How to check internet access on Android? InetAddress never times out

Question

I got a AsyncTask that is supposed to check the network access to a host name. But the doInBackground() is never timed out. Anyone have a clue?

Answer 1

One important use case on mobile devices to it ensure an actual connection exists. This is a common problem when a mobile user enters a Wifi network with a "Captive Portal", in which they need to sign in. I use this blocking function in the background to ensure a connection exists.

/*
 * Not Thread safe. Blocking thread. Returns true if it
 * can connect to URL, false and exception is logged.
 */
public boolean checkConnectionHttps(String url){
    boolean responded = false;
    HttpGet requestTest = new HttpGet(url);
    HttpParams params = new BasicHttpParams();
    HttpConnectionParams.setConnectionTimeout(params, 3000);
    HttpConnectionParams.setSoTimeout(params, 5000);
    DefaultHttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient(params);
    try {
        client.execute(requestTest);
        responded = true;
    } catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
        Log.w(MainActivity.TAG,"Unable to connect to " + url + " " + e.toString());
    } catch (IOException e) {
        Log.w(MainActivity.TAG,"Unable to connect to " + url + " " + e.toString());
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return responded;
}