vB Easy Archive - Wifi on BB opinions?

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Wifi on BB opinions?
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Posted by: Don Q

I read a report that basically said that the wifi on the bb was not that much better than over edge. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

Posted by: CarlGalgano

Hi Don, as most things it depends. I mean, how much faster does your email need to get pushed to you? That being said, I think Wifi on a berry is awesome. The biggest reason I want (need) wifi on my berry is for time when I lose cell coverage. I do a lot of work in customer's data center where i often lose my signal. Also my house is very solidly built and I have issues with a signal sometimes. So, the ability for my BB to switch seamlessly between my Wifi AP at home and the carrier's network is very nice indeed. I also get no signal whatsoever in my basement, and Wifi takes care of this issue.

I am on ATT, so of course the Wifi only helps me for data access, not for voice. But if you are on TMobile, you can use their UMA service and do voice over wifi.

Lastly, the web browsing experince is much faster over Wifi.

I have had Blackberries for the past few years, but moved to use a Nokia E90 for 2 months. I was disappointed when a Wifi BB did not come out by July. But I quickly moved back to a BB when the 8820 came along.

Not everyone needs wifi, but I do.

Posted by: GregGebhardt

They have not tried it. Data thruput is MUCH faster with WiFi than EDGE. There is not even a close race. My 8820 pumps data and loads pages so much faster on WiFi that it is a joke to even compare the two.

But you are still looking at the same screen and I have never liked doing the internet on a Blackberry. What I do like about Blackberry is getting my mail and it does not require a fast connection to do that!

Posted by: sjohns2

I will also agree that my non scientific tests on my BB 8820 confirm that the speeds are MUCH faster via WiFi than when I'm browsing the internet using Edge. Whomever said that it was basically the same speeds is really misinformed or was using Edge when they thought they were using WiFi.

Posted by: Irish Rose

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjohns2

I will also agree that my non scientific tests on my BB 8820 confirm that the speeds are MUCH faster via WiFi than when I'm browsing the internet using Edge. Whomever said that it was basically the same speeds is really misinformed or was using Edge when they thought they were using WiFi.

I found a video that was done by Boy Genius, where he demonstrates his findings that EDGE was faster at loading web pages than the Wi-Fi was.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2007...dge-speed-test/

Posted by: superfire

Does iSkoot (Skype Client) work on the Wifi connection?

If it works, it might be a good reason to have a wifi phone too.

So far, I understand you can get email and browse from BB on Wifi connection. However, if these two are not important to you, wifi BB might not be your choice.

Posted by: Moderator HF 7

I get very quick WiFi speeds compared to EDGE speeds with my BlackBerry 8320.

Posted by: superfire

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moderator HF 7

I get very quick WiFi speeds compared to EDGE speeds with my BlackBerry 8320.

Are you using the browser?

I have not heard any 3rd party apps support WiFi connection on 8320

Posted by: Moderator HF 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by superfire

Are you using the browser?

I am using the default browser for WiFi browsing.

Posted by: sjohns2

I'm not really sure about the BoyGen test

because I ran the same test with my 8820, cleaning the cache and loading cnet.com. I used my stopwatch and with Edge, cnet.com was fully loaded in 21 seconds. After cleaning the cache again and switching to WiFi, cnet.com loaded in 13 seconds. As I stated in my previous post, WiFi on my 8820 is MUCH FASTER than Edge. I know 8 seconds don't sound like much, but when you're browsing through multiple web pages and there is an 8 second difference in loading time for each page, that time starts to add up.

Posted by: NJBlackBerry

I use both the BlackBerry Browser and Opera Mini (beta 4) and the WiFi feels MUCH quicker than EDGE. No comparison.

Posted by: superfire

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

I use both the BlackBerry Browser and Opera Mini (beta 4) and the WiFi feels MUCH quicker than EDGE. No comparison.

So I assume Opera Mini (beta 4? I thought it is v4 beta 2) uses wifi connection too?

Posted by: dgburns

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjohns2

I'm not really sure about the BoyGen test

Me neither. Not sure why BG seems to think comparing an 8320 to an 8300 is any indicator of how an 8820 would perform??? A valid comparison would be an 8820 side by side with an 8800.

Posted by: Soul Rebel

Quote:

Originally Posted by superfire

So I assume Opera Mini (beta 4? I thought it is v4 beta 2) uses wifi connection too?

Yes, I just downloaded it today. Many great new features too.

Posted by: finder5416

I have to say, that i'm very dissapointed with wifi. my real life results mirrors boygenius.

Posted by: sjohns2

Quote:

Originally Posted by finder5416

I have to say, that i'm very dissapointed with wifi. my real life results mirrors boygenius.

It really must be something with your WiFi signal if your testing this at home. As stated above my test (in 2 different WiFi areas) loaded pages about 8 seconds faster on WiFi than it did on Edge. And I did run this test on my home WiFi set up and at a campus resturant set up.
I'm not blown away with the WiFi speeds, but it is faster than Edge.