HTC Hero - Free wifi or Internet package?

sasuke8

Hi there everyone.

I've been planning to get the HTC Hero recently but my knowledge of Wifi / 3G isn't that great and would appreciate some help.

There are two deals I'm currently debating over, both about the same price per month taking the phone cost into consideration etc.

Both are also with Vodafone (My first time with Vodafone - switching from 02 - if there are any reasons why I should not go with Vodafone please do not hesitate to say so here):

1.) 300 minutes / Unlimited Text (3000 or so)
2.) 100 Minutes / 500 texts + 500mb Data Internet usage.

I was edging towards no.2, but I know I will most probably talk for more than 100 minutes a month... therefore I would like to ask a few questions about Wifi.

1.) I have heard from a few people online that Wifi does not allow you to do certain things which 3G (The internet package / data usage) will. I thought that Wifi allows you to do the same things except obviously not while you're walking about / out of the Wifi range (from wifi hotspots etc).

I would prefer any insight on using Free Wi-Fi instead of going for the 500mb data usage... since I am edging towards just using Free Wi-fi as I usually have access to Wi-fi at University in most places.

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For HTC Hero users... I've noticed that there is a temperature application / facebook integrated app on the Hero, but without Wifi will app's like these cost me data usage - if so how much?

Not meaning to answer my own questions, but I would have thought that Facebook would require the data usage... but will app's such as the temperature display do so as well? I'm not sure how these app's get there information otherwise.

Thanks for any help everyone, sorry for the messy post as it was quite rushed!

gjchester

sasuke8 wrote: »

Hi there everyone.

I've been planning to get the HTC Hero recently but my knowledge of Wifi / 3G isn't that great and would appreciate some help.

There are two deals I'm currently debating over, both about the same price per month taking the phone cost into consideration etc.

Both are also with Vodafone (My first time with Vodafone - switching from 02 - if there are any reasons why I should not go with Vodafone please do not hesitate to say so here):

1.) 300 minutes / Unlimited Text (3000 or so)
2.) 100 Minutes / 500 texts + 500mb Data Internet usage.

I was edging towards no.2, but I know I will most probably talk for more than 100 minutes a month... therefore I would like to ask a few questions about Wifi.

1.) I have heard from a few people online that Wifi does not allow you to do certain things which 3G (The internet package / data usage) will. I thought that Wifi allows you to do the same things except obviously not while you're walking about / out of the Wifi range (from wifi hotspots etc).

I would prefer any insight on using Free Wi-Fi instead of going for the 500mb data usage... since I am edging towards just using Free Wi-fi as I usually have access to Wi-fi at University in most places.

---

For HTC Hero users... I've noticed that there is a temperature application / facebook integrated app on the Hero, but without Wifi will app's like these cost me data usage - if so how much?

Not meaning to answer my own questions, but I would have thought that Facebook would require the data usage... but will app's such as the temperature display do so as well? I'm not sure how these app's get there information otherwise.

Thanks for any help everyone, sorry for the messy post as it was quite rushed!

Apps do use data. the temperature is probably a weather forcast being downloaded. Something like facebook will be scanning for changes often and use lots of data.

Vodafone used to charge £7.50 a Mb (Yes MB not GB!) but they do a daily cap of 50p, thats £15 a month if you leave the app running. If you forget thats going to be a pricey bill. You may be better spending more so getting the minutes you need and the internet in the cost.

Remember most places WILL NOT have WIFI you can use and the app will revert to data rates unless you turn off all data sessions, and keep them turned off.

sasuke8

gjchester wrote: »

Apps do use data. the temperature is probably a weather forcast being downloaded. Something like facebook will be scanning for changes often and use lots of data.

Vodafone used to charge £7.50 a Mb (Yes MB not GB!) but they do a daily cap of 50p, thats £15 a month if you leave the app running. If you forget thats going to be a pricey bill. You may be better spending more so getting the minutes you need and the internet in the cost.

Remember most places WILL NOT have WIFI you can use and the app will revert to data rates unless you turn off all data sessions, and keep them turned off.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

The vodafone package 2 I have listed includes monthly usage of 500Mb.

Once I get my phone I will find out how to turn off the data usage asap and only keep the Wifi on if I go with deal 1 which excludes the Internet.

How much is 500Mb a month? I heard its not really a lot IF you browse videos / use Skype. I'm still edging towards deal 1 at the moment, but I'm just afraid to 'lose out' on a lot of App's proper usage without the internet deal.

gjchester

sasuke8 wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your reply.

The vodafone package 2 I have listed includes monthly usage of 500Mb.

Once I get my phone I will find out how to turn off the data usage asap and only keep the Wifi on if I go with deal 1 which excludes the Internet.

How much is 500Mb a month? I heard its not really a lot IF you browse videos / use Skype. I'm still edging towards deal 1 at the moment, but I'm just afraid to 'lose out' on a lot of App's proper usage without the internet deal.

The problem is the phone may be difficult to stop data, I've a Sony X1 and that is on line a lot, checking email, and me surfing the web whne out (usually checking prices of things). Best guess is to tweak the data connection settings so it won't connect. That said without seeing the phone I don;t know how hard it is to stop. The T-mobile G1 needed to talk to the Google mothership to be set up...

500MB is not a lot but you probably won't be browsing videos it's not conveninent to do so, it may also not have have the codecs installaed. remember it's a cut down browser not the same as the on on your PC.

You may also find Skype may not work, Vodafone don't want to lose revenue from voice traffic (which skype would so), and they may have throttled the ports it uses so it's not viable.

That may also have modified the phone soft/firmware so you cannot use Wifi as you wish and it default to using the data network (mine did till I re-flashed it) and removed thinks like the Skype client.

To be honest if your going to buy a smartphone you need data, without it you may as well not bother, as it will be just a dumb phone most of the time when your out of wifi range.

Just a whought how often do you have access to free wifi when your out? Would that be viable to use, or just something thats only useful in one location.

sasuke8

gjchester wrote: »

The problem is the phone may be difficult to stop data, I've a Sony X1 and that is on line a lot, checking email, and me surfing the web whne out (usually checking prices of things). Best guess is to tweak the data connection settings so it won't connect. That said without seeing the phone I don;t know how hard it is to stop. The T-mobile G1 needed to talk to the Google mothership to be set up...

500MB is not a lot but you probably won't be browsing videos it's not conveninent to do so, it may also not have have the codecs installaed. remember it's a cut down browser not the same as the on on your PC.

You may also find Skype may not work, Vodafone don't want to lose revenue from voice traffic (which skype would so), and they may have throttled the ports it uses so it's not viable.

That may also have modified the phone soft/firmware so you cannot use Wifi as you wish and it default to using the data network (mine did till I re-flashed it) and removed thinks like the Skype client.

To be honest if your going to buy a smartphone you need data, without it you may as well not bother, as it will be just a dumb phone most of the time when your out of wifi range.

Just a whought how often do you have access to free wifi when your out? Would that be viable to use, or just something thats only useful in one location.

Thanks a lot for the input.

I've already ordered the package without the data plan - 500 mb does not seem like a lot anyway, and I rather have the minutes now.

The main reason is because my University has WiFi just about everywhere and there are a lot of shops which include wifi around it. I'll probably lose out a lot on the apps without the data usage plan, but I'm sure most of my free time will be situated in a wifi spot (Library / Student Guild etc), so I'm not completely disappointed yet.

I guess to be fair I will have to test the phone out for a week. The extra 500 mb usage seemed great I guess, but with my budget, the 100 minutes is really quite limiting.

Since the phone is unlocked, i could always give the sim to my brother and use a different sim on it... are there any cheap pay monthly sim's which have a good internet /minutes/text deal?

Thanks again.

Fork86

If you are always going to be in free Wifi areas, then you are better off going for option 1. Don't worry about apps not working, I'm not sure who told you that, but it is wrong. Wifi will update your facebook contacts and also the weather widget.

You will just miss the flexibility of being out and about and being able to use Google maps or the places directory without incurring data charges (although you could just not use it )

It is extremely easy to turn off the mobile data function (you can place an on/off toggle switch for the GPRS/3G/HDSPA onto your home screen from a selection already on the phone, and this is the same with wifi, GPS and bluetooth.

You may also want to go to settings and de-select the 'always on mobile internet' and also roaming data' if you are extra paranoid

500MB is a lot as long as you aren't thrashing out loads youtube videos every day. It is actually ample if all you are doing is reading emails, loading normal web pages, using facebook and watching a few videos (just not bbc iplayer!)

One youtube video could be anywhere between 1MB to approximately 18MB (For a music video that is a few minutes long).

gjchester

Fork86 wrote: »

If you are always going to be in free Wifi areas, then you are better off going for option 1. Don't worry about apps not working, I'm not sure who told you that, but it is wrong. Wifi will update your facebook contacts and also the weather widget.

It is extremely easy to turn off the mobile data function (you can place an on/off toggle switch for the GPRS/3G/HDSPA onto your home screen from a selection already on the phone, and this is the same with wifi, GPS and bluetooth.

You may also want to go to settings and de-select the 'always on mobile internet' and also roaming data' if you are extra paranoid

As a minor point it may not be easy to turn off data. My SE X1 was hard coded NOT to use WIFI and to always use the data connection for Email and Web connections. That was the set up by Vodafone, and I had to re-flash it to stock firmware to get around it.
Although I don't use messenger that too was hard coded to only use data connections regardless of it there was WIFI present, again hard coded by vodafone and needed to be re-flashed to reset it.

All depends if the operator wanted to "brand" it to use there services, rather than let you choose what you want. Just turning it off may not be enough.

Fork86

I've got the Hero on Orange and it is easy to turn off the data... One click infact

It is the same for my friends unbranded Hero on Vodafone.

Being the paranoid person I am, I even checked my data usage over 3 days to make sure it was actually turned off and it was.

Also, another tip for those wanting a Hero. Check your firmware version on the phone. If it isn't 2.73, download it from the HTC website (if on Orange, download the one specifically for Orange branded handsets). It makes a huge difference to the speed and smoothness of the phone.

gjchester

Fork86 wrote: »

It is the same for my friends unbranded Hero on Vodafone.

Thats my point, most operators would prefer to stuff the user experience if they thing they can get a little more revenue from the phone user, which is probably why my X1 was hard coded to use the data connection.

Fork86

Hmmm, pretty sneak eh?

Good thing the OP is going for a Hero.

On as side note, the SE X3 looks bloody fantastic with android! (not the X2, that's on Win Mo )

sasuke8

Thanks for all the input guys.

Ordered my phone from mobiles.co.uk, my first 3rd party site contract.

The other thread, "HTC HERO - mobiles.co.uk", shows my activities - ordered the phone this morning so hopefully it should come tomorrow