Wifi in house all the time?

[Rhyalus]

Hello all,

Do you leave wifi on all the time when home?

Since I have heard that wifi uses less battery and I assume it is faster than lte AND most of us don't have unlimited data, it seems that it makes more sense to do this.

On previous phones I did not use wifi unless I was downloading or updating apps, but I think battery usage suggests that this is the best approach on newer phones.

Regards,
R

 

[jhilker]

I leave my wifi on, and on Sprint, there's a connection enhancer that remembers previous connections, so it'll connect without me having to reenter the password.

 

[specialsk]

One of the main reasons to turn off WiFi when you don't have access to connect is the battery drain caused by the periodic scanning by your phone. There's some cool battery saving apps that use GPS to turn WiFi on and off automatically when it knows you either can or can't connect.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[jhilker]

Rhyalus, who's your carrier?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Rhyalus]

Rhyalus, who's your carrier?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Verizon...

R

 

[Rhyalus]

One of the main reasons to turn off WiFi when you don't have access to connect is the battery drain caused by the periodic scanning by your phone. There's some cool battery saving apps that use GPS to turn WiFi on and off automatically when it knows you either can or can't connect.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Right... But at home, wifi is always on. So it would make sense to leave wifi on on the phone (?).

R

 

[jhilker]

One of the main reasons to turn off WiFi when you don't have access to connect is the battery drain caused by the periodic scanning by your phone. There's some cool battery saving apps that use GPS to turn WiFi on and off automatically when it knows you either can or can't connect.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

I would think keeping GPS turned on would drain more battery than leaving Wi-Fi on, IMHO.

I have found (at least on Sprint) that leaving Wi-Fi on results in negligible battery loss.

 

[Mooncatt]

I assume it is faster than lte

The connection from phone to router may be faster than LTE, but the net connection easily could be slower. Just because it's Wi-Fi doesn't mean it'll be faster. My home Wi-Fi is connected to a 2 Mb/s cable line. Heck, you could connect it to a 56K modem if you really wanted to.

That small issue aside, I leave mine on Wi-Fi whenever possible and turn it off when not in a Wi-Fi area. It does use less power, and I'm not in such a hurry to need LTE speeds. While it's great to get those high speeds, it's usually overkill unless downloading exceptionally big files.

 

[specialsk]

Right... But at home, wifi is always on. So it would make sense to leave wifi on on the phone (?).

R

Yes, but if you're switching it off/on all the time to save battery, you have to remember to flip it back on at home. That's the problem and where these battery saving apps help out tremendously.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[specialsk]

I would think keeping GPS turned on would drain more battery than leaving Wi-Fi on, IMHO.

I have found (at least on Sprint) that leaving Wi-Fi on results in negligible battery loss.

I don't disagree but leaving GPS on, while possibly draining more battery gives you GPS functionality which I love in my apps. Unconnected WiFi just kinda sits there (I know, it also is used for location, but not like GPS).

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[law2010]

Hello all,

Do you leave wifi on all the time when home?

Since I have heard that wifi uses less battery and I assume it is faster than lte AND most of us don't have unlimited data, it seems that it makes more sense to do this.

On previous phones I did not use wifi unless I was downloading or updating apps, but I think battery usage suggests that this is the best approach on newer phones.

Regards,
R

I leave WiFi on at all times at home and at my office. It saves on data usage. The only time I shut WiFi off is when I am traveling because I do not want to connect to foreign networks and do not want to waste battery power.

Leaving your WiFi on does not seem to burn much life in the M8.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[randyw]

I keep my WiFi on because I work at home, but if I am going to be out and about I turn it off. Also if your using the power saving mode the WiFi is shut down when I am not using my device.

 

[mfreeland]

I leave mine on all the time. It just doesn't use much battery. At home I have 60 meg internet and its faster than I get on network. I leave it on when I'm on the road. It automatically connects to networks that I've used before. I also leave GPS on all the time. Like using apps that need it.Battery just isn't an issue with this phone e. With everything on and in very low reception roaming while traveling, I'm still getting all day before thinking about charging. In optimal conditions with moderate use I'm getting almost 30 hours...
Just don't have to worry about it....

 

[IAmSixNine]

I have higher battery drain with WiFI on.
I can confirm this with SystemPannel Pro.
When my devices is idle, ill use over night for an example. My device uses about 3-7% CPU consumption.
But when WiFi is on it hovers at 30% CPU consumption, thus using more battery power.
This also happened on the M7. I wish i knew why.

IF someone else has SystemPannel and can monitor CPU usage id like to see if its happening to anybody else.

Another odd thing i have noticed is when i do leave it on WiFi some notifications, gmail, news alerts, google voice texts sometimes get delayed.
However on cellular data its all good.
I had the exact opposite with my Note 3 though.

Im on a stock M8 T-Mobile.

 

[jd914]

As a general rule, turn off wifi when not in use to preserve battery life.

 

[roflwaffleton]

I have higher battery drain with WiFI on.
I can confirm this with SystemPannel Pro.
When my devices is idle, ill use over night for an example. My device uses about 3-7% CPU consumption.
But when WiFi is on it hovers at 30% CPU consumption, thus using more battery power.
This also happened on the M7. I wish i knew why.

IF someone else has SystemPannel and can monitor CPU usage id like to see if its happening to anybody else.

Another odd thing i have noticed is when i do leave it on WiFi some notifications, gmail, news alerts, google voice texts sometimes get delayed.
However on cellular data its all good.
I had the exact opposite with my Note 3 though.

Im on a stock M8 T-Mobile.

It could just be that there is more going on with Wi-Fi turned on. I know that the default for many apps is to update/download only when on Wi-Fi. So with Wi-Fi off, these updates/downloads don't happen.

Oh, and my Wi-Fi is always on.

 

[kronosqq]

I turn Wifi on when I'm home and leave it off when I'm elsewhere, I'll also sometimes leave mobile data off when I'm out of the house to squeeze out a bit more battery life since when I turn it back on its an instant connection.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[matt rey]

Yeah always leave WiFi on mate never noticed any battery issues

Posted via Android Central App

 

[KGun]

WiFi on at home, data on when not home.
Turning data off at home was the biggest thing I did to drop my standby battery usage from 20-22% to 5-6% the 6-7 hours while I sleep.

 

[FBA]

I don't disagree but leaving GPS on, while possibly draining more battery gives you GPS functionality which I love in my apps. Unconnected WiFi just kinda sits there (I know, it also is used for location, but not like GPS).

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

GPS doesn't drain battery just by being enabled. The GPS module ONLY works when an app calls for it, like Maps for example. If you're not running an app that uses GPS, there would be zero battery drain as a result. Just an FYI.