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WiFi vs. 3G speed - holy cow!

R

Ruark

Newbie
We have a wireless router in our house, an old Linksys Wireless-G WRT54GS. Just for kicks, I tried turning off the Mobile Network (3G) on my Dinc and connected to the wifi and roamed the web a few minutes. Holy cow!!! It's 5+ times faster! It just blows me away. Who needs 4G when you've got THIS? :D:D:D
 
well... to state the obvious... you don't have your home wireless network everywhere you go

But yeah, i definitely use wifi when available. 3G is inconsistent for me
 
Sorry to seem dumb, but I'm new to Droids... did I understand correctly that you used the wifi on your cell phone as a hotspot for your home pc?
 
ral2108 said:
well... to state the obvious... you don't have your home wireless network everywhere you go

But yeah, i definitely use wifi when available. 3G is inconsistent for me
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My phone seems to alternate between wifi and 3G on its own. Am I supposed to be controlling this? I just figured it knows when to use what.
 
Experimentalist said:
Sorry to seem dumb, but I'm new to Droids... did I understand correctly that you used the wifi on your cell phone as a hotspot for your home pc?
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No. He just connected his phone to the wifi network.

And to the OP, you don't need to turn off mobile data. Android automatically does that whenever you are connected to wifi. Wifi is almost always faster and more battery friendly than 3g.
 
Experimentalist said:
Oh thanks. I'm moving in six months and want to drop my DSL in exchange for using my cell's wifi for my PC... so interested in the subject. Will read more threads. Thanks.
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if you drop your DSL you won't have internet on your WIFI...

you could wirelessly tether your computers to you DINC and utilize your 3G for internet
 
ral2108 said:
if you drop your DSL you won't have internet on your WIFI...

you could wirelessly tether your computers to you DINC and utilize your 3G for internet
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Oh gotcha. Thanks for explaining. I'll have to figure out what a DINC is, but yes... I want to use my cell phone's internet service (which I guess is 3G) for my home pc. Thanks.
 
Experimentalist said:
Oh gotcha. Thanks for explaining. I'll have to figure out what a DINC is, but yes... I want to use my cell phone's internet service (which I guess is 3G) for my home pc. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sorry, DINC is just short for Droid Incredible.

You can find plenty of information about tethering your phone for internet in these forums. Check out the 'All things root' section where you can learn about rooting your phone and search for topics regarding "Wireless tethering"
 
Experimentalist said:
Oh gotcha. Thanks for explaining. I'll have to figure out what a DINC is, but yes... I want to use my cell phone's internet service (which I guess is 3G) for my home pc. Thanks.
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DINC / Inc / DI = HTC Droid Incredible.

"Tethering" is what you're referring to, in using your phone's 3g for connectivity for your pc. There's apps for it- if you're looking to use it regularly, VZW charges for it (I believe $30/mo), or if you only need it as an occasional hook-up, you can do it free if you root your phone. I wouldn't suggest heavy usage on free, rooted tethering app for a multitude of reasons.
 
Ah... okay, lots for me to learn. :-)

I do use my pc heavily, so maybe this isn't a good option.

I don't have a Droid Incredible... I have a Droid R2D2 (Droid 2).

I do, however, have an extra phone on my plan (ex) that I have to keep around until the contract is up and when I last spoke with Verizon they said I could turn that phone into a hotspot (I'd just buy a box for $20... one time fee... the rest is free).

That was after I heard about using our cell phones as PC internet tethers... which seemed okay for me since no one uses my computer but me so it doesn't need service unless I'm there.

But maybe it's all more complicated than I'm willing to try figuring out.
 
Unless you have really good 3G service with good speeds, the tethering option as a full time alternative probably isn't the best.
 
TXSooner said:
Unless you have really good 3G service with good speeds, the tethering option as a full time alternative probably isn't the best.
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Okay. Thanks.

Now I'll have to figure out how I gauge if I have good 3G service with good speeds. :-)

The place where I'm going currently uses satellite connection for pc and I find that dreadfully slow. Was hoping I don't have to take advantage of the $100 per month charge for such a slow service and could just take advantage of already paying through the nose for 3G service. :-)
 
Experimentalist said:
Okay. Thanks.

Now I'll have to figure out how I gauge if I have good 3G service with good speeds. :-)

The place where I'm going currently uses satellite connection for pc and I find that dreadfully slow. Was hoping I don't have to take advantage of the $100 per month charge for such a slow service and could just take advantage of already paying through the nose for 3G service. :-)
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You can try pdanet free off the market. It uses the usb cable, but out will give you an idea of the speed you're getting.
 
I think some of the warriors on here are making this more complicated than it really needs to be. I'm NOT into rooting or any such thing. Here's all I'm saying:

Our internet connection is via DSL (it doesn't matter, really). We have it going into a Linksys wireless router from Best Buy, so we can use the laptop anywhere in the house. That's the wifi.

On my dinc (Droid Incredible), I tried turning off 3G (turned off "Mobile Network" in Settings/Mobile and Network) and turning on WiFi (in Settings/Wi-Fi). It found the wireless signal and asked for the password, which I entered. So now my Incredible is getting its internet feed from the wifi instead of 3G.

And what I was saying in the original post is that the wifi connection is MUCH faster - just stuff like how long it takes web pages to open, etc. I'd say an average of 3 to 5 times faster; the difference is REALLY impressive. Others seem to have the same experience. It also drains the battery less.

As others have pointed out, you lose the signal when you get more than 100-200 feet from the router, so this is mainly an around-the-house connection, otherwise you need to go back to 3G, or perhaps be in a public wi-fi zone.
 
Ruark said:
I think some of the warriors on here are making this more complicated than it really needs to be. I'm NOT into rooting or any such thing. Here's all I'm saying:

Our internet connection is via DSL (it doesn't matter, really). We have it going into a Linksys wireless router from Best Buy, so we can use the laptop anywhere in the house. That's the wifi.

On my dinc (Droid Incredible), I tried turning off 3G (turned off "Mobile Network" in Settings/Mobile and Network) and turning on WiFi (in Settings/Wi-Fi). It found the wireless signal and asked for the password, which I entered. So now my Incredible is getting its internet feed from the wifi instead of 3G.

And what I was saying in the original post is that the wifi connection is MUCH faster - just stuff like how long it takes web pages to open, etc. I'd say an average of 3 to 5 times faster; the difference is REALLY impressive. Others seem to have the same experience. It also drains the battery less.

As others have pointed out, you lose the signal when you get more than 100-200 feet from the router, so this is mainly an around-the-house connection, otherwise you need to go back to 3G, or perhaps be in a public wi-fi zone.
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I'd be interested in knowing if different wifi connections have different speeds. Does using your own wifi connection at home run faster than when your phone just grabs someone else's wifi connection? Or is wifi generally faster than 3G anyway?
 
Experimentalist said:
I'd be interested in knowing if different wifi connections have different speeds. Does using your own wifi connection at home run faster than when your phone just grabs someone else's wifi connection? Or is wifi generally faster than 3G anyway?
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Wifi is almost always faster and more battery efficient than 3g. Just about the only time it won't be is if you're on the edge of wifi coverage, the wifi is being feed by a very slow dsl/etc connection, or is severely throttled.

Some wifi is faster than others, depending on where you get your internet from (dsl, cable, magic gnomes, etc), what protocal your using (wireless b, g, n, a), how many devices are using the network, and so forth.
 
euph_22 said:
Wifi is almost always faster and more battery efficient than 3g. Just about the only time it won't be is if you're on the edge of wifi coverage, the wifi is being feed by a very slow dsl/etc connection, or is severely throttled.

Some wifi is faster than others, depending on where you get your internet from (dsl, cable, magic gnomes, etc), what protocal your using (wireless b, g, n, a), how many devices are using the network, and so forth.
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Wonderful answer! Spoke to all my questions on the subject. Thanks!
 
Okay. Thanks.

Now I'll have to figure out how I gauge if I have good 3G service with good speeds. :-)
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1. test your 3g connection at home
a. download speedtest app from the market.
b. go into your settings and turn mobile data on and wifi off. (this will make your phone get its internet connection from Verizon's evdo (3g) network.
c. run the speedtest app, note the upload and download speeds.

2. Test your home wifi connection.
a. in your phone's settings turn wifi on and 3g off, connect to your home router
b. run speed test, note upload and download speeds.


3. Test your home internet connection.
a. on your PC thats plugged directly into your router or modem, go to speedtest.com and note the upload and download speeds.

1. tells you how fast your 3g speed is (in the location you tested it)
2. tells you how fast your wifi connection is. (the wifi network you were connected to when you tested it)
3. tells you how fast your home internet connect is.

Your WiFi connects to your home internet, they should be relatively close, if your WiFi is a lot slower than your home connection, you might be too far from the router or have some other interference.
 
My DSL internet service advertises 2.5Mps. I could get 6Mps, but it's $30 a month more.

The wireless connection on the computer goes up to 54Mps.

On another forum, Verizon 3G speeds (although advertised at 3+Mps) around the country were checked and compared. The results typically ranged from .3 to 1.5 Mps.

That should explain much of the difference being discussed.
 
does having WiFi on at the same time all the time drain battery fast than having WiFi off and only turning it on when you want to use it?
 
rickap7 said:
does having WiFi on at the same time all the time drain battery fast than having WiFi off and only turning it on when you want to use it?
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Yes, if WiFi is on, but not connected to a network and your using 3g to connect, it will use more batter than if WiFi was off.

When WiFi is on, its constantly scanning to "see" whats around, using battery.

This can be usefull, when it sees and open wifi it will show a notification that an open wifi is in range... but since its on, looking around, its using battery.


My DSL internet service advertises 2.5Mps. I could get 6Mps, but it's $30 a month more.
Click to expand...

I routinely get higher and lower speeds than my ISP advertises... Which is why I suggest testing it.

The wireless connection on the computer goes up to 54Mps.
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The router is capable of moving 54Mps, but that doesn't mean it will. Distance from the router, interference from other signals, like other wifi on the same channel, or even structures in your home can all effect the Mps of your real world wifi. If you want to know how fast it will actually work, test it.

On another forum, Verizon 3G speeds (although advertised at 3+Mps) around the country were checked and compared. The results typically ranged from .3 to 1.5 Mps.
Click to expand...

Thats typically what I get, depending on where I am. I have a bad signal at work, don't get those speeds. I have good signal at home, get higher than that...

If your trying to figure out of ditching DSL and using only your phone connection for internet access, and you want to know what speeds to expect, you have to test it. Advertised speeds ain't real world speeds.
 
just tested mine

3g- 130dl, 434ul 168ping
wifi- 3096dl 4387ul, 60 ping
my desktop- 18.4 mb/s dl, 13mb/s ul, 30 ping
 
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