Question about "wi-fi scanning always available" option??

[SilverRocket88]

Hello so i'm running KitKat 4.4.4 on my Moto X and i am wondering about the "Wi-Fi scanning always available" option, from reading on these forums a lot of people are saying it's best to keep this feature off to save battery but i just wanted to understand how it fully works so i'm going to give you a situation where i might/might not need this feature;

I am at home using the home wi-fi, i then go to work and want to connect to the wi-fi there.

Will it automatically connect to the wi-fi network at my place of work as soon i am in range of it? because that's what it currently does with option switched on

 

[Gekko]

Hello so i'm running KitKat 4.4.4 on my Moto X and i am wondering about the "Wi-Fi scanning always available" option, from reading on these forums a lot of people are saying it's best to keep this feature off to save battery but i just wanted to understand how it fully works so i'm going to give you a situation where i might/might not need this feature;

I am at home using the home wi-fi, i then go to work and want to connect to the wi-fi there.

Will it automatically connect to the wi-fi network at my place of work as soon i am in range of it? because that's what it currently does with option switched on

turn scanning off to save battery. as long as wifi is on it will auto connect to saved wifi hotspots.

Disable WiFi scanning to extend battery life, for Android - WhistleOut

 

[Rukbat]

I find that Smart WiFi Toggler uses a lot less battery than the phone's scanning, but it does the same thing - when I get home, my phone connects to my wifi automatically. (It takes a little longer, though - about a minute, because it doesn't scan every 5 seconds. When the phone is awake the default is 10 seconds. When it's asleep it takes longer. So if you turn the screen on, you should connect within 10 seconds. And when it's asleep it doesn't fully wake the phone up to check.)

 

[Javier P]

If you switch WiFi on, your phone is going to try to connect to any available network. It doesn't matter if the "always" option is on or off. So in your hypothetical situation it's going to connect with home/work automatically. No worries there.

With the "always scanning" option on, your phone is going to try to connect with Google servers and such even if you have switched WiFi off. That's the difference and the reason they say to keep it off to save battery.

 

[SilverRocket88]

Thanks guys!

 

[Gekko]

Thanks guys!

i see no battery hit with leaving wifi on 24/7 as long as scanning/notify is kept off.

 

[Gekko]

Thanks guys!

i suffer no hardships doing this -

Battery Tips for Android

1. Toggle off High Accuracy GPS Mode, Bluetooth, NFC,
Hotspot/Tethering. Toggle on only as needed. (Set GPS Mode to "Battery
Saving" Mode).
2. Display Brightness - Turn off Auto Brightness and Reduce Setting
Bar to Minimum Acceptable to you.
3. Sign out of any unused Google Services like G+, Google Now, Hangouts, etc.
4. Disable Location Reporting and Location History.
5. Beware of constantly syncing in background Apps and Bloatware like
Facebook, Twitter, Weather Channel, Games, Google News/Weather,
Non-Push Email, etc. Set Sync interval for every 1 hour or more and
change settings to stop the syncing of data you don't need. Delete
their Apps and use their Web Page if acceptable.
6. Turn Off Hot Word "Hotword Detection" Always Listening Mode in
Google Search if you don't use it.
7. Turn Off Auto Camera/Photo Upload or at least set it for Upload on WIFI Only.
8. Turn Off Vibrate on Touch for Display, Keyboard, etc.
9. Turn Off Touch Sounds and Unlock Sounds.
10. Don't use a Live Wallpaper. Use a dark wallpaper if possible.
11. Set Display Sleep Setting to 2 Minutes or Less.
12. WIFI Settings - Advanced -
a. Network Notification - Set as OFF.
b. Scanning Always Available - Set as OFF.
c. Keep WIFI on during Sleep - Set as ALWAYS if you regularly use
WIFI. OK to keep WIFI on if you regularly use it.
13. Turn Off Always Vibrate in Gmail/Email.
14. Be careful of using too many Live Widgets and what/how often they sync.
15. Set MS Exchange Sync at 30 Days or Less if you use it.
16. Do NOT use a Task Killer App or Battery Saver App.
17. Uninstall ALL Apps that you never use. If you haven't used an
App in one month, uninstall it.
18. Reboot your phone at least once a month.
19. Wipe Cache Partition at least once a quarter or after every OS Update.
20. Consider a Factory Data Reset with a manual re-sync, manual
reinstall of all data and Apps after every major OS Letter Update.
Make sure that all of your data is first backed up to Google and
Dropbox, etc.

"I SUFFER NO HARDSHIPS DOING THIS"

this means that i personally am giving up NOTHING with these tips. i'm
not giving up any features. there are no tradeoffs for me. a tradeoff
or a hardship would be to turn off PUSH email or use AIRPLANE mode
during the day etc.

you find your own balance and the tips list is a start but you must
come to your own conclusion as to what's important. it's personal
preference but these are not a big deal to me at all as they do not
affect the function or operation of my phone. these tips do not
deteriorate my experience.

1-11-15

 

[Javier P]

Good tips Gekko!

 

[WDavis4692]

i see no battery hit with leaving wifi on 24/7 as long as scanning/notify is kept off.

That's because that's not how it works. Wi-Fi scanning basically means that your phone will scan for available WiFi networks, but NOT connect to them, even if your WiFi is disabled. (Normally, the phone won't scan if WiFi is disabled, and scans anyway if it is enabled)

Therefore, if you are the kind of person who leaves WiFi on at all times anyway, then turning on the scanning feature will make zero difference to battery life.

Having the feature on also allows High Accuracy GPS mode to function even with WiFi disabled. High Accuracy GPS mode uses a combination of GPS and nearby WiFi hotspots to make your location even more accurate. Without scanning turned on, if you switch WiFi off then the phone can only use GPS.

The battery hit depends on which apps you have actively location scanning. The WiFi scanning feature should only be happening when the phone's location service is in use. Therefore, disabling location service will also render any battery hit from the scanning feature null and void. If you do not see the location icon active on the status bar, then your location is not being determined and you won't be losing additional battery, even if you have scanning enabled.

In short, it's a useful feature and you'll only want to disable it if your battery life is really bad. I suggest trying the phone out with it switched on and off for a few days respectively and determine if you personally note a difference. I fear a lot of people read articles and disable it outright because they're worried it will eat a lot of battery when in truth it's not as bad as people make it seem.

 

[mwbryant1977]

Okay I have a question too concerning the effect of Wi-Fi scanning on battery life so hopefully somebody can help me out. Before I get to the actual question let me give you some background on my particular situation. I use the "AutomateIt Pro" app (similar to Tasker) to automatically turn my Wi-Fi on and off. I was using cell tower ID as the trigger for turning it on and off based on whether I was at home or my girlfriends where I always use Wi-Fi. But ever since Verizon introduced "Advanced Calling", Cell ID doesn't work as a trigger anymore . So my other option for a trigger is to leave Wi-Fi scanning on even when Wi-Fi is off so that the app can detect when my Wi-Fi networks are in range by scanning and in turn turning my Wi-Fi on at those locations... Okay so here's my question.. would I be better off battery wise just leaving Wi-Fi on all the time or letting it turn Wi-Fi off but leaving Wi-Fi scanning on? In other words am i negating any battery life savings from turning Wi-Fi off when not in use by enabling background Wi-Fi scanning? What drains the battery more, Wi-Fi off with background scanning on or leaving Wi-Fi on all the time?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Dinesh kaswan]

Hello so i'm running KitKat 4.4.4 on my Moto X and i am wondering about the "Wi-Fi scanning always available" option, from reading on these forums a lot of people are saying it's best to keep this feature off to save battery but i just wanted to understand how it fully works so i'm going to give you a situation where i might/might not need this feature;

I am at home using the home wi-fi, i then go to work and want to connect to the wi-fi there.

Will it automatically connect to the wi-fi network at my place of work as soon i am in range of it? because that's what it currently does with option switched on

 

[SilverRocket88]

This is just a follow-up message to say thank you to all of you for your replies!

This forum is a great source of information!

Cheers.