• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

WiFi and Bluetooth Question

bucketheadmn

Well-Known Member
Feb 17, 2010
163
14
Saint Paul, MN
Have had my Hero for almost a week now after having BB's in the past and most recently an iPod Touch + dumb phone. Nice to have it all in one device again - much improved from the BBs I must say!

In regards to WiFi - is it better to run WiFi where available or get internet off the cell Network? I spend most of the day on a campus that has WiFi throughout so could use that instead of the Sprint network, but not sure what will provide better battery life. Searched the forum, but did not see anything saying one way or the other.

On Bluetooth. I have my Hero paired to my car ok, BUT it does not pick up a call right away. I will make a call and the first 15 - 30 seconds will be on my handset and then get transfered to my car Bluetooth. Same happens when answering. Never had this problem with other Bluetooth handsets. Anyone else run into this problem?
 
...
On Bluetooth. I have my Hero paired to my car ok, BUT it does not pick up a call right away. I will make a call and the first 15 - 30 seconds will be on my handset and then get transfered to my car Bluetooth. Same happens when answering. Never had this problem with other Bluetooth handsets. Anyone else run into this problem?

I have factory BT in my 09 Toyota, with factory NAV. When the call comes in, and displays on the NAV screen, if I instinctively say "hello" immedialelty after I press the answer button on the steering wheel, the caller can't hear me. If I wait a second or two, it is fine. It seems that when the call timer on the screen says 0:01, it is ok, but 0:00, it is not. No biggy, I just have to remember to wait a second. Otherwise I have to say "hello" twice before they hear me. This is slightly slower than my old Samsung Instinct in the same car. After that, the BT works perfectly.

Re-reading your post, I am confused if you are talking about inbound or outbound calls. Are you dialing the # from the car or your Hero??
 
Upvote 0
Re-reading your post, I am confused if you are talking about inbound or outbound calls. Are you dialing the # from the car or your Hero??
Both inbound and outbound. Today outbound calling one call took 3 rings to go from device to Bluetooth, but another call went right away. No rhyme or reason to the time it takes.

I only use phone to dial out - have not loaded any Bluetooth contacts. So its dial on phone and wait for BT to connect. I answer using button on steering wheel for car though.
 
Upvote 0
My Hero's Wi-Fi sucks. It drops offline 10ft from my router. You might have some problems walking around the campus and auto connecting to Wi-Fi. My Wi-Fi experience sucks with the hero. I even had the phone replaced because I thought that was the problem. Good luck!

Mine seemed to stay connected today just fine on campus. And at home it connects up clear side of the house up a floor from the router no problems.

WiFi will be faster and use significantly less battery life.
in the WiFi...from what I have read..

Wifi is faster, but draws more battery, because the wifi is on the whole time.

Cellnetwork is slower, but battery is better.

One right, one wrong - but who is right and who is wrong? Has anyone done testing to see? I remember reading somewhere that someone did it over night and WiFi used a little bit less than the cell network. BUT I can not find any actual information on statistics so at this point it is all conjecture. Hopefully someone can come along and answer this one way or the other for those of us looking for better battery life for a day.
 
Upvote 0
Cell network will constantly be searching for if it's on the best tower.

If you have strong network coverage it'll be better than if you have bad coverage.

But from all the testing I've done and the numerous smart phones I've owned, WiFi has always used less battery than mobile internet (tested and verified most recently on my Nokia E71).

Try both though and see which works best for you
 
Upvote 0
Going to try WiFi for a bit - today seemed as if I had more battery life at the end of the day, but of course that is just eye balling the little battery meter in the task back.

Unscientific results of the last few days is that WiFi uses less battery as long as connected. With widget on front screen able to turn on and off as get into wireless networks to help further.
 
Upvote 0
Android 2.X adds a few Bluetooth profiles (e.g., object push profile (OPP) for better contact sharing with car head units, etc. as well as adding the phonebook access profile (PBAP)). Also "upgrades" the phone to to Bluetooth 2.1.

Hopefully, the frequency with which the Hero tries to connect with devices it's been previously paired with will be increased with the new Bluetooth software. We'll see.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones