Need understand unchecking "enable always-on-mobile data"

[Panchoevo]

Need understand unchecking "enable always-on-mobile data"


I found the following tip:

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For battery life I did a few things:

First turn off always on internet. You go to "Settings >> Wireless & networks >> Mobile networks >> uncheck "enable always-on-mobile data"" This helped the most for my battery and it didn't harm any of my programs data connections.

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There is a "Mobile Network" and a "Mobile NetworkS" selection. Can some explain the difference in these two functions ?


Thanks

 

[bobvanjr]

I'd also like to know what it does and any possible ramifications for un-checking it.

 

[Gekko]

some of your "always on" apps may not function properly/stream/update in sleep - ie certain streaming radio apps and social networking apps, etc.

i used to uncheck mine but i went back to leaving it checked and i don't see a significant decrease in battery life. BUT i don't have a lot of the above apps running 24/7.

 

[DroidGnome]

Ok there are two separate questions here:

1) What is the difference between "Mobile Network" and "Mobile Networks" (With an "S")

That's easy.. one enables the mobile network (3g antenna) and the other sets it's settings. Why they decided to make one plural I don't know unless you consider Mobile Network a feature and the Settings could impact multiple potential networks... either way.. Check the first if you want data to come into your phone period

2) "Always On Mobile Data" option... I looked into this a while ago and the best explanation I found was as follows. I cannot guarantee it's the 100% correct answer, but it does make sense.

After 5 minutes when your not using your phone, your phone goes to sleep and turns off 3g all together.

You can test this by waiting more than 5 minutes and when you press the power button button on top of your phone you will see that there is no 3G symbol at all at first and then it immediately pops up. Depending on what you are using your phone for, you may want this feature on.

It sounds as if when the phone sleeps it will turn off the 3G radio entirely, and only wake-up when the phone is on. Having the 3G antenna on itself isn't a huge drain as it's not necessarily transmitting (having it transmit data is what causes a big drain).

If you live in an area where you have a bad 3G connection, it could potentially drain your battery as it will constantly be trying to sync up to the tower rather than simply stay connected.

Hope that helps.

 

[Darth Mo]

It sounds as if when the phone sleeps it will turn off the 3G radio entirely, and only wake-up when the phone is on. Having the 3G antenna on itself isn't a huge drain as it's not necessarily transmitting (having it transmit data is what causes a big drain).

If you live in an area where you have a bad 3G connection, it could potentially drain your battery as it will constantly be trying to sync up to the tower rather than simply stay connected.

Hope that helps.

I think more accurately, it closes the data connection after a given period where data usage is idle, not necessarily whenever the phone is asleep. So if you have Facebook or email set to sync every 5 minutes or whatever, it re-establish the connection. The drawback is that if you have an extended sync interval and the phone sits idol for a long time, the data connection will shut down. The data connection could be shut down for hours at a time and you won't receive things like push mail or MMS until you wake up your phone or something else re-opens the data connection. This is the cause sometimes where people complain of "emails/MMS taking forever to come though."

The latter part you said about trying to maintain a weak connection is harder on the battery is correct though.

 

[splmonster]

Also to some can not uncheck this, or the phone will power cycle every once in awhile. Some users live within areas where the towers have to have this enabled.

 

[PM-Performance]

There is no reason to unchecked this unless you have an app hanging up internet use and not allowing the phone to sleep.
I've tested both ways and makes no difference on a well working phone