I'm thinking of replacing my 3G iPad 2 with a MacBook Air, but I'd want to have Internet on the go, so I would get the AT&T tethering plan and tether my iPhone 4 to my MacBook Air wirelessly. My experience with Android phones has shown me that tethering kills the battery FAST. But I've never tethered with an iPhone. How bad of a battery drain will tethering be on an iPhone 4? And what are your experiences with tethering? Anything I should be aware of?
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How much of a battery-killer is tethering?
- Thread starter Yumunum
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Like you say, its a huge battery drain on android phones. Would you use the iphone to make a wifi network or tether via bluetooth?
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...viewPhoneOverviewByDevice&deviceCategoryId=15
Might be a better idea for you, although you would have to pay for two data plans, but you already do...
Problem with that is I don't want to get on a contract :/ With the AT&T tethering I could remove the tethering part at any time. What would be best, making a Wifi network or using Bluetooth? I only made a Wifi network on my Android phones so I don't know what the benefits are. When I shared my network with two computers and plugged the phone into my MacBook Pro to charge at the same, the battery level would not go up or down. It stayed the same because the loss/gain was the same. Just how bad is the drain on an iPhone 4? :/
Back when I jailbroke my iPhone and used it to tether via WiFi, I killed my battery in about 2 hours from full. My iPad lasted about 5 hours with the screen off. It's not terrible, but it's pretty bad.
My carrier gives me tethering for free. So I use it quite a bit.
The battery draw is minimal. I leave it on all the time.
The iPhone supports both bluetooth and WiFi tethering. Once paired the bluetooth works immediately. But to connect via WiFi hotspot, I find I have to turn off the hotspot and turn it on to make it visible.
With the Air, you'd be using bluetooth which power efficient. As far as I can tell an hour of data use over bluetooth uses no more battery than an hour using the phone directly.
C.
I can confirm that native tethering on iPhone 4 through cydia hack has minimal battery drainage. I suggest you also use bluetooth if you tether to iPad so that you can transfer GPS information as well.
I tether all day at the office and when I get back home at night I still have about 40-60% battery left, depending on the usage.
I tether all day at the office and when I get back home at night I still have about 40-60% battery left, depending on the usage.
It is completely dependent upon how much data you transfer.
If you aren't pushing much data though to the tethered computer/tablet/PS3/whatever then battery drain will be minimal.
If you are streaming movies or downloading large amounts of data then there will be a marked difference....and you might notice your phone getting hot
If you aren't pushing much data though to the tethered computer/tablet/PS3/whatever then battery drain will be minimal.
If you are streaming movies or downloading large amounts of data then there will be a marked difference....and you might notice your phone getting hot