Detect network connection type on Android

Question

How do you detect the network connection type on Android?

Is it through ConnectivityManager.getActiveNetworkInfo().getType(), and is the answer limited

Answer 1

To get a more precise (and user friendly) information about connection type. You can use this code (derived from a @hide method in TelephonyManager.java).

This method returns a String describing the current connection type.
i.e. one of : "WIFI" , "2G" , "3G" , "4G" , "5G" , "-" (not connected) or "?" (unknown)

Remark: This code requires API 25+, but you can easily support older versions by using int instead of const. (See comments in code).

public static String getNetworkClass(Context context) {
    ConnectivityManager cm = (ConnectivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE);      
    NetworkInfo info = cm.getActiveNetworkInfo();
    if (info == null || !info.isConnected())
        return "-"; // not connected
    if (info.getType() == ConnectivityManager.TYPE_WIFI)
        return "WIFI";
    if (info.getType() == ConnectivityManager.TYPE_MOBILE) {
        int networkType = info.getSubtype();
        switch (networkType) {
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_GPRS:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_EDGE:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_CDMA:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_1xRTT:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_IDEN:     // api< 8: replace by 11
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_GSM:      // api<25: replace by 16
                return "2G";
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_UMTS:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_EVDO_0:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_EVDO_A:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_HSDPA:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_HSUPA:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_HSPA:
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_EVDO_B:   // api< 9: replace by 12
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_EHRPD:    // api<11: replace by 14
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_HSPAP:    // api<13: replace by 15
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_TD_SCDMA: // api<25: replace by 17
                return "3G";
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_LTE:      // api<11: replace by 13
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_IWLAN:    // api<25: replace by 18
            case 19: // LTE_CA
                return "4G";
            case TelephonyManager.NETWORK_TYPE_NR:       // api<29: replace by 20
                return "5G";
            default:
                return "?";
         }
    }
    return "?";
}