Who Needs WiFi?

Jerry Raia · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject: Who Needs WiFi?

I have noticed from time to time people complaining about the lack of WiFi on some Smartphones. My question is this: Do you really need it? Data plans are getting cheaper and most of the time you need to subscribe to someone like T-Mobile to get WiFi in places like Starbucks. The Samsung i607 resurrected this issue again. Granted WiFi can be much faster but I find myself never missing it. None of the devices I currently own have WiFi. Even at home when I had the 8125 (Pocket PC Phone) which had WiFi I almost never used it. I would enjoy hearing some feedback on this issue.
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Mike Temporale · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:46 pm Post subject:

I'm guilty of this myself. Back before WiFi was an option, it was a must have for me and I bought the very first phone to hit the streets that offered it. At first, I used it all the time. But after a while I my usage started to drop, and now, I can't even recall the last time I used it.

It's not that I don't like it. I sure do. I wish it was faster and easier to turn on and connect to a hotspot. I also noticed that it would drain my battery pretty quick if I had it on for any length of time.

I voted for nice to have, because I would like the option, but it's not as big a deal as it once was. Confused

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palmsolo · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:51 pm Post subject: Good question

I picked up a SP5m last year that had WiFi and swore I wouldn't get another converged device without it again. While it is cool to have and can be useful at times, after honestly looking at my usage patterns over the last year I rarely use the WiFi radio on the SP5m or my Nokia E61. The only time I use it a log is on the Nokia N91 to download lots of podcasts using their podcatching application for later listening in the vanpool.

I have been using the Samsung i320 for a week now and really don't miss WiFi. If I am going to be at home where I have WiFi then I am going to use my MacBook or my UMPC to surf, email, etc. rather than draining my Smarthones battery.

And now as 3G continues to roll out I seriously think that WiFi can be left out of these phones and more emphasis can be placed on improving battery life.
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HalM · Smartphone Ponderer Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 100

+1 what Palmsolo said.

I was really excited about having WiFi when I got my SP5. Set it up at home but quickly ask "why?". I had my laptop there. Well then certainly I will use it at clients. There I discovered they may, or may not, want to add my device to their security lists and / or give me a WEP key. WiFi became a real PITA. Keep in mind that I am a business user. All I really want is voice, my Exchange email and some light surfing. Everything else is gravy.

So, given my choice between WiFi and 3G, 3G will win every time.

qyv42 · Smartphone Pupil Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 14

One thing overlooked by all posters so far: what if you want data access but have no reception? My house has poor reception with all four major US cellular carriers (yes, I tried them all in the past year), and my workplace has lots of dead zones as well. So WiFi for me isn't about the speed, though that's nice, it's about actually getting connected!

Jerry Raia · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject:

MitchellO · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:22 pm Post subject:

I had the KJAM and SP5, and I loved WiFi in both of them. The main reason behind that is that I didn't have a reasonable GPRS rate, or any kind of data plan, so WiFi was the only way I could do any medium to heavy surfing on my phone. Admittedly, I used WiFi a lot more on my KJAM (and XDA II Mini with SD WiFi) than on the SP5 because of the larger and touchable screen.

I now have a Sony M600i which is good, but I find I am still missing WiFi. Fortunately, my new service provider, 3, offer free email with unlimited number of messages and MB of download (only for email though), which covers the majority of my usage. For surfing mobile PPCT, Gadgeteer or Slashdot, I have a small 10MB data addon for my account ($5 for 10MB, as opposed to pay per kb, which worked out at $40 for 10MB) which suits me fine for the moment.

But I am still looking forward to getting a Windows Mobile Phone (I am hoping on the Hermes atm) with builtin WiFi for the times where I can use it.
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bshpmark · Smartphone Ponderer Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 68

I thought Wi-Fi would be great. I could connect my in-car laptop to the Internet through it with my SDA. Wrong! I didn't realize until after I bought it that the modem feature would only work over GPRS and EDGE. Plus, I discovered that in many instances, EDGE was actually faster for me than Wi-Fi. So Wi-Fi has become a nice toy to play with when there is nothing else to do. I can take it or leave it.

But for those who actually need it for the connectivity as mentioned above, I can see the need for it.

HalM · Smartphone Ponderer Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 100

cromdubh · Smartphone Neophyte Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 5

I would miss my wifi....coming in from work very early in the morning its easier to pick up my email from my pda, without having to turn on my pc. Plus I use it for watching movies streamed over my home network....so no wifi...no buy