Question

I am using the following function to get the local IP address of the Android device:

/**
 * Loops through all network interfaces to find one with a connection
 * @return the IP of the connected network device, on error returns null
 */
public String getIPAddress() 
{
    String strIPaddress = null;

    try 
    {
        Enumeration<NetworkInterface> enumNetIF = NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces();
        NetworkInterface netIF = null;

        //loop whilst there are more interfaces
        while(enumNetIF.hasMoreElements()) 
        {
            netIF = enumNetIF.nextElement();

            for (Enumeration<InetAddress> enumIP = netIF.getInetAddresses(); enumIP.hasMoreElements();) 
            {
                InetAddress inetAddress = enumIP.nextElement();

                //check for valid IP, but exclude the loopback address
                if(inetAddress.isLoopbackAddress() != true)
                {
                    strIPaddress = inetAddress.getHostAddress();
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    } 
    catch (SocketException e) 
    {
        Log.e(TAG, e.getMessage());
    }

    return strIPaddress;
}

However, I also need to know for how long this IP address has been connected for.
I’ve searched through the InetAddress structure and couldn’t find it:
http://developer.android.com/reference/java/net/InetAddress.html

is there another way to find out for how long the local IP address has existed / connected ?

Answer 1

AFAIK, you would have to watch for connectivity changes (via ConnectivityManager, CONNECTIVITY_ACTION, and your own BroadcastReceiver) and track it yourself.