Working great, but the phone is running hot

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What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Start Wifi Tether
2. Connect your laptop to G1Tether and use the Internet
3. Phone gets hot after couple of minutes, stays hot, and battery level
keeps dropping rapidly (10% within 15-20 minutes)

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
0.90

Please provide any additional information below.
This is truly a great app.  Much better than that other one that has
terrible throughput and is no longer free.  Still, at the rate this app
consumes power, it will only be useful when absolutely necessary.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 28 Feb 2009 at 2:38

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Does the other app suffer from this problem? I didn't use it extensively enough 
to
see what kind of battery usage it got.

Original comment by ulf...@gmail.com on 28 Feb 2009 at 6:14

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Also, is this an issue for everyone or just a few folks? Is the battery usage 
only
that high when you have clients connected and pulling traffic or is _just_ the 
act of
having tethering on draining the battery that much?

I'm testing my phone right now with no clients connected for 15 minutes. After 
that,
I'll try with a client connected and pulling a small but relatively constant 
amount
of data (say, multi-protocol IM client running on the laptop.)

Original comment by ulf...@gmail.com on 28 Feb 2009 at 6:34

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My tests show about 10% battery usage over a 15 minute period with this app and 
the
Market one (http://androidactivity.com/tetherWifi.html), regardless of whether 
or not
a client is connected. It's hefty, but I don't know what can be done about it. 
I'm
told Bluetooth tethering would be cheaper, but is also much slower. Anyone 
interested
in that can take a look at Issue 6.

Original comment by ulf...@gmail.com on 28 Feb 2009 at 8:35

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It's strange how "regular" Wifi, while not light on power usage, does not 
consume power at such a high 
rate.  I will try this again tonight after I get to a hotel that charges for 
Internet access.  ;-)

Original comment by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 28 Feb 2009 at 8:11

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So the phone is running hot here at the hotel.  I have it plugged in, so the 
battery
is not going to drain.  I have no doubt that tetherWifi will behave the same 
way, as
you have already proven.

Perhaps this is the result of having both 3G and WiFi running at the same time. 
 I've
checked and no unusual CPU usage on the phone.

Original comment by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 1 Mar 2009 at 4:15

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Yeah, I think it normally shuts down the EDGE connection when wifi is enabled. 
Having
both on is probably the reason it drains the battery so fast. As for heat, mine
didn't feel too hot. Does your phone heat up when you're doing other
battery/radio-intensive activities?

Original comment by ulf...@gmail.com on 1 Mar 2009 at 8:01

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The only other time the phone ran this warm was when using a battery-intensive 
GPS
application
(http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-trails-with-my-tracks-for-android.
html). 
That application will drain a fully-charged battery in 4-5 hours.

Original comment by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 1 Mar 2009 at 12:44

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Maybe their is a chance to tweak some setting in tiwlan.conf (wifi-interface) to
increase battery lifetime ...

At least their are some values which could be changed:

#
# Power Manager
#
BeaconListenInterval = 1        # the number of N-Beacon or N-DTim
DtimListenInterval = 1          # Dm: Different value causes DHCP problem

dot11PowerMode = 0              # 0 - Auto
                                # 1 - Active
                                # 2 - Short Doze
                                # 3 - Long Doze

PowerMgmtHangOverPeriod = 5     # in mSec units 

AutoPowerModeDozeMode = 2       # 2 - Short Doze
                        # 3 - Long Doze

AutoPowerModeActiveTh = 15      # packets per second 

AutoPowerModeDozeTh = 8         # packets per seconds - threshold for entering 
ELP in
Auto mode

defaultPowerLevel = 0       # 0 - ELP
                                # 1 - PD
                                # 2 - AWAKE

PowerSavePowerLevel = 0     # 0 - ELP
                                # 1 - PD
                                # 2 - AWAKE

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 1 Mar 2009 at 1:22

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It can't turn off the radio when its connected to wifi, or your phone can't 
recive texts or send them or 
anything like that, some other reason its getting hot, not sure what though

Original comment by naturald...@gmail.com on 2 Mar 2009 at 12:00

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I think that this may have to do with the fact that when acting as an access 
point,
Wifi has to be on all the time just in case a transmission from the "tethered"
computer comes in.  When Wifi operates normally, it goes to sleep when it has 
nothing
to transmit.

Something worth testing would be to operate Wifi normally, and make an SSH 
connection
from the phone to some server.  As long as the connection is active and the 
phone
does not go to sleep, does it get warm or not?

Original comment by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 3 Mar 2009 at 11:23

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Wow I missed a lot of updates... I'm still running 0_90.apk.
It works fine so I never tried updating it. My phone does run hot and consumes 
the 
battery like a kid eating candy. Even when I Stop it my phone stays hot, I have 
to 
turn off the phone and restart it then it cools down. After I stop tether 
nothing 
stays running, not tether or WiFi, but it must be in the background somewhere 
pulling the battery til re-start.

Original comment by magi...@gmail.com on 21 Mar 2009 at 6:53

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I'm getting the same effects with 0.96 here.

Worse, it drains the battery faster than USB can provide power, wifi-tether has
drained multiple times the battery, with "Battery mode" active.
(a cool thing would be an explanation what Short Doze, Long Doze and so are 
supposed
to mean.)

aNetShare btw seems not to have the problem, it has worked the whole morning,
although battery charging was very very slow with it too.

Original comment by yacc...@gmail.com on 31 Mar 2009 at 8:13

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One last paste from IRC:

<jbq> yacc: yeah, there's definitely not enough power over USB to continuously 
run wifi.
 [jbq] (n=jbq@nat/google/x-2a33439200d5afd3): Jean-Baptiste Queru

Original comment by yacc...@gmail.com on 31 Mar 2009 at 10:29

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aNetShare is using definitely the same technique we do. But our focus was to 
increase
the stability of wifi-connection so we have introduced things like "powermode" 
and
"wakelock".

You can STILL set those options to the default-values (like aNetShare is using)
rather disable wakelock.

* Powermode => Default = Auto
* Wakelock => Default = Disable

What does Wakelock mean?
Wakelock prevents the phone from sleeping! If you have wakelock enabled you will
notice that the screen will be dimmed and the cpu continues to run (if disabled
screen goes black; cpu = off).

What does Powermode mean?
Some internal, driver-specific (wifi) power-settings. I've noticed in my tests 
that
"Active" gave me the best results regarding latency and stability but this might
differ. Field reports are appreciated.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 1 Apr 2009 at 8:13

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Underclocking might help with this issue. Details on how to do that here:

http://strazzere.com/blog/?p=232

Original comment by ulf...@gmail.com on 12 Apr 2009 at 12:35

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I also have this issue, but I've been using this program for months when I want 
to 
sit in the coffeehouse and surf the web or whatever, with no apparent damage to 
my 
phone.

The phone also got hot using the prior method typing "tether start" in 
terminal, so 
it's not the app per se, but something to do with the underlying method.

Original comment by MaxPierson on 18 Apr 2009 at 3:58

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I was also experiencing this problem where the battery would drain even faster 
than
it could be charged.  I installed the application "Open Overclock" ($1 in the 
market
or free from http://code.google.com/p/openoverclocker/ ) and set the minimum 
clock at
128 and the maximum clock at 256.  I then tethered with my iPod Touch and 
streamed a
baseball game with the phone plugged in.  The phone was noticeably cooler, the
battery charged rather than draining, and there didn't seem to be any problem 
with
the streaming audio.

Original comment by jennifer...@gmail.com on 20 Apr 2009 at 4:10

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The recent experience people are reporting with underclocking might indicate 
that
some of the code that android-wifi-tether uses may be "busy waiting."  That is,
looping endlessly while performing some non-blocking I/O operation.  Again, I 
am not
saying that it is android-wifi-tether itself, but some code it installs.  "Busy
waiting" can cause power-managed CPUs, which can lower their own power 
consumption
when not busy, to continue consuming maximum power.  Just a thought...

Original comment by adam.ryb...@gmail.com on 20 Apr 2009 at 3:38

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Cupcake (the upcoming firmware-version) will introduce "dynamic frequency 
scaling". 
I've already tried that out (compiled from official-sources, added 
netfilter-support
to the kernel).

All I can say is that it worked really well (checked with 'cat /proc/cpuinfo') 
... so
I think all those over-/underclocking apps will get obsolete very soon.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 21 Apr 2009 at 1:17

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got this same issue i been using it for a while no, enjoy using it connected to 
my 
acer aspire one rebranded with Ubuntu (linux) works great but power consumption 
is 
great. is there a way to make this push the connection through the usb wire 
(forgive 
the crudeness of that)

Original comment by cleve.p...@gmail.com on 24 Apr 2009 at 1:32

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Issue 60 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by bbux...@gmail.com on 3 May 2009 at 1:37

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i got the same "problem", phone is getting hot on tethering but its okay...
but ive got a question to the power mode @harald.mue, how high is your latency? 
(im
using BASE APN: internet.eplus.de) mine is about 300ms (i think its really to 
high..)

greetz

Original comment by siriu...@gmail.com on 29 Jun 2009 at 2:25

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I've had the same discharge issue. Usually the battery discharges faster than 
it can
be charged on USB or with the wall-wart charger. However, a couple of times it 
ran
cooler, and continued to charge the battery even with very high Internet usage, 
much
higher than several times that the battery drained while in use. I didn't make 
any
settings changes, all I can think might have changed is that it may have used a
different cell tower transmitter (I was allways in the same physical location) 
or
that there was less interference from other wifi APs on the channel it was 
using.

I tend to think it may be the tower, because when I permit the phone to run 3G 
it
will often be unable to receive data and the connection will show 3G but no 
data will
be received from the tower (the down arrow never shows in the icon). And when i 
force
it to use EDGE it will work, although slower. Perhaps it is constantly sending
repeated packets to the tower, or sending at a higher power?

However it may be the wifi side, several times running EDGE, which should use 
less
power, it still discharges as fast as when running 3G. And sometimes it barely
discharges at all.

I guess it's time to stop searching google and try some experiments :-)

I'll let y'all know if I find anything out.

Original comment by ibrew.me...@gmail.com on 10 Sep 2009 at 8:52

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I also have the same issue. The battery discharges faster than it can be 
charged 
through the USB cable or with the wall charger. From a full charge, with the 
phone 
plugged in, it drains the battery completely within 2-3 hours. The only app 
running 
is 
wifi-tether, and the screen is turned off.

Another issue I noticed, is that even though the battery is draining, the phone 
thinks that it has 100% charge, until it suddenly runs out of battery 
completely, and 
shuts down. The only way to get the phone to show the real status of the 
battery, is 
to unplug the charger, wait a couple of seconds, and plug it back in. This 
though, is 
most likely not related to the tethering application.

Original comment by sev...@gmail.com on 14 Sep 2009 at 6:04

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Quoted from sevakm: "I also have the same issue. The battery discharges faster 
than
it can be charged 
through the USB cable or with the wall charger. From a full charge, with the 
phone 
plugged in, it drains the battery completely within 2-3 hours. The only app 
running 
is 
wifi-tether, and the screen is turned off.

Another issue I noticed, is that even though the battery is draining, the phone 
thinks that it has 100% charge, until it suddenly runs out of battery 
completely, and 
shuts down. The only way to get the phone to show the real status of the 
battery, is 
to unplug the charger, wait a couple of seconds, and plug it back in. This 
though, is 
most likely not related to the tethering application."

This is exactly what happens to me too!

Original comment by ruebenhe...@gmail.com on 17 Sep 2009 at 1:31

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Quoted from sevakm: "I also have the same issue. The battery discharges faster 
than
it can be charged 
through the USB cable or with the wall charger. From a full charge, with the 
phone 
plugged in, it drains the battery completely within 2-3 hours. The only app 
running 
is 
wifi-tether, and the screen is turned off."

This is exactly what happens to me too!

Original comment by Spon4ik on 10 Oct 2009 at 7:36

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Well, I don't have this issue....I can have LCD (dimmed) on using Wifi-tether 
and my
G1 is still charging via USB (PC)....

Maybe isolated cases with specific models?
(yes, my G1 do gets warm with wifi-tether on but don't see major problems. Btw, 
I use
wifi-tether everyday for many hours for since I got the G1 for the last few 
months.)

Original comment by ericwon...@gmail.com on 29 Oct 2009 at 7:18

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Running 1.60pre3 (?) The phone, Sprint HTC Hero (CDMA) after approximately 15 
minutes
went into overheat, the LED was changing color between Orange and Green and a 
battery
widget I had stated "overheat".

I was using WIFI for tethering... I wonder if bluetooth would consume less 
power and
generate less heat?

Original comment by N251EA@gmail.com on 22 Nov 2009 at 4:16

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I have the same issue. Motorola Droid, running 2.0.1. The app will run fine and 
the
USB charger will keep up with charging the phone, but over about 30 minutes the 
phone
gets REALLY hot. After that point it stops charging entirely, and the little 
white
charge light on the side goes out. It will not resume charging until I turn off 
wifi
tether and let the phone cool down. I don't know if this is a thermal safety 
for the
battery for what, but it is worrisome. 

Original comment by malcom2...@gmail.com on 27 Dec 2009 at 4:53

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The app is really great, i rooted my brand new G1 couple of days back, but but 
but i am 
facing a strange issue here. I always used it with charging on. But every time 
i tether 
it gets real hot and now after two days i have another problem. My phone says 
no sim 
card or no service. So dose the wifi thing messed up my reception antenna or 
what?

Original comment by chil...@gmail.com on 6 Jan 2010 at 6:40

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Even with AC power, I can use the Wifi Tether constantly, but if i use it for 
say 3-4
hours, sometimes when I unplug the AC the phone dies instantly because the 
battery
has been completely drained regardless of the AC power. It seems like the Wifi 
Tether
app is draining the battery faster than the AC can charge it.  I also have the
problem with the phone getting very hot.

Hopefully someone finds a solution for this. I am worried the heat may be 
damaging my
phone.

Original comment by streetda...@gmail.com on 7 Jan 2010 at 12:38

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HTC Hero by Sprint runs very hot when using this for 15 minutes.

HTC just released the kernel source, hopefully this might help the devs get 
this 
fixed.

http://member.america.htc.com/download/RomCode/Source_and_Binaries/heroc_ef05d31
a.tar
.bz2

Original comment by je...@damocles.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 4:06

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Running on Motorola Droid 2.01.
I use this app about 6 hours a day, while charging.
Also have my Droid clocked at 800MHz. (550 is stock)
Can pull 500-750KBps down 150-250KBps up all day long and yes the phone gets 
very 
hot, but no issues. love it, donation incoming!

Original comment by Standard...@gmail.com on 28 Jan 2010 at 3:57

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Just rooted my Sprint Hero and installed wireless_tether_2_0-pre5.apk - the 
phone
runs very hot and becomes quite slow as well. Of course, if it's the price I 
have to
pay for having a WiFi AP in my phone, I'll do it, but it'd be really nice to 
have it
optimized as much as possible.

Donation incoming, once I can get the thing to stop rebooting my phone almost 
every
time I shut down tethering.

Original comment by archon810 on 19 Feb 2010 at 7:27

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Same here.  Droid A855 running very hot.  OMAP sensor reading 48C, battery temp 
at 43C.

I am underclocked to 250 mhz and have been tethering for about two hours.  
Nothing
else running on the phone.

Would be very happy if we could figure out how to keep the phones cool.

Original comment by banderb...@gmail.com on 3 Mar 2010 at 4:17

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I have the same problem. Phone runs hot and drains the battery even when 
plugged in.

I have a temporary solution though. It looks like if you make sure the battery 
is
completely charged before you start to tether the charger won't have any 
troubles
keeping up.

As for heat, I just have to put a fan to the phone... hopefully this can be 
fixed by
reducing the power output or something. (Underclocking didn't work)

Using a Sprint Hero

Original comment by TimSB...@gmail.com on 17 Mar 2010 at 3:17

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Same.  VERY high temps.  over 52 Degrees C. 

Original comment by BrianR1...@gmail.com on 28 Mar 2010 at 9:27

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I dont know if it is possible but.....this phone is based on linux and in linux 
you
can turn down the transmit power of your wireless adapter to save energy, heat 
and
whatever else.

I have been looking through the settings and cant find much related to transmit 
power
and busybox doesnt have the commands i need to do it.

Maybe i could compile iwconfig and iwlist on my Eris and try it.

Any thoughts?

Original comment by BlueDrag...@gmail.com on 31 Mar 2010 at 4:30

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Just an idea, but has anyone tried using a wall charger and no battery? If it 
still
gets hot you know its the processor. If it doesn't it's just a large drain on 
the
battery due to 3g and wifi/bluetooth chips running simultaneously causing it to 
get hot.

Original comment by kevi...@gmail.com on 6 Apr 2010 at 6:16

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Just upgraded to the latest version today. I'm running into the same issue as 
others,
on the Moto Droid. The phone charges for a while, and then, when it gets too 
hot, it
stops charging. I'll keep playing with the CPU throttle, to see if I can find a 
point
where it still works, but doesn't overheat.

Original comment by Eye.Fi....@gmail.com on 3 May 2010 at 7:33

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BTW, to add to my last comment -- the other Wi-Fi tether app -- Barnacle, does 
not
overheat the phone like this app does.

But I'll try it with the latest version, and report back.

Original comment by Eye.Fi....@gmail.com on 26 May 2010 at 12:53

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with the latest version, so far, even while charging, the phone is not 
overheating.
It's consistent @ 40 degrees C, but I'm not sure if the code changed, to 
improve it,
or if I'm at a better radio location, and the phone has to work less, to get a 
good
3G feed. 

I'll test again tonight, from home, where my 3G signal isn't as good, and will 
report
back.

Original comment by Eye.Fi....@gmail.com on 26 May 2010 at 1:10

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1.70 pre1 1.5 HTC Hero. O2 sim. App works a great far better than my O2 Huawei 
dongle
I used to use. Battery stays up on wall charger drains on USB. Phone runs a bit 
hot
but prob may be due to running 3G and Wifi at the same time. Only real prob I 
had was
with an old Intel driver on windows XP laptop would not see the add hoc wifi 
SSID
until I had upgraded the driver.

Original comment by st.scot...@gmail.com on 27 May 2010 at 8:49

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Samsung Moment here. I get 45 degrees all the time. It's horrible.

Original comment by forcys...@gmail.com on 24 Jun 2010 at 11:42

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HTC Hero with 2.1, wireless_tether_2_0_2.apk, Body Glove protective case

Using the AC adapter and setting the phone on top of a metal, empty 2.5" 
external hd enclosure, I can have two pcs utilize the tether constantly without 
going above 42c.  Compared to the 133f/56c (140f/60c is the red line for the 
OEM battery for this phone) I broke when using usb to charge and leaving the 
phone sitting flat on the desk, I'll take it!

Hope this helps/gives others some ideas - it doesn't take much to add some 
passive cooling to your phone!  Thanks again for this great app, devs

Original comment by shomi...@gmail.com on 25 Jun 2010 at 3:00

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Issue 418 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 29 Jun 2010 at 9:53

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That's bull, how is my issue merged with one that says the app works, but he 
phone is hot? You must not have understood that THE APP WON'T WORK FOR ME! 
Maybe you should try to help, instead of ignoring it. 

Original comment by stevepun...@gmail.com on 30 Jun 2010 at 4:44