Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Just wanting to know how many of you leave your 3g connection going? how much data would it use leaving it on 24/7 where there is no wifi connection avalible? i get around 3gb a month and was wondering if it was safe to leave my skype msn and google talk connected... im pretty sure there is no way it would use 3gb but just making sure...

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I allways turn it off when I don´t need it.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

i find myself disconnecting and reconnecting every 10 20mins which would use more battery leaving it on or keep reconnecting and dissconnecting?

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I don't use any "always-on" applications. But I do use the auto-disconnect plug-in to save battery. Works pretty well for me.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

i would say it was safe. I am on O2-UK which has a pathetic 500mb DL limit which is ridiculous considering a pay an extra £5 a month for "unlimited 3g" and what really gets me mad is that if you get the iphone on the same network there is no download limit.

i haven't had my 1st bill yet so i don't know how much extra they will charge me but i think i am considerably over 500mb

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

When did you sign up for this? I have unlimited internet. Although there is a fair usage policy which I exceeded this month. Just realised it was because I was using 02 mobile web to download my podcasts when previously I was using wireless. But as it is fair usage they can't charge me for going over. All they can do is say I should watch my usage.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

you should use the dataplan widget to monitor how much you use, very handy!

i never leave it on, mainly to save my battery, though wi-fi gets left on now and again.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

sorry noobie quesstion here but is there an app i can download in app manager that will enable 3g on/off??
thanks

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

3g2g-mode-selection-applet

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

thanks guys :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Simply switching your phone to only use 2G networks is no guarantee that you won't use up your data quota. Key is to disconnect your device from the internet from the Status bar i.e where you see your battery level. You should have a white circle with two "arrows" in it if you're connected to the internet.

Maintaining the idle Internet connection was at least in Nokia's Symbian phones only about 12kb every few minutes, so it's nothing too scary. But this does eat up your quota.

I recommend giving this app a go:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=45053

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Oh, and to answer the initial question: I do leave my 3G on through the day, because of my (truly) limitless dataplan.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

i leave my 3g on pretty much all the time, t-mobile uk give a nice 3gb download allowance so i just rinse it 8 hours a day and never really go over.

voda, orange and o2 give a pretty bad allowance without paying extra for "unlimited" allowance, subject to a fair useage policy obviously

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

whats this auto disconnect programme? is it in the devels ?

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

does that only monitor data through 3G or is it WiFi as well?

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

about a month ago from the car phone warehouse. i asked them a couple of weeks later about the download limit because someone had mentioned it to me and they confirmed it.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

The simplest way to test this is to download the dataplan widget. Reset the counters to zero in the morning, connect the services you want to stay connected all day, and then check it that evening.

If you do not send/receive any user data (email, IM, skype, web, etc), then you can stay connected. This is the point of 3G, always connected.

Of course, leaving your 3G radio connected will use power. If/when you move in/out of 3G coverage, and have to handover to 2G, this will use battery power.


In the end, it depends what you want. Always connected, or longer battery power.

My choice is to use the 2G3G status changer. I leave my N900 at 2G until I want to use 3G data, then switch.

It will a) save you battery power, b) also save call drop outs if/when you loose 3G coverage and the cell handover does not work as it should (which is alot of the time, depending on your network).

Hope that helps.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

The dataplan widget on monitors (as far as I can see) your gprs0 interface - which is your 3G connection ONLY.

Hope that helps.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Heh, you gotta love networks wording of these services - Using the words "unlimited" and "allowance fair useage policy" in the same sentance. :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I have been known to (and even on Vodafone UK the usage limit isn't that bad, really...) but the main problem I see is that it eats battery, which is why I wouldn't usually unless plugged in.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Using the device will eat battery :) Yes using the device for uploading/downloading data will use the battery but its a decision the OP needs to make.

If you can guarantee you will be in a 3G area 100% of the time, then there is no real problem. It will be pretty battery friendly.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I leave mine on all day long, usually signed on MSN and FB Chat atleast, usually doing some SSH sessions or even checking some websites...

Yes it does eat up battery, but why would I want an Internet Tablet without Internet ? Since i got the N900 (around 2 weeks or a bit more) I got around 2min of talk time, and around 5Gb in web traffic...

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I leave my 3G connected 24/7. It has no significant effect on battery life just sitting in 'stand-by', only drains power if I'm actively using the 'net connection. Never seen any need for a connection changing widget or auto-disconnect app.

I do use the browser an email a lot and still only use around 300-500mb of data a month.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

When streaming youtube or iplaya does it buffer at all?

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Im assuming on that app i already have, dual is both 2g and 3g and GSM is 2g is that correct?

It has Dual/GSM/3G

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I once had an ISP that defined "Unlimited Internet" as meaning "You can access the entire internet!" ... back in the dial-up days. At least that was their explanation after asking/telling me not to use so many hours per month.

When I'm at work and home I have wifi, and about 1/3rd of restaurants have free wifi, otherwise it is connected 3G/gprs. 3G radio itself is always on for calls and whatever...

I think I used about 150M of cellular data last month. I'm not a streamer or video watcher... those were probably application manager updates and installs. But as I said most of the time I'm in wifi range.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I often leave it connected the entire day :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Yes, I turn it on all the time. If not why I need a 3G phone :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Ooooh dear..

I'm on O2 and I pay £10 a month on pay&go for unlimited internet
I've been downloading about 5gb a month over 3g for ~seven months

Thank god for "iPhone exclusive" bolt-ons heh heh

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I have 200mb with 3g and then it switches to grps speed. (o2 Germany calls that flatrate ... I don't)

N900 with skype and 30-minute-email-autochecking is online 24/7, with wlan at home and 3g everywhere else. Never came accross the 200mb :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

On the unlimited usage some people might want to check out the 'fair usage policy' for the service provider. Quite a few have these.

I'm with vodaphone including unlimited mobile internet access. The advice is a fair usage policy kicks in after a certain point of downloading.

Basically dont read too much into the word unlimited when it comes to internet usage.


:rolleyes:

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

When i am home i ALWAYS leave WIFI on but i have the auto disconnect app for my 3g :)

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

The "dual" setting will use either 3G or 2G, preferring 3G when available.

If you are in an borderline-area where you handover from 2G to 3G alot, this can eat alot of battery, so watch that.

Hope that helps.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

i have set it to "dual". its always 3g for me, because there is good 3g-coverage in my area.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

I've got an unlimited dataplan on 3g and I have it always connected. Well it's always connected to 3g unless I join it to a wlan, which I do if there is one around. Other than that, when I go around town 3g always connected.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

3g is a vampire. i only connect to it when i'm charging my phone and when i need more speed when streaming. 2g is enough for me to just stay connected...

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

i leave my connection on all the time. also on vodafone with unlimited internet. considering the N900 was sold as a 'always connected' device i dont see a reason why it shouldnt be used like that.

the battery situation is tragic though. some emails and IM kill it instantly for me. avg 6 hours with one charge.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

voda will not charge you for going over 500 for the first time. they will send you a letter.. next time you go over, u pay... i called customer services only to ask this last week lol

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

To everyone...again, remember 3G drains the battery badly only while you actively use it - surfing the web, downloads etc. It uses next to nothing while enabled but inactive. I'm on the road a lot so rarely use wifi but normally leave 3G enabled 24/7. It has a negligible effect when the phone is sitting in standby, especially if you go into Settings and lengthen the search interval a bit. I have mine set for 10 minutes, that works well for me.

Exactly, that's how it's intended to be used.

Something's wrong there. IM and email should use very little power. It may not be those at all. One of the most common reasons for high battery drain while sitting in standby is a known bug that causes pluseaudio to sometimes not unload properly after a phone call is ended. That could be your problem. To see if that's it just open a terminal type 'top' and hit enter. If pulseaudio is consistently listed at or near the top of the active services (on the right) and is using about 1-4% of CPU, the pulseaudio bug is the problem with battery drain. Or you may see something else is draining the battery, which is another conversation.

My N900 usually idles at about 1-3% total CPU load, it's normal to fluctuate some. I've never let it sit unused long, but at that rate it can sit overnite (with 3G on as always) and still have a full battery in the morning. Consistently higher CPU usage than that will reduce standby time from somewhat to drastically depending on the total CPU load.

To correct the pulseaudio bug you have 2 choices:

1. Wait for the 1.2 update, due any day now. It will include a bugfix for this.
2. As root, type 'killall pulseaudio'. The service will auto-restart and you should be good to go.

If you don't know what #2 means, wait for the update.

Re: Do you leave your 3g connection on?
 

Most of the time í leave 3G connections off because i use WIFI more often.

When i'm at work i cannot use 3G or WIFI properly because the building is build like a prison (sometimes it feels like it too :P)

But when i need 3G i can use it "unlimited" (FUP)

I have the phone about 2 months now and used 80MB with 3G
This is because i'm more at work than home :P