3g vs 2G battery life - way too varied - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have a ATT type Nexus One (not Tmobile), unrooted, with latest froyo.
The life of the battery in 3G mode vs. 2 G mode is astonishing...pretty ridiculous.
I'm searching but can someone tell me if there's been any fixes or advancements in regard to this problem?
When at home I use wifi as much as possible. I leave it on 2G but really, I can't take the slow speeds of 2G, but 3G setting is suuuuuuch a drain on the battery that it seems unreal.
i've had nokia's and more in 3G, my wifes iphone is 3G... and all of them had nearly more than double the battery life.
I hate the voice quality of 2G, I'd love to be able to just leave at 3G, but it's merely hours before it's nearly drained set on 3G. it's got to be a problem (and one that hopefully can be fixed).
Why would 3G setting be sucking THAT much power (decent-strong signals too here)?
Love my nexus1 and I'll live I guess but this problem...it's a bit much.
Any news on this issue, or other things I can consider or change/try to help this? (3G)
thanks

Set your WiFi sleep policy to NEVER. Even thought you're using WiFi at home, whe nthe screen goes off the WiFi shut off and 3G kick in.
Menu>Settings>WiFi settings>Menu>Advance>WiFi sleep policy>Never.

baseballfanz said:
Set your WiFi sleep policy to NEVER. Even thought you're using WiFi at home, whe nthe screen goes off the WiFi shut off and 3G kick in.
Menu>Settings>WiFi settings>Menu>Advance>WiFi sleep policy>Never.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh very sorry, I should have said I did set this to never and saved changes.
In fact, I think I've set it 1000x now btw, over some time it STILL always disconnects from wifi (might be router disconnecting though, perhaps I should set an IP manually to solve this??).
GPS and BT are always turned off until needed as well (used very rarely anyways btw).
But when I'm away from home for example, I turn wifi off and test the difference2G vs. 3G and the difference is waaaaay too much, 3G just CHEWS at the battery no matter strong signal or medium.
I find it hard to believe 3G really has to eat up that much battery when set compared to 2G on a Nexus. A little bit to nominal ...sure, but not like this (say like 4-6 hours if i left it 3G for a day with little usage).
What's really happening here? Nothing from google/HTC on this matter?

Heh, i get just the opposite... out in the farmland of west toledo, im getting 2G but typically GPRS and that rapes my battery where as 3G i could go on standby for days if i didnt touch it...
What radio are you running? if your phone is constantly looking for a signal then that may be your problem...

I have the same issue on 3g. Home on WiFi is ok but when I go out during the day on 3g it just kills my battery.
The reason is because android OS keeps the data session open at all times where other OS's close it down when not in use. It's just the nature of how they designed android.
As a test, one day turn off your data connection but stay on 3g and see how good your battery life is. This is how some other OS's work normally.
It's a trade off we have to make for being always connected on android.
For example voice actions need to reach out to Google's servers to work. So in the interest of speed of having to open the data session each time, the OS just keeps data open on hand at all times. But that kills battery quicker.
That's what I've found anyway.

JHaste said:
Heh, i get just the opposite... out in the farmland of west toledo, im getting 2G but typically GPRS and that rapes my battery where as 3G i could go on standby for days if i didnt touch it...
What radio are you running? if your phone is constantly looking for a signal then that may be your problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because the phone is always on the lookout for a 3G signal, if you know you aren't going to get one, just set it to 2G only and your battery life will massively improve.

Related

horrible and i mean horrible battery life..

so im running dutty no. 3 final rom with directpush enabled as items arrive.. now im constantly in H and my battery only lasts 2.5hrs in H mode.. compared to the hermes this is HORRIBLE! any one have any ideas? i know H means highspeed pda.. so im wondering if thats why.. i kno the hermes switched back between 3g/H..H only when downloading but the tilt seems to be H non-stop.. whats going on?
I am still on the stock rom and mine lasts 20-24 hours on average.
Well, you answered your own question. You're using DirectPush, which forces a constant data connection. You're using HSDPA, which is a notorious power hog when transferring data, and you're now using it constantly.
If DirectPush is that important to you (i.e., if you get mail so often that you might as well be in constant communication with the e-mail server, or if the mail is so important that you have to have it now), you'll need to find a way to switch off HSDPA in favor of EDGE or GPRS.
There's really no other option.
i like to feel important thats why i use direct push.. the job doesnt require it.. but they do require to check at least once a hour during normal business hours lol. i suppose to could set it to check every hr... shucks. why would it last all day on my hermes but under 3hrs on my tilt?
I've never got more than 35 hours battery life, with gprs (UMTS disabled), pushemail, and 1-2 hours of music playback...
The battery life is VERY BAD, my wizard's time was about 50-60 hours with same use...
SuperRob said:
Well, you answered your own question. You're using DirectPush, which forces a constant data connection. You're using HSDPA, which is a notorious power hog when transferring data, and you're now using it constantly.
If DirectPush is that important to you (i.e., if you get mail so often that you might as well be in constant communication with the e-mail server, or if the mail is so important that you have to have it now), you'll need to find a way to switch off HSDPA in favor of EDGE or GPRS.
There's really no other option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Duttys Comm Mgr with a 3g on off switch and when I am not surfing the web I am on edge. It has helped dramatically with my battery life. My job requires "as items arrive" Direct Push. I can go a whole day without charging on Edge.
3G was recently enabled in my area and I do not get more than 7hrs of batt life with DirectPush active. Before with EDGE I was good for the whole day (>12hrs).
HSDPA is the problem not DirectPush.
Twenty4 said:
I am still on the stock rom and mine lasts 20-24 hours on average.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you give a little more detail on your settings with 3g off hdspa off bluetooth on and moderate usage of wifi (less than 20mins a day) and only about 30min of calls i only get between 14-16 hours, any info on how to get the extra battery life would be apreciated
I have 3G, direct push, bluetooth on all day and my Tilt outlasts my TyTN by about 30%. I generally charge every other day with normal use.
well....post ur rom maybe? are u in 3G or H all the time? im constantly in H and havent seen the 3G icon at all..
jakeypoo said:
why would it last all day on my hermes but under 3hrs on my tilt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did AT&T enable HSDPA in your area? It's relatively recent to many metro areas, so it's entirely possible that the Hermes was on Edge 24x7 and what you're seeing is the additional drain of HSDPA and not the change in platform.
But if you're only getting 2.5 hours, there's something else going on. You've an app that's keeping it from going to sleep, you get e-mails every 5 minutes or so, or your battery is bad to begin with.
Sleuth255 said:
I have 3G, direct push, bluetooth on all day and my Tilt outlasts my TyTN by about 30%. I generally charge every other day with normal use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sleuth your running your own cooked ROM for your Tilt aren't you? I loved your ROMS when I had my Hermes.
-McMex
people seem to forget that the mechanism for mobile data is the same as for voice - when you are talking, the phone is just digitising your voice and sending it over the wireless link. Nobody seriously expects 18 hour talk time out of a pocket sized phone, so why do we seem to expect 18 hours of heavy duty data on-line time.
Ok - I know that is a bit simplistic - when you are talking, the data transfer is continuous whereas for ordinary web browsing etc. it is short bursts - but if you are running something which is holding your data link active a lot of the time, you are incurring a similar battery drain to talking - the Kaiser is rated for just over three hours talk time - don't expect 18 hours of push email! And don't forget that the battery drain is simply for running the transmitter in your phone, not for sending the data - sending one byte will consume as much battery as sending a hundred or more - once it decides to send a packet, it is committed to burning charge even if the packet only has one byte in it...
Martin
Just an observation...
I live in the DFW area and my battery life is not up to par with the 8525. I traveled yesterday to a EDGE only area and I noticed a dramatic increase in battery life. Are they related? I dunno at this point, just an interesting observation.
mcmexican said:
Sleuth your running your own cooked ROM for your Tilt aren't you? I loved your ROMS when I had my Hermes.
-McMex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v1.0 Sleuth General Availability for Kaiser is very close....
jakeypoo said:
well....post ur rom maybe? are u in 3G or H all the time? im constantly in H and havent seen the 3G icon at all..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is for sure your issue. The data connection is not only live, but is being used constantly. Turn off direct push and see if it reverts back to 3G. If so, make sure you are not set to use MediaNet as your primary network. Also, be sure to uninstall the hidden proxy (look for the cab that does this in the Cabs thread).
With direct push enabled, my 3G icon only changes to an H when mail is actually coming in.
On my Nokia N95, constant HSDPA connection too chews through the battery as opposed to "plain" 3G; that is, the Kaiser isn't an exception either... It's the best to fall back to GPRS (EDGE) whenever possible.
PerfAlbion said:
When did AT&T enable HSDPA in your area? It's relatively recent to many metro areas, so it's entirely possible that the Hermes was on Edge 24x7 and what you're seeing is the additional drain of HSDPA and not the change in platform.
But if you're only getting 2.5 hours, there's something else going on. You've an app that's keeping it from going to sleep, you get e-mails every 5 minutes or so, or your battery is bad to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well on my hermes i had 3G ever since i got it.. but it only went to H when downloading.. so ive had my tilt for 2-3 days now and its always in H.. i know H causes more drain then 3G standby and by far G/E ..funny this is.. i disabled htc home and battery isnt to bad... bout 3% drain every 3mins when connected to H and idle internet connection.
Sleuth255 said:
That is for sure your issue. The data connection is not only live, but is being used constantly. Turn off direct push and see if it reverts back to 3G. If so, make sure you are not set to use MediaNet as your primary network. Also, be sure to uninstall the hidden proxy (look for the cab that does this in the Cabs thread).
With direct push enabled, my 3G icon only changes to an H when mail is actually coming in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive turned off direct push and it still remains H.. ill try disabling the proxy. good call.. will post my results
ok disabled the proxy, turned off push, still have a big H but no more tiny H on the signal bars which means its not connected to the internet but when i soft reset it automatically reconnects.. whats the deal here lol.
ok forgot i had kaiser tweak set to always on.. fixed that, but now im still displaying H havent seen a 3G icon yet.. whats going on lol

Is there an App to switch to 2G when Idle/sleeping?

hi,
i was wondering if there is an app which will automatically switch from 3G to 2G when i turn of the display. When the phone is in my pocket there is no need for the 3G eating my battery.
that would be an amzing app BUMP BUM BUMP
It indeed would be. I'm on it.
EDIT: Then again, switching from 3G to EDGE and vice-versa is resource/battery heavy in heavy and will probably leave you without network for a while. I'm actually going to say it's not worth it. If I create it, I'll post an initial version up here for you guys to decide (no 3G frequencies for me).
Edit: it seems as though there's nothing in the api about switching network state. Looks like a root app (if it's even possible) would be required..
Edit2: This is probably impractical. For example, if you answered a call, you would be disconnected from the call immediately. Besides, the G1 is rated as having more sleep battery life under 3G than GSM.
How does being on 3g even waste battery when your on idle? what Syncing with gmail? i would think the constant switching would waste more battery
I guess you could do it with Tasker. I got that app in ADC2 and it's amazing what you can do with it.
I guess it would be very impractical if you would get disconnected everytime you answer a call from a sleep state. I havent compared the battery consumtion between 3G and "g yet, but i imagine you could save quite some. m not only talking about the Synching, but mainly Chat clients which run in the background. There is no need for them to run over 3G.

power consumption of 3G vs. WiFi

Hey all,
assume that I have 3G flatrate with no extra cost. I wonder myself, if WiFi or 3G consumes more power of my battery? If WiFi would consume more power, than I would switch to permanently use 3G also at home.
Hope to get some helpful answers from the pro's here.
Thanx
3G, by far.
3g>wifi>2g
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
Sloop said:
I wonder myself, if WiFi or 3G consumes more power of my battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G consumes more power of your battery than WiFi.
thanks to all. So I will keep WiFi enabled at home
It depends on CDMA or GSM. CDMA is pretty battery efficient and IMO Rev. A EVDO is the best for battery. If you have a strong 3G signal where you live and get good speeds then you may get better life than wifi, but that is rare. More than likely wifi will be better. Now on GSM 3g will be worse but EDGE will be amazing.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA
MrObvious said:
It depends on CDMA or GSM. CDMA is pretty battery efficient and IMO Rev. A EVDO is the best for battery. If you have a strong 3G signal where you live and get good speeds then you may get better life than wifi, but that is rare. More than likely wifi will be better. Now on GSM 3g will be worse but EDGE will be amazing.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on. Signal strength is the real key. If your phone is constantly polling on 3G to get a signal lock, it'll drain the battery quickly. With a decent signal, it doesn't drain as fast. Same goes for Wi-fi. With a good signal, definitely better if you're downloading a lot of data as it takes much less time. However, if you're out of range or at the edge of it, it struggles to keep a signal lock and wastes battery. So, if you're at home just lounging around, have a strong 3G signal and aren't downloading much, it's best to go with 3G. If you have a bad signal, or download a bunch, go for Wi-fi. It's more just a balancing act than anything to get the best battery life. Also, make sure the wifi is turned off when you're not connected, or it will be constantly searching for a connection which also will lead to battery drain.
linuxgator said:
Right on. Signal strength is the real key. If your phone is constantly polling on 3G to get a signal lock, it'll drain the battery quickly. With a decent signal, it doesn't drain as fast. Same goes for Wi-fi. With a good signal, definitely better if you're downloading a lot of data as it takes much less time. However, if you're out of range or at the edge of it, it struggles to keep a signal lock and wastes battery. So, if you're at home just lounging around, have a strong 3G signal and aren't downloading much, it's best to go with 3G. If you have a bad signal, or download a bunch, go for Wi-fi. It's more just a balancing act than anything to get the best battery life. Also, make sure the wifi is turned off when you're not connected, or it will be constantly searching for a connection which also will lead to battery drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, not in my experience. I live in an area which is well-blanketed with EVDO 3G, I literally have never been anywhere in the normal course of work or home that has less than 4 bars and 3G lock. Also, my house is covered with wifi, not as thoroughly but plenty to maintain a connection wherever I am in the house, and full signal in the rooms where I spend the most time for sure. Also, until recently, I had wifi at work, they just locked me out of it in fact (because they're facists).
In my experience, I always get FAR BETTER battery life using wifi over 3G as much as possible, even though I have great 3G signal strength 100% of the time and not-so-great wifi coverage. It seems like that wasn't the case with other smartphones I've owned in this same situation, with both Verizon and AT&T in the same locations and with roughly the same coverage (much worse with AT&T, though, of course.) But, with this Droid 3 running the stock ROM rooted, just a few apps like IM and BluetoothDUN frozen, with great 3G and less-great wifi coverage, I always get much better battery life from a day of being connected to wifi versus a day being connected to 3G.
Now, I manage my wifi switching very well too, though; I use Timeriffic to turn mine on and off every work day on a schedule, meaning it's never searching for wifi networks unless I'm geographically in a place where I know there is one I have the connection credentials for. If I left it on searching (and not connected to) wifi all day, I'm sure I'd get a battery life hit, which if I wasn't paying attention like I do would look like wifi eating the battery.
Ciao!
You may have a good wifi router. Mine sucks so that may make a difference. We have a Motorola SBG900 modem and I am always losing signal.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA

Better Battery life on LTE/HSPA+ than WiFi

Hey all,
Does anyone else notice that they get better battery life while on LTE/HSPA rather than on WiFi? I decided to leave my WiFi off yesterday to see how well the phone does while using the GSM radios. To my surprise, the GSM radios were more efficient. I also noticed that on the stock battery app there were way fewer instances of the phone being "awake". With 11hrs off the charger,1.5 hour of SOT, 45 minutes of music I had 73% battery left. To me this is solid battery life. With the same exact routine and WiFi on I have about 65% battery left. Not a huge difference but enough to where I don't feel the need to juice up during the day if I am going out at night. I'm doing the same thing today to see if it is an anomaly but so far it looks like it is the same as yesterday. Anyone else seeing this?
Variables:
Stock, unlocked, not rooted.
brightness set to 1/3
T-Mobile $30 plan.
This is in NYC which has great T-Mobile service, that being said the bars in the battery life menu are "yellow" indicating the signal is "ok"....mostly because the testing was done indoors.
Google Now enabled.
GPS set to battery savings
Scanning always available (in wifi settings) turned off.
Greg Tolan said:
Hey all,
Does anyone else notice that they get better battery life while on LTE/HSPA rather than on WiFi? I decided to leave my WiFi off yesterday to see how well the phone does while using the GSM radios. To my surprise, the GSM radios were more efficient. I also noticed that on the stock battery app there were way fewer instances of the phone being "awake". With 11hrs off the charger,1.5 hour of SOT, 45 minutes of music I had 73% battery left. To me this is solid battery life. With the same exact routine and WiFi on I have about 65% battery left. Not a huge difference but enough to where I don't feel the need to juice up during the day if I am going out at night. I'm doing the same thing today to see if it is an anomaly but so far it looks like it is the same as yesterday. Anyone else seeing this?
Variables:
Stock, unlocked, not rooted.
brightness set to 1/3
T-Mobile $30 plan.
This is in NYC which has great T-Mobile service, that being said the bars in the battery life menu are "yellow" indicating the signal is "ok"....mostly because the testing was done indoors.
Google Now enabled.
GPS set to battery savings
Scanning always available (in wifi settings) turned off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I just turn off wifi, use LTE only.
But I have to turn on wifi when I download something or update, I have limited data plan :crying:
If I have unlimited data plan, I will completely turn off wifi
Same here today. All day with data (tmobile) and had wifi off. Was getting better SOT on data vs wifi.
Is there a way to enable/disable WIFI automatically based on location? through an app or native os function?
This probably had something to do with the n5 having only one main antennae for cellular connections. The phone isn't connected to LTE and gsm at the same time, just LTE and switches back to gsm when a call comes in. Therefore when only connected to a cellular network only one radio is on. In contrast with Wi-Fi on that is another radio consuming power. Someone correct me if this is incorrect.
I've noticed this recently but my situation is because when I was on wireless I was getting a lot of wlan_Rx_wake wakelocks. I obviously wasn't getting it when on LTE alone. I've managed find the issue on my network at home . now I have to figure out what the issue is on my hotspot. My phone has been sleeping like a bear in the winter now. I imagine a lot of people are probably getting a lot of these wakelocks. I wonder what makes this phone susceptible to it and not the other nexus devices.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
shiz222 said:
Is there a way to enable/disable WIFI automatically based on location? through an app or native os function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This app is pricey but amazing.
shiz222 said:
Is there a way to enable/disable WIFI automatically based on location? through an app or native os function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasker does the same and it is way cheaper.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
there's a wifi bug that is supposed to be fixed in the next update which is probably 4.4.1
-Cupper- said:
This app is pricey but amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soldier 2.0 said:
Tasker does the same and it is way cheaper.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10 bucks is ridiculous. I found Llama that does practically the same thing (if not identical). I've set it up to disable WIFI as soon as i leave "home" and enable it when i get to "work", as well as set up other actions (quite mode after midnight etc) within the profile.
and its free
rooted, ART, franco kernel , all LTE (Hong kong). light usage: facebook, chrome web browsing, whatsapp only. no games
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
shiz222 said:
10 bucks is ridiculous. I found Llama that does practically the same thing (if not identical). I've set it up to disable WIFI as soon as i leave "home" and enable it when i get to "work", as well as set up other actions (quite mode after midnight etc) within the profile.
and its free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're comparing lama to tasker specifically, llama does about 10% (being generous) of what tasker does. Although there's a lot of learning to be done.
I'd pay 100 Bucks for tasker
-----------------------
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I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
Well the nexus5 utilises envelope tracking when ring on LTE. Maybe it's doing its job... http://androidcommunity.com/nexus-5-getting-battery-boost-from-qualcomms-envelope-tracking-20131101/
>^ยท^< Sent From Meow LG G2
An interesting question in this forum post but does this not really depend on the strength of the wifi/LTE signal? For me on wi-fi at home I can easily get 6 hours+ SOT. On a normal day with a mix of LTE & Wi-Fi I generally after between 4 and 5 hours SOT. My wi-fi signal at work is stronger than the LTE signal so I generally use the strength of the signal as a rule of thumb as to which will provide better batter rather than just the signal itself.
shiz222 said:
Is there a way to enable/disable WIFI automatically based on location? through an app or native os function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I just made this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sdev.autofi&hl=en
Basically uses GSM/CDMA and GPS Locations to automatically turn on/off your Wi-Fi. The app is for free.
Note, this is my first app, so if app crashes please submit the report so that I can fix it.
Leaving my phone over night with no wakes showing it will lose 3x as much battery idling with the screen off then on WiFi.
This was using "turn WiFi off during sleep" option to test if I could further minimize over night battery loss. I lose about 3% over 8 hours of idle, but on my data connection it lost 9%.
When the WiFi turns off the Data connection turns on, and vice versa. So only one is only ever being used at one time.

wifi at college and public places eats up battery

why does my battery die so quickly when i am on public networks or on my school's network? each of these networks has an authentication process, though my school's network automatically authenticates. i know it's the public networks that are eating my battery because at home i get several more hours of screen time and nearly twice the total battery life with the same type of usage.
skiier54 said:
why does my battery die so quickly when i am on public networks or on my school's network? each of these networks has an authentication process, though my school's network automatically authenticates. i know it's the public networks that are eating my battery because at home i get several more hours of screen time and nearly twice the total battery life with the same type of usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, but are the types of wifi networks the same? 5ghz vs 2.4ghz? 802.11ac vs n vs g vs b?
I would also question how much activity the device receives from the public/school networks vs at home - where i'd expect it to be a more "quiet" network.
Have you profiled how much awake-time (not screen on time) changes?
I've run into the same thing at the college where I work. The WiFi is secured, and the AP is right outside my office. I was thinking my battery drain was due to the lack of a cell signal, building is basically a Faraday cage, no cell service inside. My nice boss got us a microcell, so I now have great cell reception. And my battery dies even faster. My data is always turned off.
Nobody has a clue, but everyone else here has the same problem, batteries just seem to hate schools.
BTW; at home, battery life is great, even when out on long walks with the dog. I pick up Xfinity WiFi, no noticeable battery drain. Plugged my phone in Friday night, Sunday it was down to about 60%, no charging in between.
So it's probably a combination of network load and the authentication process. At least I know it's not my phone's OS/battery since you guys have the same problem. Thanks.

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