Anyone use WiFi?

[aughsum]

Our wireless at work has a mac table setup with unique keys so anytime someone forgets/otherwise screws up their wifi connection they come to have it reset... Everytime I make a comment about how they are really only draining their battery by leaving wifi enabled 24/7 yet they continue to do it..

SO - what do you use WiFi for?

I know there are some (very, very few) apps that require a wifi connection..
Facetime requires WiFi but at this point it's more of a novelty than anything else..
Throughput is a little better but not enough to justify the additional battery drain..
The hotspot app (as soon as the IP4 jailbreak is released..)
Checking mail/browsing the net in an area with no at&t service..

That is all that comes to mind.. I think they just like to enable it because they can, but let me know if I'm missing anything?

 

[maturola]

This my be a very User Specific case, but I use my iPhone as external hardrive, also use it to control my mac remotely (itunes mostly).

 

[redscull]

Your question is if people used wifi on their iphone instead of 3G? Because that seems like a bizarre question. The obvious answer is yes. Anytime wifi is available, I use wifi over 3G. Wifi is significantly faster, the bytes don't count towards my data plan, and it preserves battery life. 3G is only for when wifi isn't available..

 

[Small White Car]

AT&T = 1.5 Mbps
Wifi = 7 to 10 Mbps


What's the confusing part?

EDIT: Also, isn't the battery drain about the same for wifi and 3G? I was unaware that it was a huge difference. They're both more than EDGE, sure, but I'm not gonna use that so it's beside the point.

 

[Snowman3459]

Why wouldn't you use wifi? Especially for people who now have limited data plans.

You don't need a specific app just to use wifi. Like an above post, it's faster and doesn't use your data. If those two reasons aren't good enough then your odd.

 

[ksmith80209]

I leave wi-fi on 100% of the time and easily get 5+ hrs use/16+ hrs standby before I plug it in for the night and it still has 50% of the battery remaining. I'm not sure I buy the "wi-fi kills the battery" argument.

 

[aughsum]

Oook.. read it again.

WiFi radio being on = drain battery

1.5mbps vs (in this case) 50mbps doesnt matter, at all. How much downloading/web browsing are you going to do on your phone if you're sitting in front of your computer? none.

 

[Daveoc64]

Oook.. read it again.

WiFi radio being on = drain battery

Using 3G would normally use more power.

 

[aughsum]

I leave wi-fi on 100% of the time and easily get 5+ hrs use/16+ hrs standby before I plug it in for the night and it still has 50% of the battery remaining. I'm not sure I buy the "wi-fi kills the battery" argument.

I'm just saying there's no point to it being on unless you..
a) are using facetime
b) don't have a computer in front of you.

I charge my phone like once a week.. I'd imagine i"d charge it significantly more if i used WiFi... ever.. for anything. I'd not that big of a deal.. they can do what they want, but why use any of your charge on something that you don't need.

 

[aughsum]

Using 3G would normally use more power.

Really?

 

[Small White Car]

Oook.. read it again.

WiFi radio being on = drain battery

1.5mbps vs (in this case) 50mbps doesnt matter, at all. How much downloading/web browsing are you going to do on your phone if you're sitting in front of your computer? none.

It makes a big difference. Many multi-player games are unusable on 3G. (Well, they work, but you WILL lose.)

So the answer here is "you don't use apps that need a lot of data." That puts you in the minority of iPhone users. The rest of us cherish our wifi.

 

[aughsum]

Why wouldn't you use wifi? Especially for people who now have limited data plans.

You don't need a specific app just to use wifi. Like an above post, it's faster and doesn't use your data. If those two reasons aren't good enough then your odd.

Again, faster doesn't matter when you aren't using it for anything other than texts and phone calls, like you would when you have your computer with you. And we're on unlimited data plans so that argument is null as well.. if you have a limited data plan yeah i could see the benefit.

 

[Block]

Really?

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Internet use:
Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

 

[Small White Car]

Really?

They feel similar to me. I can't say I've noticed a big difference.

 

[aughsum]

It makes a big difference. Many multi-player games are unusable on 3G. (Well, they work, but you WILL lose.)

So the answer here is "you don't use apps that need a lot of data." That puts you in the minority of iPhone users. The rest of us cherish our wifi.

Yeah I touched on that in the original post.. I don't personally play any games on it but i know that some games require a wifi connection.

 

[Snowman3459]

I'm just saying there's no point to it being on unless you..
a) are using facetime
b) don't have a computer in front of you.

I charge my phone like once a week.. I'd imagine i"d charge it significantly more if i used WiFi... ever.. for anything. I'd not that big of a deal.. they can do what they want, but why use any of your charge on something that you don't need.

I call BS.

Once a week? No way. You must never use your phone.

It's free, it uses no data, it's much faster, you can use more apps with wifi, in my case it saves battery, and it's overall better.

I've never met a wifi hater lol.

 

[aughsum]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Internet use:
Up to 6 hours on 3G
Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi

Okay then.. well that is new to me.. doesn't really make sense.. you'd think that powering an additional antenna would result in more drain since 3G would still be running, just offloading SOME traffic onto the WiFi.

 

[LordOBoogie]

I leave it on all the time and use it a lot. It is significantly faster.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Again, faster doesn't matter when you aren't using it for anything other than texts and phone calls, like you would when you have your computer with you. And we're on unlimited data plans so that argument is null as well.. if you have a limited data plan yeah i could see the benefit.

Ok so what about web browsing, downloading apps, streaming video, checking Facebook, sending e-mails...shall I go on? Why settle for 3G when you have WiFi? The iPhone 4's battery is a monster and can last all day, with or without WiFi enabled.

 

[aughsum]

I call BS.

Once a week? No way. You must never use your phone.

It's free, it uses no data, it's much faster, you can use more apps with wifi, in my case it saves battery, and it's overall better.

I've never met a wifi hater lol.

nah that's about right.. I never talk on the phone at all but I do a lot of texting..

I don't use it at all when I'm at work, other than to respond to texts.. everything else is done on the macbook... I don't use it at all at home, other then to respond to texts.. everything else is done on the iPad.

it's running caldav/carddav and polling 2 inboxes.. maybe twice a week if people call me (which they know not to do) or if i get lost (car doesn't have gps)

 

[Daveoc64]

Okay then.. well that is new to me.. doesn't really make sense.. you'd think that powering an additional antenna would result in more drain since 3G would still be running, just offloading SOME traffic onto the WiFi.

It's the data transfer that really uses the power, not leaving the radio switched on.

WiFi is much better than 3G in terms of power consumption for data transfer.

 

[Small White Car]

Okay then.. well that is new to me.. doesn't really make sense.. you'd think that powering an additional antenna would result in more drain since 3G would still be running, just offloading SOME traffic onto the WiFi.

That's your problem. The 3G-data part of the phone isn't working when you're on wifi. It's an either/or not both at once.

Remember how the first iPhone didn't have 3G because Apple said it still used too much power with the chips available at that time? Well, that phone still had wifi. Clearly wifi used much less power than 3G in 2007. I'd guess that it simply held onto that lead even though I'm sure they've both improved since then.

 

[aughsum]

Ok so what about web browsing, downloading apps, streaming video, checking Facebook, sending e-mails...shall I go on? Why settle for 3G when you have WiFi? The iPhone 4's battery is a monster and can last all day, with or without WiFi enabled.

none of which you will be doing while your computer is in front of you.

 

[Rooskibar03]

Using 3G would normally use more power.

This is totally true if your 3G connection is weak. At both work and home ATT blows and I get a very weak 3G signal. So my phone is either A)switching between 3G and Edge or B) Giving me nothing at all.

When the phone is constantly trying to aquire a signal the battery drops really fast. At my parents home there is even worse signal and I could not for the life of me figure out why my battery was nearly dead by noon even though I wasn't using the phone.

But back on topic, why wouldnt you leave WiFi on? The power use if is not connected has to be very low and when there is a Wifi signal I can actually jump onto iTunes or the App store and download something without turning it back on.

Also keep in mind with the new capped data rates many people are keeping an eye on usage. When you're on Wifi, no worries.

none of which you will be doing while your computer is in front of you.

To address this stupid statement, a lot of people at work cannot use a work computer for personal or "questionable" use. I cannot access FaceBook or non work related sites from work, but using a non-secure Wifi I can without the slowness of 3G. At home my laptop sits 10 feet from me, but I use my iPhone (iPad more lately) to surf the web while watching TV or lying in bed.

 

[MaxxTraxx]

I use WiFi when I'm home but otherwise leave it off.