Wifi using more battery than network?

[theGman911]

This goes against anything I know about smartphones, but with the Bionic does it seem to u guys that it uses more battery than the network? I am mainly in a 3g area by the way..

I am working with the gentleman that made currentwidget to try getting it working on the bionic so that I can run some tests and REALLY see what's going on. Until then, what do u guys think?

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[moosc]

Cell standby is high also.

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[ChevyNovaLN]

This goes against anything I know about smartphones, but with the Bionic does it seem to u guys that it uses more battery than the network? I am mainly in a 3g area by the way..

I am working with the gentleman that made currentwidget to try getting it working on the bionic so that I can run some tests and REALLY see what's going on. Until then, what do u guys think?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Do you have it set to 'CDMA Only' or 'CDMA/LTE' ? I ask becuase if you're 'mainly' in a 3g area and you have it set to 'CDMA/LTE' your phone may be searching for a 4G signal hurting you battery usage. I realize this isn't wahat you asked, but just a thought worth mentioning.

Also, do you have WiFi at work and/or home? If so, then absolutely i can see it using more battery than your 3g network when in the location where WiFi is available. It could also be searching for available WiFi Hotspots/Access Points if you don't have your WiFi off when not in an area you know you'll be using it.

 

[LDubs]

when the VZW tech was helping me activate my bionic last night, she told me that wifi and bluetooth can suck up a lot of battery power. Not sure if I should even connect to my home wifi with this device or not now. But bottom line is she confirmed that the device could constantly search for an available wifi signal, which will tax the battery.

 

[2defmouze]

Yeah there have been a couple topics on this and a couple reviews have mentioned they suspect that wifi, even in your home network, might be using more battery than 4G. It does go against the norm... maybe Moto's self-designed 4G radio really is that good

I don't think its been fully confirmed anywhere, but it is suspected.

 

[GoBigRed79]

Also, do you have WiFi at work and/or home? If so, then absolutely i can see it using more battery than your 3g network when in the location where WiFi is available. It could also be searching for available WiFi Hotspots/Access Points if you don't have your WiFi off when not in an area you know you'll be using it.

This is true. It is no different than the cell radio. If you have Wi-Fi on but you are not connected, it will always be scanning for hotspots. This will use up a lot of battery. I have a toggle widget that I use for Wi-Fi and if I am not using it I turn it off. But I seem to be in a pretty stable 4G area and since it is as fast as my Wi-Fi I have not really even been using it when at home. I honestly did not notice much of a difference in battery life when using Wi-Fi at home vs 4G. Obviously if you have week 4G you may be better off using Wi-Fi.

 

[2defmouze]

This is true. It is no different than the cell radio. If you have Wi-Fi on but you are not connected, it will always be scanning for hotspots. This will use up a lot of battery. I have a toggle widget that I use for Wi-Fi and if I am not using it I turn it off. But I seem to be in a pretty stable 4G area and since it is as fast as my Wi-Fi I have not really even been using it when at home. I honestly did not notice much of a difference in battery life when using Wi-Fi at home vs 4G. Obviously if you have week 4G you may be better off using Wi-Fi.

I do the same, make sure to toggle off wifi when I'm leaving home. Actually the last day or so I've left it off to see if 4G is better on battery life, as people are suspecting. No concrete results, I'm not actively testing and haven't been using it heavily. However, 4G is without a doubt FASTER than wifi from my experience, and I've got a DAMN fast wifi at home, VZ Fios. That's saying a lot about VZ's 4G network. Should note I'm in a very good 4G area, NYC.

 

[LDubs]

I do the same, make sure to toggle off wifi when I'm leaving home. Actually the last day or so I've left it off to see if 4G is better on battery life, as people are suspecting. No concrete results, I'm not actively testing and haven't been using it heavily. However, 4G is without a doubt FASTER than wifi from my experience, and I've got a DAMN fast wifi at home, VZ Fios. That's saying a lot about VZ's 4G network. Should note I'm in a very good 4G area, NYC.

Interesting. I have the same situation, VZ Fios in Brooklyn. I'm going to turn off wifi at home and keep 4G on and see what it looks like.

 

[gdbjr]

when the VZW tech was helping me activate my bionic last night, she told me that wifi and bluetooth can suck up a lot of battery power. Not sure if I should even connect to my home wifi with this device or not now. But bottom line is she confirmed that the device could constantly search for an available wifi signal, which will tax the battery.

If you are on the unlimited data plan and get good 4G at home, i wouldn't bother with wifi. I know I don't. And Bluetooth with suck the life out of your battery if let on. Not sure why that is as my last phone didn't do that.

 

[wpwoodjr]

If you are on the unlimited data plan and get good 4G at home, i wouldn't bother with wifi. I know I don't. And Bluetooth with suck the life out of your battery if let on. Not sure why that is as my last phone didn't do that.

The bluetooth on my Droid X didn't suck battery unless you were using it. What makes you think it's eating battery when idle on the Bionic?

 

[wpwoodjr]

This goes against anything I know about smartphones, but with the Bionic does it seem to u guys that it uses more battery than the network? I am mainly in a 3g area by the way..

I am working with the gentleman that made currentwidget to try getting it working on the bionic so that I can run some tests and REALLY see what's going on. Until then, what do u guys think?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

If you get currentwidget working please let me know!!

 

[Issemann]

QUESTION: Does WiFi turn off 3G and 4G?

If you toggle wifi on, will it automatically turn off 3G and/or 4G? Thanks!

 

[delco714]

It'll keep 4g but use wifi for internet if there is a connection. Only if you send/receive mms will 4g be used at that point. At least this it's how the other verizon 4g phones work.

 

[llewis13]

I downloaded a widget called Data Enabler Widget for the Bionic. My phone isn't rooted and this widget seems to work really well. I have both this widget (1x1) and the wifi switch widget on my home screen. Whenever I'm at home or at work, where there is free wifi, i turn off data with the widget and turn on Wifi. Now all emails, web browsing, etc is done thru wifi, but texts and calls can still be made with a regular "2G" network connection. Whenever i leave home or my office, i turn off the wifi and enable the data. as long as the network settings are on CDMA/LTE, it will always switch from 4G to Wifi.

Don't be confused. The data enabler does not switch from 3G to 4G. It literally turns data off so you are not connected to either. I find that this not only helps control data usage, but also is the best use of the battery. it stops you from needing to have wifi and data network on at the same time.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

I downloaded a widget called Data Enabler Widget for the Bionic. My phone isn't rooted and this widget seems to work really well. I have both this widget (1x1) and the wifi switch widget on my home screen. Whenever I'm at home or at work, where there is free wifi, i turn off data with the widget and turn on Wifi. Now all emails, web browsing, etc is done thru wifi, but texts and calls can still be made with a regular "2G" network connection. Whenever i leave home or my office, i turn off the wifi and enable the data. as long as the network settings are on CDMA/LTE, it will always switch from 4G to Wifi.

Don't be confused. The data enabler does not switch from 3G to 4G. It literally turns data off so you are not connected to either. I find that this not only helps control data usage, but also is the best use of the battery. it stops you from needing to have wifi and data network on at the same time.

That sounds like a good idea, I do notice that sometimes when I have WiFi enabled, 3G data arrows are active which I had to reboot to change. Personally I have noticed that WiFi when connected (I use the widget to turn off when I know that I am not connected to a WiFi) drains battery life and consumes approximately the same (maybe a little lower) amount of battery as the 3G signal does. I live in a 3G only area and have my network set to only CDMA.

 

[ninjataint]

My brief time with the Droid 3 yielded the same result. Wifi is a hog on these phones. I just use 4g at home.

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[fogflyer]

Wifi is definitely NOT sucking much juice, at least when you are just connected. I don't know if it uses more while you are actually downloading things.
Yesterday I got an amazing battery life of 80% left after 14 hours! I had my wifi toggled on the entire time and was connected for the majority of that time. At work I wander in/out of wifi range all day, so it is definitely doing some hunting during the day. The big difference is that my sceen on time was only 1 hour 12 minutes yesterday. I think the screen sucks far more juice than the battery manager screen shows. Previous days I have been at 40% when I get off work and down to 20% when I go to bed, but I also usually have around 4 hours of screen time.

Here is the mystery for me... the "sync" in the power widget. You know, the two circular arrows. What does this do? It certainly sucks my battery down. I get much longer time with it off. I never have it checked on now, yet I still get my emails pushed, I get my news pushed to my news widget and I still get my contacts backed up according to the backup program. I don't know what I am actually turning off, but it sure seems to help the battery and not effect anything else. I don't use Google calendar though, so maybe that is effected, I just don't know.

 

[fogflyer]

Re: QUESTION: Does WiFi turn off 3G and 4G?

If you toggle wifi on, will it automatically turn off 3G and/or 4G? Thanks!

Only when you are actually connected to a wifi network.

 

[RoyEP3]

Here is the mystery for me... the "sync" in the power widget. You know, the two circular arrows. What does this do? It certainly sucks my battery down. I get much longer time with it off. I never have it checked on now, yet I still get my emails pushed, I get my news pushed to my news widget and I still get my contacts backed up according to the backup program. I don't know what I am actually turning off, but it sure seems to help the battery and not effect anything else. I don't use Google calendar though, so maybe that is effected, I just don't know.

I'd like to know this as well.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

Here is the mystery for me... the "sync" in the power widget. You know, the two circular arrows. What does this do? It certainly sucks my battery down. I get much longer time with it off. I never have it checked on now, yet I still get my emails pushed, I get my news pushed to my news widget and I still get my contacts backed up according to the backup program. I don't know what I am actually turning off, but it sure seems to help the battery and not effect anything else. I don't use Google calendar though, so maybe that is effected, I just don't know.

I'd like to know this as well.

I am pretty sure that this means that the device is set to sync social media and email either on a time table or with push data. That could be the only thing that would make the arrows on that constant and when you turn that off, maybe nothing with sync unless you do it manually.

On the topic of WiFi, I actually did a little testing last night to see while watching the football game. I think that WiFi can drain more battery life depending on the WiFi signal. At work yesterday I have full or next to full signal all day and my battery didn't drain quickly at all. At home however due to where my room is, my WiFi signal is bad. I have a wireless router on the floor below me in an office and an access point that we use for outside by our pool is down the hall and through about 5 walls. Basically in my room cycles between okay and low signal whenever I am in my room. My actually cell service (3G only currently) gets full signal all over the house and when I was playing around with it last night I tried something.

I left my device to idle for about an hour and according to circle battery widget my battery dropped about 3-4%. When I turned off WiFi and just left it on 3G and let the phone idle for an hour it only dropped about 2%. Of course this is only results that I got using simple testing and I actually plan to do more testing about this. Let me know if anyone else has experienced this.