I find it works the other way around. When you are on Cell it is constantly trying to get a wifi signal and switch to wifi. This is not great for the battery life. I tend to turn wifi off when leaving the house.
It wont search for wifi or switch to wifi if you have "ask to join networks" turned off.
It will just auto connect to known wifi networks you connected before and not use any additional battery.
Having LTE on seems to drop the signal bars on my 5S, is that normal?
It seems to me that even if you're on wi-fi, it's still going to be searching for an LTE signal. If nothing else, calls and texts stills need a valid cellular connection. So even on wi-fi, it's going to be looking for a good signal.
I suppose to some degree, that's going to be draining your battery. Of course there's only one way to determine if that drain is too big or not. And that would be for you to turn cellular off and see what kind of difference (if any) that you notice. Then make a decision based on the data you've collected for your own personal tastes.
I leave LTE on regardless if its on wifi, the only time I'll turn it off, if over night and even then if only the battery level is very low and I want enough battery to last my morning commute.
A little know limitation of how LTE is implemented today is that it does not carry voice. LTE is a packet switched network while voice is circuit switched. your phone still supports the old circuit switched capability ie GSM 3G and uses it to carry voice and SMS. If you are using voice and data simultaneously you will in fact be using the 3G network.
Hopefully this will change in the future.
Are you afraid to charge your iphone?
Not at all, just that I don't have a charger handy by my bed, so I wait until I get into the office before plugging it in.
Generally speaking it lasts through the night without issues, but if I have about 30% when going to bed, I'll turn off LTE, that way I have plenty to get through my commute (listening to music, FB/emails/games)
A little know limitation of how LTE is implemented today is that it does not carry voice. LTE is a packet switched network while voice is circuit switched. your phone still supports the old circuit switched capability ie GSM 3G and uses it to carry voice and SMS. If you are using voice and data simultaneously you will in fact be using the 3G network.
Hopefully this will change in the future.
But realistically it shouldn't be looking for LTE at that point and perhaps 3G at best if not less than that (basically what's needed for calls and messages as data is taken care of by WiFi).Fair enough. The point is, just because you're on wi-fi, does NOT mean your phone still isn't searching for cellular connection. A minor point to be sure. But after reading some of the comments in this thread, it seemed not everyone grasped that point.
Fair enough. The point is, just because you're on wi-fi, does NOT mean your phone still isn't searching for cellular connection. A minor point to be sure. But after reading some of the comments in this thread, it seemed not everyone grasped that point.
Well, at least so far, LTE does in fact only refer to a data connection, unlike some of the other ones that can be used for calls/messaging.This is very important. Even when you have an excellent Wi-Fi signal, you still need a 2G, 3G or 4G (where 4G = LTE in my book) signal for phone calls and SMS*.
Your phone will not stop using the cellular network for those things when you are using Wi-Fi and it won't magically switch to an earlier generation network (e.g. from 4G to 3G) to save power when you're using Wi-Fi.
Terms like 2G, 3G and 4G don't refer to data connections - they are merely talking about the mobile network itself.
It wont search for wifi or switch to wifi if you have "ask to join networks" turned off.
It will just auto connect to known wifi networks you connected before and not use any additional battery.
Although even if that's the case, for the vast majority, the battery usage from that is essentially negligible.If the wifi is on, it will search for networks, known or unknown, so it basically will drain the battery a little more.
Although even if that's the case, for the vast majority, the battery usage from that is essentially negligible.
Yeah, more or less the same things should apply to both--mainly it's only when the signal is weak and the radio keeps on trying to connect to it or hold on to a weak signal (be it 3G or LTE or any signal really that the phone supports), that's when extra battery usage would come into play, otherwise any increase to the battery usage related to just getting and holding a decent/good signal should be fairly negligible for most.Agree.
But I also think that LTE on has a little impact in battery life compared with 3G.