• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
Ok bare in mind I'm a newbie to smartphones...technophobic and well into my 50's.....So silly question of the day..Here goes...If I can access the web, send email etc etc with wi-fi turned off why do I need wi-fi on the phone? I don't really understand this. Should I have wi-fi turned on always? Do most people keep it turned on? What are the pro's and cons of having it always on? THanks.l
 
erm, he never mentioned anything about edge connections tho... You'd be seriously hard pressed to have to use edge on your Desire in the UK. The connections most used are 3G and H (HSDPA). Both are significantly faster than edge.

(Dastardly, if the above is nonsense to you don't worry, you don't have to know what i'm talking about)... Except that in order of speed, the signals you will get are:

1: H (may show as 3G+) Fastest
2: 3G Fast
3: G slow

Ok bare in mind I'm a newbie to smartphones...technophobic and well into my 50's.....So silly question of the day..Here goes...If I can access the web, send email etc etc with wi-fi turned off why do I need wi-fi on the phone? I don't really understand this. Should I have wi-fi turned on always? Do most people keep it turned on? What are the pro's and cons of having it always on? THanks.l

Basically because of speed and network limits of 3G usage.

1: wifi is much much faster than 3g. You can download much faster, read emails faster, stream videos faster, anything to do with the internet is faster on wifi.

2: No data plan is unlimited, there is always a maximum amount you are allowed to download via your mobile data connection. People may wish to to data heavy things like downloading videos or refreshing their rss feeds over a wifi connection. This lets them use their limited data connection for when they are out and about.


Don't leave the wifi connection on all the time. Only turn it on when you know you are going to use a wifi connection. Leaving it on when no wifi is around will use up more battery as the phone is always checking to see if there is a signal it can connect to.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dastardley
Upvote 0
Ok, sorry.

The internet you already have working is over your mobile network. It will be '3G' so will be fairly speedy as far as being on the move goes (most likely not the slow 'edge' connection mentioned before)

Now the signal might not be great in some places (eg big office buildings) and it is also possible that your mobile provider might limit the amount you can download in a month. The limit might in fact be quite low depending on your plan.

At work and or home you probably have a fixed line, faster, more reliable internet connection. You also possibly don't have a limit on downloads on these connections or if you do the limit is probably higher.

Wifi allows you to share these connections with your phone (presuming you have it setup with Wifi or your work does). Wifi is fairly short range so you only use it when you're nearby. This will be faster than 3G etc.

You might also use public Wifi available in cafes etc but in practice I dont bother.

Hope that helps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dastardley
Upvote 0
Around here HSPA+ coverage is great I have 6 GB/month of data but I still use wifi when I'm at home. Basically I've got:

Cable: 10 mbps, 200 gb cap, 10-20 ms latency
Hspa: 3-5 mbps, 6 gb cap, 50-60 ms latency

I don't really need to use the wifi at home but browsing and downloads are snappier. Sometimes I will forget to even turn on wifi. One thing I do need wifi for is pulling files over network shares, way more convenient than plugging in. If I had worse 3G speeds or caps than I do I'd be looking to be on wifi as much as possible.

Oh one more place it's a necessity is out at my parents house where cell coverage is spotty.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones