Help LTE Hotspot Sucks Power

[edstewbob]

Occasionally I use my Verizon WiFi Mobile Hotspot feature at work where I have a strong LTE signal. Today I used it for about 4 hours while plugged into my laptop USB2 power source. It was not used heavily, moderate browsing and email mostly on my laptop and no video streaming. Starting from 100% battery it went down to 40% even with it plugged in. I did this occasionally with my DX in the past with no loss of battery power when plugged into USB. The only way I will be able to use WiFi Hotspot for any significant length of time is with it plugged into an external power supply with higher amperage.

 

[Thom]

Probably only two possibilities ...

Wall charger to keep up with the load.
Run in 3G to reduce the load.

I think Verizon recommended that you always run your Droid X on a wall charger when using the hot spot.

... Thom

 

[Szadzik]

What is the surprise here? When you start the hotspot both WiFi and 4G chips start working at full throttle. I am totally not surprised with your findings.

 

[WFHarris]

Did the battery indicator show that it was charging?

I noticed that mine did not indicate it was charging while i had it teathered with a cord.

 

[rushmore]

Considering the Razr barely keeps up when USB charging while in 4G, seems expected the device would turn negative on charge with wifi hotspot.

The Razr, like all current 4G devices, is a battery sucking demon when using 4G. Pure evil.

 

[edstewbob]

Did the battery indicator show that it was charging?

I noticed that mine did not indicate it was charging while i had it teathered with a cord.

Yes the battery indicator said it was charging. It also got warmer than I have ever felt it before. I tried again later and with a plugged in charger it was able to stay charged up just fine.

 

[Martimus]

Another thing to keep in mind is that most PC USB ports will only charge up to 500mA. The charger that came with your Razr will allow the phone to draw about 1A (1000mA).