use Wi-Fi’
- Switch on your mobile data connection and try connecting to the internet.
- If this doesn’t work, toggle on the ‘Wi-Fi’ connection while your mobile data connection is still on.
- Try connecting to the internet to check if it works.
Solution 4: Turn off/on ‘Airplane mode
- Swipe down on your screen from the top to display quick access icons.
- Tap on the ‘Airplane’ icon to toggle on the ‘Airplane Mode’.
- Toggle off the ‘Airplane Mode’ after 15 seconds.
- Ensure your data connection is on.
- Visit a web page or download an app to confirm if the connectivity issue is resolved.
How To Check Data Usage And Save Data On An Android Device
Data usage is the amount of mobile data used by your device. It is usually measured in ‘Time.’ For example, data usage can be calculated daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
To check your device’s data usage, follow the steps below:
- From your device’s home page or app list, scroll through to select the ‘Settings’ icon (gear icon).
- Tap on ‘Network & Internet’ from the displayed list of options.
- On the ‘Network & Internet’ page, tap on ‘Data usage’ from the options displayed.
- On the ‘Data Usage’ page, a bar recording the amount of data used is displayed.
- Tap on ‘App data usage’ to view the graph of data used and the list of apps arranged in accordance with the amount of data used within a specified period.
- Tap on the drop-down arrow at the top of the graph to select a period for measuring the amount of data used.
How To Save Data Amount With Data Saver
- On the ‘Data Usage’ page, tap on ‘Data Saver.’
- Toggle on the ‘Use Data Saver’ button.
- When toggled on, the ‘Data Saver’ icon is displayed at the top right of your screen as a circle with a ‘+’ sign at the right side of the network signal indicator.
- Alternatively, you can swipe down on your screen from the top to display quick access icons.
- Tap on the ‘Data Saver’ icon to toggle on ‘Data Saver’
Data Saver works by preventing unrestricted access to data by apps.
You can save more data by restricting the ‘usage of mobile data in the background.’ To do so, here’s how:
- Tap on ‘App data usage’ on the ‘Data usage’ page.
- Tap on any app you wish to restrict access to background data.
- Toggle off the ‘Background data’ for the selected app.
How To Set Limit For App Data Usage
- From the ‘Data Usage’ page, tap on ‘Data warning & Limit.’
- Tap on ‘Set data warning’ to toggle on data usage warning.
- Tap on ‘Set data limit’ > ‘OK’ to toggle on the data limit.
- Now, tap on ‘Data limit,’ and set data limit in megabytes, or Gigabytes.
- Enter a value (e.g., 5.0) when set in Gigabytes limit
- Tap on ‘SET’.
- When you have reached your data usage limit, your device sends you a warning notification and automatically turns off data usage.
- Repeat the steps below to turn off the ‘Set data limit’ to reconnect your device to the internet.
Hope you can now access mobile data on your Android phone?
Keep Reading
Explore more →
