Should I use wifi always?

[kufta4]

My brother was in from NC this weekend and I was playing with his phone. I noticed his wifi was on but we were in the car. I asked why and he said he always has it on and remember as many wifi connections as possible.

He said I should do the same because by having wifi on all the time, it will save my battery. I think the logical choice would be to turn it off because if my phone is constantly looking for wifi connections it will drain the battery.

Any input? Thanks.

 

[droidmindy]

I keep wifi always on, along with data. Basically out of laziness, because there are a couple of places where I use a known wifi network and often forgot to tap the widget when I changed locations.

I actually didn't notice a difference in battery life compared with just having data connection on (it was mediocre either way ).

But... I don't have the phone notify me when an open network is available. Because, for the most part, I'm not interested in using any random open network. I'm not sure if that cuts down on the constant looking for wifi connections, or it's still looking and just doesn't notify me.

Bottom line, for me, I haven't found it to make much of a difference either in saving or draining the battery. YMMV.

 

[Lee_Bo]

+1 to what droidmindy said. I keep wifi on because I use it at work and at home. Don't really notice any battery difference. Main reason is because I stream music all the time.

 

[iBowToAndroid]

My brother was in from NC this weekend and I was playing with his phone. I noticed his wifi was on but we were in the car. I asked why and he said he always has it on and remember as many wifi connections as possible.

He said I should do the same because by having wifi on all the time, it will save my battery. I think the logical choice would be to turn it off because if my phone is constantly looking for wifi connections it will drain the battery.

Any input? Thanks.

Here's the deal. WiFi (unless it's an extremely crappy connection) will be faster than Verizon 3G and use less battery, so yes, you should use it whenever possible. But don't have it turned on when you're nowhere near a network (like in the car), because constantly scanning for a connection will drain the battery. In all likelihood, you won't notice the difference, but just in case you happen to go a long stretch without WiFi access (car trip, etc.)

 

[kufta4]

Then here's another one. At work, they have wifi. I had wifi turned on and I wasn't able to use my browser. Its probably because I'm not allowed to use the connection but that seemed to override my 3g connection. So I had to click off wifi to use the internet on my phone. It said I was connected but I couldnt get on the net. Is that something I'd have to watch out for if I left wifi on all the time?

 

[tmettler5]

Then here's another one. At work, they have wifi. I had wifi turned on and I wasn't able to use my browser. Its probably because I'm not allowed to use the connection but that seemed to override my 3g connection. So I had to click off wifi to use the internet on my phone. It said I was connected but I couldnt get on the net. Is that something I'd have to watch out for if I left wifi on all the time?

It's probably like using the wifi at Starbucks...you may need to digitally "sign" an agrrement or TOS type of thing.

I turn my wifi off unless I am *actually* using it. Otherwise it keeps scanning for networks. I also turn off Bluetooth and GPS unless I am actively using them.

 

[CGWaters]

I keep wifi on all the time and I listen to streaming content over various wifi networks--my home, my employer, etc. The following observations are obvious but noteworthy, nonetheless:

When I start to get out of range of a wifi signal (e.g., when I drive away from my house, when I walk to my car from my employer's wifi network, etc.), I've noticed that streaming is disrupted until I'm completely outside of the range of the wifi signal and switched over to 3G. During such transitions, I have no Internet connectivity.

I've noticed that this impacts connectivity-dependent apps like Pandora and Google Voice; e.g., as I drive away from my house, I'm unable to connect to Pandora until I'm driven about 500 feet away; as I walk from my employer's building to my car, I'm unable to successfully make a GV call until I've entered my car.

I wish the transition -- especially from wifi to 3G -- happened more quickly.

 

[benlevy]

I leave it off all the time. Dont stream anything, but never have issues on those occasions I do. It's just another radio I don't need on.

 

[CGWaters]

I need to use wifi so as to conserve battery life. With wifi enabled and in areas where there is a signal, I can go the whole day (8am until 11pm) on an overnight charge. With wifi enabled but in areas where there is no signal, my battery is almost completely drained by noon. I suppose part of the quick drain is due to wifi polling; I'll disable wifi to see if it makes much of a difference.

 

[iBowToAndroid]

I keep wifi on all the time and I listen to streaming content over various wifi networks--my home, my employer, etc. The following observations are obvious but noteworthy, nonetheless:

When I start to get out of range of a wifi signal (e.g., when I drive away from my house, when I walk to my car from my employer's wifi network, etc.), I've noticed that streaming is disrupted until I'm completely outside of the range of the wifi signal and switched over to 3G. During such transitions, I have no Internet connectivity.

I've noticed that this impacts connectivity-dependent apps like Pandora and Google Voice; e.g., as I drive away from my house, I'm unable to connect to Pandora until I'm driven about 500 feet away; as I walk from my employer's building to my car, I'm unable to successfully make a GV call until I've entered my car.

I wish the transition -- especially from wifi to 3G -- happened more quickly.

If you don't want to get interrupted, then turn off WiFi as soon as you walk out the door from work. It takes time to shut down the WiFi connection and re-enable the 3G connection, and connect. When you connect to WiFi, have you looked at the different steps it takes? Connecting, obtaining IP address, etc.? Well it has to do the exact same to connect to 3G, you just don't see the steps