Wi- fi

[judd]

What's the advantage of having wi- fi on smart phones? Have not found any usuage

[fast4522]

At first the importance of the man to make you subscribe and pay, now it is there to use free if available to not impact the carrier network (bandwidth).

[pandy]

Sometimes Wi Fi provides more bandwidth than the available network (sometimes it doesn't).

[JustRalph]

Sometimes Wi Fi provides more bandwidth than the available network (sometimes it doesn't).

Depends on your plan too.

If you are upgrading Apps use your home wifi instead of using up your data plan that charges you

Updating apps is a constant thing anymore. You should never allow apps to update themselves if you are not on an unlimited data plan. They will soak you. They will also drain your battery

There are also games that can be played via your home wifi that can have multiple players in the same house as long as they are on the same network. I have seen kids do this on their phones. They love it. Including a car racing game that looked like great fun, even on a phone

[Hoofless_Wonder]

When my Verizon plan was up a couple of years ago, I found a much cheaper alternative in Kitty Wireless, a Pages Plus reseller. Most plans charge much more for the data, so I grabbed a cheap plan with plenty of voice and texting, and 100 MB of data.

Using wireless at home and at work, I didn't miss it. The only time I "need" data on my smartphone is out and about like out in the country - then the maps application comes in handy for directions.

If you have a decent home network connection along with a decent WiFi router, you'll find Wifi to be faster as well - though on a phone, it's not that big of deal.

One risk to consider is that the free and "open" WiFi available in a lot of public places is not as secure as via the data route of the carrier. I'm glad my new job allowed me to get a Blackberry - much more secure.

[BettinBilly]

......
One risk to consider is that the free and "open" WiFi available in a lot of public places is not as secure as via the data route of the carrier. I'm glad my new job allowed me to get a Blackberry - much more secure.

You are so right, Hoofless. BlackBerry and their proprietary network is incredibly secure. Problem I have is, the web browser is slow as heck compared to other phones. I still have my BlackBerry and love it, but I sometimes pop my SIM card into my new WindowsPhone and enjoy the much larger touch screen, and other great features. But you do sacrifice security.

If your main mission for a Smartphone is communication (Telephone - Text - Email) you can't beat a Berry. Plus I love the QWERTY keyboard.

[Dave Schwartz]

Interesting side note:

We have a great plan with Sprint. Unlimited data with a 2-yr contract, with lots of phones (five).

It turns out that Sprint (like everyone else) is trying to switch everyone into "no-contract" deals. Just so you are aware, these new plans are NOT better. They SEEM better on the surface, but what they are trying to do is get you away from your older plan.

In our case, they would lower the bill by about $50-60 per month, but, in so-doing would take away the "unlimited" deal.

If we got the exact same thing we have now, it would be $100 MORE per month.

Now, admittedly, we do not use the bandwidth - we could actually use a smaller plan and save the $50 - BUT, our bandwidth usage will only go up in the future. (It is low because 3 of the 5 users never even hit 2gb.)

The point: Do not assume that because you will save money this year that the plan is an improvement. Sometimes a contract works to the benefit of the USER. This is one of those times.

[BettinBilly]

That's a good point Dave. If I were you, I'd stay put.

Me? I've been on a Pay-As-You-Go plan for two years now after leaving T-Mo contract. I was paying over $300 a month because I traveled overseas a lot.
Now, I pay $50 a month totally unlimited, and pop in foreign SIM cards for France and England when needed for 5 cents per minute and cheap data.

To the OP;
One major benefit of WiFi with T-Mo or any company that offers VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is you can make WiFi phone calls for free. With T-Mo, it is transparent. Your phone number transfers to the WiFi network. So, if you happen to be in Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, wherever - There is NO CHARGE to call the US via WiFi. That's a big perk. If you don't travel, but you have, say, a 600 minute per month plan, all the calls you make over WiFi do not count toward the 600 minutes. They are free.

And as mentioned multiple times above, WiFi is great for surfing, streaming music, watching videos, and downloading apps because it does not use Phone Data bandwidth, and eat up your Gig allowance.