Mobile web - GPRS Auto Attach - does it kill the battery? - Touch Diamond2, Pure General

I have just set my mobile web connection to 'always on'. I've done this through the 'Advanced Config' app - GPRS auto attach: Enabled. Will this take more battery? I've read old posts for other phones, that claim this does kill battery but I've also found a post in this forum that says it doesnt! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=546359
I have had endless trouble with my data connection - not being able to connect to internet, google maps, email etc and the only way to fix it was to either toggle airplane mode on and off or to actually soft reset. I'm hoping that having the GPRS auto attach will solve this trouble.
Any thoughts?

I'm doing experiments now with the battery life.
I charged phone to 100% and left in standby overnight with mobile web connection running. When I checked this morning, after 9 hours battery life was at 98% (received 1x sms and 1x email during the night).
Mobile web has now been connected for 17.5 hours and battery life is at 79%. 22mins device usage, mostly internet. No calls today and just the 1x sms and 1x email (Im not very popular - as is evident from the lack of replies to my post )
I will do the same experiment tonight with mobile web not connected.

Hi
It doesn't drain the battery. You have a permanent connection to the network anyway to receive phone calls. When you "attach" a data connection you're phone obtains an IP address and keeps it. To get an IP address requires an initial bit of talking to the cell and once it has it, that's it, it's doing nothing unless being actively used. If you disconnect all the time you will use more power as it costs power each time you have to negotiate for an IP address. Networks also prefer the connection to remain on as it cuts down on network traffic.
The only way your power is used more is if you have an application that is using the data connection continually.
Regards
Phil

Thanks PhilipL, exactly the answer i was hoping for as my connection seems a lot more stable since enabling auto attach.

Related

Turning off internet connection

When I go online and check my e-mails it does not close down the connection when I log off. How do I set my XDA 11 to do this?
Hold down the red button for a few seconds and it will kill it.
Gordon
I too wondered this, but came to the conclusion there is no way currently of getting a program to close its connection afterwards.
This doesn't bother me as much for the price of the connection as if you're just online checking mail etc, it won't cost much as it's per mb. However, I noticed when I left the connection on and was making calls etc, the battery decreases significantly faster than if it weren't connected to GPRS.
Has anyone found a program that monitors connections and disconnects them after so much inactivity? Does SPB GPRS Monitor do this, if so please tell me how cos I've already got it!
Cheers
Anthony

Data roaming charges in flight mode

I currently have the Cingular 8525 and recently went down to Baja for a week. I had the phone function on to let me know when a call came in and then would go to the local internet cafe, switch the phone function off using "flight mode", confirmed phone function was off in "Comm Manager" and looking at "Settings/WLAN Settings" for the WiFi establishment.
I would then use Skype on the WiFi network to make calls back to my cell phone carrier to retrive messages.
Upon returning to the U.S. and reviewing my usage on the Cingular Web page I find that I have "Roaming Data Charges" to the tune of about $120. I have talked to Cingular and they were perplexed as to how the data charges were incurred if the phone funciton is turned off. HTC technical services were equally perplexed. HTC came up with the solution of pulling the sim card out to totally disable the phone function while still allowing WiFi access. In the states I have unlimited data access so this is not an issue, but since I travel abroad frequently, this could get costly without a simple solution (pulling the sim card out each time is not a simple solution).
Is there anychance that one of the following apps are allowing my phone to indicate that the phone is in flight mode (phone disabled) while still broadcasting in GSM/UMTS.
All thoughts on the subject are appreciated
Phone: Cingular 8525
Apps: PTTfix.cab
BandSwitch.Arm4.cab
Not sure if this helps, but after a couple of rediculously high months of data usage on my Orange UK contract, for two months I did not use any data features on the phone unless it was docked with my laptop, using it's broadband connection to browse on the phone. The opposing arrows signal was showing, signifying that my tytn was using the laptop's connection. My bills still show high usage, I had NoData running, blocking all Gprs usage.
Is it possible for the sim card to be still recording the data transfer and wrongly charging me for the usage? I have tried speaking to Orange about this but each time they have not understood what I'm talking about.
I'd sugggest you to try Spb GPRS Monitor.You need to play with it to tune it right way. It allows to monitor up to 5 different connections, and have a Today plug-in and an indicator in the top bar to show the activity. It helped me a lot by signalling that my phone uses GPRS instead of WiFi (no, I never even heard of GPRS/UMPT in flight mode!).
I have it set up to monitor GPRS for two SIM cards I have, connection via USB and BlueTooth. For any other type of connection (incl. WiFi) it does not indicate anything. Quite enough for troubleshooting, and also to understand your bills.
Probably there are similar apps, I never tried them.
Thanks for the suggestion on SPB GPRS Monitor.
I put the SPB GPRS Monitor on the phone and low and behold apparently any time the system kicks into the GPRS data mode, and it seems to do this on its own every once in awhile you get charged for the link whether you use it or not. SPB GPRS Monitor does a good job of letting you know if your not paying attention to the Martini Glass icon up top.

My phone is constant data transfer, help.

My phone constantly transfers data eating up the battery. I manually turn off data on the comm page. It stays off briefly then begins again. Any ideas?
Try this file, unzip, transfer over, install, open NO GPRS from the programs menu and hit toggle.
That should do it, just hit toggle to re-enable.
This is posted elsewhere, try using search first.
go to activesync, menu->schedule
and set "peak times" and "off-peak times" to "manually"
I once had this when I had an MMS trying to download. Delete the MMS header from your mailbox or specify the network/connection which should be used for downloading MMS.
clarksdv2 said:
My phone constantly transfers data eating up the battery. I manually turn off data on the comm page. It stays off briefly then begins again. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the MMS...
But the big question is... do you have push mail or perhaps a weather program?
Push especially will keep your data connection on as it is constantly polling your email...
The good news is if your are connected it doesn't necessarily mean that you are using data. If you are in a 3G area then an H icon will appear instead of the 3G icon while there is a data transfer...
If you want to stop it alltogether check out MoDaCo's NoData or the GRPS above..
No push email or other data service
I have my personal email on 30 minute retrieve increments other than that I have no other data services. My phone is just on this constant data call although no data is being transferred. This subsequently drains my battery awefully fast.
well, what is exactly the problem? is it that your pda
"is just on this constant data call although no data is being transferred"
or
"constantly transfers data" ?
More details.
The phone is engaged in a constant data call represented by 3G with the left and right arrow, however, no data is actually being transferred. The battery is draining within 8hrs on standby because the high transmit to receive ratio. Although no data is transferred the radio constantly interrogates the cell site thus throwing out unnecessary power. If I manually disengage via the communication manager, the phone will hang up the data call for a brief period, but will reengage fairly quickly. I can't find any settings that would create this situation. I downloaded the program in this post, but the phone still continues the data call. This has never happened on this phone until a month or so after installing the ROM flash with WM6, but I can't be sure if there is a direct correlation with the new flash. Thank you all for your help.
clarksdv2 said:
I have my personal email on 30 minute retrieve increments other than that I have no other data services. My phone is just on this constant data call although no data is being transferred. This subsequently drains my battery awefully fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try turning off this 30 min email and make it manual to see if this is the cause...
not sure if u have htchome weather, because it will also auto update every few hours...
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=My Pocket PC keeps connecting to the Internet.
have you checked the activesync schedule time?
furthermore goto commmanager and disable direct push. if your commmanager does not show you the icon to disable direct push, install schaps advanced config and activate there the icon.
i am pretty sure that one of these two options causes the problem.
what other apps have you installed?
if all this does not help, hard reset your device and install/config one app after another.
Same Problem
I've got the same problem. I'm using the default HTC WWE ROM. At random times, sometimes twice a day, my "Rogers Internet" data connection (GPRS, EDGE or 3G) connects automatically and doesn't disconnect. If I catch it happening and click cancel, it tries again. It will not give up until the connection has been established for at least 10 seconds.
I've gone through every program I have, checking to make sure the auto update option is disabled (if there is an auto update). I do not use the direct push and therefore, activesync schedule is greyed out.
Any ideas?
I'm suprised that it drains your battery so quickly. My phone stays connected at least 90% of the day, and I usually have at least 70-80% battery when I get home from work, usually more. The only time that it gets drained quickly is when I'm browsing the web too much on NetFront 3.5...a notorious battery drainer.
Sorry I couldn't help...but maybe it's a battery issue? Since I'm connected so much and have no battery issues? Or maybe a radio change could help you?
I don't have any abnormal battery drain, just weird auto-connect problem.
are you sure you have checked every single program? there has to be something that's trying to connect to the internet to grab data. weather apps, time sync, quickgps (i know, ridiculous, i'm just throwing it out there). try looking at what processes are running in the background using a task manager. that might help you eliminate suspects.
I have Spb GPRS Monitor on my phone. I've been looking at the logs. There is no pattern to the connections and they seem to be never more than 20k connections. I've installed NoGPRS and will use that while I'm sleeping. Just weird that it connects at all.
I had a similar problem, so I installed KaiserTweak and changed the setting to disconnect from 3G after use and that did the trick for me - no more constant connection and the battery stopped heating up and dying quickly.

Data connection, no auto-disconnect?

Hi guys,
I have recently moved from symbian platform to WinMo. I do have a question regarding data connection. Does it ever auto disconnects? (for example in my old N95 if I clicked sync in my mail application, the phone would connect, download new mail and then auto disconnect when the job was done)
Also the phone would disconnect from data connection after closing app that was using it.
Now with my HD2 when I sync email, refresh weather etc the data connection stays on. Do I have to disconnect it manualy every single time so it doesnt drain my battery? It is very annoying since I have to do it manually very often.
Please advise... maybe I am missing something...
Cheers
Pete
Hi,
There's a few threads on here on data connection disconnection. There is also a hints & tips thread right at the top of this page.
Use this tool to find what you are looking for..http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=+site:http://forum.xda-developers.com&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all
WB
install the 1 min disconnect tweak thats on this forum.
if you only set emails to check automatically it will disconnect ok using the above tweak but if you have weather and/or twitter apps connecting to update for some reason it will not close the connection at all i have told htc but never heard back
The only real reason for disconnecting a data connection is if you want to prevent unwanted costs associated with data exchange.
If you're in a weak signal area you can save battery by switching the connection band to GSM rather than 3G, but in a strong signal, 3G is more power efficient.
An open, but quiescent data connection has little or no effect on battery life as it's simply using the network infrastructure; battery usage only occurs during actual data exchange. So, if you turn off all the auto-update features and set email polling to a longer interval you should be OK. Kind of defeats the purpose of the device though
NeilM said:
The only real reason for disconnecting a data connection is if you want to prevent unwanted costs associated with data exchange.
If you're in a weak signal area you can save battery by switching the connection band to GSM rather than 3G, but in a strong signal, 3G is more power efficient.
An open, but quiescent data connection has little or no effect on battery life as it's simply using the network infrastructure; battery usage only occurs during actual data exchange. So, if you turn off all the auto-update features and set email polling to a longer interval you should be OK. Kind of defeats the purpose of the device though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my experience all Symbian devices and the iPhone auto disconnect from the network once the data connection is no longer needed. They also reconnect in the blink of an eye. It kind of irritates me that Windows Mobile doesn't allow you at least the OPTION of doing so. It's particularly annoying if you're connected to a speaker and can't get 3g as there's a constant noise going off. I also think it can't be great for your balls having that connection constantly active! It's not HTC's fault though, just I think a result of Windows Mobile being inherently quite archaic...perhaps Windows have just overlooked it.
There's a great free app HERE to tweak the WinMo connections for individual apps. It's a must have for me.
petexx said:
Hi guys,
I have recently moved from symbian platform to WinMo. I do have a question regarding data connection. Does it ever auto disconnects? (for example in my old N95 if I clicked sync in my mail application, the phone would connect, download new mail and then auto disconnect when the job was done)
Also the phone would disconnect from data connection after closing app that was using it.
Now with my HD2 when I sync email, refresh weather etc the data connection stays on. Do I have to disconnect it manualy every single time so it doesnt drain my battery? It is very annoying since I have to do it manually very often.
Please advise... maybe I am missing something...
Cheers
Pete
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This really isn't a problem, I've seen N95's that retain their connection at all time (and some that don't) and to be honest it just makes your handset a little quicker.
WMLongLife is the nuts. You need it.
Thanks for the link, I pay per minute on my connection (rather than data transferred) so an open connection is not good for my bank balance

WiFi/Data settings for student on campus

Hey guys, feel free to move this to the proper forum if this isn't the right place.
I'm new to Android (WebOS convert. Consider myself tech savvy, just haven't spent any time with Android before now) Since I live on campus, I am almost always on a WiFi connection. However, I use google voice for texts/calls/voicemails and I need a data connection to receive push notifications. The WiFi times out after 15 minutes and if JuiceDefender has disabled both the data and the wifi then I won't get any notifications.
Is there some sort of combination of Tasker and/or JuiceDefender combinations where:
when my WiFi connection times out (while the phone is asleep in my pocket) have the data connection turn back on. Then turn the data connection off when it reconnects to WiFi. *There are 3 different wifi connections that will need to be remembered.
when I turn the WiFi off (via widget) the data connection will always be on.
Obviously I just want to maximize my battery life here. Thanks a lot guys.

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