I think it's probably similar to the Wii's "always on" function which basically meant that if you had it turned on the Wii could get updates and messages even when in sleep mode as long as it was plugged in. You could always turn that off in the Wii though, will probably be the same in the 3DS.GiantRaven said:wi-fi that you can't turn off (or at least, I assume that's what 'always on' means)