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type="cite">In using an
iPhone 3Gs for a long time, in a variety of situations, and in
following folklore online, I'm not convinced of this. There are
too many variables involved. Is there a faint 3G signal the
phone keeps valiantly pursuing? Is Bluetooth enabled? Do have
have lots of "push" apps trying to reach you? How aggressively
have you set your screen dimming?
There is just so much folklore on this, and so
little controlled study, that it's hard to make a definitive
claim. My own experience suggests that the iPhone, at least,
does not optimize between 3G and Wi-Fi, and you're better off
turning Wi-Fi off and leaving it off, turning it on only when
you have some heavy data needs. In my experience this greatly
increases standby battery time.
For residential uses, AT&T sells a
device that acts as a home cell tower, providing a cell signal
to your phone and then using your broadband Internet
connection to carry the traffic. It's a great deal for
AT&T, moving cell traffic off their network and onto
yours. Over a year ago AT&T explored in Times Square
moving traffic from their cell network to Wi-Fi in Times
Square. AT&T would love for your broadband or cyber cafe
connection to carry traffic that otherwise their cell network
would need to.
If anyone can point to some serious
literature on this that'd be good.
/rich
On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 10:56 AM, Gary
Schrock
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wrote
FWIW, my understanding is that using the wifi part of the
phone is actually more battery efficient than using the cell
side. So if that's an option in your building, it's
probably the best option. (At least for the smartphone
people who can't get email, obviously it's not going to help
with calls.)
I know in my building I did set my phone up to access the
wireless in the building, because there's a fair number of
places that the cell signal just plane sucks. (Not
surprising given the makeup of the building.)
Is there such a thing as a cell repeater that can be
placed inside a
building? Or some other solution that has worked for
folks?
Scott Smith
HR Systems Development and Support
Michigan State University