Wifi advice on mda

jazzthehound

I am considering getting the vodafone v1605 (also on t-mobile and o2 under different guises) as I want to connect to the net via wifi. I will be travelling extensively soon and thought it would be handy for email and posting blogs and a journal. I assumed that I could connect to the internet via wi-fi at no additional charge from vodafone. Obviously I would probably have to pay for use of the wi-fi to whoever is proviving it if it isn't free in the hotels etc but the salesman in the vodafone shop advised me I would have to pay for any pages that are downloaded on the phone. I thought this was a load of rubbish but he has cast doubts in my mind so I thought I would check with you experts. I will not go ahead with the purchase of this mda as if I have to pay such charges abroad as it would not be at all worth it. Anyone who has used this phone for similar tasks while in different parts of the world and can advise or anyone that just knows the facts that can let me know would be great. Much appreciated.

banger9365

well i have a MDA vario ll on t-mobile and have it set up to connect to my/and my fathers, brothers router just like wifi and it connects put if it loses connection to any one it go's in to 3g mode or gprs mode and it tells you first .on t-mobile you can have wifi hotspots put on your account for £10 a month for us in the uk put i do not now about abroad .
you only pay if you us 3g or gprs to connect to the net or about £10 a day on someone else wifi hot spot (Eg BT Openzone and the others)
this site shows you where they are http://www.myhotspots.co.uk/

Matt_Nixon

I was going to buy one until I came across the XDA Orbit (AKA HTC Artemis) the only downside is no hardware keyboard, but the built in GPS/Wifi/Bluetooth is fantastic, best PDA phone yet IMHO.

Don't buy the T Mobile variant as it's had it's Wifi knobled, so you have to buy webnwalk!

Had mine two months now, couldn't be without it.

Anon

Further information on XDA/MDA/QTEC/HTC etc on www.xda-developers.com. The discussion boards and download area include different versions of the software for updating/amending/unlocking your unit (though caution required when doing anything like that!).

Anon

faza20

Hi jazzthehound

I work for Vodafone and may be able to help.

If you are connecting to the internet through wi-fi there is no charge involved from Vodafone. The reason is that as you are not using the mobile network, we cannot charge you. You will have to pay if you are connecting through a connection that charges for it's wi-fi access (ie - a hotel).

The only time Vodafone will charge you is if you are connecting through GPRS instead of wi-fi (in which case a speech bubble will appear saying "connecting to GPRS").

Hope this helps

Skilgannon_2

Can the P990i and W950 be used to connect to the Internet by WIFI, and could these phones be used to connect to a wireless network (at home or work) for free.

jazzthehound

Brilliant. Thank You all for you advice and help. Will more than likely get the phone with vodafone now. Cheers.

faza20

Skilgannon wrote:

Can the P990i and W950 be used to connect to the Internet by WIFI, and could these phones be used to connect to a wireless network (at home or work) for free.

Hi Skilgannon

The P990 can, the W950 can't (the w950 doesn't have wi-fi).

To connect on the P990, all you do is turn on your wi-fi, press scan, and select the wi-fi network you want to connect to. At this point it will then ask you for a password if needed. It will take around 10 seconds of saying 'busy' in a small box on screen, which will then say 'connected'.

I use the P990 myself, and can honestly say I've never encountered any problems connecting to my home wi-fi network.

Skilgannon_2

Cheers Faza. Can the P990 revert to the networks internet connection, or will it permanently be using the wireless connection?

faza20

No problem Skilgannon.
To revert it back, all you do is go into connections, and disable the wi-fi. Or, you can run the wi-fi at the same time, provided you press disconnect.

The only thing I've found which is slightly annoying is you can't set a seperate homepage for when you connect through wi-fi instead of the mobile network, meaning it will try to load up Vodafone Live etc, then fail, as your not going through the Vodafone portal. You can change your homepage to something else, ie - https://www.google.co.uk, but then when you want Vodafone Live, you have to manually enter it into the goto option.:undecided

Apart from that though the handset itself is great, got Blackberry and Tomtom 6 running on mine without any problems what so ever so far.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.