"Always on" GPRS connection in WM2003

[humayunl]

Some questions about the "ALWAYS ON" GPRS connection in WM2003 (device = imate aka XDA II)

1. Does it consume extra battery life if the GPRS is alawys on?

2. When I'm connected but not actively doing any information upload/download, does the device keep communicating with the service provider? i.e. sending control information back and forth even when i am actively not using it?

3. If the GPRS connection is active, are there any chances my phone reception or the phone's ability to get a phone call is adversely affected? i dont want people not to be able to contact me or send sms/mms because my phone is always connectec on GPRS.

4. Once the GPRS connection is made, and i'm done doing my "thing", how do I disconnect? Cause currently I have no way of disconnecting.

[wallynyc]

Q1. "Does it consume extra battery life if the GPRS is alawys on?"
A> Slightly. But only as much as a regular cell-phone does when in standby. There is obviously a little more drain on the device battery if data is being transferred via GPRS - but only as much as a regular phone call.

Q2. "When I'm connected but not actively doing any information upload/download, does the device keep communicating with the service provider? i.e. sending control information back and forth even when i am actively not using it?"
A> Kind of Yes and No. Yes = your phone constantly checks with the service provider anyway to tell the network which cell you are currently in. No = it does not constantly check for GPRS "control information" unless you tell it to directly (by connecting&downloading data) or indirectly (by scheduling connection times, ie. E-mail triggers with T-Mobile/iPAQ6315).

Q3. "If the GPRS connection is active, are there any chances my phone reception or the phone's ability to get a phone call is adversely affected? i dont want people not to be able to contact me or send sms/mms because my phone is always connectec on GPRS."
A> No. The operation of your phone is not affected by the GPRS connection/dataflow.

Q4. "Once the GPRS connection is made, and i'm done doing my "thing", how do I disconnect? Cause currently I have no way of disconnecting"
A> In Windows Mobile 2003, you can tap on the GPRS icon at the top of the screen and select 'Disconnect' in the displayed info. box.

[humayunl]

Thanks wally for all your detailed responses. They were very helpful.

for #4 (disconnecting) there is no disconnect option in tn the connect bubble the shows up when i tap on the gprs icon on the top of the screen. however i fogured out that if i press and hold the phone "end" button, it disconnects the active gprs connection.

thanks a lot.

[wallynyc]

Now I'm confused!

Pressing and holding the red 'End Phone Call' button turns on FLIGHT MODE (in other words, turns OFF your cell phone), so in addition to killing the GPRS connection - you also kill your regular cell-phone!

Also, it could be that you are misinterpreting the GPRS icon. If there is a large, square white box with a coloured 'G' in the top menu bar (usually next to the cell-phone signal indicator) - this means that a GPRS connection is AVAILABLE. It does not mean you are connected and transferring data. If I tap on my GPRS icon when it is in this state, I also do not get the disconnect option.

You are only connected to (and transferring data via) GPRS when the icon is a small 'G' with 2 bi-directional arrows. If this icon is displayed and you tap on it, you do get the DISCONNECT button.

[humayunl]

When you are connected to GPRS, ifyou press the END button, it will only disconnect GPRS. It will not turn on flight mode. If you are not on gprs and then you click the END button, then you will turn on flight mode.

Secnondly, I think we might be using different versions of WM or maybe add-on software for GPRS because when i'm connected to gprs, i dont see any small G with bi-directional arroes. I only see the bi-directional arrows. And when I am connected (i.e. seein gthe bi-diretional arrows) I do not get a "dsiconnect" option. It just says "connected", Hide and "settings".

I know its strange but thats how it is on my device. Its running the latest ROM 1.74 and radio 1.14 of WM2003. I dont have WM2003SE. do you ?