Wi-Fi Geofencing: GREAT idea, problematic implementation

[b23h]

I am very impressed by the idea of Wi-Fi Geofencing. I expect the typical use of it would be to have Wi-Fi off as a default, but when you got close to a location that you set, it turns the Wi-Fi back on. I have found that works. The problem is that when you leave that location, it doesn't turn itself off again. That makes what could be a set up and forget about it feature, into a feature where you still need to mess with turning the Wi-Fi back off.

So Microsoft has made a great feature that I can easily imagine using all the time, and turned it into something that is far less useful. I certainly hope that they will fix the function so that it turns itself back off when you leave the location.

Second, I hope they set Wi-Fi Geofencing up as a separate feature under Wi-Fi with a toggle switch and a setting button for defining the locations where it is to be used, plus some explanation and a warning that location services need to be on at all times for it to work.

 

[anon(8657436)]

Go to uservoice and submit this idea.

 

[b23h]

Go to uservoice and submit this idea.

That's a good idea. I've actually put it up in Microsoft's forums, but putting it up on uservoice is a good suggestion....

 

[b23h]

I also want to incorporate an idea (and give him credit) by oryan_dunn here at WPC. What he brought up is that there may be some favorite locations in which there is no purpose in turning on the Wi-Fi. His example was that there was no Wi-Fi at his job. However as Cortana no doubt wants to know where his job is, it is listed as a favorite. So a list of toggles of Wi-Fi on or off for the individual locations listed as favorites is a good idea.

 

[anon(8657436)]

Really brilliant. A novel idea. Same for me, my college's lab wifi has most of the sites blocked and i would love to exclude it from automatically connecting.

 

[b23h]

Wi-Fi Geofencing turns itself off when leaving favorite location – Feature Suggestions for Windows Phone

 

[b23h]

Really brilliant. A novel idea. Same for me, my college's lab wifi has most of the sites blocked and i would love to exclude it from automatically connecting.

Yes, having the Wi-Fi turn off automatically when you leave a favorite location and being able to set favorite locations, yet specify that you do not need Wi-Fi at some locations, would really complete the feature for me and make it a very handy and worthwhile feature. It is a nice feature now, but without it turning off when you leave the set location, that becomes a significant deficit.

 

[ilektrolo]

For Cortana and locations part.i think right now she searches for your location every few minutes.i think it would be more wise and battery efficient to monitor accelerometer sensor. If you have your phone on your desk location services will never work, then when you pick up your phone geofencing and location services will work as it is right now.

 

[anon(8657436)]

Yup. Cortana literally EATS up my location services. But it would be better by allowing a custom timing for setting location check. Like every hour or 2 hours maybe.

 

[b23h]

Yup. Cortana literally EATS up my location services. But it would be better by allowing a custom timing for setting location check. Like every hour or 2 hours maybe.

That's an interesting idea. I can imagine some situations where that would be pretty handy. Again as a set it and forget it feature it would allow you to potentially set periods of time through the day and week where you could specify the timing or whether or not location settings are on or not. For example when I am at work or at home, my use of location services would be lower than on my commute to work or back. I am not sure how much I would use that feature in comparison to the Wi-Fi geofencing feature, but I certainly can imagine that it could be a nice feature.

Behind all of this is a question that I really don't have the answer to. What is the battery use of locations services vs. Wi-Fi services? I assume Wi-Fi uses the battery more than Location services does.

 

[b23h]

For Cortana and locations part.i think right now she searches for your location every few minutes.i think it would be more wise and battery efficient to monitor accelerometer sensor. If you have your phone on your desk location services will never work, then when you pick up your phone geofencing and location services will work as it is right now.

SWEET IDEA!!! I like it. I'm not sure that I would say that location services would never check if the accelerometer sensor does not show movement, however you certainly could cut the location polling way back. If it is true that the location polling is every few minutes that could help, perhaps significantly, with battery life. Nice job ilektrolo, that is a very interesting idea...

EDIT: After giving it some thought it strikes me that for me in any case, tying location polling to the accelerometer would not function as desired at work. My phone is invariably on my hip in a holster at work, and while I did a fair amount of sitting, there was a lot of standing up and walking short distances. Typical office work. While I have little understanding of the exact function of the accelerometer, I can imagine that such moving around would quite likely trigger it and therefore in this scenario restart location polling. On the other hand it would work great at night when I am sleeping....

 

[ilektrolo]

Yes with this scenario it will not work as we wanted but definitely locations services will be triggered less times than it is right now but in any way there is room for improvements.

 

[b23h]

I'm a little unsure as to how consistently this feature works for me. I tried it today while I was out doing laundry. I turned off the Wi-Fi. It is set to connect to my home Wi-Fi automatically, which is a hidden and secure (WPA 2) network.

For now I have Wi-Fi Sense turned off.

When I got home the Wi-Fi was on but it did not show a connection. I clicked on the Wi-Fi button in the Notification area which led it to connect. It really was not my intention to prompt the connection when I did that, I simply wanted to verify the connection status. Next time I will check via Settings/Wi-Fi.

My concern is that I really am hoping that it will end up being an entirely "set it up and forget it" feature, and today's experience showed that the Wi-Fi automatically turned on appropriately but did not automatically connect. I will test it again tomorrow...

 

[b23h]

Today's experiment was a clear failure. I verified all the settings and went out for a walk. At maybe a quarter mile from the apartment I turned off the Wi-Fi. As I walked back to the apartment I watched to see if the Wi-Fi would turn on and connect. It had done so on earlier experiments turning on at the end of the driveway (it's a rural area, there's a considerable setback). This time it never turned on, even to the point of not turning on when I got to the apartment. I put it down to the GPS not polling during the time that I was "near" my favorite place within whatever boundry MS has decided "near" is.

I realize that the reductio ad absurdum of this setting if done poorly, could mean that one could never turn off the Wi-Fi at home. That is if home is set up as a favorite location and all the criteria is set for geofencing and the Wi-Fi is off and then the GPS polls to discover that one is at Home, then BAM the Wi-Fi turns on. That would irritate quite a few people. So I assume that MS has set a boundary and when the Wi-Fi setting calls for it to turn on "near a favorite location", they are quite serious about near as opposed to "at".

What if the location services does not poll during that time period that one is "near" (whatever they've decided is near) a favorite location? I was walking, that's not exactly high speed travel, and yet I do not believe that it polled while I was within that "near" boundary (or the feature is just plain buggy).

 

[Lumiamike]

WiFi geo fencing is something that would be my no1 choice for a future feature, I work in or on construction sites where WiFi simply does not exist

 

[b23h]

WiFi geo fencing is something that would be my no1 choice for a future feature, I work in or on construction sites where WiFi simply does not exist

I tend to think that overall it works right now. It may be a little problematic and you may want to verify that it is working, however most of the time it has worked. What is keeping it from being a true "set it and forget it" feature is that it doesn't turn itself off after leaving a favorite location and it would be best to have the ability to fine tune the settings for each favorite location. If you are running 8.1, I'd suggest give it a try. I really hope though that Microsoft fills out the feature so we really can set it and forget it....

 

[b23h]

Worked fine today, turned on and connected without issue. I also got notification from Cortana about a reminder that I had set. One of the big differences is that I got the notification near the apartment instead of at the apartment.

So I am still curious as to how often the location services polls and if it didn't happen to poll when it did but did later when I was actually at home, would the network have turned on or not?

I will still runs tests and post till I have a pretty firm idea of what is happening, but if anyone wants to post their experiences with the feature, I am interested in hearing it.

EDIT: One factor is that I am walking when I do these tests. This actually give the locations services a fair amount of time to track my location. However I don't know if location services is simply a timed event or if it is also tied into the accelerometer. Let's say location services is simply a timed event and this turn on "near my favorite location" is a semi-small band and is designed to not go on when one is at the location as opposed to near it. In that scenario, then if I was driving I can imagine situations where the locations services does not happen to ping while I am in that "near location" band and therefore the feature does not trigger. I'd like to know what the answers are to these questions....

 

[ilektrolo]

I think it is a timed event no matter where you are, otherwise it wouldn't work in all situations. Also without internet connection GPS is not accurate and this could create some problems.

 

[ilektrolo]

Btw for driving... Maybe it is a little of topic but.... In some cars with build in GPS can provide you navigation even if you are underground or you don't have signal. This happens by simply tracking speedometer and wheel positions. It would be nice for Microsoft to cooperate with companies to have these features in your phone when you connect it via Bluetooth's car. Then you will have an ultimate GPS system and accurate location services also it will be a good advertisement and innovating movement!

 

[b23h]

I think it is a timed event no matter where you are, otherwise it wouldn't work in all situations. Also without internet connection GPS is not accurate and this could create some problems.

I would hope that it is also tied into the accelerometer in order to increase the polling rate at higher speeds, otherwise your driving instructions could easily be off. At low speeds or walking, the polling rate can slow down. This sounds rational to me and I would expect that is how it is done, but I cannot guarantee that.

Today's experiment went fine. It was another walk, and approximately a half mile away I turned off the Wi-Fi. As I walked back the Wi-Fi again successfully turned on and connected to my router. Perhaps tomorrow I will drive....