I am diagnosing intermittent connection problems reported to me by my some of my users. Here is one such report from a user, in his own words:
My 3g icon is dim, but regular bars are lit, and it's been like that for a while, so I can consistently run the tests. Your app won't connect - UnknownHostException. Ran connection tests - all failed. Then opened browser, navigated to Google, searched stuff, went to my Flickr account, opened pictures - all the while my 3g icon was dim. This means that my browser was connected while your app couldn't. Another observation: I ran both apps (browser and your app) several times to verify. In majority of runs, 3G icon was dim for both. In a few cases, it would turn on for my browser intermittently, but never for your app. Your app would throw the UnknownHostException instantly without trying a few seconds to send my message (like it usually does).
Can anyone speculate as to why my app would be denied connectivity by the OS (as confirmed by the UnknownHostException) but the Browser would be allowed connectivity just fine? Note that this is generally experienced by users when they are out-and-about.
This is on Android 2.2, LG Ally, T-Mobile.