pdaNet is smoking my battery

[strikingviking]

When tethering my iPhone 3G to pdaNet the service is great but depletes my battery to zero in about an hour--even when physically connected to my Macbook. I also tried connecting direct to the wall charger while tethered and the battery still goes down as fast. But...every once in awhile the charge keeps up and maintains itself without depleting, leaving me to suspect that somehow my iPhone is not accepting a charge most of the time. What gives? Anyone have a solution?
Thanks

 

[Numl0ck]

When tethering my iPhone 3G to pdaNet the service is great but depletes my battery to zero in about an hour--even when physically connected to my Macbook. I also tried connecting direct to the wall charger while tethered and the battery still goes down as fast. But...every once in awhile the charge keeps up and maintains itself without depleting, leaving me to suspect that somehow my iPhone is not accepting a charge most of the time. What gives? Anyone have a solution?
Thanks

it's a known bug of PdaNet. No fix for it

 

[doubletap]

What I and others have resorted to is running windows xp in a virtual machine and having the iphone connect to that and have os x route through windows to get to the outside.

DT

 

[britboyj]

Alternatively, use a Universal Dock. It'll give you the "this accessory was not made to work with iPhone..." BS, but it still charges.

pdaNet can't charge through USB to the computer it's connected to for some reason and it's a bit spotty when plugging it directly into a charging cable. For some reason I've never had it run down (in fact it charges!) when using the universal dock (not tried it with the 3G dock).

 

[patrickvanzandt]

When tethering my iPhone 3G to pdaNet the service is great but depletes my battery to zero in about an hour--even when physically connected to my Macbook. I also tried connecting direct to the wall charger while tethered and the battery still goes down as fast. But...every once in awhile the charge keeps up and maintains itself without depleting, leaving me to suspect that somehow my iPhone is not accepting a charge most of the time. What gives? Anyone have a solution?
Thanks

Hmmm...what version of PDANet and what version of iPhone OS? Also, you are using WiFi connection (between the iPhone and the MacBook), right?

On my 2.2 Ghz Core2Duo Macbook, I am able to use PDANet for infinite time. When plugged in via USD to the Macbook (for charging) and connected via WiFi, the net result is that the battery % slowly increases. So the charging slightly outpaces the discharging.

I see the same result when using a USB connection for both data and charging on an XP SP2 machine (Lenovo T61) with my iPhone 3G 2.2.1. This is my work laptop and I'm able to work an entire business day via PDANet without my iPhone battery running down (in fact at the end of the day the charge is 100%).

 

[lavrishevo]

During heavy downloading, on OSX with an adhoc network, pdanet uses too much power for the phone to continue to charge. This usually is not the case with basic surfing but download 20+ mb's and you will see the power level on your batter drop plugged in via the wall or usb, does not matter. Also, the phone will heat up during heavy data usage.

This is not the case with pdanet desktop for Windows because you do not need to create an adhoc network. Transferring via the USB cable is much more efficient. I downloaded 180+ mb's not long ago and the phone continued to charge.

This is also why Apple is setting up tether in 3.0 for USB or bluetooth and not wifi adhoc. Hopefully Junefabrics will get their act together and release a desktop app for OSX come 3.0 but my hopes are not up. They seem to be windows based programming guys.

 

[socbrian]

i was just charging and tethered to the same computer today, using windows 7 thou

 

[strikingviking]

I found the solution. Just like my MacBook and MacBook Pro, the iPhone is heat sensitive and slows down or malfunctions when not properly cooling. Down here in tropical Mexico, room temperature is eighty degrees which overheats all my Apple stuff unless I aim fans at them.

As a test, while tethering and using lots of bandwidth, I set my iPhone on a slab of marble to keep it cooler. Low and behold for the last week, no more problems. When I set the iPhone on a fabric like a bedspread, it heats up and stops charging. I can't explain the whys and wherefores, only that everything works fine now.