WIFI without 3G!!

[RoundMan]

So I have heard this question asked before, but not answered...I think. Nonetheless, I bought my trusty Droid on Friday, November 6th (fortunately it was not a dud) and the following Sunday left for Thailand for two weeks and am now in Vietnam. I have been perplexed by the signal fluctuation and the origination of the signal. Thailand currently only uses 2G with 3G coming next year. I actually received a few calls...which I did not answer...but not wanting to kill my battery I was racking my brain on how to turn off 3G while still using WIFI. Well if anyone is interested:

From Home Screen goto Settings>
Wireless and Networks>
Turn on Airplane Mode (this will disable wifi as well)>
Turn Wifi back on with no cell signal

For those of you jumping the gun, I am totally aware that the wifi already takes priority over the 3G signal...this is for overseas use or for areas in which wifi can be used and signal is weak (or not compatible) and may drain the battery.

 

[droid99999]

Oddly enough, as more planes get wifi access, airplane mode will have to be renamed to something else; otherwise a bit of an oxymoron.

So I have heard this question asked before, but not answered...I think. Nonetheless, I bought my trusty Droid on Friday, November 6th (fortunately it was not a dud) and the following Sunday left for Thailand for two weeks and am now in Vietnam. I have been perplexed by the signal fluctuation and the origination of the signal. Thailand currently only uses 2G with 3G coming next year. I actually received a few calls...which I did not answer...but not wanting to kill my battery I was racking my brain on how to turn off 3G while still using WIFI. Well if anyone is interested:

From Home Screen goto Settings>
Wireless and Networks>
Turn on Airplane Mode (this will disable wifi as well)>
Turn Wifi back on with no cell signal

For those of you jumping the gun, I am totally aware that the wifi already takes priority over the 3G signal...this is for overseas use or for areas in which wifi can be used and signal is weak (or not compatible) and may drain the battery.

 

[bigbill25]

Here is an easier way to do this:

1. Press and hold the power button on top of the phone. This will bring up a menu with three options: silent mode, airplane mode, and power off.
2. Choose Airplane mode
3. If you have the Power Control widget on your home screen, just click the WiFi icon to turn the WiFi back on.
4. Done!

--Bill

 

[Fadelight]

Oddly enough, as more planes get wifi access, airplane mode will have to be renamed to something else; otherwise a bit of an oxymoron.

Slightly off topic here but... airplanes get Wifi, but still ban the use of cell phones? What about a VoIP like skype? Or do they want to have their cake and eat it too?

 

[droid99999]

Slightly off topic here but... airplanes get Wifi, but still ban the use of cell phones? What about a VoIP like skype? Or do they want to have their cake and eat it too?

VoIP services are usually banned due to some passengers believing phone calls on an airplane are a nuisance. I assume VoIP is limited by port filtering, bandwidth limiting, or some other technical solution that a determined network engineer could bypass.

 

[taz55]

Slightly off topic here but... airplanes get Wifi, but still ban the use of cell phones? What about a VoIP like skype? Or do they want to have their cake and eat it too?

some may not ban the cell phone In-flight Wi-Fi Access

the site they say you have to go to in order to sign up says it will work with mobile devices, and even has a special pricing for hand held only.