2Degrees network has halved my battery life

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SimonGeorgeBrown

50 posts

Geek

#88589 18-Aug-2011 15:01

After the 2Degrees towers where enabled in Hamilton, a friend of mine and I have noticed that our battery usage has gone up a lot. I thought 3G was meant to be better in that respect, or am I confused?

Anyway, it's not really an issue as my phone still makes it through the day, but if I forget to chuck it on the charger at night, it wont make it too the morning.

Anyone else finding an increase in battery consumption?

Toiletduck

119 posts

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#508608 18-Aug-2011 15:05

Are you in the fringes of Hamilton?

codyc1515

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#508610 18-Aug-2011 15:09

My understanding was 3G used battery more than battery 2G not the other way around. If you are just using it for calling and SMS then you can turn off 2G, provided you are not using data.

Toiletduck

119 posts

Master Geek

#508612 18-Aug-2011 15:11

2G definitely uses far less battery

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#508614 18-Aug-2011 15:12

Yes, 3G can consume more battery - if you dont use anything data intensive, you can live without 3G turned on and stay on 2G.

I do it when I need to conserve battery on long trips without a charger.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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SimonGeorgeBrown

50 posts

Geek

#508618 18-Aug-2011 15:20

Oh okay, I have my facts upside down :P Not sure where I got that from. Thanks for the clarification. I'll turn '2G only' on I think.

codyc1515

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#508620 18-Aug-2011 15:23

SimonGeorgeBrown: Oh okay, I have my facts upside down :P Not sure where I got that from. Thanks for the clarification. I'll turn '2G only' on I think.

Another thing to think about is that the coverage of 3G vs. 2G is not normally equal on NZ networks.

DjShadow

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#508745 18-Aug-2011 21:14

Some days I notice battery life has been hit hard, my work is on the fringe of the new 2D coverage hence my iphone "ping pongs" (as 2D put it) between 2degrees (EDGE) and Vodafone (GSM - no 3G coverage)

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eXDee

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#508952 19-Aug-2011 12:40

In Hamilton 2G data should be nicer now with EDGE coverage. I have lots of friends that force 2G mode most of the time, toggled with a widget (widgetsoid) or notification bar option.

jords12

144 posts

Master Geek

#514766 31-Aug-2011 22:39

Your not totally wrong - in theory 3G has lower standby usage than 2G. However in practice I've never seen it to work that way - I think if you do anything at all you will then use more power.

3G also tends to have a weaker signal since it's on a higher frequency, so that means the phone has to work harder to keep connected, or even worse, it might be constantly switching from 3G to 2G and back again.

If I need a long battery life for a day, I'll turn off 3G - or If I'm going somewhere where I know there is no 3G or just a very weak signal I'll turn it off.