Mobile internet speeds. Whats best?

findingmyownway

Afternoon

I am in the process of choosing new phone (am thinking of the blackberry pearl). I am confused about the different methods the phones seem to have to connect to the internet.

wif-fi, EDGE, GPRS, 3G etc etc - whats the difference and which are best?

I think the blackberry pearl comes in 8100, 8110, 8120 and 8130 versions but im not sure which would be best for me. Only the 8120 has wi-fi. All but the 8130 have EDGE. Only 8110 and 8130 have GPS

i am confused

i want to be able to browse the internet & receive emails efficiently. any ideas which is best?

taff007

OK, this may not be technically accurate but from my experience with a blackberry 8820:

GPRS - 2G technology with coverage wherever you can get a mobile signal. Speed wise is pretty poor, seems to be along the lines of the dial-up but certainly usable for light internet surfing on my blackberry.

EDGE - 2.5G technology with limited coverage, seems to be in the bigger towns and cities (around South Wales anyway). Speed slightly better than GPRS, although the for the sites I tend to browse to on my BB not really noticeable.

3G - Much faster connections, but growing network coverage - See phone companies websites. Not sure if any Blackberries are currently 3G?

Wifi - Only available where there is a wi-fi signal, such as your home router or at wi-fi hotspots around the country (starbucks etc if you have an account). Speed will depend on their network connection, but generally will be 'broadband' speed. I have an account with btopenzone and have used their sites with no problems.

In terms of what is best, then it would be wi-fi, 3G, EDGE and then GPRS, but you probably don't have much of a choice as it will depend on what is available where you use the phone. For e-mails it doesn't matter how you connect, and you never need to worry as it does it all for you, but it will make a difference for internet browsing.

As for the Blackberry, obviously for e-mails it is an amazing device and I'm not sure how I lived without it now. But I'm not so impressed with its internet capabilities as the screen is fairly small and it's just a bit 'fiddly'. It certainly doesn't replace my laptop.

sjc_2

What email system are you using, so you can make sure it is compatible with the device?

If it's Outlook & Internet Mail you couldn't go far wrong with a Pocket PC type phone utilising HSDPA Connectivity which is 3.5G in theory. Best for coverage would be T-Mobile on Web n Walk but O2 are also offering it now but don't have as large a HSDPA Network as T-Mobile.

Depends upon you usage for the device really. I recently went for an O2 Xda Orbit 2 which I use for email and Web, the large screen is excellent for web browsing and email I use is via Outlook so covered there as well plus comes with in built GPS and Co-Pilot 7 so all angels covered off. For me anyway.

mobile-bits

findingmyownway wrote: »

Afternoon

I am in the process of choosing new phone (am thinking of the blackberry pearl). I am confused about the different methods the phones seem to have to connect to the internet.

wif-fi, EDGE, GPRS, 3G etc etc - whats the difference and which are best?

I think the blackberry pearl comes in 8100, 8110, 8120 and 8130 versions but im not sure which would be best for me. Only the 8120 has wi-fi. All but the 8130 have EDGE. Only 8110 and 8130 have GPS

i am confused

i want to be able to browse the internet & receive emails efficiently. any ideas which is best?

I think if you are looking at e-mail, BlackBerry is the best solution.

8100 is original BlackBerry Pearl and has now been replaced by the newer varients, 8110 has GPS, 8120 has Wi-Fi and instead of 8130 I think you prob mean 8310 which has full QWERTY keyboard. All of the mentioned handsets have EDGE, BlackBerry is very fast even withough 3G as it compresses data massively, i.e. 1mb picture typically becomes 20kb!

Robert