Signal Strenth and Battery Life

[tx3kgtman]

I just got my droid x a few days ago and I'm having problems with battery life. I work 12 hour days at a state penitentiary which cell phones are not allowed to enter the building. My phone is rooted and I have about 8 bloatware apps removed like blockbuster, skype, ect in case that matters at all. My typical day is waking up at 4 AM unplugging my phone fully charged. I get to work at 5 AM and between 4-5AM I prolly send one text and sometimes visit one website. So at 5AM my phone is in standby mode until I take a lunch and come out to my car between 12-2. So the phone is on around 9 hours so far but not used much at all. Today I took my lunch at 1PM and when I pulled my phone out my battery was at 15%. The battery ussage is like 72% cell standby, 14% screen, and like 14% Phone idle. I checked my signal strength at work and it was like 99-102 dBm which I beleive sucks. Also today was very hot 100+F so that might also play a factor but I came from a iphone 4 last week that went through the same daily routine and never had battery problem (of course att may have had better reception at work which used less battery). So what do yall think? Is it because of the poor signal strength that runs the battery down within that time even though its in standby? Is there a problem with my phone?

 

[mkthnx001]

It very well might be your lack of signal strength (judging by "76% cell standby"); if the phone is always searching for a signal, it will drain your battery. Try setting the phone into "airplane mode" when not using it at places with weak signal.

 

[tx3kgtman]

yeh that is what I was going to try tomarrow at work. What gets me is my wife also has the droid x and after actually using it all day shes at 70% and after my phone sits in the car all day not being used at all is dead lol. Hard to beleive low signal strength can run the battery all the way out but if thats the case then airplane mode will get me by I guess.

 

[xrob513z]

it could be the fact that its hot in your car. i know atleast with my ipod touch it would have like 90% batt life and i would leave it in the car as i went to class (for maybe an hour or so) and come back and it would be giving me the 10% life notification. but only would happen when it was hot out and probably like 110 inside the car.

 

[barski]

i think its the heat and low reception. when you lay your phone in your car it may loss signal all together and maybe searching for service that plus the heat is a battery killer. i would never leave my droid x in my car during the summer and i live in Wisconsin. I think over time the heat will get to it and ruin your phone. if i was in ur shoes i would turn it off and place it under the seat or in the console or somewhere out of direct sunlight.

 

[tx3kgtman]

it could be the fact that its hot in your car. i know atleast with my ipod touch it would have like 90% batt life and i would leave it in the car as i went to class (for maybe an hour or so) and come back and it would be giving me the 10% life notification. but only would happen when it was hot out and probably like 110 inside the car.

yeh I questioned that but my old Iphone 4 that I had last week never lost any battery life in the extreme heat of my car. Mabye they are different battery types??

 

[kylec922]

My phone went from excellent reception all of the time no matter where I was, to -120db and no service at all at the drop of a dime. I thought this phone was ten times ahead of the iPhone 4, but at least had I got an iPhone I could've used it. :/

Try plugging the phone into the wall, and going to privacy>factory reset. That's my only advice. There seems to be a few people with this reception issue. I don't think it's the network, but the phone, and I don't even think it's hardware related.. I think it's all software issues within the phone. I could be wrong though. It's frustrating to say the least...

Does your phone ever show a 1x/3g symbol?

 

[tx3kgtman]

My phone went from excellent reception all of the time no matter where I was, to -120db and no service at all at the drop of a dime. I thought this phone was ten times ahead of the iPhone 4, but at least had I got an iPhone I could've used it. :/

Try plugging the phone into the wall, and going to privacy>factory reset. That's my only advice. There seems to be a few people with this reception issue. I don't think it's the network, but the phone, and I don't even think it's hardware related.. I think it's all software issues within the phone. I could be wrong though. It's frustrating to say the least...

Does your phone ever show a 1x/3g symbol?

Ive seen 1x pop up once or twice when I would be out in the middle of no where. I beleive 1X is like edge or 2g on other networks. Kinda like basic service. Also Im not downing the iphone or droid x in anyway. After owning a iphone for the past 3 years and switching over to the droid x and verizon I'am alot happier with just having awesome 3g service everywhere. Even with the little problems Im having with the battery issue I still already love my droid alot better than the iphone but thats my opinion.

Back on topic, where I work is out in the middle of nowhere (since its a prison) and im sure im barely in range of a tower but i just didnt know having poor service with my phone in standby the hole time would run my battery dead. And im sure the heat probally doesnt help. I will test it out in airplane mode tomarrow and if that solves my problem and it is in fact the low cell reception that is running my battery dead then I will just turn my phone off when its in the car.