Inconsistant wifi battery drain at different locations

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eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#119625 8-Jun-2013 10:19

I am going mad with this problem. At home, my Galaxy s2, can still be at 93% battery, at 5pm, having sat around all day with the wifi on.

At my work, with the wifi source actually in my room, it lasts about 2 hours before it's down to under 92%. This is without actually using the phone at all, purely to test what the problem is. It makes it unusable at my work with wifi on, as it wont get through the day.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of inconsistancy ?
I have been on Android for at least 3 years so I have tried most things. Its the inconsistancy that bugs me!

What should I be looking for? Initially I had to login each morning at work, but am now on the "pass-thru list" so it connects automatically.

Its running Offical Jelly Bean (Telecom). Was a waaaaay better phone on Ice Cream sandwich. Never used to get any hangs at all. Get keyboard instigated hangs each day with JB.

Cheers
Jeff

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#832547 8-Jun-2013 10:22

Install BetterBatteryStats and find out if you have any wakelocks.
Also have you factory reset the device since upgrading it?

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#832562 8-Jun-2013 10:55

eXDee: Install BetterBatteryStats and find out if you have any wakelocks.
Also have you factory reset the device since upgrading it?

Ok, thanks for that.
Factory reset. No. Is it advisable ? I did read where someone did that, wasnt sure if it was neccessary though.

I have GSam battery monitor. Number of wakelocks (at home) 24. I better find out what they do : )

Cheers
Jeff

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#832571 8-Jun-2013 11:10

Happens to me too.

Maybe it is constantly authenticating certificate? That was my theory

RunningMan

8955 posts

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#832577 8-Jun-2013 11:13

Check the DTIM setting on the access point - if it's set too low, it may prevent the radio on your phone going to sleep to save power.

nzgeek

618 posts

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#832582 8-Jun-2013 11:19

It could be caused by the types of traffic on the network.

I believe that the SGS2 kernel has a bug where it will wake up to process broadcast and/or multicast packets. These types of packets are usually quite rare, but corporate networks have a wider range of devices connected than your average home network.

One source of these packets could be network-connected devices, such as scanners or printers. These types of devices often send out periodic announcements to say that they're on the network.

The amount of data sent is very small and doesn't normally cause any problems. It's the frequency of the packets that's bad for the phone's battery, and if you get several announcing devices on the same network they could be sending out packets every couple of minutes.

My solution: buy a cheap micro-USB cable and charge your phone using your work computer, or just get a spare charger.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#832598 8-Jun-2013 11:44

joker97: Happens to me too.

Maybe it is constantly authenticating certificate? That was my theory

Yeah, that was what I was thinking, something to do with the work set-up and how they talk to each other.

sbiddle

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#832606 8-Jun-2013 11:56

I've never seen a phone still be at 93% after a full day on WiFi!

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eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#832622 8-Jun-2013 12:23

sbiddle: I've never seen a phone still be at 93% after a full day on WiFi!

I exaggerate. It was at 5pm. The screen grab is on my phone.
Yes, I have spare charger and usb cable at work, its not a biggie, just that its bugging me and our IT guys dont know any more about it than me.

sbiddle

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#832628 8-Jun-2013 12:55

The simplest explanation is simple differenes in the wireless networks. WiFi is a huge drain on a phone, your 7% per hour is a pretty typical figure.

Differences in WiFi network configuration, signal strength and whether the phone is entering sleep mode will all affect this figure.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#832630 8-Jun-2013 13:06

sbiddle: The simplest explanation is simple differenes in the wireless networks. WiFi is a huge drain on a phone, your 7% per hour is a pretty typical figure.

Differences in WiFi network configuration, signal strength and whether the phone is entering sleep mode will all affect this figure.

Wifi has been on at home today, and I have actually been using the phone a bit and its still at 92%. 1 pm. Unplugged at about 8.30. Thanks for all your good feedback.

sbiddle

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#832634 8-Jun-2013 13:12

eljefe:
sbiddle: The simplest explanation is simple differenes in the wireless networks. WiFi is a huge drain on a phone, your 7% per hour is a pretty typical figure.

Differences in WiFi network configuration, signal strength and whether the phone is entering sleep mode will all affect this figure.

Wifi has been on at home today, and I have actually been using the phone a bit and its still at 92%. 1 pm. Unplugged at about 8.30. Thanks for all your good feedback.

For that sort of drain your phone is clearly going into sleep mode. For comparision I'm a heavy phone user, if my phone is at 92% by 7am after coming off charge at 6am I consider that a good day. I'm always out of juice by 6pm without a recharge during the day on my S3, and that's without even using WiFi. If I used it I'd probably be flat hours earlier.

kiwitrc

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#832652 8-Jun-2013 13:40

Just a thought but is your 3G data on at both locations? Might be the difference in signal strength from the mobile network.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#832655 8-Jun-2013 13:47

kiwitrc: Just a thought but is your 3G data on at both locations? Might be the difference in signal strength from the mobile network.

I always run with my 3g data off. I just toggle it on on the rare times I use it. Im not a heavy user by any stretch. A light user would be a better description. Hence my annoyance at battery drain with no useage : )

raytaylor

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#832676 8-Jun-2013 14:47

Some chipsets are not compatible with each other regarding the specification add-ons to wifi.
For example, the power saving add-on specs to the original wifi standard and WDS bridging/repeating are known to have compatibility issues.

So i would put it down to simply being that the access point or router at work is incompatible with the chipset in the phone causing the wifi to stay awake all the time. They may be able to speak basic wifi to each other, but the additional add-ons they may not. Where as the router at home is compatible and will cause the chipset to sleep when wifi traffic is not not being passed.
The sleep function is automatic at the hardware level and different than the software switch in the settings menu that turns the wifi chipset off completely.

If the work router is a big brand like linksys or d-link then there may be a firmware upgrade avaliable that you can download for the router at work.

Ray Taylor

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eXDee

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#832802 8-Jun-2013 21:55

sbiddle: The simplest explanation is simple differenes in the wireless networks. WiFi is a huge drain on a phone, your 7% per hour is a pretty typical figure.

Differences in WiFi network configuration, signal strength and whether the phone is entering sleep mode will all affect this figure.

7% per hour would be quite high for an idle wifi connection if the phone's CPU is sleeping.
My Nexus4 after sitting idle for the majority of the day on the same WiFi AP, taken just now:

Of course a busy, congested or low signal wifi network is going to result in a higher drain. Corporate networks would have more traffic as mentioned, and its also worth considering there could be multiple APs too that the phone could be automatically roaming between.

For the OP: as you can see my device is barely awake. This indicates i have no wakelocks consuming my battery. These are usually the cuprits for high battery drain.

A factory reset i think is worth doing. I think its good to fresh once in a while and it could eliminate some app that is keeping the phone awake. I've heard that with some samsung devices, a reset after a software upgrade usually results in improved performance, but this is anecdotal. It is however one of the first steps that any manufacturer will take when troubleshooting an issue.
Plus its very easy to sync everything to your accounts or back it up if need be.

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