Here's what I did to make JuiceDefender work for me...

[Scur]

Here are all the options I have turned on (highlighted) on JuiceDefender Ultimate (except the "proceed" buttons. They're triggers, not toggles.) If I mention something that isn't highlighted, I'll be clear about it.

I love it. It works great for me. I took it off the charger at 6 this morning, and at 5:30 this afternoon, the battery was still over 80%. For my phone, that's pretty good.

The only thing that doesn't work exactly right for me is the WiFi Location option. It doesn't always turn on WiFi when I get home, but always shuts it off for me when I hit the road. Maybe I'm not waiting long enough, though, so I guess I could just start waiting a little longer and see what happens.

Anyway, tab by tab, this is what I've done...

About

I don't have anything highlighted here. There is an option to enable connectivity only after you unlock the phone, so you can simply check the time without turning everything on, but I carry my work phone with me for that. The droid sits in a bag in my rig. If I'm pulling it out, it's to check for messages and whatnot. It suggests that certain lockscreen replacement apps might work better with it off anyway.

Status

JuiceDefender Ultimate - enabled

Profile - advanced

Notification - text

Options - quick enable, quick disable (so I can turn it off and on from the notification pull-down screen. Probably don't need to, but I like having the option.)

Help - show

Controls

Mobile data - enabled

WiFi - enabled

Options - wifi preferred (I didn't highlight the auto disable because if I'm looking for wifi, I'm going to watching for it anyway, and controlling it with my Power Widget. I figure, the less control the app has, the less can go wrong.)

3G - disabled is red. (It actually is a separate app or something, which I used on 2.1, but CM7 doesn't seem to like it. Doesn't matter, things still run fine without it.)

AutoSync - enabled (I'm not a big Pandora user, I'm usually on Sirius, and I don't watch videos. I'm not worried about the data usage.)

Timeout - disabled is red.

Schedules

Schedule - enabled

Frequency - 30m (I set it to 5m the other day, with duration set to 15s, to see what it did to battery savings. It barely saved any juice at all. If I need things to sync that often, I'm around a power source anyway.)

Duration - 30s (It defaults to 1 minute, but once something is syncing, JuiceDefender doesn't kick back in until it's done, so it seemed like a waste to me. I did notice sometimes it didn't give my gReader enough time to sync, but I also noticed it was only several things happened at once. I just turned down the update frequency on my weather widget, and that was enough to do the trick.)

Controls - custom, data wifi autosync

Night - disabled

Peak - disabled

Weekend - disabled

Triggers

Battery - enabled

Battery threshold - 15%

Charger - usb ac

Screen - enabled

Options - ignore on low battery

Controls - custom, data wifi

Traffic - enabled

Traffic threshold - high 30s

Apps - disabled

Location - enabled (I really want this to work right, it might yet. JuiceDefender has to learn here, so I might just be impatient. It is only at 50% so far, after all.)

my home network - in use (but I'm home right now, so...)


And that's it. That's every option I have turned on or highlighted. Like I said, the "proceed" buttons are always red, but they're triggers. KOLIO mentioned 1X/3G data problems, which I had at first. I also had WiFi issues. Took a bit of tinkering and lots of re-reading to sort it all out. I'm not sure what options might be left out on the free version, but I jumped right to ultimate from the get go to get every option I might want, and have been using it since my 1st day with the Ascend (if I remember right.)

Hope it helps someone, but I can't guarantee anything.

update: After a couple more days of letting it learn my WiFi spot (home), it now turns my WiFi on and my 3g off as I'm pulling up to the house, and switching them again as I'm pulling away. So by the time I've walked into the house and settled in, anything that I have triggered to sync or download only when WiFi is connected is done without hitting a single button. Unnecessary? Sure, but it's pretty neat.

 

[htcdesireuser_]

I am using the free version of Juice Defender. When I am within a wireless zone, the app works perfectly. A problem creeps in when I leave the wireless zone. If I turn on the phone to check emails, the phone says that the no internet connection was detected and the phone doesn't automatically pick up 3G. I have to go into Settings and re-enable (which is already enabled so no reason why 3G shouldn't work) Mobile Data. Once I re-enable, the internet works okay.

Have you experience this at all? Thanks!

 

[Scur]

I am using the free version of Juice Defender. When I am within a wireless zone, the app works perfectly. A problem creeps in when I leave the wireless zone. If I turn on the phone to check emails, the phone says that the no internet connection was detected and the phone doesn't automatically pick up 3G. I have to go into Settings and re-enable (which is already enabled so no reason why 3G shouldn't work) Mobile Data. Once I re-enable, the internet works okay.

Have you experience this at all? Thanks!

Yes, actually. When I get some time later I'll try to figure out how I fixed it. I remember making a change in the options somewhere and clearing it up.

 

[htcdesireuser_]

Thanks mate That gave me an idea and I checked out the Advanced setting in the menu option under Wireless Settings. The Wireless Sleep policy was set to 'never' which meant that it would never 'sleep' and move to 3G (even though I am not in wi-fi zone). I have now changed this to '15 mins' and it is working beautifully. I let Juice Defender take care of turning off 3G for me when I am not using it.

 

[Scur]

Thanks mate That gave me an idea and I checked out the Advanced setting in the menu option under Wireless Settings. The Wireless Sleep policy was set to 'never' which meant that it would never 'sleep' and move to 3G (even though I am not in wi-fi zone). I have now changed this to '15 mins' and it is working beautifully. I let Juice Defender take care of turning off 3G for me when I am not using it.

Yeah, that sounds familiar.

The app really works great, but there are so many freaking options (that some don't seem to be set right in the first place) that it's also the most difficult app to get working correctly that I've dealt with yet. Hell, it was easier to change ROMs than to get this thing running smoothly.

 

[left4dead]

THANKS for this awesome guide Scur. Much appreciated!

I recently ditched JD Ultimate but I've decided to give it another shot after reading your set-up instructions.

I have 3 questions that I need help with:

-1) I don't quite understand the "Traffic Threshold" setting (under Triggers menu). What is the best/recommending setting here?

*I have an unlimited data plan, so data usage is not an issue.


-2) Triggers > "Location" setting....when enabling this feature, a pop-up window saying that "Use Wireless Networks must be enabled to use Location".

After clicking "Enable".....it takes you to the Location & Security Settings page. There are 3 options shown:

VZW location services (currently checked/enabled by me)
Standalone GPS services
Google Location services

Which one of those should be checked for the Location feature to work properly in JD Ultimate?


-3) Sometimes I'm noticing that I'm NOT connecting to my home wi-fi when the connection is re-established by JD Ultimate. I have to manually turn ON wi-fi from the wireless network settings (when it was previously turned on).

Any idea what might be causing the wi-fi to turn off after it was already enabled?

Is this a JD Ultimate setting configuration or the phone's setting configuration ?

Under phone Settings > Wireless & Networks > Wi-Fi Settings > Advanced.....the "Wi-Fi Sleep Policy" is set to NEVER.

Is this the correct setting?

Thanks.

 

[Scur]

I've only recently started using JD again, since I wasn't having battery issues for quite a while. I'm on the Droid X2 now, though, and need JD again.
I only know what I've read about JD, but I've read just about everything I could find. I really wanted this to work right, and it still does for me, with a single exception these days.

1. The traffic threshold is simply how long it waits after it sees the data traffic stop before it shuts down connectivity. I had it on 30 seconds for quite a while, but find that 15 works just fine. It defaults there, in fact.

2. I actually have all three checked (I have a TON of apps on this thing, and use all kinds of crap.) I would assume that whatever you use, as long as your WiFi turns on when you're coming to a "trained" location, it doesn't matter which one you use. Personal preference, that one.

3. This is my single issue. I'm on the Droid X2 these days, so I'm pretty sure it's a JD thing. I'm usually plugged in at home (which keeps my phone awake) so I only see this issue when I'm using location. I haven't noticed it when waking up the phone, but I think mine is waking up fine. But sometimes when I'm about home and it starts up WiFi it simply doesn't connect, even when I'm getting a strong signal. When I notice it, I'll hit the WiFi switch, and it will connect then. I haven't given it much thought, just been doing it, but now that someone has brought it to my attention that it's not a singular issue, I'll fiddle around a bit and see if an odd setting or two deep in the phone will help. There are a few things we can do that can make a small effect on connectivity, which I believe is all we would need.
And my setting is defaulted to "Never" also, and even if changing the setting made a difference (which I don't believe it would) I wouldn't want to drop out of WiFi and into data when I'm still within WiFi range.

The Juice Defender's knowledge base has quite a few tips and tricks in it, but not many that pertain to these particular issues.

 

[left4dead]

Thanks for the helpful reply and the link! I will check it out.