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Hi guys,
I am new to amdroid platform. I've been using symbian before this. I want to know as to how do I auto use wifi when. Available without manually turning it on. Below is a use case scenario.
I have configured wifi as well as gprs. I have turned off background sync so as to conserve battery and the wifi is off. Now when my active sync want to connect to server to synchronize emails, it should auto check if I have a nearby wifi already configured. If yes, then turn on the wifi, sync the data and close the connection thereby disconnecting from wlan. If a known wlan network is not available, use the data plan of my service provider to get the job done.
Now I know for sure that when I've wifi turned off, the phone is not always connected to 3G. It uses it only if requested by an application. But when I turn ON wifi, it always remains connected to the known network. I want to avoid this for saving battery.
Please let me know if there is an app for that. I am using HTC DESIRE Z running Froyo (non rooted). I dont mind rooting the phone for this thing but only if a standard way is not available.
Thanks in advance,
Karan
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I think Juice Defender does exactly what you're looking for.
Or Tasker if you really want to customize and make it location-based.
Good luck, and welcome to Android! I also came from Symbian.
Technically the phone can't know if there is wifi available unless wifi is on..
However, a tool like Tasker can use various contexts in order to determine if Wifi is to be turned on. For example you could use cell tower ID's to determine if you're at a certain (fairly wide area) location, like "at work". Or you could use GPS to get more fine tuned information, however it doesn't necessarily work indoors.
Or Tasker could also turn on Wifi if ActiveSync is running, assuming it's a distinct program it can detect.
I see in the time I opened the thread and responded someone else suggested Tasker as well. It's several bucks but it's well worth it, it does a LOT.
You should try an app called "Y5".
JuiceDefender does this for me. It must use gps positioning to determine if you are in an area that you have as a familiar wireless network. When I am home my wifi turns on and connects automatically. When I leave it shuts it off. JuiceDefender is great for many reasons beyond this.
foppa78 said:
JuiceDefender does this for me. It must use gps positioning to determine if you are in an area that you have as a familiar wireless network.
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GPS uses tons more battery power than just leaving WiFi on would. It might be using cell tower triangulation for a rough area, but I doubt it. The most efficient way to detect if familiar wireless is near, is to turn the WiFi on for a minute or so and do a scan.
kmmerwana said:
Now I know for sure that when I've wifi turned off, the phone is not always connected to 3G. It uses it only if requested by an application. But when I turn ON wifi, it always remains connected to the known network. I want to avoid this for saving battery.
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Click to collapse
WiFi doesn't use power to maintain the connection until it's needed, or something wakes it and it realizes its no longer connected. 3G uses power to track cell tower connectivity and stay connected, but it is very little. WiFi only uses more power when you're in an unfamiliar location, since it actively scans for new wireless networks.
if i have bouth data and wifi turned on and i am connected to a wifi spot...do i need to turn off the data conection first before it will stop sucking my topup?
shouldnt the device make sure it uses wifi if wireless network is available?
No, you don't need to.
When you connect to a wi-fi connection, the 3G data will automatically switch off (logo on status bar will go away) and it will return when you switch wi-fi off.
funstuffalex said:
if i have bouth data and wifi turned on and i am connected to a wifi spot...do i need to turn off the data conection first before it will stop sucking my topup?
shouldnt the device make sure it uses wifi if wireless network is available?
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Click to collapse
what?
The phone will prioritize the WiFi connection over the 3G connection unless the WiFi is turned off, it's signal drops out(resulting in a disconnects), or you have the default still set for WiFi to turn off when the screen is off.
Am I right in thinking that although the 3g connection will kick in when the wifi signal is lost the phone will still continue looking for a wifi signal and therefore impact on the battery?
xspyda said:
Am I right in thinking that although the 3g connection will kick in when the wifi signal is lost the phone will still continue looking for a wifi signal and therefore impact on the battery?
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Once the WiFi signal it's connected to is lost, it will switch the data 3G connection back on. Once you're out of range of remembered WiFi networks, it does scan for new/known WiFi signals to automatically connect to(only in the case of known signals, it will not try to connect to unknown networks).
As far as impact on battery, I don't think it's much. Only one time has WiFi ever creeped up on my battery use meter and that was on a particularly light day. I still finished my work day at little over 70% battery. There's an app on the market called WiFi Toggle which can help you automatically manage the phones WiFi chip. For instance, one setting will let it turn the WiFi on for a second, scan for known networks and connect if it finds them. If it doesn't, it turns it back off.
That's as I thought, thanks for the confirmation. I'd really like something to make the android phones act like the nokias in this respect - only turn on a data connection when needed (ie when the browser is fired up) and also prioritise the connections such that if a pre programmed known wifi network is available it will connect to that but if not switch to 3g data. There is no scanning for wifi networks all the time.
Nice to know it doesn't seem to impact on the battery though and yes before anyone mentions it I am aware android devices are designed to be always connected
xspyda said:
That's as I thought, thanks for the confirmation. I'd really like something to make the android phones act like the nokias in this respect - only turn on a data connection when needed (ie when the browser is fired up) and also prioritise the connections such that if a pre programmed known wifi network is available it will connect to that but if not switch to 3g data. There is no scanning for wifi networks all the time.
Nice to know it doesn't seem to impact on the battery though and yes before anyone mentions it I am aware android devices are designed to be always connected
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I've been saying this for a while too. I came from Nokia symbian phones where they initiated the data session only when needed, like opening the browser etc. Android does not do this, instead it keeps a data session on all the time. Anytime you see that 3g symbol on an android phone means its data session is open. This is why android gets such poor battery life across all models and manufacturers.
Take one day as a test and simulate your symbian use by turning off mobile data, and your battery life will sky rocket on your nexus. So really It's just a trade off to make knowing you're always connected vs on others like symbian you need to manually do something to open the connection.
Oh and WiFi gets so much better battery life over 3g on android.
OK I know how to create a general shortcut, but what I am looking for is a way to create a shortcut to the BT connection to my cell. I have a WiFi only Xoom and when I am away from a hotspot I tether over BT to my cell. It would be great if I could make a shortcut so I would not have to go into settings>Bluetooth settings> etc. I use App Protector to password protect my settings page so what would normally take 6 clicks takes 10. A one click option sure would be nice.
Tasker. 'When Wifi not connected, connect bluetooth to device'
Thanks for the reply, but I do not want it to automatically tether. That would drastically reduce my cell phone battery life.
Why not wifi tether?
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
HuckFinn said:
Thanks for the reply, but I do not want it to automatically tether. That would drastically reduce my cell phone battery life.
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I haven't messed with my tasker lately, but I think you can add a widget to activate certain profiles.
DroidHam said:
Why not wifi tether?
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
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WiFi tethering would mean I have to do something with the phone to make it work. The beauty of the BT tether is that I never have to touch my phone. As long as bluetooth is on, I can simply connect from the Xoom and I am good.
Also for some reason I have had much better luck with the BT tethering. It seems the WiFi hotspot feature on my phone will shut off if there is too long of an idle time. I tried playing with the settings but still had issues where I had to restart it. BT tethering seems to be very stable.
Kcarpenter said:
I haven't messed with my tasker lately, but I think you can add a widget to activate certain profiles.
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Thanks I will have to look into tasker. I have not used it and have heard it is pretty powerful, I will just have to consider if it is worth the $$.
HuckFinn said:
Thanks I will have to look into tasker. I have not used it and have heard it is pretty powerful, I will just have to consider if it is worth the $$.
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I have found it to be worth the money just in battery savings on my Epic.
Have it scheduled to turn off Mobile Data, and turn on wifi from 8-11:30, Data back on at 11:30-12:30 and Wifi on 12:30-5.
For my Milestone2 I could see where this would help with battery life a bit, but since this is a WiFi only Xoom I am having a hard time figuring out what else I could automate.
Since you are a user of Tasker, could I make a profile that would do the following?
-If there is no WiFi connection AND the screen is on connect via BT to cellphoneXXX.
-Once the screen goes off disconnect BT connection.
If I could set that up then I would be ok with it automatically connecting to my cell phone. I just do not want it sucking up battery power on my cell for background syncing of email, etc. Most of the day my Xoom has a WiFi connection so it is not that big of a deal.
HuckFinn said:
For my Milestone2 I could see where this would help with battery life a bit, but since this is a WiFi only Xoom I am having a hard time figuring out what else I could automate.
Since you are a user of Tasker, could I make a profile that would do the following?
-If there is no WiFi connection AND the screen is on connect via BT to cellphoneXXX.
-Once the screen goes off disconnect BT connection.
If I could set that up then I would be ok with it automatically connecting to my cell phone. I just do not want it sucking up battery power on my cell for background syncing of email, etc. Most of the day my Xoom has a WiFi connection so it is not that big of a deal.
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I will look when I get home, but I am 90% certain you can.
Hi, I'm new to android, but tech aware. Not sure if this is android or Sensation (I'm on XE with thanks to Mike1986).
I use WiFi a lot, but also wander. I tend to forget to turn off the WiFi when I leave work/home/pub - not top of my list!
Whilst I'm wandering I often try to look something up, when WiFi's scanning, and wait for ages.
Shouldn't the 'system' failover to phone data access if WiFi is not connected - or at least ask me for an action?
As I say, I'm new to this - apologies.
Thanks
yes, it should fail over to data if it is not connected to WIFI.
Correct. If you have wifi enabled, leave the area like to work that has no wifi, then yes mobile network takes over.
But I go one above and use Llama location profiles. Where depending where are based on the conditions you set, you can trigger actions using this app. The app is free in the market and is an invaluable tool for me when I am leaving work, heading to the car with my bt and gets connected because I set my condition to look for a bt device if I am no longer connected to my wifi at work.
Gotta love Android
Hmmm. That's not the behaviour I'm seeing. Just thought it was an irritation. Should failover be auto or is there settings (or apps) to control it? I like the concept of profiles ... But you've got to be more organised than I!
nightjar56 said:
Hmmm. That's not the behaviour I'm seeing. Just thought it was an irritation. Should failover be auto or is there settings (or apps) to control it? I like the concept of profiles ... But you've got to be more organised than I!
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It's auto. Like my n1, whenever I am in range of a known wifi connection, the wifi will auto connect if wifi was left on from the prior location or out of range and back again, if that makes sense lol...
So if you go out and are out of wifi range, and you manually turn off wifi, then no wifi won't auto connect of course.
Yes, that all works fine - when I'm wandering in and out of wifi zones. My gripe/question is :
When I am out of wifi range, and wifi is on (scanning), should the phone fall back to the phone data connection? The behaviour I see is that connecting just hangs until I turn wifi off.
Thanks
Is it possible to have a Local WiFi Hotspot? I have a Galaxy S5 with Verizon. Ever since I upgraded I have been struggling on a 6gb data plan. I own an iPad and an Apple TV and wanted to do wireless airplay for presentations. Of course Apple TV requires a WiFi connection to airplay so I was wondering if there was a way to make a local wifi hotspot on a device without using the internet? It would be like having a wireless router that isn't plugged into a modem. I have never seen this brought up before so I figured I might as well see if it is even possible. What do you guys think?Am I crazy for wanting a local hotspot or does this peak anyone interest to explore?
sake40 said:
Is it possible to have a Local WiFi Hotspot? I have a Galaxy S5 with Verizon. Ever since I upgraded I have been struggling on a 6gb data plan. I own an iPad and an Apple TV and wanted to do wireless airplay for presentations. Of course Apple TV requires a WiFi connection to airplay so I was wondering if there was a way to make a local wifi hotspot on a device without using the internet? It would be like having a wireless router that isn't plugged into a modem. I have never seen this brought up before so I figured I might as well see if it is even possible. What do you guys think?Am I crazy for wanting a local hotspot or does this peak anyone interest to explore?
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is is possible to have the hotspot running on the phone and data turned off, but i dont know what effect that would have on other transfers through the wifi.
only reason i know this is because i just started using ds battery saver app the other day, and i use the hotspot on my phone a lot. i have it set to turn off mobile data when the phone is off, well this poses a problem as the hotspot is still broadcasting but i have no internet connection. fortunately the developer had already thought of this (for streaming music etc, same issue) and put an adjustable bandwidth sensor on the app, so it wont cut off data when the screen turns off is there is a certain amount of transfer present.
i kinda went a little off your topic, but i thought it relevant to explain how i know it is possible for the nay sayers.
bweN diorD said:
is is possible to have the hotspot running on the phone and data turned off, but i dont know what effect that would have on other transfers through the wifi.
only reason i know this is because i just started using ds battery saver app the other day, and i use the hotspot on my phone a lot. i have it set to turn off mobile data when the phone is off, well this poses a problem as the hotspot is still broadcasting but i have no internet connection. fortunately the developer had already thought of this (for streaming music etc, same issue) and put an adjustable bandwidth sensor on the app, so it wont cut off data when the screen turns off is there is a certain amount of transfer present.
i kinda went a little off your topic, but i thought it relevant to explain how i know it is possible for the nay sayers.
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I just tried it out and I can get the hotspot to activate with data on and then go turn data off and it won't automatically turn off my hotspot. I will have to try it with the Apple TV in a few days and see how well it works.