Samsung A55 Hammering my DNS server asking for www.google.com

[RobJobs]

Hello, 
I'm a network engineer and recently (1 week ago) bought a Galaxy A55 5G phone ,

Details : 
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model SM-A556E/DS.
One UI Version : 6.1, Android 14, Google Play System update January 1, 2025
Build number : UP1A.231005.007.A556EXXS6AYB3
Android security path level February 1, 2025
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I have adguard home in my house and noticed some concerning traffic coming from my phone immediately , and has been the same ever since, so I decided to block it.

I'v decided to block the traffic since it's basically a flood of DNS requests asking for www.google.com

After I did that, the wifi on the phone showed "access_point_name has no internet access" which means, this traffic has something to do with the connectivity check of Android because of course the phone is actually Online and there are no Internet issues.

I have cross referenced the facts by checking the traffic with tcpdump , and I did install also PCAPDroid (a wireshark-like app for android) and verified that no stock app or other app installed on the phone made the traffic, which means it's low level / system level.

Why has Samsung chosen to do these requests so often? ~every 10ms , Is there a way to stop or fix this?

[johnz237]

Hi! Welcome to the samsung members community

Samsung devices, like many other Android devices, use these connectivity checks to determine if the device is online. The frequent requests you're seeing are part of this process. Unfortunately, this behavior is built into the system and isn't specific to Samsung alone

Disable Connectivity Check: You can disable the connectivity check by modifying the system settings. However, this requires root access to your device, which might not be feasible for everyone *advise doing your own research on doing this

Rooting your device can void warranties and expose it to security risks. Proceed with caution and consider the potential consequences before making any changes. If unsure, seek assistance from a professional.

*Use a Custom DNS: You can set up a custom DNS server that handles these requests more efficiently. This might reduce the frequency of the requests.

[lance78]

In build num mine is B4
https://youtu.be/sWY2pqUXdts?si=zU0vi00W_RHQiIDy

[RobJobs]

Hi @johnz237 , 

I'm familiar with network devices and the connectivity check and the concept of this behavior being normal is a far stretch.
I do have other  Android devices (Pixel, Xiami, Huawei, Sony, etc) on my home, none of those except Samsung makes this kind of bot-like traffic.

I wouldn't opt for rooting the device and would prefer for this to be addressed  upstream with a proper fix / update.
The development need to chill-the-heck-out of the connectivity check, or provide an option to the customer in order to set it's preferred way to do so or set the frequency.

@lance78 Yes, I use adguard-home (very similar to PiHole) as a DNS content filter in my home, the privacy is another topic, this is simply a bug of the connectivity check which needs to be fixed.

[johnz237]

Hi! @RobJobs That's totally fair. However, when you say "I wouldn't opt for rooting the device and would prefer for this to be addressed upstream with a proper fix/update," sadly, this forum is for customers to customers, so my suggestion would be contacting Samsung directly. As nobody here is staff beyond moderating.