Help Wifi Question...Should I leave it on all the time if I only have wifi at home?

[Member110111]

Hi,

I know the Wifi uses less battery than the 3G. My question is should I leave the wifi on all the time if I only have Wifi at home? Will it be actively searching for a wifi signal when i am out of range of my home network and drain more battery? I have the Network notification unchecked in the wifi settings if that helps at all.

Basically I just want to know if I should turn wifi off when I leave my house.

 

[TheSultan]

might as well turn it off. it will have some effect on your battery ultimately. Or, grab an app like "Locale" that will turn it on and off automatically as you leave your hizzouse.

 

[sandman423]

I like the locale idea but 9.99 is so expensive to make my phone drop wi-fi when I leave me my house.

It would be nice to be able to have my phone turn off 3G when I get home and turn wi-fi on Automatically and when I leave my house it would turn 3G on and turn off my Wi-Fi

 

[howarmat]

i agree shut if off when you leave

I also would love an app, cheaper than locale to do this. I have smart WIFI on my BB and it woks like a dream

 

[Member110111]

Cool, thanks guys. I was hoping I could just leave it on all the time but if it will negatively affect the battery I will just turn it off when I'm not at home.

 

[dpphotos]

I know you said Locale was too expensive, but I did end up buying it for the exact reason you mentioned. I have to say I think it's worth every penny, not only do I have it controlling the wifi but also the pattern lock (unlocked at home, locked everywhere else) and also have my google voice forwarding to different numbers based on my location... clever stuff!

 

[DataSchmuck]

I tried Locale, but just wasn't satisfied with it.

Tasker, on the other hand is perfect for me. It's still in beta so it's free, but man, it can do sooo much. Currently I have it set to:

Home (within 30 meter radius of my apartment)
-Turn on Wifi and flash message "WiFi ON"
-Turn Off keyguard and flash message "Keyguard Off"
-Set All volume levels to my taste
-Display the message "Welcome Home"
-Turn on Autosync
-Turn On GPS and flash message "GPS ON"
-Set screen shutoff time to 3 mins

Not Home (outside my 30 meter radius)
-Set different Volume Levels
-Set Screen Shutoff to 1 min
-Turn on Keyguard and flash message "Keyguard ON"
-Turn Off WiFi and flash message "WiFi Off"
-Turn Off Autosync
-Turn On GPS and flash message "GPS ON"
-Flash message "Out and About!"

Plug in headset (Only time I will ever use headset is in my car)
-Turn Off keyguard and flash message "Keyguard Off"
-Turn Off WiFi and flash message "WiFi Off"
-Set volume levels for media playback
-Turn On GPS and flash message "GPS ON"
-Pop Up a dialog asking whether I want "Music only" or "Navigation Mode"
-If I choose Music Only, it then pops up a dialog asking me which music app I wish to run (Pandora, XiiaLive, or Btunes)
-If I choose Navigation Mode, it Opens Google Maps, then immediately asks me which music app I wish to use. After I pick my music app and get my music playing, I back out of the music app till I'm back to google maps ready to choose my destination.
-If I unplug the headset, it will close all my music apps, close navigation, do a check to see whether I am Home, or Out and about, and run the associated tasks

Plug in usb AND headset
-Never Turn off screen

It also lets you create your own widgets which will run any tasks you want, so I made one for each of the above profiles just in case I need to switch manually

Also made one called battery saver, clicking it will turn off auto sync, wifi, gps, set keyguard ON, and Set Screen shutoff time to 30 seconds. Like airplane mode but can still get calls and texts. It currently has no way to shut off Mobile Data, but does have APNdroid support

This is just basic stuff, you can create variables, set conditions, run apps with option data. That requires a little more coding though.

Wow, this came out longer than I thought, sorry. I've just spent so much time creating my customized tasks I guess I needed to brag about it.

TLDR: Tasker is more customizable than Locale and it's free.

Tasker for Android
the download link is in the forums, no registration required

 

[trowpa]

Wow! Tasker sounds very cool. Gotta check that out. Thanks for the info!

 

[ManLaw]

whats the point of wi fi if you have a data plan?

 

[jamesdean]

How do you get the apk file for tasker? I went to the site but the download is a zip file and when unzipped there is no apk file to install.

 

[Crashumbc]

whats the point of wi fi if you have a data plan?

its generally MUCH faster then G3, plus it works a lot of places G3 might not, like starbucks down in a subway system...

you can also surf the web over Wifi while you make a phone call, not as good as AT&T, but it'll due till LTE comes out. (it's a CDMA restriction on G3)

 

[Todd M]

i agree shut if off when you leave

I also would love an app, cheaper than locale to do this. I have smart WIFI on my BB and it woks like a dream

Y5 battery saver. It works very well in this area. If you are in a known area where you have Wi-Fi (home, work, etc) and you have that 'remembered' it turns on Wi-Fi and takes over 3G. When you leave that area, it shuts off Wi-Fi and 3G takes over.

It's not as robust as Tasker (mentioned before) but it's totally free and works very well.

 

[stevewl]

Can you use skype over wifi?

 

[howarmat]

Can you use skype over wifi?

reports say no you cant

 

[4160-highvoltage]

Tasker sounds good, a must try...thanks