[lorakrutz]

WIFI? i DONT UNDERSTAND THE FUSS EITHER. I know with Verizon if you buy a blackberry you have to buy a data plan too. You have to according to them. And I have awesome coverage with Verizon and I myself have the unlimited data plan.
I dont know how it is with other carriers but why own a smart phone without a data plan? A smart phone without a Data Plan would be a house without a roof, a swimming pool with no water. It would be useless. just like any other phone

I have WIFI on my HTC 8925 through AT&T but have never even used it and I've had the phone for almost 2 years now. To me personally I don't use the WIFI as I have very good AT&T coverage in my area and an unlimited data plan,so why would I use WIFI? I'm not saying its not a good feature because it is,just for me I don't se a need for it given my needs.

[DustBow]

You use the wifi in addition to the data plan, not in place of.
For people w/o the greatest coverage, dead spots, planes/ships, etc. And many people find a wifi connection faster than their data plan as well.

[DNRuffin]

WiFi means free data overseas, which is why Verizon charges people out the a**, and it's faster than EVDO. When will people learn that just because they have Verizon doesn't mean they don't have to have WiFi?

[RicanMedic78]

WIFI? i DONT UNDERSTAND THE FUSS EITHER. I know with Verizon if you buy a blackberry you have to buy a data plan too. You have to according to them. And I have awesome coverage with Verizon and I myself have the unlimited data plan.
I dont know how it is with other carriers but why own a smart phone without a data plan? A smart phone without a Data Plan would be a house without a roof, a swimming pool with no water. It would be useless. just like any other phone

WIFI is faster than 3g
data overseas/hotels/resorts/airports
primetime2go only downloads via WIFI
airlines wired for WIFI during the actual flights
data for hard to reach places like basements or deep within buildings, residential areas, bad signal areas
WIFI allows for simultanious data/voice on CDMA networks (verizon/sprint)

Among the other reasons listed!

I thought I've repeated these extra perks of wifi so many times that it would just be common knowledge without having to see another thread about why wifi is so important if you have 3g!

If anything, take this post and spread it whenever a thread like this opens up. Everyone needs to and should know there are many many uses for WIFI in high end smart phones regardless of the carrier 3g

repost this till the entire crackberry community understands this and stops asking the same questions without reading!

[Nex_Gen]

why would you not want wi-fi? Faster surfing and possibly being able to surf and talk at the same time.

[KuntreAksent]

It's ok for not having it for now but it would be nice to have

[PBrown222]

three letters

U
M
A

[hossberry]

they should have put WiFi on the 9530
as i live outside of the area for good reception but i whave WiFi threw the cable co
sure would be nice to be able to use the storm at home

[hossberry]

ya if you live in a area where you get a good signal

[RicanMedic78]

three letters

U
M
A

UMA would be great!

[Polychrome]

Aim does work over wifi I believe verizon charges aim as texts so don't lump gsm with that. Wifi offers faster web browsing no network can keep up. A smartphone with no wifi in 2009 is junk.

Only on dumbphones, which actually use TXT to send/receive these messages. The idea is that kids can go AIM crazy on their unlimited text plans and the parents don't have to pay for a data plan.

As for the original topic, ya know, I don't get it either. I've never had a problem using a phone in the building either, and the call center's pretty darn big. I have NEVER seen a significant improvement on wi-fi over cellular on a portable device, and frankly, since everybody and their dog has a wi-fi router in the neighborhood (making connections horribly unpredictable and unstable, even if I mess with the channel), it's actually better if I use a cellular connection at home for my desktop computer.

Yes, technically wi-fi is faster. But the vast majority of portable devices can't handle the extra speed, so it's a moot point.

[RicanMedic78]

Only on dumbphones, which actually use TXT to send/receive these messages. The idea is that kids can go AIM crazy on their unlimited text plans and the parents don't have to pay for a data plan.

As for the original topic, ya know, I don't get it either. I've never had a problem using a phone in the building either, and the call center's pretty darn big. I have NEVER seen a significant improvement on wi-fi over cellular on a portable device, and frankly, since everybody and their dog has a wi-fi router in the neighborhood (making connections horribly unpredictable and unstable, even if I mess with the channel), it's actually better if I use a cellular connection at home for my desktop computer.

Yes, technically wi-fi is faster. But the vast majority of portable devices can't handle the extra speed, so it's a moot point.

you sound like a smart guy. The issue is not only coverage. Please reread my posting above and post your findings, thank you

[arien123]

- To surf the internet Free and Fast internet

[Affiliated]

For me WIFI is an absolute must and the handset can't just be WIFI, it also has to support UMA. In the USA, UMA calling is only offered by T-Mobile and not all of T Mobile's wife phones have UMA (i.e. the new My Touch 3g has wifi but not UMA). All of T Mobile's Blackberry's have Wifi and UMA. As my house is located in an area with very spotty cell coverage (for all providers), UMA is a feature that enables me to make calls over my home wifi network and I always have a strong signal and rarely experience dropped calls. Also, since TMobile is only Edge in my area, Wifi enables me to have fast web speeds. On occasion, my phone does have difficulty joining the wifi network for UMA calling, but I suspect this has more to do with my router. I don't have a TMobile router which supposedly is customized for UMA calling giving priority to calls over data. I did go to a T Mobile Hotspot last week and my phone automatically joined that network without any delays......so I may just switch routers in my house (Currently have an Apple Airport Extreme).

[RicanMedic78]

yea UMA is a nice feature. I'm just sitting here waiting for the next comment about how wifi isnt important because they have a strong 3g singal (grrrrrrr)

[RicanMedic78]

I live in an apartment complex and my laptop picks up about 3 wifi signals with different names. I kind of piggyback off these internet wifi signals but they're all about only 2 bars and they're slow. Is there any accessory I can buy to increase the signal strength for my laptop?

no, the signals ur receiving are other ppls networks in different units around you. SO basically, your stealing because their wifi is most likely not password protected.

If it works, then hey, good for ya. But the only advice to get a better signal is to get closer to the wall that its coming from. There are repeaters, but that has to be installed but the person it belongs to and in their apartment.

Unless u installed one in your home agaist the wall that has the strongest point. I wouldn't advice buying anything since thats not your network and once the user gets wind of it, then might just secure a password leaving u with worthless equipment

[Clavs1]

Wifi is great for me because my curve 8320 doesn't get ANY service where I work at so I'm basically phoneless for 8 hours of the day...no good! So my corp gave me their Wifi connection to use and viola! I have a phone again.

Also, I have little minutes so on Wifi I don't use any of them.

[tony bag o donuts]

Wifi to me is a bonus.....if I have it great. if not, no biggie....but newer phones will have it, so like anything, big brother wants to find a way to make $$ off of it.

[jthoang]

Wifi Is Great

[ALpHa.Q.RoUgH]

I rather have wifi and not need it, then to want wifi and not have it.

[defcon3]

Frankly, I did not quite understand that until I listened to the latest Podcast 039. In it, the three cracketeers explained several possible scenarios for use of WiFi which put a whole different light on it.

Scenario 1: You are a student on campus / working in an office / at home where you can access WiFi connection. Using UMA, you can make free calls without using your plan minutes, stay connected to all IM, Twitter, etc services without using your plan data.

Scenario 2: You are traveling abroad and have access to a WiFi connection. Using this + UMA, your carrier recognizes you as if you are in your home country, i.e. no high roaming charges apply.

Scenario 3: You are at home/office/campus but stuck in a building where reception is poor or missing. Using WiFi connection, you are both connected AND reachable. UMA makes your calls free, as well.

Scenario 4: You have a device which does not support 3G (say the 8900). This means that while you are talking you *cannot* use data or, vice versa, as you have one channel of communication. Now, if you are connected to your carrier AND to a WiFi hotspot, you can use the carrier connection for voice and the WiFi for data (or other way round). Whichever it is, you have a non-3G device which behaves and works like a 3G device - simultaneous voice AND data.

To me the first two alone make WiFi absolutely a must for any future device. Adding the others is simply fantastic.

I am pretty sure that once word gets out and people know of the possible use scenarios, they will understand better the need to have WiFi on devices they buy from now on.

Just my .02

[Riders On The Storm]

It isn't a deal breaker for me, I have the Storm so my choices were no Wifi or no Wifi. As mentioned above it has real potential and with the expansion of wireless networks, in everything from coffee shops to planes, why not? The idea of the Blackberry was to stay connected to the world; why limit those capabilities??

[lynnpudas]

I live in an apartment complex and my laptop picks up about 3 wifi signals with different names. I kind of piggyback off these internet wifi signals but they're all about only 2 bars and they're slow. Is there any accessory I can buy to increase the signal strength for my laptop?

Get your own wifi would be the best solution.

[orimental]

I personally like WiFi better because it's more reliable for me. As long as I'm at a hotspot, the connection is going to be stable. With 3G, even if I'm in a coverage area, it might not always be that strong.

[liqrsicc]

Well its always better 2 have all tha features in 1 device then 2 be lackin, you know???