When I first got the Sony Ericsson c905a, I debranded it to enable its WiFi capabilities that had been disabled by AT&T. I did this because I don’t want to pay for a data plan, but I do want to be able to access the internet from my phone when WiFi is available.

Working with the default browser was a little clunky and I soon found Opera Mini as a popular alternative mobile browser. I downloaded it and tried to install it, but I kept getting prompted about what internet connection to use. Since I didn’t have a data plan, it didn’t know what to do. I tried fiddling with settings here and there, but nothing worked. I gave up after finding no help from Google and used the default browser for the next 3 months.

Today, I decided to search again. While I didn’t find someone addressing my exact problem, one of the search results was able to lead me to try something new. I entered fake information for a data plan.

This also allows me to watch videos using the YouTube app, which I previously was unable to do.

I guess the default browser is smart enough to know to use the WiFi when a data connection isn’t available, but installed apps aren’t. With these fake settings, they try to access the internet via the nonexistent data account and fail before resorting to the WiFi.

These are the steps I took:

1. Go to Menu->Settings->Connectivity->Internet Settings->Connect Using
2. Click “Add”
3. Select “PS Data”
4. Enter anything for the Name. I called it “No Data”
5. Click “Save” (leave APN blank)
6. Select your newly created data account and it’s good to go!