David Kent

You open your banking app at home and everything works.  Then you step outside, switch to 4G or 5G, tap the same app and suddenly it decides you’re offline.  Meanwhile, Chrome loads websites perfectly…

Run a 5G speed test and the result can look slightly ridiculous.  Download: 180Mbps. Upload: 18Mbps.  Your first thought might be that something is wrong with the network. Usually, there isn’t. …

Seeing Mobile Network State: Disconnected buried inside your Android SIM status page can look fairly alarming.  It sounds like your phone has completely fallen off the network.  Sometimes it has.  But sometimes absolutely…

A split port happens when your mobile number transfer only completes properly in some parts of the network.  Your new SIM may show the correct number. Outgoing calls might work. Mobile data…

No. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, so using a normal UK SIM on a UK mobile network there is domestic usage, not international roaming.  Your usual UK minutes,…

You find the app you need, tap Download, and your phone responds with the wonderfully helpful message:  Waiting for Wi-Fi.  Not ideal when you’re on a train, at an airport or…

Low Data Mode is basically your iPhone telling apps to stop being so greedy when you’re using mobile data.  Once it’s switched on, iOS cuts back on jobs that normally happen quietly in the background. Apps…

Android Data Saver is supposed to stop apps quietly chewing through your mobile allowance. It does that mainly by restricting background data when you’re using a metered connection such as mobile data.  The slightly…

Your browser happily loads websites over 4G or 5G, yet Instagram refuses to refresh, Maps sits there spinning and another app insists you’re offline.  Odd, but actually quite useful for troubleshooting.  If websites work…

Yes, a bad Private DNS setting can make mobile data look as though it has stopped working on Android, even when your 4G or 5G connection is still perfectly alive underneath. …

Your phone works perfectly on Wi-Fi. You leave the house, the 4G or 5G symbol appears, you open a website and… nothing.  Meanwhile, WhatsApp might still work. Or perhaps every app has decided…

You switch the VPN off, expect your normal 4G or 5G connection to come straight back, and… nothing.  WhatsApp sits on Connecting. Safari refuses to load. Spotify acts as if you’ve driven into a…