Help [Nexus 5] Wifi always awake even when phone sleeps - tried everything

[elixir3]

Hi,

I am suffering this problem of my WiFi always awake mode even if/when my phone sleeps on my new Nexus 5. In the Settings > WiFi > Advanced > Everything is "checked-off" (i.e. nothing is checked) except 'Wi-Fi Optimisation'.

1. GSam Battery Monitor shows that the 'WiFi active' time same as the total time (= same as Phone radio time = same as total time of usage of phone since discharged).

2. There is a blue long solid line in Settings > Battery > Graph, ALL THE TIME.

Since I've seleted "Never" in Settings > WiFi > Advanced > Keep WiFi on during sleep > Never, I assume that my WiFi line in Settings > Battery > Graph should have been scattered.

Because of this (again, I assume) my overnight battery discharges fom 100% to ~80% (20% drop). The major wavelock in the App sucker section is wlan_rx_wake (caused coz of WiFi).

Sync, GPS, Location, Google+, Google Backup Photos, OK Google Voice Search - are all turned OFF and I am running ART runtime.

Moreover, I've already tried a data cache clean and factory setting reset which again didn't help me!

I've made sure that none of the apps like Viber override the WiFi sleep policy.

Any inputs may be really helpful as I am really stuck and see only option to replace the product from the vendor unless provided a solution.

Thanks!

 

[Hook]

I don't know what to suggest. I will tell you I have Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep "Always" and Wi-Fi optimization set to "Minimize battery usage" and I get very little passive battery drain (I'm also using a custom kernel, so not easy to know why my experience is different).

However, what I have been led to believe is that if you have Wi-Fi set to turn off when the device is sleeping, the phone will start pinging data instead, which will use much more battery.

I also always leave my N5 on the charger overnight. The N5 knows when to stop sucking juice and that way I always start the day on full.

 

[elixir3]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

(I'm also using a custom kernel, so not easy to know why my experience is different).

A Noob question - What does this mean - using a custom kernel? Should I try rooting my phone or otherwise anything else that may increase my battery life using Wifi?

I've never rooted my phone and I wanted to root it since I wanted to shift to Android L (I've heard battery lasts longer on that) and also that for flashing 'L', rooting my N5 is compulsary (right )

However, what I have been led to believe is that if you have Wi-Fi set to turn off when the device is sleeping, the phone will start pinging data instead, which will use much more battery.

So, you claim that my battery would not long the current time also if I turn my WiFI OFF ?

I also always leave my N5 on the charger overnight. The N5 knows when to stop sucking juice and that way I always start the day on full.

In that case, I wish my N5 were like you.

 

[Hook]

A Noob question - What does this mean - using a custom kernel? Should I try rooting my phone or otherwise anything else that may increase my battery life using Wifi?

I've never rooted my phone and I wanted to root it since I wanted to shift to Android L (I've heard battery lasts longer on that) and also that for flashing 'L', rooting my N5 is compulsory (right )

The kernel is the core of the operating system and many skilled developers build there own custom kernels that they make available for people to use.

While it's likely that rooting and installing a custom kernel will help, it sounded like you were considering the option of sending the unit back, so I would hold off. It is kind of drastic as a solution. Better to see first if you can at least reduce the problem on stock.

So, you claim that my battery would not long the current time also if I turn my WiFI OFF ?

I'm saying that I've been led to believe that keeping wifi from sleeping when the N5 has it's screen off will keep it from pinging LTE data. With the battery efficient setting for wifi, I get very little passive drain with the screen off when I'm at home (on my home wifi network).

In that case, I wish my N5 were like you.

You may have misunderstood. I meant that you can safely leave your N5 on a charger all night as it will stop charging when it id fully charged. You don't have to worry about it over-charging. Yours does this too.

 

[jj14x]

Unless there is something going on with the WiFi radio itself, the most common reason why WiFi would keep your phone awake the whole time is if there is an app that is using WiFi the whole time.
So, on your battery usage screens, do you see any apps sucking up battery?


(Also, to install Android L, I don't think you need to be rooted, but you do need to have bootloader unlocked (which will wipe your device))

 

[ljbad4life]

By any chance are you running the Android L preview?

 

[Rxpert83]

You need to make sure "scanning always available" is unchecked.

 

[elixir3]

While it's likely that rooting and installing a custom kernel will help, it sounded like you were considering the option of sending the unit back, so I would hold off. It is kind of drastic as a solution. Better to see first if you can at least reduce the problem on stock.

OK. So, I'll not root it then. Thanks for the advice.

I'm saying that I've been led to believe that keeping wifi from sleeping when the N5 has it's screen off will keep it from pinging LTE data. With the battery efficient setting for wifi, I get very little passive drain with the screen off when I'm at home (on my home wifi network).

When I have my wifi ON, I keep my data network (3G) OFF.
In this case also, does the N5 try to ping 3G data (provided I've selected 'Never' in 'Keep wifi on during sleep') ?

If you believe so, then I should get a lesser battery drain iff I check this to 'Always' instead of 'Never'.

You may have misunderstood. I meant that you can safely leave your N5 on a charger all night as it will stop charging when it id fully charged. You don't have to worry about it over-charging. Yours does this too.

Oops, sorry about that! I prefer to not let my N5 charge the whole night. This also gives me a track to watch how much battery it drains just while I sleep to measure the performance.

 

[elixir3]

So, on your battery usage screens, do you see any apps sucking up battery?

NO. You may refer the attached screenshot. The maximum of battery usage by apps is Music play which is 5%

(Also, to install Android L, I don't think you need to be rooted, but you do need to have bootloader unlocked (which will wipe your device))

Okay, thanks! I've seen videos on youtube that mention about the necessities before loading the Android L, is to root the phone and have bootloader unlocked

 

[elixir3]

You need to make sure "scanning always available" is unchecked.

Yes it is unchecked.
My screenshot of advanced settings looks like this [attached file].

 

[elixir3]

By any chance are you running the Android L preview?

NO. I was just planning to, since I had a bad wifi performance on my N5 4.4.4
But now, as suggested by hook, its not a good idea.

 

[elixir3]

Updates:

My battery this morning was 81% since last unplugged (in 9h 47m 46s)

Yesterday night, just before going to sleep (when my battery was 93%), I put my GSam Battery Monitor in custom reference mode to check the 'exact' amount of battery loss and reasons when I don't touch my phone (i.e in sleep). Turns out my N5 was drained a total of 12% in 7h 55m, with WiFi being active the whole time and consuming 50.2% of the total drained battery. [Screenshot of GSam Battery Monitor attached]

Further I could see in battery graph in Settings > Battery > Graph, that since last unplugged, the WiFi line is NOT always bold blue. it means that after I slept, it took some time (~30 mins maybe I guess) after I didn't touch my phone to let go WiFi off (i.e. the blue bold line of WiFi disappear). [Screenshot attached]

But as one may see the results in GSam Battery Monitor, the culprit still seems to be WiFi since it consumed 50.2% of battery.

My phone performance lies between average to good, the whole day, but the only thing is I don't want it to get drained 10-20% overnight since I see people with wifi always ON the whole night and getting just a battery drain of ~5% overnight.

I hope someone may figure out something with the threads and screenshots attached in this and above posts.

PS: As also mentioned in previous posts, I don't see any apps using a high battery % in the battery settings and also I make sure that no apps override WiFi's sleep policy like Viber. I don't see any such settings in Watsapp / Line.

Sync, GPS, Location, Google+, Google Backup Photos, OK Google Voice Search - are all turned OFF and I am running ART runtime. But, Google Now is ON.

Thanks!

 

[BynoUK]

You don't need to root the phone to install Android L, the bootloader will need unlocking though.

 

[Hook]

Updates:

My battery this morning was 81% since last unplugged (in 9h 47m 46s)

Yesterday night, just before going to sleep (when my battery was 93%), I put my GSam Battery Monitor in custom reference mode to check the 'exact' amount of battery loss and reasons when I don't touch my phone (i.e in sleep). Turns out my N5 was drained a total of 12% in 7h 55m, with WiFi being active the whole time and consuming 50.2% of the total drained battery. [Screenshot of GSam Battery Monitor attached]

Further I could see in battery graph in Settings > Battery > Graph, that since last unplugged, the WiFi line is NOT always bold blue. it means that after I slept, it took some time (~30 mins maybe I guess) after I didn't touch my phone to let go WiFi off (i.e. the blue bold line of WiFi disappear). [Screenshot attached]

But as one may see the results in GSam Battery Monitor, the culprit still seems to be WiFi since it consumed 50.2% of battery.

My phone performance lies between average to good, the whole day, but the only thing is I don't want it to get drained 10-20% overnight since I see people with wifi always ON the whole night and getting just a battery drain of ~5% overnight.

I hope someone may figure out something with the threads and screenshots attached in this and above posts.

PS: As also mentioned in previous posts, I don't see any apps using a high battery % in the battery settings and also I make sure that no apps override WiFi's sleep policy like Viber. I don't see any such settings in Watsapp / Line.

Sync, GPS, Location, Google+, Google Backup Photos, OK Google Voice Search - are all turned OFF and I am running ART runtime. But, Google Now is ON.

Thanks!

To be honest, 6% battery drain from Wi-FI over almost 8 hours doesn't seem horrible to me. I would be suspicious of Watsapp, but I don't use it so I don't know. I think removing it for a day might be a good test.

Try turning keep wifi on during sleep to "always" just to see what will happen. I know it sounds paradoxical. It may not help, but that's how I have my setup.

I don't use ART and there is also the possibility that there is an app that doesn't get along well with Art. Frankly, on a phone that is as crazy fast as the N5 to begin with, it seems of little value to me to use ART while it is experimental.

Ultimately, it makes no sense to me to not have my phone charge all night while I am asleep. That way I can keep my radios on so things can carry on and I can get phone calls, but I always start the day full. That's me. You'll do, of course, what makes sense to you.

 

[Rxpert83]

Even though the settings are how they should be, it might be worth it to go through the advanced wifi settings and change each thing, and then change it back.

I've had weird things happen on other devices where the phone thought it was set to do something, and simply changing the setting to something else and then changing it back fixed it.

 

[elixir3]

You don't need to root the phone to install Android L, the bootloader will need unlocking though.

OK, thanks!

 

[elixir3]

Try turning keep wifi on during sleep to "always" just to see what will happen. I know it sounds paradoxical. It may not help, but that's how I have my setup.

Well, not a bad idea, I'll try this for the next whole day and report back later.

I don't use ART and there is also the possibility that there is an app that doesn't get along well with Art. Frankly, on a phone that is as crazy fast as the N5 to begin with, it seems of little value to me to use ART while it is experimental.

Interesting point, I never thought that since it is an experimental feature, may be some app goes crazy over ART. I'll switch back to Dalvik and notice for any improvement/ deprovement of my battery life.

Ultimately, it makes no sense to me to not have my phone charge all night while I am asleep. That way I can keep my radios on so things can carry on and I can get phone calls, but I always start the day full. That's me. You'll do, of course, what makes sense to you.

Today my phone is completely discharged, so in any case, I'll have to put it to charge overnight.

 

[elixir3]

Even though the settings are how they should be, it might be worth it to go through the advanced wifi settings and change each thing, and then change it back.

I've had weird things happen on other devices where the phone thought it was set to do something, and simply changing the setting to something else and then changing it back fixed it.

True, but I've already came across a thread before posting this where the same was suggested as you've just mentioned. I've already tried toggling all the options in advanced wifi menu and toggling them back to what I needed. But with fail!

Anyway, thanks for putting up this point, maybe it sometimes would help someone.