Battery Life Worse on Wi-Fi Than 3G

[dark55]

Hey all,

I've recently noticed that my iPhone 4 actually gets better battery life on 3G than on Wi-Fi, which contradicts everything I've read on the matter. On Wi-Fi, I get 4-5 hours of life, compared to 5-6 hours on 3G. I've restored my phone several times in the past and I've always had this level of battery life when using the Wi-Fi at my house, so I just assumed that was how it was. I can still easily get through the day without charging, so I'm not too concerned. I am curious though, and I certainly wouldn't mind extending the battery life and lifespan.

Using the settings Apple used in their battery tests, except on minimum screen brightness while surfing the web with Safari over Wi-Fi, I get around 6 hours of life, not the advertised 10 hours.

I have my Linksys router set to 802.11g only, using WPA2 AES security. (Maybe this has something to do with it?) I have an excellent Wi-Fi signal (router in the next room), and an excellent 3G signal (5 bars, -75 to -60 dBm) the majority of the time.

Regards,
Mike

 

[Intell]

Of course the iPhone would get better battery life with the WiFi turned off. I don't know why anyone would think otherwise.

 

[dark55]

From Apple's site:
"If you rarely use Wi-Fi, you can turn it off to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you frequently use your iPhone to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks." and "...6 hours of Internet use on 3G, 10 hours of Internet use on Wi-Fi..."

I can understand that if I were only using my phone to send texts or make phone calls, Wi-Fi would just be an added drain on the battery, but I'm using a lot of data-heavy apps.

 

[JamesMB]

I get almost double the battery life on WiFi as opposed to 3G.