Help Wifi Sleep

[DodgerinNH]

Yes, my email is Exchange based. And I am not using the stock email client, as it is nowhere near as powerful as I need/want. I am using TouchDown. I also see the same delayed notifications while using WhatsApp, however, so I am not 100% on board with this just being an HTC/Exchange issue.

By the way, day 2 with the app that prevents wifi sleep and push notifications are still perfect. Yesterday was an unusual battery usage day, so I cannot yet comment on the affect the app has on battery life. Today is pretty standard, so I should have a decent idea tonight.

Cool, do you have both boxes checked on that app's settings, or just the top one?

 

[DodgerinNH]

For some reason, this issue you were talking about never really sank in (to the brain).

I have issues with Wifi and Microsoft Exchange. And I'm really thinking it's MS Exchange because I had the OG Inc, Razr, Rezound, and now Inc 4g. ALL of the phones stop pushing Exhange notifications regardless if the wifi is asleep. Obviously it's not a Sense issue as I had a Razr for a few months and the problem continued.

If work email is important that time/day, I don't use wifi. It sucks, but I don't know if it's the email client on the phones end, or MS, or what.

thanks for that, that thickens the plot somewhat, since I'm reduced to playing detective. All I know is that my OG Dinc, which was rooted and running CM7 never had an issue whatsoever with any of this. I'm thinking it's something to do with the way the stock email client interacts with MS Exchange while on WiFi, but we shall see...

 

[hilmar2k]

Cool, do you have both boxes checked on that app's settings, or just the top one?

Both, but that was just a guess.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I'm interested in getting this phone on second line for my wife as it seems to be the only decent 4" android on VZW. But this issue seems odd and concerning to me.

WiFi shouldn't sleep when it's set to stay on always. So that's up to HTC to fix it. But even when it sleeps, 3G/4G radio should be enabled for it to maintain data connection and receive emails, refreshes, etc. So when WiFi sleeps, there is no data connection at all in standby? That seems strange as most android phones that I am aware switches to 3G/4G radio when WiFi is off.

 

[hilmar2k]

Correct, no data when WiFi goes into sleep. Push notifications are delayed, and an app relying on data (ScoreMobile, for example) won't update.

It's an issue, but the app I found seems to fix it. I'd rather it not be broken, of course, but for now at least I get my notifications on time.

 

[kelela92]

thanks for that, that thickens the plot somewhat, since I'm reduced to playing detective. All I know is that my OG Dinc, which was rooted and running CM7 never had an issue whatsoever with any of this. I'm thinking it's something to do with the way the stock email client interacts with MS Exchange while on WiFi, but we shall see...

I may have to go the route hilmar2k did with other apps to force notifications.
The one thing I thought was strange was that MS Exchange never pushes email on wifi. If i put my phone on wifi, forget notifications, I can't get email. Even if I hit refresh within the email (stock email client on Moto/HTC), nothing.

Do we think it's an Android issue? Or maybe just a MSE/wifi issue? Hmmm...would love to get this fixed. I may try what hilmar2k did, but I like getting 36 hours on a charge w/o wifi. lol.

 

[hilmar2k]

I may have to go the route hilmar2k did with other apps to force notifications.
The one thing I thought was strange was that MS Exchange never pushes email on wifi. If i put my phone on wifi, forget notifications, I can't get email. Even if I hit refresh within the email (stock email client on Moto/HTC), nothing.

Do we think it's an Android issue? Or maybe just a MSE/wifi issue? Hmmm...would love to get this fixed. I may try what hilmar2k did, but I like getting 36 hours on a charge w/o wifi. lol.

I had issues with Exchange and wifi with the stock email client on my Inc2. Oddly, it wasn't every wifi network. I finally switched to TouchDown (sooo much better) and that solved the issue.

By the way, you'll likely get even better battery life with wifi on. Wifi uses less power than cellular for data. When I was having the Exchange issues I had to turn wifi off until I figured it out and my battery life suffered tremendously. To be fair, that was on the Inc2, not the Inc4G, but I think the results would be similar.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Correct, no data when WiFi goes into sleep. Push notifications are delayed, and an app relying on data (ScoreMobile, for example) won't update.

It's an issue, but the app I found seems to fix it. I'd rather it not be broken, of course, but for now at least I get my notifications on time.

I see. Wow that sucks. Then it seems to me HTC got two WiFi issues to fix. Wifi sleeping in standby is one thing, but not connecting with data radio when Wifi sleeps is another and even worse issue. I don't know any other android phone that doesn't switch to data radio when Wifi sleeps in standby. Hopefully HTC addresses this soon.

 

[hilmar2k]

I see. Wow that sucks. Then it seems to me HTC got two WiFi issues to fix. Wifi sleeping in standby is one thing, but not connecting with data radio when Wifi sleeps is another and even worse issue. I don't know any other android phone that doesn't switch to data radio when Wifi sleeps in standby. Hopefully HTC addresses this soon.

Hold on a second, if you set keep wifi on during sleep to "Never", the phone will switch over to cellular for data. The phone isn't supposed to switch over to cellular when you have it set to "Always", it's supposed to keep wifi from sleeping. The issue is it isn't. One problem, not two.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Hold on a second, if you set keep wifi on during sleep to "Never", the phone will switch over to cellular for data. The phone isn't supposed to switch over to cellular when you have it set to "Always", it's supposed to keep wifi from sleeping. The issue is it isn't. One problem, not two.

I see. Then it's better than what I was worried.
But even when it's set to keep Wifi on always, it should switch over to cell data radio when you leave the Wifi connection area saved in phone. Is that working fine?

 

[hilmar2k]

I see. Then it's better than what I was worried.
But even when it's set to keep Wifi on always, it should switch over to cell data radio when you leave the Wifi connection area saved in phone. Is that working fine?

Yup.

 

[timtlm]

I have an Evo LTE. This issue seems to affect the entire HTC One line. Trying to compile a list of complaints from across the web. See here:
http://community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/222/p/15183/62799.aspx#62799

 

[hilmar2k]

I have an Evo LTE. This issue seems to affect the entire HTC One line. Trying to compile a list of complaints from across the web. See here:
Re: Notifications Late on Wifi when screen is off. FIX THIS HTC!!! - HTC EVO

The app I linked to in post #17 in this thread seems to solve the issue. HTC still needs to fix it, and the app is just a band-aid, but for now, it's a functional band-aid....

 

[timtlm]

The app I linked to in post #17 in this thread seems to solve the issue. HTC still needs to fix it, and the app is just a band-aid, but for now, it's a functional band-aid....

I have started to test that app, and so far it is working, but I think it is because it keeps the phone in a partial wake lock. I'm using better battery stats to monitor wake locks, and that app has already #1 on the list of wake lock time. It also takes up 5MB of RAM as a running process. I'll see how battery life holds up. It may not be any better than checking the "best wifi performance" option in the advanced wifi settings. I've tested that option for several days, and the battery drain while sleeping is significant. If you don't even use the phone all day, you'll still lose around 60% of your battery.

 

[hilmar2k]

I have started to test that app, and so far it is working, but I think it is because it keeps the phone in a partial wake lock. I'm using better battery stats to monitor wake locks, and that app has already #1 on the list of wake lock time. It also takes up 5MB of RAM as a running process. I'll see how battery life holds up. It may not be any better than checking the "best wifi performance" option in the advanced wifi settings. I've tested that option for several days, and the battery drain while sleeping is significant. If you don't even use the phone all day, you'll still lose around 60% of your battery.

Battery drain with it is fairly minimal. Noticeable, but I don't think anywhere near what "best wifi..." would be. I had that option enabled for a day on my Inc2, and the battery life was horrendous. I am not seeing that kind of hit to battery life with the app running.

I still end my day at 40%+ battery after 15+ hours off the charger.

 

[timtlm]

Battery drain with it is fairly minimal. Noticeable, but I don't think anywhere near what "best wifi..." would be. I had that option enabled for a day on my Inc2, and the battery life was horrendous. I am not seeing that kind of hit to battery life with the app running.

I still end my day at 40%+ battery after 15+ hours off the charger.

Well, the good news is that it doesn't seem to be completely draining my battery. I had it running overnight and only lost 3%. Also, only lost 23% so far today after 8 hours. I decided on a different app. It explains what all the options are for trying to keep wifi alive. Workaround 2 is a partial wakelock like the app you suggested. Obviously your results won't match mine since I have an Evo LTE. I really hope they fix this in a future update.

Wifi Keep Alive

 

[hilmar2k]

Well, the good news is that it doesn't seem to be completely draining my battery. I had it running overnight and only lost 3%. Also, only lost 23% so far today after 8 hours. I decided on a different app. It explains what all the options are for trying to keep wifi alive. Workaround 2 is a partial wakelock like the app you suggested. Obviously your results won't match mine since I have an Evo LTE. I really hope they fix this in a future update.

Wifi Keep Alive

What about that app do you like better than the one I am using?

 

[timtlm]

What about that app do you like better than the one I am using?

I just liked that it is a little more transparent as to what it is doing in order to keep wifi awake. However, I think I finally realized what that 2nd checkbox is for on the REGPON app. It actually stops the wakelock service whenever you turn your wifi off. I may give that one a try for a while and see if there's any difference.

 

[DodgerinNH]

I just liked that it is a little more transparent as to what it is doing in order to keep wifi awake. However, I think I finally realized what that 2nd checkbox is for on the REGPON app. It actually stops the wakelock service whenever you turn your wifi off. I may give that one a try for a while and see if there's any difference.

Should I have both boxes checked (using REGPON app)? Not sure about the whole meaning of the Wakelock thing?

 

[timtlm]

Should I have both boxes checked (using REGPON app)? Not sure about the whole meaning of the Wakelock thing?

Yes, I would check both. The first one is necessary to actually start the process that keeps wifi alive, and the second is optional, but It is nice that it stops the process when you turn wifi off.

A wakelock is something that keeps your phone from going into deep sleep. Usually it will cause a significant battery drain, but after testing these, I still get good battery life.

 

[timtlm]

What about that app do you like better than the one I am using?

One thing I just discovered is that the REGPON app has to be restarted after a reboot, while the Wifi Keep Alive app will restart on its own after a reboot.

 

[hilmar2k]

Not for me it doesn't.

 

[timtlm]

Not for me it doesn't.

Hmm, it does restart on its own, just not as fast. I also noticed it stops the wake lock service when it's not connected to wifi, so I think it's a keeper.

 

[DodgerinNH]

Hmm, it does restart on its own, just not as fast. I also noticed it stops the wake lock service when it's not connected to wifi, so I think it's a keeper.

After reading this, I checked my REGON app and both boxes were un-checked (for no apparent reason other than reboots), so there is definitely a problem there. I will try the other app. Thanks for staying on top of this, guys.

This is definitely a quirky phone for me thus far, not as good as my experience with the OG Dinc, quite frankly. Some apps just don't seem to work on ICS very well. And even simple little things, like it being tough to see if boxes are checked, or the green syncing icon, or the bold font on the stock text message app and email apps (to signify unread or not) are kind of aggravating. I'm aware there are third party apps that are better and would take care of these problems. But I'm still hoping for root to come, and I know a factory reset would then be on the way, so I'm kind of just sticking with Sense for now, knowing I'll be exploring in the future. The thing is, once we have root and can use NAND backup/restore, a factory reset is a piece of cake. Now it's a pain in the arse.