Develop Bugs

Does wifi kill battery faster?

Does using wifi drain the battery? Is it better than using the actual 3G or 4G?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I'm sure someone has a way more technical answer but I would think not. I have no issues with drainage on wifi, as on 2g its on the network constantly and not continually searching for towers.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

jeremyt727 said:
Does using wifi drain the battery? Is it better than using the actual 3G or 4G?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Click to collapse
If you are connected to a wifi network, it saved much more battery than using 3 or 4g. However, if you leave wifi on but don't connect to a network, it will drain battery
Sent from a truly Epic phone and a transparent XDA app

ok cool thanks alot man. Idk when I'm home I just like using wifi better, correct me if I'm wrong but it seems faster. Thanks again
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Turning on anything more than necessary will kill your battery faster. Not always by a lot but everything does and wifi wouldn't always be faster because it depends on the wifi's local area connection. Best way to save battery is to go in settings/applications/manage applications the force close anything you don't need running. Make sure you know what it is you're closing or you could run into some problems. If you end up killing a system app and it won't reopen itself, its nothing a reboot won't fix.

dietotherhythm said:
Turning on anything more than necessary will kill your battery faster. Not always by a lot but everything does and wifi wouldn't always be faster because it depends on the wifi's local area connection. Best way to save battery is to go in settings/applications/manage applications the force close anything you don't need running. Make sure you know what it is you're closing or you could run into some problems. If you end up killing a system app and it won't reopen itself, its nothing a reboot won't fix.
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Click to collapse
DO NOT DO THIS.
Android has its own automatic task management system, and its best if you just let it do what it does best: manage on its own.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.

Well gee I do it all the time and it works fine. If it wasn't intended to be used I don't think it would come without root permissions and anyone who isn't an idiot will realize that force closing android system will cause problems. But if you wanna suggest a task manager that doesn't actually kill apps and adds some bloat ware, be my guest.

dietotherhythm said:
Well gee I do it all the time and it works fine. If it wasn't intended to be used I don't think it would come without root permissions and anyone who isn't an idiot will realize that force closing android system will cause problems. But if you wanna suggest a task manager that doesn't actually kill apps and adds some bloat ware, be my guest.
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Click to collapse
He's not going to recommend another task manager/killer, because Android already does it by itself. Plus, killing a task that is not finished just causes it to respawn. Task killers are unnecessary, and may actually hurt performance and battery life.
Its explained here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=849974&highlight=task+killer

I agree that it's best to let Android clean it's own house normally, however I'm getting a little bit jarred off with certain apps starting themselves up at boot-time.
Paypal app for some reason has installed a service on my phone, despite the fact I've never even logged into it and I can't see why it would need a service running all the time.
Also since the latest Google Maps upgrade there seems to be something under my running tasks called Rate Places. I've not used the check-in service on GMaps at all, nor will I ever.
As well as this, since I've been running a modded CM ROM (SparksMod Extra Hot Sauce) then I constantly have Wi-Fi Calling running - again this is useless to me cos I'm not on TMob US.
Any suggestions for a decent app which can stop all these things running before they ever start, and keep them stopped?

setspeed said:
I agree that it's best to let Android clean it's own house normally, however I'm getting a little bit jarred off with certain apps starting themselves up at boot-time.
Paypal app for some reason has installed a service on my phone, despite the fact I've never even logged into it and I can't see why it would need a service running all the time.
Also since the latest Google Maps upgrade there seems to be something under my running tasks called Rate Places. I've not used the check-in service on GMaps at all, nor will I ever.
As well as this, since I've been running a modded CM ROM (SparksMod Extra Hot Sauce) then I constantly have Wi-Fi Calling running - again this is useless to me cos I'm not on TMob US.
Any suggestions for a decent app which can stop all these things running before they ever start, and keep them stopped?
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Click to collapse
Try "Autorun Manager"
I use it, but SOME apps will auto-restart. I think you need the Pay version of Autorun Manager to prevent those from re-launching.
I use the free version, and it gets rid of some of the problem.

WiFi is definitely causing massive battery drain on my G2 with CM6.1.1. I leave it on at night, and if I have 50% when I go to sleep, I'm down to 3% in the morning. Without doing anything.
I'm not quite sure why this is happening, but it is, and it sucks. I can't go back on 3G/4G right now because I'm at just about 4.8GB, and I don't want to go over my 5GB soft cap.
I wish I knew why WiFi was causing such battery drain...

Do you have anything updating automatically (Email, facebook, etc)? That would be my best guess. I leave wifi on when I'm at home and it isn't that bad at all. Also, I'm sure theres an app out there to let you see what is using the wifi for updates and such. I just don't know of one off the top of my head. I have an app like that for 3G data but it doesn't do wifi.

I just went through every one of my apps to make sure that nothing is set to sync, except Google Voice and Email. My battery is at 50% right now, so we'll see what it's at tomorrow morning.
As you can see from the screenshot, WiFi is using quite a bit of battery. I'm not sure why, but hopefully soon (after some testing) I'll have my answer.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

Yup, 2 nights in a row, my battery has gone from 40% to dead, simply from sitting on my night stand. I wonder if this is why T-Mobile discontinued the G2... because they knew it would have battery issues, and they didn't want to deal with serving warranties? Hmmm...

Its a bit of a leap of logic to link your personal battery issue with T-Mob discontinuing the phone. T-Mob has a good number of Android phones coming out in the near future, with T-Mob really ramping up their support of Android devices. So its been very reasonably speculated that they are discontinuing the G2 in order to make room in their lineup (and stockrooms, etc.) for the new phones.
I get a full day of moderate usage on my Vision, and can get close to 2 days with low usage. That's very typical for a modern smartphone. I usually get in the range of 2-3% battery drain per hour when the phone is idle. And that's with WiFi always on (even when not connected to a WiFi network) and auto sync of Gmail and HTC stock and weather apps. You haven't mentioned how long "overnight" is exactly, but I'll assume 8 hours or so. So your phone draining from 40% to dead overnight seems unusual. WiFi typically uses less battery then the cell data network, when WiFi is available. I suspect there is something else going on, besides just being on WiFi. If the cell reception is dodgey in your area (or fringe 3G reception), this might run the battery down (even if you are on WiFi) as the phone is constantly searching for signal. Or your radio may be mismatched to your custom ROM. Or you may just have a bad battery. Also, was the battery drain any different when you were on the stock or other custom ROMs? I personally haven't witnessed the battery drain to be significantly different across the ROMs I've tried. But that seems to vary, as there often seem to be people complaining about this or that ROM causing more battery drain.

The reason I thought it might be a hardware defect issue is that my wife and I got G2's at the same time. I rooted mine and have been running CM6.1.1 for a few months now, and my wife has kept hers stock. However, the battery issue hit both our phones at almost the exact same time.
It sounds ridiculous, but conspiracy theories are fun to play with. The fact that I've been rooted so long, and it JUST happened weirds me out. Add my wife's phone to the equation, and it's even weirder. I kept my phone on WiFi and 2G networks only last night (yeah, about 8 hours), and the exact same thing happened.
Maybe I should just get a new battery, I don't know. But I do religiously delete apps I don't use and make sure the ones I do use are syncing as minimally as possible.

[Q] How do I remove Cell service from My EVO?

I would like to get an epic or evo ****, because I might like a keyboard. I would like to still use my evo as a music player since I love Miui Music app, but I would like to remove the cell service and data usage, and only keep wifi capabilities so my battery will last longer, maybe run cm6 or miui 1-14. is there any radio or kernel that I can flash to remove these features. On my nook i just deleted the apks will that also work in this case. Thanks for your help.

Put the phone in airplane mode. Then you can turn on wifi and do pretty much everything except make calls and text. If you truely want to cancel service, call sprint and cancel the line. You still need to put the phone in airplane mode however so it doesnt try to connect to the network.

Well im not going to cancel service but get a new phone from sprint, upgrade, but I would like to load a custom rom and remove cell standby so the battery it self will last longer, incase I would like to go back I can always load a backup and reobtain them, in case I want to go back to my evo, for cell. I love my evo but in lectures swift is amazing, but I can only type like 35 wpm and with keyboard about 55 wpm. I just want my evo for games, emulator and music, so no cell needed. Im doing the airplane mode now, but I would like to make it easier. Thanks though. Anyone else have any ideas or suggestions?

There is no way to do it that i know, i just keep my old one in airplane mode with wifi on.

oh, what about the removing of cell Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk" like here will this work, just wanna make sure. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888216

Ok i think it worked, I deleted the telephone provider.apk , phone.apk,the telocation apk and now no service, at first it kept fc but one reboot and now perfect, ill report my battery life, maybe ill get 2 days straight.

Keep me updated please, I have tired to remove, but it always fcs even after rebooting. That said my cm 6.1.2 wifi airplane mode phone looses about 3% battery a day when not in use.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

wait is that with no use or light usage, thats phenomenal, also Im using miui 2.6 but want to go to 1.14 trying to download, before obtained 35-40 hours medium usage, now with out data or cell it should be a lot higher. so far so good.

deolarte said:
I would like to get an epic or evo ****
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Click to collapse
The Evo what??!?

lol shift.

deolarte said:
wait is that with no use or light usage, thats phenomenal, also Im using miui 2.6 but want to go to 1.14 trying to download, before obtained 35-40 hours medium usage, now with out data or cell it should be a lot higher. so far so good.
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Click to collapse
3% is with no using. Of course its more, when it gets used. I have deleted both the files as you did, now i can't connect to wifi. Are you still able to connect?

Yes i still can, i deleted the telelocation, phone, mms and i think ghats it, delete the pho. E first the rest.
- via evo htc 4g.

get an app called Network from the market you can turn off the cellular antenna without needing to remove the apks, will still be able to use wifi, bluetooth etc

NewZJ said:
get an app called Network from the market you can turn off the cellular antenna without needing to remove the apks, will still be able to use wifi, bluetooth etc
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Click to collapse
thanks, that could work but so far ive been getting 56 hours on miui by removing the apks with root explorer and with heavy gaming and music playing. Thanks though.

Force/increase 4G connectivity vs 3G, auto tethering when connected to power

I've got a two part question for some issues I'd like to address while on 4G (some I've called Sprint about, others I know you guys will have the answer since I'm rooted) that I hope to resolve.
My issues with Sprint is that if I'm on 3G and looking at images via websites, pics obviously load slower, but they're always nice and crisp. I notice that when I happen to be on 4G and go look at images, suddenly they load super grainy. I spoke to someone else who is also on Sprint w/ an LTE 4G phone (not a Note II, something else) who experiences the exact same problem. I've called Sprint about it, but I get the usual run around saying they're addressing the issues, fixing towers, etc. When I first started getting 4G in my area about 3 months ago, it was BLAZING fast, connected the second I came off the freeway and stayed on strong. I realize over time that I'm sharing the same signal with others, but damn.
My issues that I'm hoping you guys can assist with is in regards to the phone staying connected to to 4G more via changing thresholds. As I id before, it was awesome. Now it's gotten to the point where I or the phone have to be near a window, or occasionally I can leave it on the top edge of my couch...but if I happen to handle the phone to answer a text messages, it'll often drop back into 3G. The problem is that I use my phone tethered to my laptop for watching TV....Top Gear, Family Guy, etc that I stream. On 4G it's great, but once it drops to 3G it turns into a buffering nightmare and some shows/sites can't handle jumping around for time frames, so lets say if I'm 15 min into a show, go into 3G and come back into 4G, the show never recovers and I've got no choice but to restart the show. I'm just curious if there's a way to change at what point/signal strength that the phone wants to swap back and forth and basically ask it to stay on 4G more often than not when I'm at home where I actually get 4G.
As for tethering, I'm a stock rooted ROM using TrevEMod tethering because the stock tethering app won't stay turned on, I'm assuming due to using the stock ROM. What I'm curious about is a way to have the phone automated in that once I plug it on, the tethering app turns itself on and then back off again once unplugged from a power cord. At one point I'd used some app where it had me enter parameters to do this, but it only worked to turn on the stock tethering app which won't work.
Bottom line is I'd like my phone to stay connected to 4G more often than not, turn on tethering when plugged in and turn it off when not.

as for the tethering, if you are running the stock deodexed rom, there is a mod you can flash to make the native hotspot work then you will be able to use Tasker or however you automate it turning on. if you are running stock odexed you could always flash stock deodexed, if you were intent enough on making it work.
here is the hotspot mod: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2232553

I truly don't know if the stock ROM is odexed or deodexed, I just did a simple rooting procedure and nothing more so I could install a tethering app. Maybe I'm just being naive, but coming from my Epic days where I rooted, ROM'd, kernal'd, OC'd, etc days where I removed tons of apps, added others, etc I never was able to get battery stats/calibration to work correctly, which in turn wrecked havoc on that phone...phone would get super laggy, bog and stumble, then I'd reset the phone and I'd go from 20% battery life to 3%, then realize why the phone was freaking out. Now that I've got this Note II, it works great, I've never felt the need to OC or anything (I wouldn't mind removing stock apps but the SDX Stock App Removal Tool doesn't work), so I'm kinda hesitant in flashing any sort of ROM for fear of reliving past experiences...right now the phone simply works great, I'd just like a few simple features. Any input to sway my decision?

i hear ya, i too like a nice stable setup with everything working. your system is probably odexed if al you did was root, but if you have a file explorer app, when you go into /system/app, you will see each .apk also has an associated .odex file. the deodexed rom has the odex part added back into the apk, but otherwise is exactly the same, no tweaks or anything, every bit as stable, and with nothing removed, but it is easier to make mods for a deodexed rom, such as the hotspot mod!
the decision is yours. it is always a bit of work to flash a rom, but this is defintiely a way to keep the stabilty and reliability, and have the hotspot working the way you want it to! the rom is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2241930, if you choose to go this route. this is exactly my setup, with the hotspot mod, and it runs great.

I'll read the thread, thanks for the link. Any suggestions for something that will enable the tethering app automatically based on being plugged in, and I've had no luck finding anything in regards to people changing thresholds for the 4G connectivity.

m5james said:
I'll read the thread, thanks for the link. Any suggestions for something that will enable the tethering app automatically based on being plugged in, and I've had no luck finding anything in regards to people changing thresholds for the 4G connectivity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem. the app Tasker from the market does things like that, i think it costs a few bucks but it's well worth it. and perhaps there are others.
for the 4G thing, i don't see any setting for that. there are other people who know a lot more about network stuff than i do. there might be a dialer code menu where you can set to receive LTE only, but sorry i can't be of more help there. good luck and have fun!

Read this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2407286
In HDR menu there is a LTE only mode..... beware you wont receive calls or texts so if you have google voice set up then perfect

Note 3 wifi drops connection

Note3 drops connection not stable . How can I fix this its very frustrating . Every thing else is connecting to router(wifi)fine and staying connected just this note 3 is having trouble staying connected . Have rebooted router works for bit. rescan wifi reentered wps code many time. Any ideas
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Seems like an issue for some, I have had zero issues with wifi calling. Maybe see if there is a different radio you can flash? Also, maybe use/try Google Voice.

JUNEBUG-1 said:
Note3 drops connection not stable . How can I fix this its very frustrating . Every thing else is connecting to router(wifi)fine and staying connected just this note 3 is having trouble staying connected . Have rebooted router works for bit. rescan wifi reentered wps code many time. Any ideas
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a setting to auto switch to your data connection if the wi-fi signal is not strong / reliable that you can turn off. Try that.

this is a pretty serious issue that doesnt seem to be happening to many people.. its killing me right now it just dissconnects with no warning.. and it seems not many people are actually experiencing this.. im calling tmobile tomorrow to get a replacement to try and see if it is ok or not but im pretty pissed to get a refurbished unit for a phone i just a montha go

I have 3 of them bran new and they all have same problem
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

i wonder if this is a samsung thing or a T-Mobile thing? We've had Galaxy S3, S4, SII, Note 1. the only one that is "rock solid" is the Note 1 [Tmo version running mod'd stock rom, not JB].
We were able to get the S3 "much improved" but still has a relatively weak ability to maintain signal across multiple AP's or especially with Bridged WIFI AP's [it will "hunt" between physical devices and fail to deliver].
I would suggest you lookup any one of MANY threads on the topic with the S3 especially as there were people that worked hard at it on that one - lots of those deployed in the wild and a huge number had that issue.
turn off scanning.
turn off power management for the WIFI radio.
i wish there was a mod to turn off the network but that would probably kill the "calling" feature altogether. if it has a strong signal on the cell network it ain't going to do wifi calling period.
Data connection has nothing to do with WIFI calling. I use the note 1 a lot and rarely turn 'on' data. its happy on wifi no matter what.

JUNEBUG-1 said:
I have 3 of them bran new and they all have same problem
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
Open up the dialer and dial *#0011#, then hit the hard menu button on the phone, choose wifi, turn off wifi power saving mode. This has been the fix for many of us for the time being.

Quickvic30 said:
Open up the dialer and dial *#0011#, then hit the hard menu button on the phone, choose wifi, turn off wifi power saving mode. This has been the fix for many of us for the time being.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have set the power saver mode to off a few days ago...works but still drops connection here and their hope an update will fix problem with wifi
sent from far far away !

JUNEBUG-1 said:
I have set the power saver mode to off a few days ago...works but still drops connection here and their hope an update will fix problem with wifi
sent from far far away !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya know I think it could be rom related, it seems like with all the international roms the wifi is great and I don't even have to turn off the power saving mode and never drop the wifi connection. With all the MI7 built roms it seems to drop wifi and have troubles. IDK maybe its just a fluke :fingers-crossed:

FWIW I had the same issue until I updated the firmware on my router.

xManMythLegend said:
FWIW I had the same issue until I updated the firmware on my router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That shouldn't have anything to do with this issue, it's the device. But seemingly coincidentally this worked for you.
JUNEBUG-1 said:
I have set the power saver mode to off a few days ago...works but still drops connection here and their hope an update will fix problem with wifi
sent from far far away !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You tried both options?
First
1. Navigate to System Settings
2. Connections > WiFi
3. Menu > Advanced
4. Uncheck "Allows Allow Scanning" and "Auto Network Switch"
Second
1. Dial *#0011#
2, Menu > WiFi
3. Power Saving Off
(Kudos to QuickVic30, I hadn't seen this before)
After doing both, you're still getting the problem?

if you have adblock plus definitely this is the problem, i had it for a while and noticed affecting my wifi. uninstalled issues gone! replaced it with adaway

I also had huge problems making WiFi calls, my router had auto update off, once I updated the router I have ZERO issues, so updating router firmware absolutely works for some people and it's relatively easy to do at least with home router. On the other hand when I switched WiFi power saving to OFF as suggested in other posts, it did absolutely nothing, except increased drain on my battery. I had 20% battery drain overnight (about 7 hrs) and my phone would go dead in less than 1.5 days even without being used. After I changed that setting back, now my battery drains 3% over night and lasts me 2 days with moderate use and has still 60% power left. I do realize different people may have different issues and therefore different fixes, but updating firmware of your router does work in many cases, no question about it and the old firmware didn't affect at all my 2 laptops, couple tablets and 2 Galaxy S3, only Note3 had the issue, so it is hard to believe, but it WORKS. And the power drain that I suspect switching "wifi power save" to off created for me, is beyond reasonable, so maybe people should be aware of it as well.

galaxy note 3 sm-n900T wifi insane off.
pete4k said:
I also had huge problems making WiFi calls, my router had auto update off, once I updated the router I have ZERO issues, so updating router firmware absolutely works for some people and it's relatively easy to do at least with home router. On the other hand when I switched WiFi power saving to OFF as suggested in other posts, it did absolutely nothing, except increased drain on my battery. I had 20% battery drain overnight (about 7 hrs) and my phone would go dead in less than 1.5 days even without being used. After I changed that setting back, now my battery drains 3% over night and lasts me 2 days with moderate use and has still 60% power left. I do realize different people may have different issues and therefore different fixes, but updating firmware of your router does work in many cases, no question about it and the old firmware didn't affect at all my 2 laptops, couple tablets and 2 Galaxy S3, only Note3 had the issue, so it is hard to believe, but it WORKS. And the power drain that I suspect switching "wifi power save" to off created for me, is beyond reasonable, so maybe people should be aware of it as well.
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Click to collapse
sir please let me know if you know anything about the wifi or modem file for galaxy note 3 sm-n900T
i m having this WIFI INSANLY POWERED OFF SINCE MANY MONTS AND CANT FIND ANY POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR THAT. the problem arised when i did root it with the CF AUTOROOT . ever since i m facing the stupidly wifi going turned off and after somedays it is completely turned off ... even when i try to turn it on it remains off like a stubborn.
i m not very good @ clockworkmod or cynogen n installing custom recovery....
plus i cant even find the proper files for my device like for cynogen or clockworkmod. not even the omega roms do have any rom for my model no. sm-n900t .
plz help me with my wifi issue.
i

Note 3 wifi drop
Quickvic30 said:
Open up the dialer and dial *#0011#, then hit the hard menu button on the phone, choose wifi, turn off wifi power saving mode. This has been the fix for many of us for the time being.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Verizon note 3 that I switched over to t-mobile over a year ago, suddenly started to drop all wifi connections. After a brief connection it rescans then drops. I read your thread and when I dial *#0011# , im assuming you mean "call" there is no menu for wifi. What is the dialer? The phone keypad? Any help is greatly appreciated.

GNEX Without service

First I would like to thank everyone on this forum. Being a Noob to rooting I have learned so much here.
I will be picking up my new Galaxy S5 tomorrow and I want to keep my GNEX for a music player. I believe I will still be able to connect it to wifi and load it with music via USB. Any suggestions as to how I should configure it before I lose service?
I have Vanir ROM running 4.2.2 with DirtyV kernel.

You don't have to do anything. It doesn't matter if you have service on it or not. It will still work on Wi-Fi
Sent from my Nexus 5

yea I have been off of Verizon service for long time now(almost a year)
what I do is Google on airplane mode. then you can just turn on wifi(bluetooth.and wifi are able to be toggled on/off without affecting airplane mode)
I get actually good battery life on this thing that way lmao!
but yea, you can always change your setup later by just using wifi to download your Roms/kernels.
not having service won't affect ability to install roms.
but make sure you do toggle airplane mode on lol. cuz without service(i don't even have sim in anymore) it will be constantly trying to connect to a tower to get a signal, and will horribly drain your battery very fast.
(I've also removed BIP.apk and the stock messaging apk since they always show as running apps and I don't need them anymore I figured just remove them to free that ram up. you will have to remove them every time you flash a Rom though remember, if you decide to go this route as well)

Someone made a flashable zip over at Rootz that disables everything that makes your device a cellular device.
The OP is for Jelly Bean, but comment #50 made one for Kit Kat.
I know it's taboo to link over there, but I don't see anything in the forum rules:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/25016-modany-phone-any-rom-wi-fi-only-mode-disable-cell-radio/