Wi Fi to save power?

[RyanB]

I must live RIGHT on the edge of big red's 3G for my part of town, as my reception for it is in-and-out all day. One minute I've got two bars, then next zero, followed by a couple of minutes at 1x, only to jump back to 3G. It's like this at both work and home (anywhere else in town, literally, is superb coverage). Without a good charge at lunch, I'm dead by 4.30 or so. I'm considering putting a router in my house to alleviate some of this workload from the battery. My question is wether or not anyone thinks I might save a little juice by doing this, at least for the back end of my day.

 

[culpin]

Would disabling 3G all together while you're at home & work accomplish this easier/cheaper? I have a feeling your phone will still search for service even when connected to a wireless network, but I'm not sure. Also, have you tried *228 at the locations where your service is iffy? Sorry I couldn't answer your question directly, I'm sure someone else has more insight..just my two cents!

 

[RyanB]

Hadn't thought to try 228. I'll give that a shot and report back.

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[messenger13]

You don't need a "router", you need a Wireless Access Point.
And why wouldn't you install one if you're 3G signal sucks??? I can't think of one good reason.

 

[CobaltDragon]

or a wireless router. if you enable the wifi then the 3G is automatically disabled and all data stuff goes through the wifi, phone calls would go through the standard "1x" cell network.

 

[Lemurion]

I know that when I'm at home, battery life really does benefit from running Wi-Fi rather than sticking with 3G. We don't get great coverage in the house (better than AT&T but not great); it's enough for voice usage, but not always good for data. Keeping the Droid on Wi-Fi really helps.

 

[RyanB]

Yeah, I did *228 at both my home and job, and can't say that it's really making much difference. More to the point, does anyone have a take in my OP?

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[Grecho]

from personal experience, using wifi while disabling wireless does save battery life, i once went just over two days doing this, of course i had minimal usage just checking emails and such

 

[i VTAK]

I toggle both data and WiFi off when I'm not using it. When I'm home I use WiFi from my wireless router, both because it's slightly faster than than my 3g and easier on the battery. Once I started doing this, my battery life greatly improved.

 

[shadowdude777]

I'm uneasy to recommend this cause it might not work just because nobody's suggested it yet...

Go into your phone dialer and *#*#4636#*#*. This takes you to a menu. Hit phone information. Go down to Set preferred network type and change it from CDMA auto (PRL) to CDMA only. This will force the phone to only use 1x data. You can go back into that menu by dialing that code again and changing it back to CDMA auto (PRL) which will set it to switch between 1x and 3G. Also, EvDo only SHOULD force 3G only (I can't test this at home cause my 3G coverage here is crap).

Does that solve the issue for you?

 

[shadowdude777]

from personal experience, using wifi while disabling wireless does save battery life, i once went just over two days doing this, of course i had minimal usage just checking emails and such

Unless you changed the setting, I'm pretty sure WiFi should disable when you turn off the screen...

 

[riffdex]

I'd say definitely hook up a router if you are able to. Not only will it save you battery life (and yes, 3G is turned off while WiFi is connected), but you will have a faster connection. Other than that I would suggest that you just turn off your 3G connection unless you actually need to use it. There are some widgets that can do this easily.

Unless you changed the setting, I'm pretty sure WiFi should disable when you turn off the screen...

By default, WiFi stays on and connected when the device is locked or the screen is off. But there are programs you can download which will set profiles, so when the screen is off, certain things will turn off (including WiFi). I use Tasker to accomplish this. I know that WiFi stays on by default because I have tested it, I downloaded something and turned my screen off. The download was not interrupted.

 

[i VTAK]

Can you guys turn off all data completely? I have an HTC Hero and can turn off wifi and my phones data and have only voice service(super battery saver there!!). My wife has the Samsung moment and can't do it, her data is always on, unless she turns on wifi and replaces data.

 

[Grecho]

Can you guys turn off all data completely? I have an HTC Hero and can turn off wifi and my phones data and have only voice service(super battery saver there!!). My wife has the Samsung moment and can't do it, her data is always on, unless she turns on wifi and replaces data.

As far as I know just data can't be turned off, but wireless can be via airplane mode, and wifi can be enabled.

 

[Lemurion]

As far as I know just data can't be turned off, but wireless can be via airplane mode, and wifi can be enabled.

However, if you really want to save power you can always turn off wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, and background data transfers. That way you won't be using data unless you specifically want to. Depending on what you have configured, it could save you a lot of power.

 

[shadowdude777]

However, if you really want to save power you can always turn off wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, and background data transfers. That way you won't be using data unless you specifically want to. Depending on what you have configured, it could save you a lot of power.

Yeah, but for this situation, his phone will probably still try to pull up a 3G connection whenever it can so it'll still be wasting power switching back and forth between 1x and 3G.

 

[RyanB]

Thanks riffdex, that was closer to what I was looking for.

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[i VTAK]

As far as I know just data can't be turned off, but wireless can be via airplane mode, and wifi can be enabled.

Soooo........Droid Doesn't?

J/K, I've been wanting to say that because of all the Droid commercials.

 

[riffdex]

As far as I know just data can't be turned off, but wireless can be via airplane mode, and wifi can be enabled.

After doing some quick research it appears I was wrong and none of the widgets on the Marketplace (that I've looked at) seem to support the Droid. I've no idea why :/ Is it not possible for the Droid to disable only the 3G connection, or are there simply no apps that can accomplish this right now? I'm not sure

 

[i VTAK]

After doing some quick research it appears I was wrong and none of the widgets on the Marketplace (that I've looked at) seem to support the Droid. I've no idea why :/ Is it not possible for the Droid to disable only the 3G connection, or are there simply no apps that can accomplish this right now? I'm not sure

It's not a matter of having an app to do it. Your phone needs to have the option. I can go into settings<wirless controls, and have an option to turn off mobile internet on my Hero. My wife's Moment does not have the same option, leaving her internet always on. It sounds like the Droid is the same way.