Battery usage with 3G
 

Hi,
I was wondering if I'm doing something strange, or is it normal that 3G connection takes ~3 times as much energy as wifi?
I've disabled the wifi completely with wifi switcher app, connected via 3g, not used it much, but had a couple of jabber accounts, sip and email enabled in the background.

On a wifi connection, I can get 30-40 hours of battery life. With 3G today, the phone died after around 7.

Is that typical?

Re: Battery usage with 3G
 

Yes, it's typical.

Each data packet in or out forces the 3g radio to actively transmit for a few seconds after, it's operator-dependent. With enough background activity going on, the 3g radio never gets to sleep much.

2g is much better for the always-online usage.

Re: Battery usage with 3G
 

I'll try switching to 2g for background chat next time, in that case. Thanks a lot.