Turn 3G on or off?

[johnny football hero]

I previously owned the first generation iPhone, which died recently. I just picked up a new 3G a few days ago. Intially my new 3G's battery life was horrendous. I would lose half of a full charge within 45 minutes of use. After doing some research on here; I found out a remedy was to restore the phone and start from scratch, not use my previous phone's backup. So far today the battery life seems to be much improved. Thanks everyone!

As for 3G, does it drain the battery as much as I've heard? When I purchased the new phone, the salesperson in the AT&T store insisted that I turn off 3G in order to save battery life. So what do you all do? Turn on 3G and leave it on? Or do you switch back and forth between EDGE and 3G depending on your needs at the moment? If I turned on 3G does the phone automatically switch between EDGE and 3G based upon signal strength/service? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JustinHorn]

What's the point of having a 3g phone if you always leave it on EDGE

It does use the battery more than EDGE so if you know you will have an extended stay away from an outlet to recharge you can use EDGE, but for most of the time you should be okay to go through the day with 3g on.

You could also buy one of the 3rd party battery packs to give you more juice for those heavy usage days.

 

[Brickman]

I am with dizzy on this one. Why have 3G if you don't use it. The iPhone and others like it need 3G for you to able to use all of it's features. You can also be sure that WiFi and BT are turned off. These will drain the battery quicker.

I keep a car charger in the car with me. If I am going somewhere and I am running low I can always charge for 20-30 mins to get me through the rest of the day. A car charger is always the first accessory I personally buy.

 

[JustinHorn]

I keep a car charger in the car with me. If I am going somewhere and I am running low I can always charge for 20-30 mins to get me through the rest of the day. A car charger is always the first accessory I personally buy.

Yeah, I have a car charger and a mophie and haven't had any issues. If I know I'm going to be out and about I usually always charge when I'm near power so that I don't have to worry about running low.

With lithium it isn't that bad to do, but every once in a while (once a month or 2) you should drain it all the way. It's actually bad to drain it all the way more than that from what I've read.

 

[joeya7x]

Well... I really suggest keeping 3G on, and yeah just turn WiFi off. I noticed that i also get very poor reception without 3G on.

 

[hotrod#AC]

The biggest battery drain for me is when I'm on the edge of a 3G network, so my phone is constantly switching between 3G and Edge.....pewwwwwwww down goes my battery. But if I'm in the city under strong 3G coverage, I don't notice any more battery draining than when I'm in a part of the state that has no 3G network.

For me it is mainly the automatic switching and constantly polling for the 3G network that eats my battery.

 

[ssilly]

Can't you just then off edge

 

[EnterpriseGlobe]

For me, let the 3G on If not necessary, turn off your Wireless Fidelity.

 

[hotrod#AC]

Yes I could turn off edge, but then when I loose the 3g network I'll have no network. So when I'm on the fringe of 3g network coverage, I just turn off 3g, to save the battery.

 

[BB-fan]

I keep 3g on and wifi off. I find I get better battery life with 3g.

 

[WPeterson]

right, turn 3g on and wi-fi off if you got unlimited plan. but when i'm homestead, Wi-Fi is preferred for better performance.

 

[mahomer]

So from reading this, wifi drains the battery a lot just being on and constantly searching?

That would help get rid of the dreaded "which network to connect to" message when I click on a link in an email. Unless I am at home most of the networks it finds are locked business or personal networks in the area I am in.

Hitting my settings button now...

So has anyone created an app that turns wifi on and off quickly? Settings is on my second page so it is 4 clicks for me. Would be nice to just hit a button to turn it on or off.

Thanks!

 

[TSX]

i noticed when 3g is off my battery life increases alot