I have WIFI but I use the edge network

[Popdevil]

I know everyone is talking about the wifi and that is the hot thing now. I don't really care about wifi. I care about the edge network. I've had so many other devices that had built in wifi and they were nice but didn't help too much when you were in the car on the highway or some place that didn't have a wifi connection. I got the iphone because of the edge network. I don't even use the wifi at home because I'm at home, I'll just use my laptop to send/receive or to surf the internet.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad it has wifi and the wifi hotspots are nice but more people need to understand that with edge you can always get your information.

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by Popdevil

I know everyone is talking about the wifi and that is the hot thing now. I don't really care about wifi. I care about the edge network. I've had so many other devices that had built in wifi and they were nice but didn't help too much when you were in the car on the highway or some place that didn't have a wifi connection. I got the iphone because of the edge network. I don't even use the wifi at home because I'm at home, I'll just use my laptop to send/receive or to surf the internet.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad it has wifi and the wifi hotspots are nice but more people need to understand that with edge you can always get your information.

I feel almost exactly the opposite.

I love having WiFi on my iPhone. I use it where I can, and EDGE the rest of the time. The seamless transition from WiFi/EDGE works great.

In addition, I do use WiFi at home--quite a bit really. As an example if I'm sitting in the kitchen I probably wouldn't want to bring out the laptop just to check a Website or my email. The iPhone is easy, fast, and renders Web pages much better than any portable device I've owned in the past. And it does it even better via WiFi.

For me EDGE is just a fall back. Definitely glad to have it of course, and do use it daily when I'm not in WiFi range.

Finally, it's not always true that with EDGE you "can always get your information." I was in a large metal-roofed store the other day, in an area of town where at&t coverage is already weak, and couldn't rely on EDGE. But WiFi was available so I was still able to access the Internet. A better way to put it IMO is: With both WiFi and EDGE you have a better chance of accessing the Internet than having either of them alone. Or something like that...


--
Mike

[Popdevil]

Originally Posted by Tinman

A better way to put it IMO is: With both WiFi and EDGE you have a better chance of accessing the Internet than having either of them alone. Or something like that...Mike

I would agree with that. Having both is the best way. I guess when I'm out I'm not looking for WiFi, I just use the iphone with the edge network to check mail or surf.

I also think I have a pretty good Edge network connection because it seems nearly as fast as WiFi.

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by Popdevil

I would agree with that. Having both is the best way. I guess when I'm out I'm not looking for WiFi, I just use the iphone with the edge network to check mail or surf.

I also think I have a pretty good Edge network connection because it seems nearly as fast as WiFi.

Or you have a pretty crappy WiFi connection.

But seriously, you do bring up a good point: it's not really time-effective to spend 5 minutes finding/joining WiFi networks ("oops, that one doesn't work, let me try this one...") when the thing you are trying to do would be complete in 1 or 2 minutes via EDGE.

So I mostly look for good WiFi networks to remember for auto-reconnect and "forget" the WLANs that don't work. If I am in a new area I don't bother with it if I am doing something quick. But if it's something more involved I will check for WiFi availability first (I leave Ask to Join Networks off 100% of the time, so I am not bothered with popups).


--
Mike

[PhatKid]

I was thinkin, kinda in line with this, about how people say Edge on iPhone is so slow compared with how fast their phones download web pages. However, they fail to realize that most of the time, those phones are downloading special phone web pages instead of full websites like the iPhone. Granted, 3G would be very nice, but seeing as how many WiFi spots are available and the not-too-sucky-to-live-withness of Edge, it's not as big of a hassle as many would think (at least to me).

[Popdevil]

Originally Posted by Tinman

it's not really time-effective to spend 5 minutes finding/joining WiFi networks ("oops, that one doesn't work, let me try this one...") when the thing you are trying to do would be complete in 1 or 2 minutes via EDGE.

Yes this is one of the reasons I use Edge when I'm out and about.

Originally Posted by Tinman

So I mostly look for good WiFi networks to remember for auto-reconnect and "forget" the WLANs that don't work. If I am in a new area I don't bother with it if I am doing something quick.

I like that idea. I may do the same. If I have a good WiFi I'll keep it and only use it when I know I'm in the area that has it. Other times, Edge will work just fine.