3G can propably be better after firmware updates. I have also an iPhone3G. There have been several software versions and the battery life on 3G is now, maybe not optimized, but much better compared to the original software. I hope Nokia is putting some resources to this.

Well, I hesitate to mention this (so why do I?), but the Kindle accesses 3g in my neighborhood, and I never thought its battery life was very good either, not as good as Amazon hyped it to be. But they changed something lately with a firmware update and now the battery life when you're connected to the Internet and the battery life when you aren't connected seem about the same!

So, the folks at Nokia should just call Amazon and ask them what they did... (my impression is that they are just turning off Internet access manually and reconnecting very quickly, so the drain when you aren't specifically using the internet is less, even when your Kindle says you are connected.)

But the problem with 3G on the n900 isen't about when your connected to the internet. It drains just as fast if your just idle on 3G network without any data connection open on the phone.

just tried this, ill let you know how it works. im using wifi almost constantly tho!

Did this setting to my gf's phone aswell (LG) and this also increased battery life, however.. it didn't increase battery life as much as on my n900. We have same cell provider, so our phones switched just as much between GSM and 3G.

wow, i'm going to try this as well, my cell also keeps switching between 2.5g n 3g. Thanks for posting.

trying it... good tip mate.
i usually have wifi available everywhere i go, work, home, gym, and places i dont is net much of a loss, certain restaurants, car, church.

allso, does it help with when i am roaming?

Hi,

I think I can answer your question, it's really a two fold problem (or battery drain rather).

Simply put searching for 3G signal consumes alot of power, and with a strong 3G signal it still uses more power than 2G.

Searching for a 3G signal is plainly obvious, the receiver is constantly on so it drains huge amounts of power.

Once it has a 3G signal though it has a mamoth task of keeping it, the essential difference between 2g and 3G is that with 2G you are given a time slot and on every time slot you send something to the tower simple. However with 3G you can send whenever you want - BUT the signal that you send must NOT be too strong so that it interferes with everyone else who is also sending it (the signal is encrypted - DSSS for those that understand), in fact it must be almost exact same strength as everybody elses at the tower! So the phone has to constantly adjust the signal strength to make it the same strength as everyone else who is sending data which consumes alot of power.

It also means 3G is faster ofcourse.

with that explanation, it makes sence that 3g is a battery drainer.

it would be cool if someone could create a widget/app that automaticly switches between gsm and 3g. F.ex. if you activate data roaming, to surf with microB, it quickly activates 3g before starting the connection, and when you close data roaming connection, it automaticly turns off 3g again, wich saves you the time of going in and turning it off your self.

With this feature, the n900 could be a pioneer in battery savings

Disabling 3G is not really an option for me. However, I found that not being signed into IM nearly doubled my battery life. I am quite used to being online 24/7 but maybe I will have to revise that habit.