Help Battery Life & Mobile Internet Observation/Question

[fredsmith]

I work from home. I notice that if I turn off "Mobile network: Connect to Internet', my battery life increases substantially. I would put the increase at over 100%, roughly from 8 hours to 16 hours.

My phone uses my wifi network to keep all it's data functions going. I've noticed that the email updates in gmail and k9 happen far less frequently. The best way to force them to sync is to launch each app. Does turning off "Mobile Network" affect the sync intervals?

I also have to wonder why the battery life is so greatly extended. I assumed that my phone would detect the wifi and not use the mobile internet functions. Is the power drain caused by keeping the radio on just in case I wander too far from my wireless router?

Do other folks who shut off the Mobile Internet have the same increase in battery life/decrease in sync intervals? Is there some setting where I can keep the same email sync intervals even when Mobile Network is off?

Phone: Non-rooted Evo 4G running AWD Launcher instead of Sense

Thanks!

 

[rowuncw]

I experience the same thing. When I'm on wireless at my house, my Fascinate can go over a day before I have to recharge (I usually like to plug in around 30%). But when I'm at work where there is no wireless and I have to rely on a poor 3g signal, my battery life plummets.

And as far as I know, Android devices don't differentiate between wifi and mobile data signals when it comes to syncing, unless one or both are simply unavailable.

 

[Knewz]

yeah turning mobile network off will give you a huge increase. primarily because of HTC's Sense. it uses a lot of data all the time, ultimately using lots of battery life also. And if you have other apps running which are constantly update or sending/receiving data, it will use lots of battery(i.e wordfued, twitter, k-9, weather)
If you do get rooted(which you should) there are roms and respective kernels out there that will help with battery life even when mobile network is always on.

 

[Guamguy]

3G consumes more energy because the radio signal goes much much farther than wifi.

Second, if the phone detects the 3G signal being weak, it tends to boost power on the transmission to compensate, hence causing the battery to drain further. Your battery life is much shorter with 1 or 2 bars than it is with 4.

 

[Spr8dogg]

When wireless networks is turned off your phone will not sync, nor will the phone activate internet connections to sync. The radios in your phone (3g and 4g) use a tremendous amount of power. Wifi actually consumes the least amount of power.

Turning off your internet connections may also make apps and games that have ads run better.

A little tip: in your wifi settings press menu and press advanced settings. Set the wifi sleep policy to 'never' and try to use wifi as much as possible.