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Does having wifi always on drain your battery more?
- Thread starter dxr808s
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Wirelessly posted
I leave it on all the time cuz I was under the impression it saves battery. I auto connect at work and home. And most other places I just use 3G cuz its not worth connecting it everyone I go somewhere
I leave it on all the time cuz I was under the impression it saves battery. I auto connect at work and home. And most other places I just use 3G cuz its not worth connecting it everyone I go somewhere
Probable not that much
I don't think it drains that much, I have always left mine on since the first iPhone. The few times I didn't use my phone much the charge lasted for days and wifi was on. I think you should worry more about location services, bluetooth, notifications, weather widget and push email.
Now if you feel like cutting it off all the time sure it will probable save a little. But if I did that I would most likely forget to turn it on when i get home and run my megabytes up on my cell plan, AT&T is pretty fast at my house so it would be hard to tell if was surfing on wifi or 3G on my phone.
I don't think it drains that much, I have always left mine on since the first iPhone. The few times I didn't use my phone much the charge lasted for days and wifi was on. I think you should worry more about location services, bluetooth, notifications, weather widget and push email.
Now if you feel like cutting it off all the time sure it will probable save a little. But if I did that I would most likely forget to turn it on when i get home and run my megabytes up on my cell plan, AT&T is pretty fast at my house so it would be hard to tell if was surfing on wifi or 3G on my phone.
having it on uses more battery than having it off, but it also uses less power than 3G, so if you're connecting to the internet at all it saves power to have it on (and in use)
Perform a search on here and other forums and you will be given scores of threads on opinions wether thing this feature off when not in use saves battery.
Its one of the specs that is recommended to turn off when trying to save battery. As battery standby and talk time is governed by the owners usage i would suggest that you fully charge the unit and leave the wifi on and keep a rough track on what you do with it until your % reaches, say 10%.
Then recharge it and try to use it the same way again with it off.
Its always going to be a rough guide as your phone will always perform a little differently due to different parameters.
Most battery concerns are resolved by doing this....
Turn off the % indicator and stop thinking about it !
Its one of the specs that is recommended to turn off when trying to save battery. As battery standby and talk time is governed by the owners usage i would suggest that you fully charge the unit and leave the wifi on and keep a rough track on what you do with it until your % reaches, say 10%.
Then recharge it and try to use it the same way again with it off.
Its always going to be a rough guide as your phone will always perform a little differently due to different parameters.
Most battery concerns are resolved by doing this....
Turn off the % indicator and stop thinking about it !
I was out and about today and left the Wifi settings on the [on] position and the battery only wen't down from 99% to 97% during a three hour standby period. It's not worth the hassle of turning off IMHO.
Yes it does, even more so if you aren't connected to an access point.
Because while wifi is on, it will be periodically scanning for APs to connect to.
Ditto for leaving 3G on when there is no 3G service available. Constantly scanning for a 3g network when non exists consumes lots of battery.
If you know you're in an area with no wifi, turn it off.
However - if you ARE on a wifi network, transferring data over wifi is less battery draining than 3G.
Because while wifi is on, it will be periodically scanning for APs to connect to.
Ditto for leaving 3G on when there is no 3G service available. Constantly scanning for a 3g network when non exists consumes lots of battery.
If you know you're in an area with no wifi, turn it off.
However - if you ARE on a wifi network, transferring data over wifi is less battery draining than 3G.
For me, that was true when I had an android but not so with iPhone 4
I almost daily travel in and out of cell range for extended times and notice zero difference with battery usage with iPhone
I had to constantly have my droid on car charger or could not go more than few hours in weak areas
I usually always leave it on. I don't see any differences in battery stats with it being on or off.
I leave it on. I haven't played with the toggle of having it on/off. I wish the stock iOS firmware had something like SBSettings where it's easy to turn things like, bluetooth and wifi on/off.
I've generally had a poor 3G connection on AT&T whenever I've been inside my apartment (3 of 4 locations over the years). And I do use my phone a lot in my home. (Just more convenient then having to power up my MacBook Pro if I want to find something quick.)
If you use data on your phone a lot in a WIFI area, I do believe it does save battery life, if you leave it on.
I've generally had a poor 3G connection on AT&T whenever I've been inside my apartment (3 of 4 locations over the years). And I do use my phone a lot in my home. (Just more convenient then having to power up my MacBook Pro if I want to find something quick.)
If you use data on your phone a lot in a WIFI area, I do believe it does save battery life, if you leave it on.
On my 4S it's always on, but I haven't noticed it affecting the battery. I usually get a little over a day on a full charge with wifi.
Whenever I leave the house I turn of WiFi. When I am at home I turn off data. It really saves battery.
Back in the iPhone 3G days I really noticed a big difference when I left it on.
With my iPhone 4S sometimes I turn if off and sometimes I leave it on and I rarely notice any difference at all. I think the batteries have gotten better over the years while the power need to search for Wifi has remained the same.
So, basically, I used to tell people to turn this off but I really don't any more. It makes some kind of difference, but to me it's not worth the trouble anymore.
(I do turn it off when I go on vacation and know I won't have Wifi for a week, but that's about it these days.)
With my iPhone 4S sometimes I turn if off and sometimes I leave it on and I rarely notice any difference at all. I think the batteries have gotten better over the years while the power need to search for Wifi has remained the same.
So, basically, I used to tell people to turn this off but I really don't any more. It makes some kind of difference, but to me it's not worth the trouble anymore.
(I do turn it off when I go on vacation and know I won't have Wifi for a week, but that's about it these days.)
+1 Small white Car.
I was getting to post this but he beat me to it. I also have done both and it doesn't seem to matter much.
I was getting to post this but he beat me to it. I also have done both and it doesn't seem to matter much.
Seems to be the case for me with iphone 3G-s, so i maintained the habit when I got a 4-s.
i spend days (up to a week) in remote locations (like, Mali, Zambia, Kazakhstan, outback Australia) with VERY poor/weak service and i find turning off everything not possible to use helps significantly.
Mine is on all the time I never turn it off and I haven't seen any changes in battery life with it on or off.
As was said, I always leave mine on. I don't wanna worry about toggling it throughout the day. I do however leave the ask to join networks option off. I'll look when I want, rather than be pestered all day.
I still get stellar battery life
I still get stellar battery life