Wireless Preferences/Controls?

R

Rock Hard

New member
I've never had any device which had BOTH WLAN and cellular internet built-in. (On my laptops, cellular internet was always an add-on.) As such, I'm very unclear about the types of controls the user has to set preferences or restrictions on the usage of the network.

In my case, I would like to use WLAN *always* when at home and use EDGE when away from home. It would be great if the unused radios could be OFF when not in use to improve battery life. I expect all this could be handled by Locale, but I don't know what the internal settings permit. I'm pretty confident I will be allowed to turn off the WLAN radio. How about the 2.5/3G radio? Can it be turned off and still have voice capability?

Also, I'm wondering if the other radios can be turned off, or whether they simply do that automatically when not in use: Bluetooth and GPS.

Any info/links to information/videos on this subject will be appreciated?

Reg
 
Can you actually turn a 3g radio off? Don't they use some tesla like power induction for the 3g radio so even when it had NO battery power, it can still power up from the signal itself and check into the tower? SO 'they' always know where you are even if you turn the phone off and take the battery out?

To more directly answer your Q my phone has a control panel where you can turn off/on any of the radios. 2g / 3g / wi-fi / bluetooth. So I *figure* that is does.
 
Ever see "The Prestige"? Good flick for Tesla fans! Pretty spooky! Cool! If you have 2G and wifi turned on, how is preference decided? My concern is that TMO may want to prefer 2g while I want to prefer wifi.

Thanks!

Reg
 
The OS is written so that the phone uses the fastest connection available. For most of us, that will mean WiFi first, then 3G, then EDGE, then GPRS.

If you are within range (~100 feet or so) of a WiFi access point, the phone will automatically choose that data method, as long as it's either an open network, or you've provided the password to it already. Keep in mind that some public WiFi networks (like Starbucks, St. Louis Bread Co./Panera Bread, Borders, most Airports, etc.) require a web-based login once your device connects to the network. The login page pops up automatically when you try to navigate your browser somewhere.

As for powering off radios, my understanding is this: You can have all radios on, or you have the option of turning OFF WiFi, 3G, or both. The EDGE radio is built into the GSM chip...if you power one off, they both go. I could go into more detail regarding how GSM radios contain 3 data channels (voice, data, ping), but we'll save that for later.

Long story short, if you live in a 3G network area, make sure you're actually away from WiFi enough to justify leaving the radio turned on...even having the radio on drains battery, so if you're using WiFi a lot, it may be beneficial to turn 3G off. If you don't live within 3G coverage, TURN IT OFF! There's no point in having the phone ping the tower every 3 minutes to see if faster internet coverage is available...it's just not.

Lastly, there's Airplane Mode...that just turns off ALL radios...and we all know there's only one good place for that. On my nightstand while I'm sleepin'.
 
Thanks, snoslicer8! Just what I was looking for! Sounds like a nice arrangement to me. Hopefully it is all configurable under Locale, as well.

Reg

P.S. I wonder if AGPS is accurate enough to allow your settings to change JUST on your nightstand, but allow the phone to work if on the bed. I doubt it, but THAT would be cool!
 
I don't know about Locale using AGPS to shut radios off while on my nightstand, but I'm sure there will also be time settings in there...i.e. turn to silent mode or airplane mode from 11PM-5AM weekdays, 12AM-8AM weekends...something like that.
 
well at my house my laptop runs off of my wireless connection via Wifi so when im at home and wanna use the phone i should turn 3G off? and your saying there will be an option for that in the phones features?
 
I've always wondered how this wandering WiFi-thing works, particularly in light of the way that Starbucks, et al require sign in. On my WinMo and Symbian phones, I've pretty much always had apps running all the time in the background that periodically go out and refresh their data without my intervention -- weather programs, stock tickers, RSS readers, Twitter clients, email clients, stuff like that. So, if I leave WiFi on and the phone "locks" on a Starbucks while I'm in there, will it continually try to do all this background transfer through the WiFi connection even though I'm not logged in or will it switch over to 3G or 2G when it doesn't get a useful response?

Of course, I'm particularly interested in how the G1 will act but I'm also curious how other phones handle this. On my other phones, I've just left WiFi turned off until I need it so I've never had an issue in Starbucks or a library.
 
For people asking questions I think it is a good idea to read the user guide (you can find a link in this forum).
From the user guide (I selected only the relevant parts):
System settings
Wireless controls
Wi-Fi on/off Select this check box if you prefer to use Wi-Fi for your data connection.
Bluetooth on/off Use this check box to turn Bluetooth services on or off.
Airplane mode on/off When airplane mode is selected, all wireless connectivity is off.
Mobile network settings Select to connect only to 2G (slower) networks to save battery power.

Security & location
My Location
Select a source for determining your location:
• Wireless networks, or
• GPS satellites
...Note that GPS is active only when in Maps or another application requiring your location...



Android seems to support both WEP and WPA as well as WPA2 and LEAP/Network EAP.
http://code.google.com/android/reference/android/net/wifi/WifiConfiguration.AuthAlgorithm.html

WPA-EAP (aka WPA Entreprise) & IEEE 802.1X is referenced so I expect it to also support it:
"In case of WPA-EAP, this state is entered when the IEEE 802.1X/EAPOL authentication has been completed."
http://code.google.com/android/reference/android/net/wifi/SupplicantState.html
 
If your phone is actively using a connection faster than 3G (WiFi in your case), the 3G radio shouldn't try to ping the network and thus drain the battery.

What I was trying to say is, if you find yourself ONLY using your phone for data purposes while within reach of a WiFi network, it may help your battery life to turn off 3G data...since you're not using it while out and about anyway. More of a device-usage style. I know a lot of people that will only use data-centric features of devices like this when they're at rest, possibly within reach of a WiFi network...kind of defeats the purpose of Walking Directions within Maps (a forthcoming feature), but whatever.
 
hi, thanks for all info about GPRS and WIFI N/W.

i want know if i have GPRS and WIFI both network availabel , and i want to send my data packates from program through GPRS(forcefully). How can i do so?????

and i want to know my android phone's WIFI Ip and GPRS IP , How can i get ?

Thanks in Advance ;-)
 
Hi folks,

I am trying to connect mt Desire HD to my work LEAP wireless. Needless to say, I have the credentials I need but there is no option that I can see to connect on the phone using LEAP.

Does anyone have this set up, or know if it is possible? If so, how??

Thanks!
 
I cracked it!

There is a app called LEAP Wifi that you can dwnload (free version too) that will allow you connect to a LEAP wireless network. Tested it there and it works a treat.
 
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