How I tripled the Standby battery life on my Mobile Phone.

[#1]

I moved my phone to another room !!!

Mobile on Orange / EE Network, signal strength is patchy at the best of times, I use a Motorola W377 for SMS texting for the simple reason, if a text send fails, it Automatically keeps trying until the text message is successfully sent.
I also get a recipient delivery receipt if / and when the recipient phone is switched on / available.
Which may be some time after the text SMS is successfully sent.
It's the only phone I have that does this Automatically, with no intervention on my part.

I wondered why the battery standby time reduced dramatically, from a quoted 250 hours ( yes, I know !!)  an actual 100 hours approx, down to 38 hours, a while back.
After a bit of Googling, I came to the conclusion it was because the W377 spent most of it's time with No Network / Emergency use only displayed.
This is apparently a massive battery drainer, as the phone is constantly looking for Network.
The W377 was on Virgin until a year or so ago. No Network problems then at all.
Where I normally keep my active mobiles (4) by their common charging point, other Networks are OK... Three, Virgin & Ovivo.

By moving the W377 Orange / EE mobile upstairs to my study, the battery standby life has now gone back to where it used to be, up from 38 hours to around 100 hours standby.
The signal strength is 2-4 bars, up from 0-1 in the Study, so much better.

Why stick with Orange you may say, well, it's an old plan, and I get 5 FREE texts a day, until 2026.
Mostly for family texting.
Calls cost 40p / minute, so not used for outgoing calls at all.

(I even rejected a replacement "original" battery as the battery life was no better !!)
Took a while to fathom this out, but so glad I did. Kicking myself, why didn't I do / realise this sooner ?
BTW, the W377 never leaves the home.

So, if your mobile has a really poor battery standby life, it may be because you are in a poor signal strength area.
Hopefully, this info may help someone else too.

[#2]

Quote from: PlusComUK

After a bit of Googling, I came to the conclusion it was because the W377 spent most of it's time with No Network / Emergency use only displayed. This is apparently a massive battery drainer, as the phone is constantly looking for Network.

Yes, also turn off the 3G/WCDMA mode in the settings, this will save your battery life a great deal too.

[#3]

Quote from: godsell4

Quote from: PlusComUK After a bit of Googling, I came to the conclusion it was because the W377 spent most of it's time with No Network / Emergency use only displayed. This is apparently a massive battery drainer, as the phone is constantly looking for Network. Yes, also turn off the 3G/WCDMA mode in the settings...

Will do, thanks...

( May not have been active, just available. )

It will also remove that icon !!!
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,116202.msg1003140.html#msg1003140

[#4]

You could try a better solution, i.e improving your mobile signal with a femtocell.
Orange/EE "Signal Box"

[#5]

Signal with T-Mobile/EE/Orange is awful where I am and could do with one of those.
It seems that EE only marketing them to business customers although, according to this some customers have been lucky enough to get one at £106+VAT. A bit too steep for me anyway.
I don't send/receive many texts anyway and when I do send I use WebText. Texts to me do eventually get through but can take many hours or, in some cases, the next day

[#6]

Quote from: purleigh

You could try a better solution, i.e improving your mobile signal with a femtocell. Orange/EE "Signal Box"

Only suitable for 3G phones, it suggests, the W377 is 2G.
Already researched, thanks, and only for business users it appears.
And.... it's more expensive than moving the W377 upstairs to my Study !!!

[#7]

Quote from: Mav

Signal with T-Mobile/EE/Orange is awful where I am and could do with one of those. I don't send/receive many texts anyway and when I do send I use WebText.

I create most of my Texts using Orange Web Text, and send them to my W377, ( or another phone ) then forwards on from there.... for the delivery reports

[#8]

T-Mobile's Webtext allows me to request a delivery report as well as having the message sent to my phone at the same time.
I never opt for the latter but always request a delivery report even though that could be received many hours after it's actually delivered
Edit: For those, rare, times a good signal is showing I do tend to write my texts on the PC using MyPhoneExplorer.

[#9]

I have Network Service tone disabled, ( Used to drive me mad when in moving car !! ) so when the network appears to be down, I send SMS Text to myself, and when the phone beeps twice, and shows delivery receipt, this tells me the Network is back up and running.
On all my phones & Networks.
And... with Network Service tone disabled, I don't need to be woken & told this in the middle of the night !

[#10]

A few years ago SWMBO had this option on and it used to drive me to distraction as it was regularly beeping every few minutes. So glad when she finally agreed to turn it off

[#11]

Quote from: purleigh

You could try a better solution, i.e improving your mobile signal with a femtocell. Orange/EE "Signal Box"

Really, what a con!!  You pay for a mobile service - get no signal - use a 'signal box' and it uses your broadband allowance to connect you .  No Orange resources used and they still charge you!!   
nice work if you can get it.

[#12]

Other mobile providers, such as "Three", provide equivalent adaptors for free to their customers who live in poor reception areas.
I agree it is a rip off that Orange charge customers for a device to overcome inadequate wireless coverage. 

[#13]

Quote from: PlusComUK

So, if your mobile has a really poor battery standby life, it may be because you are in a poor signal strength area.

That's certainly been my experience when living in rural Scotland.
Signal in the house was always weak, and stepping outside was the only way to have a conversation. Leaving the phone near a particular upstairs window gave the best battery life.
Having now moved to a town in England, the standby battery life is three, maybe four times what it was.

[#14]

The BBC "Click" technology program briefly covered this subject this week !
[quote=BBC : Click]When your mobile phone battery is running low and you are unable to charge it, there are a few things you can do to keep it running.
BBC Click's Spencer Kelly presents an essential guide to keeping your mobile phone battery going for that bit longer.
Top tips to save your mobile's battery life

[#15]

Quote from: purleigh

The BBC "Click" technology program briefly covered this subject this week !

I Comprehensively covered this subject last week !! 
BTW: I do work for the BBC occasionally !