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Vanarak19

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 18, 2008
1,097
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so what's overall better for battery life? Does leaving wifi on with edge use more battery than 3g by itself?

I know the pros/cons.
 
if there is no wifi around and you leave wifi on, isnt it always searching for a signal? therefore suck down more battery?

ive shut off 3g and only turn it on when i need it and my battery lasts a lot longer.
 
if there is no wifi around and you leave wifi on, isnt it always searching for a signal? therefore suck down more battery?

ive shut off 3g and only turn it on when i need it and my battery lasts a lot longer.

No. WiFi only searches when it pops up and asks you to connect (e.g. when you attempt to access data). It won't search because it doesn't auto-connect to unknown hotspots. Ex: Checking your email automatically. It will connect to your known WiFi and check and disconnect. The iPhone is very smart about connecting and disconnecting to/from WiFi.
 
It will connect to your known WiFi and check and disconnect.

Are you sure about that? Because mine always stays connected to known WiFi networks. So I guess that it is trying to access them from time to time in order to determine the signal strength.

Even Apple suggests turning off WiFi when not in use to preserve battery life. LINK
 

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Are you sure about that? Because mine always stays connected to known WiFi networks. So I guess that it is trying to access them from time to time in order to determine the signal strength.

Even Apple suggests turning off WiFi when not in use to preserve battery life. LINK

Whenever I unlock my phone, it's on EDGE or 3G.. and whenever I try to access the internet, the WiFi symbol pops up. That's how I conclude that. It will go away after a minute and switch back to EDGE/3G.. so that's my conclusion.
 
3G is better than EDGE for battery life... Here's why

You can load TWICE the amount of web pages with 3G than EDGE, so you end up using EDGE for LONGER than 3G... therefore you're using the iPhone more, therefore you're draining the battery more. If you use 3G and load 10 pages, you're gonna use less battery than using EDGE and loading 10 pages.
 
How much power 3G takes, also depends on how many others are using your cell and how far you are from the tower.

3G is CDMA. That means everyone talks at once. The more users, and the further from the tower, the more that the phone ramps up its output to be heard along with everyone else.
 
How much power 3G takes, also depends on how many others are using your cell and how far you are from the tower.

3G is CDMA. That means everyone talks at once. The more users, and the further from the tower, the more that the phone ramps up its output to be heard along with everyone else.

Could you clarify what you mean by "That means everyone talks at once." Do you mean it's synonymous to a shared cable internet line? (Or a worse analogy: WiFi where your PC selectively ignores requests not directed to itself.. it's still using a slight bit of power to process + ignore them)
 
3G is better than EDGE for battery life... Here's why

You can load TWICE the amount of web pages with 3G than EDGE, so you end up using EDGE for LONGER than 3G... therefore you're using the iPhone more, therefore you're draining the battery more. If you use 3G and load 10 pages, you're gonna use less battery than using EDGE and loading 10 pages.

thats only if you're using it for safari, or maps or something.
 
3G is better than EDGE for battery life... Here's why

You can load TWICE the amount of web pages with 3G than EDGE, so you end up using EDGE for LONGER than 3G... therefore you're using the iPhone more, therefore you're draining the battery more. If you use 3G and load 10 pages, you're gonna use less battery than using EDGE and loading 10 pages.

Nice in theory, but I don't think it's very practical. If you load a page and then read it, you're draining more battery life with the 3G connection that you would with EDGE. Now if you keep loading different pages and Internet-related stuff over and over again, I see where your going.

I think it's best to say that EDGE has better battery life than 3G, but you can get more done in the same timespan with 3G.
 
i have to say that 3g is better even though the battery will go down but just bring your charger with you. i just hate the fact that safari keeps on going down on me :mad:
 
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