Wifi vs Data and battery

[Axlfro]

Hey guys,
Just got my dinc a few days ago and I gotta say I really love it. Love how everything can be customizable and personalized to the T. The only thing I'm concerned about is my 3g signal. Coming from a BB Storm 2 I had pretty good 3G reception in my house, almost full bars all the time. With the Dinc, signal strength is pretty weak, maybe 1 or 2 bars, thus causing a major drain in battery life. I upgraded my roaming capabilites using Verizons *228. I also turned off my data roaming and changed my CDMA roaming mode to "Home Only". Will that change signal strength at all and increase battery life?

The only difference I see in battery life is when I turn on Wifi at home, in SIGNIFICANTLY improves. Is my phone defective and should I be concerned about a replacement, or is a common issue?

Thanks!

 

[PvilleComp]

The graphic meter is not "true" in that it does not accurately represent you real signal. Look at your signal strength in Settings -> About your phone -> Network. A smaller number (or greater number since their negatives) is better. If you compare it to your Storm you should see they are about the same.

I would also re-enable your roaming. This will only decrease the usability of the phone as you travel around. The DInc does have a notoriously underpowered stock battery. Check out the Battery sticky threads and other battery threads in the forum. The WiFi does use less juice the 3g, but I would also turn off the Blue Tooth and GSM radios and turn them on when you need them. That will make a big difference as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Axlfro]

thanks for the advice. Is turning off the roaming a bad idea?

 

[rpfarrah]

thanks for the advice. Is turning off the roaming a bad idea?

I guess it wouldn't be an issue if you never left town, but it doesn't save you anything.

 

[PvilleComp]

thanks for the advice. Is turning off the roaming a bad idea?

It will only hurt you when you are traveling around. By turning off roaming you limit yourself to "Verizon only" towers and you might find that you would not be able to make/place calls when you should be able to. It's not saving any battery so I would turn the Roaming settings back the way they were.