At home, GPRS vs. Wi-Fi

[ekacz24]

Everyone,

Apologies, and I know this is a stupid question, but when at home with my htc tound pro, with WiFi on, and connected, why do I need the phone on too for the WiFi to work,...?

Also, when both are on and working, which system is used, i.e., the SIM card connection or the WiFi connection,...?

WiFi I pay a flat monthly rate for unlimited data, with the SIM card I am on a fixed amount of data transfer per month,...

Thanks for listening,

ek

[kaarstmobile]

Well..

You may be using an application that is not Wifi aware. So, it demands a GPRS/EDGE/3G connection. So - in effect - it's not actually using the Wifi connection.

If you can use the application with Wifi on, and phone off - it's Wifi aware. (Meaning it can utilize Wifi).

If you can't use the application without the phone being on - it's not Wifi aware or has not been configured to use the Wifi.

What application are you having issues with?

[ekacz24]

thanks for getting back to me,... WM Professional 6.1 and the Internet Explorer program when going on to the web,... i'm just wondering which systems does the phone use when both are functioning,... am i using the gprs from my SIM card or am I using the wi-fi in my home,...? and why do i need the phone turned on to use the wi-fi in my home,...?

thanks again,...

ek

[Rudegar]

you can see if it's using gprs on the icon for signal str if it's showing animations
it's using gprs
otherwise it's using wifi

if you set
settings-connections-connection-advanced-select network to my homenetwork
it dont use gprs

[untrueparadox]

did you set the gprs settings to your gsm provider?

i would prefer wifi over gprs/3g anyday unless if your home internet is extremely slow ( <300kbps). the battery life would be almost equal so why not a faster connection?

[PondBoy]

you can see if it's using gprs on the icon for signal str if it's showing animations
it's using gprs
otherwise it's using wifi

if you set
settings-connections-connection-advanced-select network to my homenetwork
it dont use gprs

I'd like to understand how WM decides which network to use when it has a choice e.g. HSDPA and WiFi. I've looked at the settings mentioned above and I currently have Internet using Contract Internet (HSDPA) and Work using WiFi as the WiFi networks I connect to are firewalled and privately addressed.

What settings should I have to ensure that when I have the choice of WiFi and HSDPA (at home) I use WiFi, and when out and about I use HSDPA?

[kilrah]

Everytime an application wants to connect to the net:
- If wifi is connected and GSM isn't, it uses Wifi
- If wifi isn't connected, it tries connecting to GSM and will use that.
- If both are connected - we don't really know what happens.

When you're at home, check that GSM is not connected (no little E, G, 3G or H on the signal bar icon, disconnect it if connected), turn on wifi, wait until the arrows have stopped moving on the Wifi icons, and now you can launch the program that wants to connect to the net, and it will use wifi.

If at this point you get a popup about the phone connecting to GSM data again, then there's a connectivity problem on your Wifi and the device can't reach the net through it.
You might want to install Modaco Nodata, it allows you do disable automatic connection to GSM so that you can be sure it doesn't connect when you don't want it to.

[Rudegar]

mine never use gprs when it have wifi

[PondBoy]

I have a Touch HD and I can make things work fine by manually turning off the data connection then turning on WiFi in the comm manager when I'm at home or vice versa when I'm out and about.
I would have thought win mobile 6.1 would have been a mature enough OS to allow this to be configured automatically. This and Opera are my only outstanding issues with the HD.

[tweker]

Strange. I can easily shut my phone off, enable wifi & browse fine.