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Help 3G vs. WiFi question. Droid X

Jpeluso8

Newbie
Jul 15, 2010
36
0
Please list to me the benfeits of switching my WiFi on to pick up my wireless network as oppossed to just leaving in the defautl 3G mode. This would be very helpful for me. Specifically I am a bit fuzzy on a couple items:

  1. Does it make the internet faster when wiFi is enabled?
  2. Is it using MORE or less battery power to be left in WiFi connectivity mode? (maybe it uses less battery when surfing the net, but if Im not surfing the net wifi should be off so that both 3G and Wifi are not both draining?)
  3. Is there a way to set my phone to automatically connect to certain WiFi networks when the phone recognizes they are available? (i.e., my home wireless network as oppossed to just getting alerts on EVERY available network?)
THANKS!!
 
1) Yes, usually wifi is significantly than 3g.
2) Wifi uses less, especially if 3G signal isn't very strong. wifi turns off 3g, so even if you aren't actively using the internet, you'll be getting battery savings.
3) You can just leave wifi always on (the hit isn't that great) or you can use Y5 Battery Manager which uses cell towers to know when you are near a known wifi point and turns wifi on and off accordingly.

Also, if you are going to use wifi like that, go into wifi settings, menu->advanced and turn wifi sleep mode to disabled.
 
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Please list to me the benfeits of switching my WiFi on to pick up my wireless network as oppossed to just leaving in the defautl 3G mode. This would be very helpful for me. Specifically I am a bit fuzzy on a couple items:

  1. Does it make the internet faster when wiFi is enabled?
  2. Is it using MORE or less battery power to be left in WiFi connectivity mode? (maybe it uses less battery when surfing the net, but if Im not surfing the net wifi should be off so that both 3G and Wifi are not both draining?)
  3. Is there a way to set my phone to automatically connect to certain WiFi networks when the phone recognizes they are available? (i.e., my home wireless network as oppossed to just getting alerts on EVERY available network?)
THANKS!!


  1. Typically yes, wifi is faster than 3G, but it is still dependent on your Internet connection. I get about 25X times faster downloads on wifi compared to 3G (12 Mbps vs. 0.75 Mbps)
  2. Again, typically wifi will use less battery when retrieving information as opposed to 3G since it takes a shorter time to download the data.
  3. Yes, my X connects to my home and work wireless networks without me doing anything other than initially setting it up.
FWIW, I leave wifi on almost all day. The only time I turn it off is during my commute.
 
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  1. Typically yes, wifi is faster than 3G, but it is still dependent on your Internet connection. I get about 25X times faster downloads on wifi compared to 3G (12 Mbps vs. 0.75 Mbps)
  2. Again, typically wifi will use less battery when retrieving information as opposed to 3G since it takes a shorter time to download the data.
  3. Yes, my X connects to my home and work wireless networks without me doing anything other than initially setting it up.
FWIW, I leave wifi on almost all day. The only time I turn it off is during my commute.

Thanks for the info...but as you mentioned that it connects to your home and work networks, is there a way that the phone can JUST alert you to those specific networks, and not other random netowrks? Basically, I want it to be switching from 3g to wifi as much behind the scenes as possible. Can it connect to those automatically without me having to go into the mene EVERY time I am home...or at work....
 
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1) Yes, usually wifi is significantly than 3g.
2) Wifi uses less, especially if 3G signal isn't very strong. wifi turns off 3g, so even if you aren't actively using the internet, you'll be getting battery savings.
3) You can just leave wifi always on (the hit isn't that great) or you can use Y5 Battery Manager which uses cell towers to know when you are near a known wifi point and turns wifi on and off accordingly.

Also, if you are going to use wifi like that, go into wifi settings, menu->advanced and turn wifi sleep mode to disabled.

Whats the difference between being in WIfI sleep mode or not in sleep mode?
 
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is there a way that the phone can JUST alert you to those specific networks, and not other random netowrks?
Yes, that's how it will work. Turn off new network notification or whatever the exact option is. It won't notify you every time you are near wifi and it will automatically connect to previously connected to networks.

Whats the difference between being in WIfI sleep mode or not in sleep mode?
If you have wifi sleep mode set to, say 15 minutes, after 15 minutes, wifi will go off and 3g will come back on. Wifi uses less battery, so you don't want that, you want the wifi to be connected full time if you are near a wifi network.
 
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Yes, that's how it will work. Turn off new network notification or whatever the exact option is. It won't notify you every time you are near wifi and it will automatically connect to previously connected to networks.

So I wont need to do anyting, just turn off the sleep mode, and turn off auto wifi notification, and the phone will AUTOMATICALLY know to connect to previously used networks??
 
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Thanks for the info...but as you mentioned that it connects to your home and work networks, is there a way that the phone can JUST alert you to those specific networks, and not other random netowrks? Basically, I want it to be switching from 3g to wifi as much behind the scenes as possible. Can it connect to those automatically without me having to go into the mene EVERY time I am home...or at work....

Yes, you can set it to never display the notifications (they do get annoying). It is found under Menu->Wireless & Networks->Wireless Settings

My wireless automatically connects to home and work when I get within signal.
 
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I cant find on my droid X how to toggle between a "sleep" mode or non sleep mode? Its not under this path: setting---wireless networks---wifi setting (which is where i figured it would be?) Anyone know where to find this??

I found it...here are the three options you get for Wi-Fi sleep policy

1. when screen turns off
2. never when plugged in
3. Never.

Which is the best method for battery usage? If i select never, then will it drain more than normal if im not surfing net??
 
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I found it...here are the three options you get for Wi-Fi sleep policy

1. when screen turns off
2. never when plugged in
3. Never.

Which is the best method for battery usage? If i select never, then will it drain more than normal if im not surfing net??
Should be set to never. If you set it to #1, wifi will go off when you turn the screen off and 3g will come back on use more power to stay connected than wifi.
 
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Should be set to never. If you set it to #1, wifi will go off when you turn the screen off and 3g will come back on use more power to stay connected than wifi.
It sounds so counter-intuitive I find it hard to believe. Is there any documentation available on this? I'm not saying you're wrong, I just have to see it to believe it. :)

EDIT: Since text messages don't go over WiFi, wouldn't that mean you're not getting them while WiFi is on? Which doesn't seem to be the case, which then leads me to believe that WiFi does not turn off your cellular data radio. (Unless 3G specifically turns off, and you get text messages over a slower network?)
 
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Text messages are sent and received over the old and slower x1 connection, not 3G. You don't need 3G to send them and afaik you don't gain any benefits to text messaging by having a 3G connection. However, MMS, (pix & videos) uses 3G. A WiFi connection disables 3G, but not the x1 connection.

Hope that answers your question, kwaping.
 
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