Hey guys.
I bought my XdaIIs almost a year ago, but have had no need to use the WiFi until quite recently. I'm with O2 on the 200 Plan (light user) and everything works fine with the phone, including the GRPS: apart from the WiFi. When the phone was sold to me I was told very clearly, and on multiple occasions, that if I can pick up a WiFi signal, and that it's free, then I can connect and browse for free. I don't have a WiFi connection at home, so it's only when out and about that I need to connect. However, when I tried this at a Coffee House that had free access I could only connect via one of two of O2's "Gateway Partners" and they wanted to charge me for this, which I find outrageous! Can someone confirm to me whether this is correct, as O2 told me that I have to be a "Business User" on a Business Plan to get free WiFi, and that the fact that the phone has WiFi doees not mean that they support it!
If the above is the case, is there anyway around this, such as unlocking the phone, or connecting via a completely different network? I just find it galling that O2 can mis-sell me the phone on the basis that I can connect via WiFi "anywhere and anytime for free" and then to be told that this isn't the case.
Thanks in advance.
Tron
Tron,
WiFi isn't free. It's usually provided by some operator (e.g. BT, The Cloud, T-Mobile, etc), and these guys want money for providing a service.
Generally you can create an account with them whilst you are in a WiFi Hotspot - and their charges vary. It's nowhere near as prevalent as GSM, so you'll find that not all of these operators have agreements between themselves; basically this means that you can use an operators account only with it's partners.
As for if "if you can see a wifi signal it's free" - it's not true. Not wishing to condone anything illegal, you can generally get away with it if there's no encryption on the access point; but it is illegal to use a signal that is not meant for you. The idea of unlocking your phone doesn't really apply in this case either - it's nothing to do with the network lock but the way the people who run the equipment choose to charge; remember the equipment for WiFi is completely separate from the Mobile GSM network you use when you call someone on your mobile.
As for the O2 WiFi network/partners, I've no idea about the pricing. But it does make sense that they would have a different tariff for those subscribing to their wifi service, like their Business Plan.
No doubt the salesperson over-played this a bit when selling it to you!
Hey Bal, thanks for the reply.
So, if I'm sitting in a Library, for arguements sake, and they have a completely free and open WiFi connection, how am I meant to connect? Surely O2 via "The Cloud" cannot charge me to use someone's network who are letting me use it for free: can they? Likewise, if I pop around your house and you let me use your connection, do I have to connect via one of O2's partners? That's what I'm trying to get at, I guess.
Thanks once again.
wifi is just like a normal network between computers you set up at home
you can let people from the outside hop on if you want
but you are to blame if they abuse your network connection though i guess
some places offer free wifi too some plane companys offer it in their planes
some trains offer it
7-11 offer it and so does mcdonals i believe
Rudegar is right of course, if it's free and you open your wireless lan manager you should see the network and be able to connect without a password.
This has nothing to do with the mobile operator you have a contract with.
It's the same as you bringing your laptop over to my place and plugging it into the wired lan - only difference being that there are no wires involved.
If you think of your wifi as just a way of "plugging into" a network rather than as part of your mobile it makes more sense.
I would suggest that you find somewhere with wifi access and have a play - you'll learn much more that way
well if the mobile operators wanted to they could offer it
and charge people for it of cause it would require them
to set up MANY hotspots and repeaters to service all their customers
Okay, cool. Thanks for all of the help guys. I guess I'll have to wander around an find a free WiFi spot (there are none that I know of anywhere near me).
Ross
or you could just get a wifi router for your internet connection for your normal computers should you have a such
and make your own hotspot
Related
As I travel I find more hotels are offering wired broadband in the room, often free.
Fine for a laptop, but how does poor little XDA make use of this? I thought of carrying a wireless router modem in my suitcase (some are fairly light), but there must be a simpler solution??? Any suggestions?
True, you can sometimes find a wi-fi point "free" but only in the more civilized parts of the world.
I was also thinking of carrying my old Psion infa red battery modem to connect to hotel phone line at 56k, but that's a bit passe.
Thanks.
hotel broadband observations
I find that if I stay at the more up-market brands like Hilton or Sheraton or Mariott they nickel and dime you for everything, typically broadband will set you back ten bucks a day.
However if you stay at their slightly less expensive partner brands like Fairfield, Courtyard or Hampton inn, you get the points for the up-market places (or airline miles) and the internet tends to be free.
At least in the US hotels are pretty densely concentrated around freeway interchanges or business districts and sometimes the wifi signal from one hotel bleeds over into another. Its been interesting to see how this has evolved over time. The conversation would often go like this...
Customer - "Do you offer broadband wifi here at Brand X?"
Clerk - "Well, WE don't offer it but Brand Y next door does. Typically if I put you in a room on that side you'll probably be able to pick up their signal just fine." Translated, the connection is going to be very weak and you're going to say the heck with it and dial up - or try to use GPRS/EDGE and thats not typically going to work very well because in-building coverage with GSM1900 is lousy unless you happen to be near a window on the side of the building closest to the cell site. (It's even lousier because of the Wizard's antenna design!!)
The upshot of this has been the hotel chains with broadband have caught on that their neighbors will leech off of them, thus they have passwords that change every week. They don't do encryption because that would make the poor front desk clerks bleed out their ears, its more of just getting your MAC address on an access list in some manner. Broadband is included but they keep the customers next door at Brand X from coming along for the ride by giving their customers a little card with a sticker and that week's password. At authentication, which naturally only works best with IE because apparently the developers haven't heard of bloody firefox in most cases... it appears that your MAC address is stored for 24 hours and then you don't have to authenticate again until about the same time the next day. Some of them appear to be far more sophisticated, don't require a password, and appear to triangulate your room location in some manner - I'm totally guessing but I bet the access server polls all of the access points to see which ones can see traffic from your MAC address but that's just speculation.
In my experience my T-Mobile MDA (HTC wizard) will sometimes authenticate to hotel networks and sometimes not. It's usually not a signal strength problem, its that the IE browser thats installed in Windows Mobile 5 isn't quite up to running whatever script is authenticating you. If the PDA is all you carry, you're totally dependent on the web page the hotel uses for authentication happening to work correctly on your handheld device. If you're at one of the up-market places that nickel and dime you for everything you're still going to have to authenticate to their internet server over a wired connection and that may or may not work on your handheld. It also may or may not work over the NAT'd connection you get with a wireless router and if you need tech support you better be pretty darned able to B.S. them into thinking you're using a PC with Windows XP. It also completely varies from property to property, don't expect consistency in this area across one particular brand of hotel.
If you only carry a handheld 802.11x device and a wireless router, you better set a strong password and encryption key on it lest some other hotel guest changes your network name to "owned" and/or they download something they ought not to and the data trail leads back to your room's port.
When I arrive at a hotel and plug in or connect my 802.11x through my laptop, I hold my nose and launch IE until I get put on the access list, then I can typically launch firefox and kill the IE pig out of memory.
I just came back from quick coffee grab and tried to find some free surfing grounds. Turned on wifi, didn't connect. Loaded up wififofum just for the fun of it, and found out that there were several networks in the area. Some of them had wap on so I didn't mind not being able to connect to those, but the attwifi network (which I should be able to connect to because Barnes advertises them there and whatnot) and two other networks (which I think were classified as device-to-device) would not connect for the life of me. So:
1) What exactly is device-to-device
2) Should I suspect my device or just crappy luck?
2a) Any suggestions?
Moreover, I can only remember getting access in 2-3 places, and I only rely on getting access at my home.
Thank you very much in advance for whomever finds the time. I just want to see the soccer scores on my phone!
Try Hitchhiker, it works better for me.
sorry for the newb questions but couldn't find an answer searching and figured someone who knows would be able to give an answer easily
the question is, when in the office, sitting near my laptop (dell lat 620 w wifi) I connect my phone to the wifi network 'wfield1' and the display on the laptop turns green, and the phone shows the little antenna signifying wifi connectivity. ok- now does this mean
a) that all data sent/rec'd will not appear on cingulars bill?
b) will my works firewall (vpn) infringe upon my browsing (ie if I hit a blocked site will it say blocked on my phone?)
I originally thought it would but I turned wifi on and walked away from my laptop and realized that the wifi connection stayed on throughout the building so therefore it has nothing to do with my laptops connection to our vpn server then right?
if so, c) would I be able to use the phones wifi connection and then usb tether the phone to the laptop to browse on the laptop off the firewall and off cingulars rate charges? I have unlim anyway but keeping usage down seems worth the small step it takes to tether
hopefully I am at least a little accurate in my guesses and not way off wack. if anyone could drop some knowledge on me id appreciate it
Your phone's connection to WIFI has nothing to do with your laptop. It should connect to your WIFI router in your office. Your phone should display a different symbol on the top line of the LCD, rather than your regular "antenna" symbol.
You need to check the above before you can confirm if you are actually connected to your WIFI router.
When you are on WIFI, it is subjected to the same firewall regulations as your laptop
yes it changes from the normal "phone" antenna to the wifi icon, i do know that much.
however i'm still unsure of whether or not it is using routered data vs cingular data. i think it is using the wifi data because as i said it is showing the wifi symbol and not the E or G that shows up when connected to cingulars service
and i think i mispoke, i dont actually use the wifi on the laptop to connect to the internet. i need to dial up with a verizon card, and it connects that way, and also launches a VPN which i think is what regulates the internet usage.
i am less worried about the routers firewall than i am my (proxy?) servers abilty to record sights that i visit, ie the forums/ebay. if i visit those on wifi and my server could see that (not worried about the wifi router seeing it since i am in different offices a lot), i will just stick with using GPRS/EDGE. confusing? sorry
If it was using Cingular data, you would get a message that your phone is 'Connecting to Cingular GPRS' ..in which case you would be billed, you don't get billed for using wifi because you are NOT using cingulars network to connect to the internet, you are using your own.
after checking it again, it seems that i cannot get to the iinternet with the wifi alone. i turned off the phone and had wifi enabled and could not connet to the internet.
so normally, if it wasn't a work firewalled network, wifi will let you get to the internet without being charged via cingular. got it, thanks all
hey i was going to do wifi connection to my work laptop too till i decided its pointless cause im sitting right in front of the thing and if i actually walked away from it its going to be a decent distance and the wifi wouldnt connect anyway.
besides theres not a whole lot you can do with the connection other than read a web page or browse a network folder.
so going to alaska to work for 3 months with my dad and brother. Brother says he cannot use his HTC HD2 up there with T-mobiles network so they will allow us to get unlock codes for them and then we will use AT&T's Unlimited talk and text but we would like to see if there is a way to use the Wifi on our phones to surf the web on either browsers. We would be doing small things like checking our email and bank accounts.
Any help would be appricatied
rlacsamana1989 said:
so going to alaska to work for 3 months with my dad and brother. Brother says he cannot use his HTC HD2 up there with T-mobiles network so they will allow us to get unlock codes for them and then we will use AT&T's Unlimited talk and text but we would like to see if there is a way to use the Wifi on our phones to surf the web on either browsers. We would be doing small things like checking our email and bank accounts.
Any help would be appricatied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely, as long as you're within range of a wifi network that you have access to (i.e. one at your home/office or a public access point like starbucks, stc). You don't have to have a data plan to use the wifi, if that's what you're wondering
Another thing to remember if you have a nationwide plan with TMO using other towers is usually not a problem.
At home I use an AT&T tower about 30% of the time, I live in the boonies , so a nationwide plan has no roaming charges no matter who's tower you are using ...
watcher64 said:
Another thing to remember if you have a nationwide plan with TMO using other towers is usually not a problem.
At home I use an AT&T tower about 30% of the time, I live in the boonies , so a nationwide plan has no roaming charges no matter who's tower you are using ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha I wish that it would even get a bit of service. Brother is already there and he says he can't even make a call without losing service. T-Mobile said they will suspend service for 3 months or how ever long it takes and will add it to our 2 year contract.
And so he trys using Wifi which the building he stays in has and when he goes into opera or internet explorer he gets an error, trying to find the error from him and will post. Does anybody know if their is settings that need to be changed. He is checking this by turning off the phone radio and only connecting to wifi. He does not want to be charged extra by AT&T, thanks for your help.
we do have custom roms on our HD2's. FYI
EDIT:Error for Opera Could not locate remote server
You tried to access the address http://www.htc.com/ which is currrently unavailable. Please make sure that the web address (URL) is correctly spelled and punctuated, then try reloading the page.
rlacsamana1989 said:
haha I wish that it would even get a bit of service. Brother is already there and he says he can't even make a call without losing service. T-Mobile said they will suspend service for 3 months or how ever long it takes and will add it to our 2 year contract.
And so he trys using Wifi which the building he stays in has and when he goes into opera or internet explorer he gets an error, trying to find the error from him and will post. Does anybody know if their is settings that need to be changed. He is checking this by turning off the phone radio and only connecting to wifi. He does not want to be charged extra by AT&T, thanks for your help.
we do have custom roms on our HD2's. FYI
EDIT:Error for Opera Could not locate remote server
You tried to access the address http://www.htc.com/ which is currrently unavailable. Please make sure that the web address (URL) is correctly spelled and punctuated, then try reloading the page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the phone is not getting everything it needs from the access point, some type of misconfiguration, needs to make sure he is getting and IP address , gateway and DNS servers .... should browse over wifi without using the phone radio with no problem, do it all the time at home ...
But if you are just going to be web browsing, turning off the phone radio does save some battery ...
watcher64 said:
Sounds like the phone is not getting everything it needs from the access point, some type of misconfiguration, needs to make sure he is getting and IP address , gateway and DNS servers .... should browse over wifi without using the phone radio with no problem, do it all the time at home ...
But if you are just going to be web browsing, turning off the phone radio does save some battery ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I basically found out that the network adapters were set to manual config and I should set them to automatic. Which I did and was able to connect to recieve my mail and go on the web via wifi with radio turned off but this is at my home which is my belkin.
I then tried calling him and having him set it up (he's not so tech savy) and he was connected to linksys and it still gave him the errors, He is going to the office of the company he works for to see if he can get the password for the other wifi network that is on the list. He sees people on their laptops browsing internet. So maybe i'll just buy a little Netbook for going up there.
Thanks for all your help you guys.
Hi,
I live in Australia. I bought a SGS from UK. It has nothing changed in firmware its the same as it comes from the box. (just a few games and apps installed from the android market).
My problem is when I connect the SGS to my laptop through the USB cable and I chose "PC INTERNET" I get a connection but i get a lot of drop outs, I would say being honestly every 5 minutes my connection drops. I live right in the city and my phone has good reception so its not the reception.
I haven't tried teethering (i dont wanna teether coz mobile plans says, NO teethering).
What can I do to fix the drop out connection problem.
if you are using your internet via the LAPTOP over the USB cable, then you need to figure out WHY your LAPTOP is not connecting properly to the Internet.
it takes about 1 min to connect and when it connects i choose HOME connetion. than it works good for 5 mins and it drops out and reconnects itself.
Correct me if I've read your post incorrectly but isn't what you're doing tethering?
From Wikipedia: "Tethering is the use of a mobile device such as a mobile phone to supply Internet access for another device which is otherwise unconnected, using the mobile device as a modem. This can be done through Bluetooth wireless technology, Portable Wi-Fi hotspots, or cables (such as USB)."
well yes and no...
it is teethering but carriers cant prove that.
however
if i do select teether on my phone it says something like this option will use black hole date or something (from my understanding is that it will use different data to my free date) so i choose to try the cable connect than select interent connection.
anyways the problem is still there... has anyone got any solutions or give me some ideas?
thanks
are you trying to use your phone as a modem or not?
if you are, then we can help you there are many ways to do it.
but if you are doing the opposite, using your laptop internet, for your phone to access internet (which doesn't make any sense at all) then we can't help you as it's a laptop problem.
im trying to use my phone as a modem but in a way without carriers finding out im actually using my phone to teether.
my problem is that my connection keeps droping every 5 minutes for 10-30sec.
I use my Galaxy as a modem and I had nothing but hassle when connecting using the cable. I found out its far better to go into settings then wireless settings then switch mobile AP on. Your phone sends the connection over wifi to the pc and gives me no hassle at all.
I reckon the only way your service provider would know is by looking at how much data you use so just be careful and you should be fine. Or find out what your monthly limit is and put a data counter on the phone, I use Netcounter, its free and simple but gives the info you need like daily, weekly and monthly usage
yup, the wireless method is by far the easiest one, and best of all it is build in!
as for your cell phone provider finding out, regardless of what you do, they don't care, they only check how much data you used up, and charge you that amount
well im on 1gb per month. Plenty of data there.
I tried another method today: turn bluetooth on and connect through bluetooth and that seem to works perfectly. I was online for 3 hours without dropping once.
Now I`m wondering why was it dropping with the cable connected? And not even once through bluetooth!
I understand your Problem, but at time i reading your last Post i have an question.
I understand your Posts that you dont use Wireless thether becouse your Carrier dont Allow Laptops to Acces Wireless conections right?
But it makes no difference if you use the cable or a wireless conection to thether your Internet. If you surf under the radar you dont getting into troubles. And there is no blackhole Data when you tether wireless. Its a gprs, edeg, 3g or umts Connection and your Phone manage this automaticly. So now comes my question. Why you dont use the build in wireless tether function which is the fastest and easiest way to connect. You dont need the phone directly near the laptop, you can give it to the point of best data connection, okay and a powerstrip for the akku. But its much faster then the Bluetooth connection, becouse of wlan.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
"And there is no blackhole Data when you teether wireless"
From now on I will use the AP to connect. I thought the carriers (OPTUS) might find out. But since they can't find out than this is the best option. Thanks for confirming they cant find out weather I connected my laptop or just used the date from my phone.
This remind my at the old days where you share your internet connection thru a soho rooter or just another pc with 2 network cards built in. In these early days the Provider says its forbidden to use the connection for more pcs than one. But in fact they never could meassure this and no one ever gets an letter from them or an contract decline/service interuption. The truth is, that there was a kind of law process against them and now the isp's is forbidden to limit the usage of your internet connection to only one device. So that means not that you get unlimited numbers of ip adresses, but you can NAT as much devices you want. Now you get from every ISP a Preconfigured router if you like.
And the same will hapen over a pariod of time to the wireless providers as well. Its your connection so you can use them the way u like it. Its already happend here, you can buy umts router for your home.
Where i live there is no question like this. Just do it. But maybe its becouse of our mentalogiy. If somone says no the typical austrian will do it anyway and gives no dime to what others say. If no one forbid you something then its allready allowed to do. ;-)
Greetings to Australia (the country with the kangaroos) like we here in Austria say. lol
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Thanks for that info. That takes my concerns/stress away. Just didn't wanna receive a thousand dollar bill that's all I cared