Electronics

[Nuttmeg]

@qualityshopper

Samsung writes one of the best user manuals.

Tracfone has an interactive guide on their website. 

Please find help disconnecting your phone from a network.

[Pook]

@qualityshopper While I am not tech savy, my understandinig is that it is always on and uses your home wifi, your tracfone data  or public wifi when  not home.  Those options can be changed to save data you pay for.  If you turn off your home wifi then it automatically goes to your paid data for updates, etc.  For someone like me it does not matter since I have so much stockpiled data.

[gardenman]

I think the issue is likely what @x Hedge said. There's an app that's been allowed to access your wifi that turns it one when you start the phone or when it wants to check for an update. Some apps only look for updates when connected to wifi and not when you're on your mobile data. I don't really see where it's a problem, but if you truly don't want it on, then finding that app or those apps and removing them will solve the problem.

[qualityshopper]

Just an update. I called Tracfone today to see if they could explain why my Wifi turns on by itself. He said that certain brands and models of phones are set to do this. So, even though I turn if off, it will automatically turn back on and connect. It's not a big deal, but I would still prefer the choice of whether or not the Wifi is on to be mine.

As far as an app doing this, I should have clarified in my original posting that this phone is fairly new, and as such, I actually have not installed any apps. All that's on there is what came on the phone. This means, of course, that one of those could be doing this. You're right, I need to check the settings for these apps to see if that's the problem. May or may not be. I'm not sure based on what Tracfone said. I'll check into it further. Thanks for the help.

[Marp]

@qualityshopper,  while you are checking app settings also take the time to go to your playstore account and disable automatic updates.  That alone might solve your problem.

[Runner26]

---

@qualityshopper wrote:

Hate to ask this because I probably should be able to figure this out for myself, but here goes. My existing Tracfone, for some reason, constantly has the Wifi on when I turn the phone on. I always turn my wifi off when I turn the phone off, but recently I am finding it turning on by itself every time I turn the phone back on. I've even had it turn back on, after I've turned if off, while the phone is still in use. I'm sure there has to be a setting to keep it from turning on automatically, but I'm having trouble finding it. Would anyone be able to tell dummy here how to locate the setting I need to remedy this? Thanks so much!

---

Go to settings > network & internet > touch Wi-fi (do not turn it on) > you will see "To improve location accuracy turn on  Wi-fi scanning in scanning settings" (see attached pic) > click on "scanning settings" > make sure "wi-fi scanning" and "bluetooth scanning" is turned off

[qualityshopper]

Thanks, @Runner26 , for the info. I'll check into that.

[Ainhisg]

@qualityshopper , guess what?  I just received a new Tracfone with Android Pie, and it's turning on the wi-fi by itself, so I feel your pain.  First time ever I've had a Tracfone do this.  I realize in the big scheme of things, that it's not going to hurt anything or even drain the battery "that much," but I want to control it myself--not have the phone doing it.  Anyway, I changed every setting I could in wi-fi and even on some apps I suspected were causing the problem to no avail.  I did a search on Howard Forums, and several knowledgeable posters suggested this:

Do you have the Tracfone app or WiFi Utility installed? Check make sure you disable WiFi Optimizer in the settings. That auto connects to the WiFi access point that is known or open even if you have not connected to it before.

So I went to my WiFi Utility app in my apps folder and disabled it, and then went to the Tracfone My Account app>network settings>Wi-Fi Optimizer>and clicked on Disable Wi-Fi Management.  Hopefully this works--we will see

ETA:  This worked!  So if anyone's wi-fi is turning on automatically, and you want to stop that from happening, do the steps above, and you should be golden.  If you've not downloaded the Tracfone My Account app, obviously there is nothing to do there, but the WiFi Utility app is automatically on your phone, and it needs to be disabled.  Ignore the warnings about it affecting your phone if you disable it--it won't do anything but stop your wi-fi from turning on.