1. mconk's Avatar
    Hey guys,

    Over the weekend I got the chance to play with a Storm2 for more than 5 minutes(in a VZW store), as my Uncle was visiting for the Holidays, and had recently purchased one.

    Being a Tour user, the first thing I wanted to check out was WIFI. I turned it on using Manage Connections, found out hot spot, and connected. Where the phone normally displays the network name (Verizon Wireless) in its place was now my wireless network. Excellent.

    So I downloaded Opera Mini 5 beta 2, and started surfing. I also payed inside the BB browser for a bit as well, for comparison. I did not notice ANY difference having WIFI enabled. I thought I may have been doing something wrong, so I turned off the 3G connection, however noticed WIFI would not work unless connected to the VZW network. Then I remembered how BIS worked, and obviously this makes sense. But something still didnt feel right.

    All the while, the WiFi icon was lit up white in the top right corner, and it was showing my network as connected...so what gives? The entire time using my WiFi hotspot, it felt like I was just using a 3G connection over the VZW network...even when using Opera, and Bolt third party browsers. I havent much played with WiFi on anything other than an iPod Touch...so I really wasnt sure what to expect - but was alittle bit disappointed with the performance of the S2 on my WiFi network. I still feel like it wasnt even taking advantage of the network, and was routing through the 3G VZW dats network.

    Any ideas??

    Oh, btw...first thing I noticed was that BING had take over the BB browser...looks like the reported $500 million dollar deal between m$oft and big red is rolling out. Bummer for vzw users!
    12-29-09 07:46 PM
  2. xxplosive82's Avatar
    Actually, my downloads with wi-fi are noticeably faster. Wi-fi also let's you use voice and data simeltaneously. Lastly, if you get bad reception in a certain area, you can still use data (if wi-fi is available).

    Even though browsing isn't faster, I love wi-fi on the Storm2.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    12-29-09 07:57 PM
  3. howarmat's Avatar
    this was discussed in a couple other threads and i will give you the short version

    white/black wifi icon = connected to WIFI and BIS
    grey/black wifi icon = connected to wifi but the BIS is not connected via wifi. If may be connected thru the VZW network though.

    your radio can be turned off or on and it will still run thru WIFI

    to check go to manage connections>service status and you can see how everything is connected

    If you change the default browser to the "hotspot browser" it has to have a wifi connection as it solely runs thru wifi then.

    Now for your experience. Sometimes the 3g network is just as fast as WIFI. I was back at my parents this weekend and they have a VZW tower very close and it would not have many people connected to is. I was getting 3000 kbs via just the 3G network. I tried my WIFI connection at their place and got around the same.

    At my place my VZW 3G signal only gives me ~1000 kbs when i tested it last and my wifi over 3000 kbs.

    So it all depends on the WIFI network and 3G network you are testing on really. I will agree that the WIFI on teh S2 is not the greatest but it still works pretty good
    Last edited by howarmat; 12-29-09 at 08:09 PM.
    12-29-09 08:02 PM
  4. mconk's Avatar
    Hmm...unless you have spotty data service over the network, and have access to wi-fi at that location, idk if i really see the need for it just yet. Dont get me wrong, I would love to have wifi on my Tour, but it just didnt seem to really benefit me, at all. Oh well...
    12-29-09 08:04 PM
  5. paintdrinkingpete's Avatar
    Howarmat pretty much cleared it up, but I was going to mention the "Hotspot Browser" as well. Using the "Hotspot Browser", you should be able to load pages with the wireless network off and WIFI on.
    12-29-09 08:08 PM
  6. itsdollar's Avatar
    Its a difference for me when downloading at home and using a hotspot at work (office building). It was really nice during the outage also. I find myself using it automatically at home now because it's faster than my 3G connection at home
    12-29-09 08:13 PM
  7. mconk's Avatar
    Thanks for the knowledgeable reply - I don't really lurk the S2 threads as much as I should...when connected, I had the white/black icon. When I turned the 3G radio off, I could not load any webpages through the BB browser or in Opera. I thought this was odd. I also did not see any wifi-specific bb browser as you mentioned below, but then again it may have been hidden. I didnt think to do any speed tests. Looking back, I wish I would have downloaded one of the speed test apps - ah well. I was mainly just wondering how people really felt about using wifi on the s2...my experience clearly was not much of a positive one. All I can say is that it work as well as vzw's 3g. Anyway, I will read more into this on the forums here and check it all out. Thanks again

    this was discussed in a couple other threads and i will give you the short version

    white/black wifi icon = connected to WIFI and BIS
    grey/black wifi icon = connected to wifi but the BIS is not connected via wifi. If may be connected thru the VZW network though.

    your radio can be turned off or on and it will still run thru WIFI

    to check go to manage connections>service status and you can see how everything is connected

    If you change the default browser to the "hotspot browser" it has to have a wifi connection as it solely runs thru wifi then.

    Now for your experience. Sometimes the 3g network is just as fast as WIFI. I was back at my parents this weekend and they have a VZW tower very close and it would not have many people connected to is. I was getting 3000 kbs via just the 3G network. I tried my WIFI connection at their place and got around the same.

    At my place my VZW 3G signal only gives me ~1000 kbs when i tested it last and my wifi over 3000 kbs.

    So it all depends on the WIFI network and 3G network you are testing on really. I willa gree that the WIFI on teh S2 is not the greatest but it still works pretty good
    12-29-09 08:14 PM
  8. cmpdblue's Avatar
    this was discussed in a couple other threads and i will give you the short version

    white/black wifi icon = connected to WIFI and BIS
    grey/black wifi icon = connected to wifi but the BIS is not connected via wifi. If may be connected thru the VZW network though.

    your radio can be turned off or on and it will still run thru WIFI

    to check go to manage connections>service status and you can see how everything is connected

    If you change the default browser to the "hotspot browser" it has to have a wifi connection as it solely runs thru wifi then.

    Now for your experience. Sometimes the 3g network is just as fast as WIFI. I was back at my parents this weekend and they have a VZW tower very close and it would not have many people connected to is. I was getting 3000 kbs via just the 3G network. I tried my WIFI connection at their place and got around the same.

    At my place my VZW 3G signal only gives me ~1000 kbs when i tested it last and my wifi over 3000 kbs.

    So it all depends on the WIFI network and 3G network you are testing on really. I will agree that the WIFI on teh S2 is not the greatest but it still works pretty good
    Great "cliff notes" reply....thanks !!!

    Here's a silly question - I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but if you are connected via wi-fi and your radio is off, can you still received calls, or will you be connected via data only ??
    12-30-09 02:51 PM
  9. sc3800gsx's Avatar
    My WiFi is noticeably faster than 3G in my area. Hard to tell with the BB browser as I dont use it often enough, but with opera my phone flies.

    Must have been configured wrong or something and was still pulling from the 3G network, would make sense why it didnt work with the network off. Just because its white and connected to the router doesnt really mean its pulling a signal.
    Last edited by sc3800gsx; 12-30-09 at 03:36 PM.
    12-30-09 03:16 PM
  10. howarmat's Avatar
    Great "cliff notes" reply....thanks !!!

    Here's a silly question - I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but if you are connected via wi-fi and your radio is off, can you still received calls, or will you be connected via data only ??
    with radio off you can not get calls
    12-30-09 05:25 PM
  11. cmpdblue's Avatar
    with radio off you can not get calls
    That's what I thought...thanks.
    12-30-09 05:55 PM
  12. mconk's Avatar
    Then how do you know for certain its even working? This is what I was trying to figure out. As I stated in the OP, where the phone usually displays the vzw network, it did display my wifi network...so naturally I assumed it was connected, and on. Under manage connections, I manually set up the network, selected my hotspot, got an IP, and it switched over from vzw wireless to my ntwk. With the radio on and wifi on, how can you really determine where its pulling from? If wifi is on and connected, one would think it would use this source. When I tried disabling the radio, opera and the bb browser just hung...the blue status bar in the bb browser was going so slowly that I assumed I had to have the radio on, and turned it back on as a resut. On my ipod, I have no issue peaking at 10MB at any given time...so I'm not sure where the issue was. Ill have to give it a go again...

    My WiFi is noticeably faster than 3G in my area. Hard to tell with the BB browser as I dont use it often enough, but with opera my phone flies.

    Must have been configured wrong or something and was still pulling from the 3G network, would make sense why it didnt work with the network off. Just because its white and connected to the router doesnt really mean its pulling a signal.
    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    12-30-09 09:29 PM
  13. DoctorNeutron's Avatar
    Definitely true: with Browser set to Hotspot and the wireless network OFF, you may surf with your Browser. use Opera, WSJ, and Reuters; you may use your Johnathan Fisher Storm Launchers. Doctor Neutron
    12-30-09 09:39 PM
  14. itsdollar's Avatar
    If you turn off the radio and the wifi is connected, you should browse with no problem just can't use bookmarks or receive calls. The easiest way is to change the browser in advanced options to hotspot browser and if you can surf, wifi is connected. Like someone else said, it's not the best but good if you need it. The speedtest app or a download will tell the true story.
    12-30-09 09:42 PM
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