Cell Phone question(s)

[GRUMPA]

I have a cell phone (flip phone) and the wife has a smart phone.

Seems the wifes phone got hacked somehow, exactly how I have no clue. Mine I never use.......only when I have incoming calls or I make calls which isn't very often, maybe once every other month.

Last months credit card bill came in, there was 3 charges for things from places that have a Russian tie to them. That part we took care of and the CC company shut down the old card and sent us a new card. We have net access but we have limits, and all of a sudden the data usage really climbed to the limit real fast. Wifes phone has a Amazon app, and somehow that app (which came with the phone and can't be deleted) was using a lot of data. Thing is she never uses Amazon for anything and she shut it down, not deleted just shut it down and seems to be OK for the moment.

Now comes my situation: My phone is just your plane jane flip phone, no frills, no apps, nothing added.

Now this is the part that'll make your head spin.....The phone always stays home, I rarely carry it with me since the wife and I are always close together. When the phone stays home I charge it once every other week and even at that it's down by 1 bar out of four and I do it to just keep it topped off.

EVERY SINGLE TIME......and I mean every single time I carry my phone with me, the battery goes dead in 24hrs. If it stays home it's like I said....once every other week just to top it off.

Why all of a sudden ( we're talking the last 6 months) when the phone is moved battery life is next to nothing within 24hrs has me stumped.

Am I missing something?

This has been going on since before the wifes phone went ape sheit, and the wife knows since I tell her I'm charging the phone. We live on solar power folks, so we have this tendency to let the other person know when we're using power so if the person forgets the other person reminds them that they're using power for whatever.

Basically when my phone is moved, and I mean when I go into town, the battery power goes at a rapid rate..

[dragon813gt]

How is reception in your area? When a phone starts searching for a signal a battery can drain really quickly. I used to have this problem at my cabin.

I had an an app on my old iPhone that would show me active towers and the communication between my phone and it. Over time towers would no longer be available as the cell companies moved their equipment around. Just a possibility that your phone is now constantly searching because towers have changed.

[GRUMPA]

How is reception in your area? When a phone starts searching for a signal a battery can drain really quickly. I used to have this problem at my cabin.

I had an an app on my old iPhone that would show me active towers and the communication between my phone and it. Over time towers would no longer be available as the cell companies moved their equipment around. Just a possibility that your phone is now constantly searching because towers have changed.


Here's the kicker on that.

When I say I go into town......it's the town with the closest Verizon tower. Our place is about 4-5 miles from that tower, so when I go into town I'm actually getting closer to the tower.

[cheese1566]

When it comes to cell towers, distance isn't everything. All depends on distance, obstacles, terrain....

trybdoing a update for tower services. Used be *88 or something like that. Verizon would know the exact number.

[472x1B/A]

You may be over charging your phone. We never charge our phones until there is only one bar left. They will last about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks unless we text a lot to each other.

[GRUMPA]

When it comes to cell towers, distance isn't everything. All depends on distance, obstacles, terrain....

trybdoing a update for tower services. Used be *88 or something like that. Verizon would know the exact number.

It wont do me any good, I live very remote and that's the ONLY Verizon tower in range.


You may be over charging your phone. We never charge our phones until there is only one bar left. They will last about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks unless we text a lot to each other.

That's pretty much what I do. And to simplify things....I couldn't txt on that phone to save my ***, I don't know how too.

[WebMonkey]

Break out the manual and turn off "cellular data".
This kills "internet" access to all the apps.
Will help with battery usage as well.
:)

[MaryB]

Your phone may need a new battery, they do have a finite life span.

The amazon app can have updates rolled back to stop the data use. And AVG makes an antivirus app for the phone that I would suggest get installed to clean the phone. Watch what you download for free apps! Way to many of them are malware! The flashlight app everyone was downloading a few years ago turned out to be spyware for example.

[NyFirefighter357]

Mary has it right, new battery and AVG anti virus app. What platform is the phone? Android? Also these phones don't last more than two years without issues. They are designed and build to be replaced with in two years.

[runfiverun]

my old flip phone will run down quickly when it's searching for service.
it can sit there doing nothing for almost 2 weeks before needing a charge.
but when I take it out and it has to look for service I'd be better off talking on it when it comes to battery life.

[mold maker]

As long as it's stationary it doesn't need to search for a better connection tower. As soon as you move location it tries to improve the signal. Direct linkage to the only tower is it's only choice, but it's not smart enough to know it. It's designed to try to better it's signal when low.
Your situation and use is far from average, but average is what it's designed for.

[tommag]

One thing that helps with battery life is to not charge it until the battery is very low.

[southpaw]

I don't have a cell phone, so I know next to nothing about them but wouldn't turning it off when not using it save on the battery? Just turn it on once in awhile to check for messages? I think that is what some due at fishing camp since their phones keep looking for service (atleast that is what I think they said).

Jerry Jr.

[bosterr]

my old flip phone will run down quickly when it's searching for service.
it can sit there doing nothing for almost 2 weeks before needing a charge.
but when I take it out and it has to look for service I'd be better off talking on it when it comes to battery life.

This is exactly what I have found. Average time between charges is 2 weeks+. Two days at my wife's family's camp down along the river kills the battery dead. Continuously says searching for service there.

[garym1a2]

When driving I just plug mine in with a car charger, Less than $10 on amazone. My S5 samsung will eat a battery in less than 12 hours. Even faster if poor recption area.

[jonp]

Your phone sounds like it needs a battery.

Hers...the only way they could charge stuff through Amazon is if she either stays signed in to amazon or keeps her passwords on her phone. Never do either. Immediately purge your history, cookies etc then wipe the pasdwords if they are there. Change all passwords to sights like amazon on the phone and never stay signed into anything. Always check out as guest, never sign in.

There are several sights you can download apps to check your phone.

[dragon813gt]

I forgot to ask. I'm assuming your wife's phone ran Android? The iPhone Amazon app doesn't keep you logged in. It times out and you have to enter your password to make any purchases.

[Handloader109]

Nothing to do with the battery. EVERYTHING to do with searching for a better cell tower. Change phones or get a car charger. That is your two options. Keep an eye out for data usage on your wife's phone thru settings. You can see what app is using the most the data. I had an app last month that sucked up 5gb of my data before I Uninstalled it. Was a cleaner that updated and went apeshiet. My phone and my wife's tablet used almost half our monthly data on this app. Didn't pull any extra on my tablet and my daughter's phone. Go figure.

[dtknowles]

One thing that helps with battery life is to not charge it until the battery is very low.

What is your source for this advice. My understanding is that Lithium batteries are better off if you don't drain them any lower than necessary and that keeping them topped up is a good thing.

Tim

[dragon813gt]

What is your source for this advice. My understanding is that Lithium batteries are better off if you don't drain them any lower than necessary and that keeping them topped up is a good thing.

Tim

You are correct. No harm is done by keeping them fully charged all the time. There is no benefit to letting them drain down before charging.

Edit:
You should use the correct charger. Some of the higher wattage, fast chargers, can damage the batteries. They keep sending power, even if the battery is fully charged, instead of stopping.

[popper]

EVERYTHING to do with searching for a better cell tower Airplane mode ON will basically shut down your phone without the annoying looong restart time. Bluetooth takes power and is searching. Your phone controls the battery charging, not the charger but it is best to NOT to leave it on the charger. LiIon batteries have a very large but spec'd # of charge cycles - go ahead and let it run down before re-charging, if practical.

[abunaitoo]

You probably need a new battery.
My old cell phone (over 10 years old) is always plugged in when I'm home.
It's not even a flip phone. They didn't have flip phones when I got it.
I also almost never use it.
Have it because I take care of my Mom. Just have it "in case" I need it when we're out.
They might have a better battery for it. Maybe a lithium that can be recharged without lowering the battery life.
The new Ipad like phones are like a computer. Only more vulnerable.
They can, and will be, hacked.

[Storydude]

EVERYTHING to do with searching for a better cell tower Airplane mode ON will basically shut down your phone without the annoying looong restart time. Bluetooth takes power and is searching. Your phone controls the battery charging, not the charger but it is best to NOT to leave it on the charger. LiIon batteries have a very large but spec'd # of charge cycles - go ahead and let it run down before re-charging, if practical.

This. Moving, the phone attaches to the strongest tower it can "see". If it happens to bounce back and forth a few times, it starts eating battery.

[GRUMPA]

Guys and girls.......you have to think differently. Let me make it simple.......there's only (1) tower for my phone (within range).....just 1..... that's it. The phone itself goes from my home to town, again just 1 tower, no more no less. When I leave my house.....I'm getting closer to the cell tower, not farther, and it's the only 1.

Did the test again.....fully charged battery, go to town and I have to charge it the next day. After charging it.......I leave it on the counter, the battery is still fully charged 4 days later and will be for another 5 days at least.

[dragon813gt]

Just because you are getting closer to the tower doesn't mean it's going to stay connected. As an example my phone will be connected to three towers at varying levels. The phone will be stationary but the connections will change between the towers. Even though the closest tower is only a couple of miles away it may switch to one that's far away. Just because it's connected to a tower doesn't prevent it from searching.

[Storydude]

Guys and girls.......you have to think differently. Let me make it simple.......there's only (1) tower for my phone (within range).....just 1..... that's it. The phone itself goes from my home to town, again just 1 tower, no more no less. When I leave my house.....I'm getting closer to the cell tower, not farther, and it's the only 1.

Did the test again.....fully charged battery, go to town and I have to charge it the next day. After charging it.......I leave it on the counter, the battery is still fully charged 4 days later and will be for another 5 days at least.
Cell phone on counter pings once, gets ping back, sits until next cycle.
Cell Phone in moving car sends ping, doesn't get one, sends another and another and another till it gets a ping back. Phone has failed X ping timeout and goes into active searching mode, pinging every 500Ms to verify signal, until X number of pings received error free.

Try this, while the phone is in the car, in town, does it get warm? If so, it's the radio working harder, killing your battery.