DO NOT USE "Best Wi-Fi performance"!

[RyDawgBoston]

While it does use more power, it also latches on to wifi a longer distance.

I tried to get wifi outside my building with my old evos, 4s,, iPod and none of them would latch onto a connection ever... My new evo Lte with best performance mode on gets my wifi signal strong. Switch it off and it loses it.

Its pretty much an amplifier for when heavily needed. If your inside with good wifi, then keep it checked off.

 

[crxssi]

While it does use more power, it also latches on to wifi a longer distance.

I tried to get wifi outside my building with my old evos, 4s,, iPod and none of them would latch onto a connection ever... My new evo Lte with best performance mode on gets my wifi signal strong. Switch it off and it loses it.

Its pretty much an amplifier for when heavily needed. If your inside with good wifi, then keep it checked off.

OK, thanks for confirming that it does do something useful for the 250-300% additional power draw. I assume you do not leave the setting "on" all the time?

Also, HTC said they would escalate the issue and will be contact me via phone (after I supplied them a slew of additional info). We shall see...

 

[zpoettker]

I had this turned on and didn't know why I was getting such bad battery life. I turned it off just a bit ago. We'll see how things go.

This should be a sticky for awhile I do believe.

 

[RyDawgBoston]

OK, thanks for confirming that it does do something useful for the 250-300% additional power draw. I assume you do not leave the setting "on" all the time?

Also, HTC said they would escalate the issue and will be contact me via phone (after I supplied them a slew of additional info). We shall see...

It does drain the hell out of the battery. I kept it on and my battery was dead in 2 hours browsing the Web.

I was far from wifi, phone was roaming, no 3g, but pulled a strong wifi signal where I normally have never gotten before.

So it is useful in a pinch and its good to know its there.

 

[TraderGary]

OK, thanks for confirming that it does do something useful for the 250-300% additional power draw. I assume you do not leave the setting "on" all the time?

Also, HTC said they would escalate the issue and will be contact me via phone (after I supplied them a slew of additional info). We shall see...

If they contact you via phone, ask them about the multitasking problem.

 

[crxssi]

I had this turned on and didn't know why I was getting such bad battery life. I turned it off just a bit ago. We'll see how things go.

This should be a sticky for awhile I do believe.

I know. I asked a moderator to do this the day I posted all this and was pretty much ignored. I fear a lot of people will suffer with this obviously broken HTC setting.

 

[crxssi]

If they contact you via phone, ask them about the multitasking problem.

Oh, believe me, if they do ever contact me (and they have not yet), then I will bring up what I believe are the three most critical problems with this device (and in this order):

1) Memory/multitasking being a mess
2) WiFi disconnecting on sleep when it should never
3) "Best Wi-Fi performance" option bug

I do suggest to people, if you have a few minutes of spare time, go to this page: HTC Smartphones and Tablets - Support for HTC Cell Phones and Tablets and submit your own feedback, bringing up these issues. The more they hear from people, the more likely they are not going to just dismiss it. Make sure to mention the model (Evo LTE).

 

[TraderGary]

My feedback to HTC has been submitted!

 

[crxssi]

HTC called me today at work and I talked with a tech for a while. It was mostly the same politically-correct corporate-mandated dogma (this is the design, there is nothing wrong, etc). He said that it does, indeed, boost the WiFi range and "wasn't an option that was intended to be left on all the time".

I stressed that if they are unable to fix the problem, then at a minimum, they should reword the option to say something like "This will cause huge battery drain, use option only occasionally and when necessary". He said he would pass it on.

He didn't really understand the gravity of the problem, because he did not read the forum link I had provided, nor the detailed info in my original Email to HTC. This was upsetting to me. I had to walk him through it all so he could see how it keeps the phone from ever sleeping and the battery hit showing under the "wrong" area so nobody would know why their phone was draining horribly.

It was nice that they followed up with their promise to call me. I hope they realize how important this issue can be. Will something be done about it? Probably not. But at least I tried.

 

[geauxlsutigers]

I was playing around with WiFi analyzer today and it looks like this phone has a Simultaneous Dual Band (2.5ghz and 5ghz) WiFi radio, which is pretty nice. Could it be that this toggles between single and simultaneous bands?

 

[crxssi]

I was playing around with WiFi analyzer today and it looks like this phone has a Simultaneous Dual Band (2.5ghz and 5ghz) WiFi radio, which is pretty nice. Could it be that this toggles between single and simultaneous bands?

Well....

1) That is supposedly not what the function does
2) There would be no performance increase by having both on at the same time
3) There is another option for restricting bands

 

[icebike]

Well....

1) That is supposedly not what the function does
2) There would be no performance increase by having both on at the same time
3) There is another option for restricting bands

There would be a performance increase because it can transmit on one band and receive on the other simultaneously, which is how 802.11N works.

Sent from my HOX

 

[crxssi]

There would be a performance increase because it can transmit on one band and receive on the other simultaneously, which is how 802.11N works.

I am not an expert on WiFi inner workings, but I didn't think N would use both bands at the same time to a single client. I know it can use both frequencies at the same time, but that is typically to different devices.

 

[Auzo]

There would be a performance increase because it can transmit on one band and receive on the other simultaneously, which is how 802.11N works.

Sent from my HOX

This is not true, you only use one band or another which is how 802.11N works right now. What you suggest is possible, but not using the current 802.11N standard.

HTC called me today at work and I talked with a tech for a while. It was mostly the same politically-correct corporate-mandated dogma (this is the design, there is nothing wrong, etc). He said that it does, indeed, boost the WiFi range and "wasn't an option that was intended to be left on all the time".

I stressed that if they are unable to fix the problem, then at a minimum, they should reword the option to say something like "This will cause huge battery drain, use option only occasionally and when necessary". He said he would pass it on.

He didn't really understand the gravity of the problem, because he did not read the forum link I had provided, nor the detailed info in my original Email to HTC. This was upsetting to me. I had to walk him through it all so he could see how it keeps the phone from ever sleeping and the battery hit showing under the "wrong" area so nobody would know why their phone was draining horribly.

It was nice that they followed up with their promise to call me. I hope they realize how important this issue can be. Will something be done about it? Probably not. But at least I tried.

I'm sorry, but it seems like you are maybe a little caught up in this and are really grasping at straws now. We now know the extent of the battery drain by using this option. While the option doesn't properly give a quantitative value for the extra power drain, it does note that it will use more power. Why is that not enough again?

The whole things gives me this vibe like "well the coffee is hot but it didn't specify how hot on the cup so I drank it and burned my self. Now I'm angry and I want them to change it to say coffee is hot enough to burn you."

We know what this feature does and maybe some people don't mind having a 200+% battery hit to be able to use wifi in fringe areas when needed. For everyone else they can leave it off. IMO this is one of those rare cases where this "bug" is actually a "feature." I know that you think its a bug because it didn't act this way on your older phone, but that is not a valid comparison. The WiFi chip is probably different, the antennas are definitely different, the subsystem is just different. Then there is always the possibility that HTC tuned this performance mode more aggressively for this phone to further extend its range.

Go enjoy the positives of your phone!

 

[crxssi]

I'm sorry, but it seems like you are maybe a little caught up in this and are really grasping at straws now. We now know the extent of the battery drain by using this option.

*WE* do, the people reading this thread on this forum. The public at-large, out there, no.

While the option doesn't properly give a quantitative value for the extra power drain, it does note that it will use more power. Why is that not enough again?

Because saying it "may use additional power" says it may not. It also implies it is perhaps not even noticeable. That is a far step from what is happening in reality. I will use my analogy from before regarding shooting you five times in your knee with a gun- then describing it as "may cause some discomfort" (I really like that one).

 

[zpoettker]

I'll add some battery stats.

Using Battery Monitor Pro.
Percent is amount of battery used throughout the day. 100% is a full charge.

Day 1. W/ setting checked and on Wifi 90% of the day. 104%
Day 2. W/O setting checked and on Wifi 80% of the day. 47%
Day 3. W/O setting checked and on Wifi 0% of the day. 68%

I would say it's a bit of an issue.