Tethering KILL battery life?

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Ok so I am one of the few who obtained 'legal' tethering! yay!! Haha. I haven't really had much use for it yet so today was my first real experience with it for more than just a couple minutes.

I'm in a little po-dunk town with no 3g so I was forced to use edge for my tethering process. Oh well. It actually worked faster than I was expecting. BUT I haven't even been on for an hour and a half yet and my battery which was FULLY charged at the beginning now has LESS than half of its battery life!

Ok, I thought the iphone 3g was suppsed to have 8 hours of edge internet usage, but with tethering it looks like I'll be lucky to get 2 and a half out of it!! I'm afriad if I used 3g I'd only get 1 and a half!

Is this normal? I know, I know, I could EASILY plug my iphone into my laptop, but what if I just don't want to do that!?

 

[bigmouth]

Ok so I am one of the few who obtained 'legal' tethering! yay!! Haha. I haven't really had much use for it yet so today was my first real experience with it for more than just a couple minutes.

I'm in a little po-dunk town with no 3g so I was forced to use edge for my tethering process. Oh well. It actually worked faster than I was expecting. BUT I haven't even been on for an hour and a half yet and my battery which was FULLY charged at the beginning now has LESS than half of its battery life!

Ok, I thought the iphone 3g was suppsed to have 8 hours of edge internet usage, but with tethering it looks like I'll be lucky to get 2 and a half out of it!! I'm afriad if I used 3g I'd only get 1 and a half!

Is this normal? I know, I know, I could EASILY plug my iphone into my laptop, but what if I just don't want to do that!?

Doesn't it tether to the computer via wifi? Running wifi+data will run your battery down reallyy fast...

 

[andyblila]

You are using it in an unitended and untested way, so Apple has no stats about it's usage in tethering. The constant use will probably lower battery life.

 

[slicecom]

Think about all the transmitting thats going on when you tether. When you click on one link on your computer while tethered, a data goes:

Computer -> iPhone via Wifi
iPhone -> Rogers via 3G
Rogers -> iPhone via 3G
iPhone -> Computer via Wifi

When using the phone as Apple intended you're going either

iPhone -> Wifi or iPhone -> 3G

In laymans terms, much more data transfer = much more demand on the battery.

 

[buccsmf1]

yes, tethering KILLS the battery. I'd say you'd be lucky to get over 2 hours from a full charge while tethering. And from what I've heard on the forum, the phone uses more power than the wall plug can provide, so even if you're plugged into a wall, your battery still drains

 

[rockinrocker]

yes, tethering KILLS the battery. I'd say you'd be lucky to get over 2 hours from a full charge while tethering. And from what I've heard on the forum, the phone uses more power than the wall plug can provide, so even if you're plugged into a wall, your battery still drains

that's not been my experience. yes, tethering will drain your battery pretty fast, but it won't continue to drain if it's plugged in.

i also got netshare, and i just plug my phone in whenever i tether.

 

[Bodhi395]

yes, tethering KILLS the battery. I'd say you'd be lucky to get over 2 hours from a full charge while tethering. And from what I've heard on the forum, the phone uses more power than the wall plug can provide, so even if you're plugged into a wall, your battery still drains

That doesn't sound right, I don't see how the iphone can use more power than a wall plug can provide. I plug my desktop computer, television, refridgerator into my wall plugs! Are you telling me a little iphone uses more power than a refridgerator!?

 

[andyblila]

That doesn't sound right, I don't see how the iphone can use more power than a wall plug can provide. I plug my desktop computer, television, refridgerator into my wall plugs! Are you telling me a little iphone uses more power than a refridgerator!?

Your appliances run on 110V AC....your iPhone does not. The iPhone runs on 5V DC. I the power adapter steps it down, so no the iPhone does not use more power than appliances. It uses more power than the 5V adapter can provide.

 

[Uh Clem]

That doesn't sound right, I don't see how the iphone can use more power than a wall plug can provide. I plug my desktop computer, television, refridgerator into my wall plugs! Are you telling me a little iphone uses more power than a refridgerator!?

No, but while tethering it uses more power than the usb connection can provide.

My battery drops from full to 50% after two hours of tethering with the phone connected via usb to my MBP.

 

[Bodhi395]

Your appliances run on 110V AC....your iPhone does not. The iPhone runs on 5V DC. I the power adapter steps it down, so no the iPhone does not use more power than appliances. It uses more power than the 5V adapter can provide.

Ok, so its the adapters fault, not the power coming out of the wall. I guess Apple should make more powerful adapters for its iphone then.

 

[andyblila]

Ok, so its the adapters fault, not the power coming out of the wall. I guess Apple should make more powerful adapters for its iphone then.

The transformer in the adapter performs at a certain specification, ie 5V at 100mA (these are examples not the actual requirements). If the power necessary to perform the task, ie tethering, takes 5V at 120mA, then the power adapter will not meet the needs. The iPhone was not designed for tethering, therefore the adaptor was not designed to support the power requirements, and the battery is only designed to accept a certain requirement as well. As this app has been pulled from the store, Apple is probably not going to design an adapter to meet these additional power requirements. As I said the iPhone was not designed for tethering, I assume this was an AT&T issue. But the long answer to your question is yes. The power out of the wall is in no way the issue. It is the Battery and Charging Adapter for the iPhone.

 

[question fear]

FWIW, all phones will drain quickly when you tether, not just iPhones. The combo of wifi+internet just kills the battery. BT tethering is slightly better but not by much.

 

[off in the wood]

Ok so I am one of the few who obtained 'legal' tethering! yay!! Haha.

You don't have to be 'one of the few" to tether with your iphone.