Help 4G battery question?

[Danny1st]

I am under the impression that battery usage from least to most is as follows: WiFi, 3G, 4G with 4G being an absolute battery killer.

I am also under the impression that 4G is a wifi based signal 802.whatever? Type technology. If my assumptions are correct... and i doubt they are (due in part that i am not the techy type) then why would 4G drain faster than WiFi or 3G for that matter?

I am prepared for the verbal abuse that is about to commence... but i was just wondering.

4G= WiMax of course, considering this is an Epic forum

 

[rozner33]

My wife has the epic and I Evo 4g..epic is just an all around battery drainer.. spend money and get extended battery..

 

[GomerBoy]

I've actually heard the the Epic has better battery life than the EVO. Just saying...

 

[rozner33]

I've actually heard the the Epic has better battery life than the EVO. Just saying...

Nope..

 

[rounsy222]

My wife has the epic and I Evo 4g..epic is just an all around battery drainer.. spend money and get extended battery..

Not trying to start a debate here but this is the first that i have heard the evo has better battery life than the epic. Alot of the battery life debate is kinda silly anyways because of what people have running on their phones, type of signal you have, rooted vs not rooted, etc. Any large screen phone is gonna be a battery drainer anyways. A lot of acreage to light up.

 

[Danny1st]

Glad to see we stayed on topic, thanks for the ever so popular debate on epic vrs. Evo... Really, still?!? If you like the evo, great. Same goes with the epic! My god, is it really that f#@king important.

Honestly, read the damn post people. I just wanted to know the difference between wimax and wifi in regards to battery consumption. seriously! Grow up.

 

[rounsy222]

Glad to see we stayed on topic, thanks for the ever so popular debate on epic vrs. Evo... Really, still?!? If you like the evo, great. Same goes with the epic! My god, is it really that f#@king important.

Honestly, read the damn post people. I just wanted to know the difference between wimax and wifi in regards to battery consumption. seriously! Grow up.

Well excuse me. I wasnt trying to fan the fire, i was just stating that the evo/epic debate was silly. And no its not that important to me. If i wasnt a nice person i would flame you right back. And as far as your original post, try google. It can be your friend. And i am not trying to be an ass either. Although both are similar technologies, it has been reported that wimax will chews up batteries relatively quick while wifi is the most efficient way of using the internet on this phone. I dont live in a 4g so i cant say first hand on this but i can say i see a tremendous battery savings on wifi over 3g. Alot will have to do with the quality of reception one has vs how long it takes to get the job done i would imagine. I'm sure others out here may have more first hand experience with 4g that can give you better insight. Since you wanted on topic i figured i would give you my two cents worth since you were kind enough to share yours.

 

[Danny1st]

Appreciated, and apologize for the flame. And thanks for not firing right back. Its just such a mundane argument, I mean really. All these phones have their pluses and minuses! My point was just that I was addressing a very specific point and the only response was the every so popular, my d@$k is bigger than yours debate about types of phone. Again, apologies. Back on topic

I was under the impression that wimax 4g used the same technology as wifi and didn't understand why one consumed significantly more battery than the other.... That's all.

 

[rounsy222]

Np, and i understand your point. I wish i could give you a better explanation. I did read a few different articles last night in which they said that while similar, wifi is 802.11 vs wimax 802.16, they do operate differently. Wifi is much more regulated by the gov and is using the same spectrum as wireless house phones where as wimax is using a unshared spectrum and has no usage competition. I am guessing that wifi is more efficient because the radios have been around much longer and have been enhanced over time than wimax. But another thought that comes to mind is that wimax does much more concentrated work than wifi, kinda like using a turbo on a car vs not using one, the greater performance comes with greater fuel consumption. Either way just my thoughts and no fact. By the way, no harm no foul. Silly debates get no one any where;-)

 

[Danny1st]

And then the response I was looking for... Damn, I am an ass (head held low) Nice analogy on the turbo, that actually makes a lot of sense. Again, Thanks

 

[rounsy222]

Np. Like i said i dont have first hand experience with 4g so dont take it for gospel, just an opinion. Hopefully someone with 4g can chime in and give some better insight for you

 

[IAmSixNine]

Here is a great article on Wimax and its coverage. WiMAX FAQ
Definately worth reading.

 

[mcknight]

In my experience...

• 
  WiFi uses the least amount of juice, but that's really only part of the story. You have to be within range of a hot spot. And if you're mobile (and I mean in motion, not just traveling to another fixed location), forget it. That is with the exception of a mobile hot spot in an aircraft cabin. That is just way too cool, and works well.

• 
  WiMax is a little of Jekyll and a little of Hyde.
  
  It will generally work in a mobile environment -- but the hand off between cells and the search for a WiMax signal seems to be a huge battery drain (Mr. Hyde). It seems to require WiMax's inner beast to do the job (and sometimes, it's a tad messy -- such as NO effective hand off between 3G and WiMax, requiring you to reload anything that required your Internet connection).
  
  I'm not sure how this impacts voice, but I suspect any ongoing voice call connected to the CDMA network will stick there until completed, since once you're connected to WiMax voice and Internet are handled across the same connection as I understand it.
  
  On the other hand, WiMax in a fixed location is actually not too far from WiFi in my experience when it comes to battery use (a sort of genteel, yet very capable Dr. Jekyll).
  
  I connect to WiMax when I'm in the office, even though WiFi is available, so I don't put any unnecessary demand on our WAN. We have a 3 MB local loop to our data center, shared across our small office LAN with a portion of that being used by our VoIP system. If I want to do any heavy streaming, I'm far better off going with WiMax, because I'll get typically about 5 MB downstream and 1 MB upstream -- and a great signal at work (though none at home). And of course in a pinch, I can use my phone as a WiFi hot spot connected to the WiMax network.
  
  If I'm in a popular location with free WiFi (and WiMax is available in the area), my actual bandwidth will typically be better if I'm using WiMax, due to the high volume of bandwidth sharing at that location. On the other hand, the signal does not do a good job of building penetration. If you're not next to an outside wall, stick with WiFi, or even 3G.

• 
  3G (at least the EV-DO variety on the Sprint network sucks -- that is your battery. It does not sip at the well of juice. My Epic 4G, when connected to 3G service, can drain the battery in a very short time, whether you are actively connected or not. Though, actual data use does the most damage to battery life.
  
  YET... 3G is also the best at mobile flexibility, so when I'm moving, I generally stick to 3G. It just seems to know how to manage the data connection best, if not as fast as WiMax.

• 
  One last point. An active GPS connection also sucks hard on the battery (at least with my phone), so if I'm not using it, I turn it off. In fact, managing ALL radio activity on the phone is something I have gotten used to doing to help manage battery life -- and when I do a good job of it, my phone's battery will last all day long (whereas before I managed connections, it would die in about three hours, and want to be recharged).

Ultimately, I find I have to actively manage my data connection in order to assure the longest battery life. While it would be great if the OS were smart enough to see what I'm doing, and switch between types of data services automagically, well, that's just not the case. My Epic WILL automatically jump between available data services -- but not without service interruption and potential need to reload a content service. And it does this based on availability, not on specific need or battery use. AND, even if I am clearly out of range of WiMax, it will continue to search (as it does for a WiFi hotspot when I have left the house).


If I'm connected to WiFi in the morning, when I go on a run, and need to access GPS to measure my performance (as opposed to my battery's), AND I need access to the Internet during my run due to streaming content I want to listen to, I'm best to switching to my particular data requirement in advance of leaving or using anything. That will assure my best battery life and data access requirement (especially if I have less than a full charge on the battery).

That's my experience, anyway...

DAVID

PS - there was an earlier comment about WiFi being more regulated by the government. That doesn't make sense to me, since WiFi works in the unlicensed spectrum, whereas WiMax is in the licensed spectrum -- meaning heavy gov regulation by comparison. The post may have been attempting to make a different point, but I did not catch it if it was.

 

[yeoldeusrename]

Think of it in terms of energy. Greater distance requires more energy. Thus wimax sucks more energy than wifi from the battery. More bandwidth requires more energy. Thus wimax sucks more energy than 3g.

This explaination is waaaay oversimplified, and there are lots of other factors as mentioned above, but that's the fundamental principle at work - energy balance.

 

[yolo1]

Caca