In normal situations the network settings of the Android smartphone should not be touched at all, because however if everything works well, there are no reasons to do it. However, there may be cases where you want to take control of the network, disable automatic (DHCP) settings and manually configure the IP to set addresses, gateways and DNS.
For example, in some environments it may be necessary to set up a proxy to browse or you may want to try surfing by disguising the IP behind a VPN.
In other cases, the network, wifi or cellular data may not work well and it may be necessary to unlock the network with a manual configuration of the APN, i.e. the access point to the network.
Wifi settings
If you want to set the IP of the wifi network on any Android smartphone or tablet (also Samsung Galaxy or Huawei) you have to open the settings and then go to the Wifi section.
By touching and holding the name of the network to which we are connected, you can press on Edit network,
Then tap on Advanced options to be able to configure a proxy if necessary.
By tapping instead on the word DHCP you can choose to set a static IP and, therefore, write it manually according to your configuration.
Static IP, gateway (i.e. the router address) and then also primary and secondary DNS can be changed in this screen and have value for all applications that use the internet connection in wifi on the phone.
With this method it is possible to set the Google DNS to unblock sites obscured or censored by the Italian authorities.
READ ALSO: Solutions if Wi-Fi on Android does not connect to the network or the internet
APN data network configuration
The settings of the mobile network, i.e. 3G and 4G, are hidden, in Android smartphones, in the settings under the item Other.
Then open Settings> Other to access a group of options where you can activate airplane mode, activate NFC if available, activate the hostpot, add a VPN and configure cellular networks.
Touch on cellular networks to be able to view network access points, i.e. APNs.
The name and settings of the access point should be configured automatically by the telephone operator with whom the SIM card was purchased.
By pressing the button with the three dots at the top right you can reset the settings of the network access point.
If you want to edit or add the APN manually, first you need to search Google for the parameters for the network operator by putting a different value as the APN name depending on whether it is:
TIM ibox.tim.it
Tre tre.it (for rechargeable SIM) datacard.tre.it (on subscriptions)
Vodafone mobile.vodafone.it
Wind internet.wind
Fastweb apn.fastweb.it (rechargeable) datacard.fastweb.it (subscriptions)
Going back it is possible to activate the data network connection in roaming (when going abroad or in the case of SIM TRE that uses the Wind or TIM network if it does not take).
Regarding the configuration of the mobile network we have seen, in two different articles:
- Solutions if 3G or 4G cellular data connection does not work
- Optimize 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE) signal and data reception on Android
Note that on each Android mobile phone in Settings> Data usage, you can set a maximum traffic limit for the data internet connection and also find which applications make the most use of the band.
By pressing the button with three dots on this screen you can also choose to disable automatic app synchronization, by touching the option that limits data in the background (it is done to save battery).
VPN configuration on Android
As seen in the previous point, by going to Settings> Other you can manually add a VPN to camouflage and hide the connection IP, both data and Wifi.
Hardly, however, you will have your own VPN to configure on your phone and, more likely, the VPN will be configured automatically through an application.
We have seen free apps to have a VPN on Android and also the premium VPNs that guarantee complete security and speed.
