[greenhorn]

and so does my friend . he leeches off his neighbours bandwidth

[manveet]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

manveet,
I use Wi-Fi.. because its free

Originally Posted by greenhorn

and so does my friend . he leeches off his neighbours bandwidth

Aha .. so thats how you guys are comparing! What happened to "speed and reliability" as factors of determination ??

Mods should change the thread title then - to "Free WiFi vs. Paid GPRS"

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by manveet

Aha .. so thats how you guys are comparing! What happened to "speed and reliability" as factors of determination ??

Mods should change the thread title then - to "Free WiFi vs. Paid GPRS"

WiFi is fast.. and awesome. GPRS through Vodafone Chennai totally sucks.

Another usage of Wifi - I used to call my GF through Skype. Gone are those days of tying myself to the comp using headphones. I now use Fring over WiFi and connect to Skype

[aburagohain]

@diabloo
for on the move usage, edge/gprs is the best solution at the time being in bangalore. if the phone has wi-fi capability and your friend is in a wi-fi zone, that's good, use wi-fi then.

do not know about the other providers, i have been using edge/gprs from bsnl for over two years now in bangalore, edge when the particular tower signals are good in the area i am in at that moment, otherwise fall back to gprs, acceptable speeds, nowhere near fast but just ok for checking mails, read a few articles, view stock quotes etc.

ask your friend to check out the unlimited plans of various service providers and decide. depends on usage if he'd need an unlimited connection or not, i do not remember correctly but i may have been paying 299 for unlimited edge/gprs over the years, though there may be cheaper options available now.
cheers!

[bhp1]

I use WiFi at Home or at places which offer WiFi suport.
Tried GPRS on mobile, its pathetic, maybe Airtel doesn't offer such good support in Punjab.
With the advent of 3G, speeds are likely to get a swing!

[luvjascha]

Originally Posted by manveet

I pay Rs. 100 per month (fixed price) for unlimited download.

You're getting a really good deal with your mobile operator.
I just enquired with mine, and they don't have any such plan; they have 2 plans -
1) 0 rental, 10 paise for 10KB and
2) Rs. 49 / month, and upto 5KB free, after which 10 paise for 10KB.
They also have another option, which is the USB card, where they charge 5-6K yearly, and apparently, the speed is much faster than their Basic GPRS.

So, all in all, is it recommended to take the GPRS feature from the mobile operator, considering that some fellow members are not quite happy with it?

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

Another usage of Wifi - I used to call my GF through Skype. Gone are those days of tying myself to the comp using headphones. I now use Fring over WiFi and connect to Skype

I use Skype for long distance calls too. Tell us more about this Fring thingy?
Doesn't this drain your battery faaaaast?

[Fountainheader]

Dont think Battery is such an issue when I use Fring. You can download the Fring application from their website onto your phone and connect to the internet. You sign in with your Skype account and make calls.

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by manveet

I am keen to understand advantage of WiFi in a mobile phone.
For e.g, inspite of having WiFi available at home, I still use GPRS on the cell to check email in a jiffy. The total time taken to download email via GPRS is about 4-5 seconds whereas via WiFi it is at least 15 seconds. This is because first I have to activate the WiFi whereas GPRS starts by default when I click on Send/Recieve in Outlook on the phone.

I have entered the WiFi keys for all the WiFi networks at my friends' houses. So when I'm there, I dont need to carry/ use my laptop, or request to use their machines. In fact, even when I'm sitting and chatting with them, I'm browsing on the sly. Although my office WiFi network is also connected to my phone, I am using my machine at all times when there.

Activating WiFi + logging on to network is a 10 second job. I dont think its painfully long. Its far less cumbersome than booting any of the PCs I have. I don't know how to do it with my phone, but since my office and my friends' houses have wireless networks, I want to be able to send and receive files, to and from shared folders, over the network too. This I havent been able to yet figure out. Any help would be welcome. Phone is the ASUS P320 running WM6.

I dont have GPRS, and I dont want it since I'm not particular about having internet while on the move.

[luvjascha]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

Dont think Battery is such an issue when I use Fring. You can download the Fring application from their website onto your phone and connect to the internet. You sign in with your Skype account and make calls.

I am trying to understand the advantage of Fring here. Just as skype is downloaded onto the PC, is it not possible to do the same onto the phone, and make calls?

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by luvjascha

I am trying to understand the advantage of Fring here. Just as skype is downloaded onto the PC, is it not possible to do the same onto the phone, and make calls?

You can use Gtalk, Y! also at the same time.

[luvjascha]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

You can use Gtalk, Y! also at the same time.

Still not clear. If you can download all these programs - gtalk, yahoo / msn messenger, skype - onto your phone, what advantage does Fring serve?

[cooldude1988765]

I think fring handles your yahoo, msn, gtalk and skype accounts at the same time

[manveet]

Originally Posted by luvjascha

So, all in all, is it recommended to take the GPRS feature from the mobile operator, considering that some fellow members are not quite happy with it?

Depends on your usage. My office mail is connected to MS Outlook on my phone. If I am away from my laptop then all I do is click on Send/Recieve and all my Unread mail comes in my Outlook.

For "Browsing", yes WiFi is better but I rarely browse on my phone. The only browsing I do is suppose I am having a discussion with friend, and need to do a quick Wiki check, GPRS is sufficient for that.

Originally Posted by luvjascha

I use Skype for long distance calls too. Tell us more about this Fring thingy? Doesn't this drain your battery faaaaast?

Skype software came pre-installed on my Mobile. Yes, using it drains battery fast.

Originally Posted by luvjascha

I am trying to understand the advantage of Fring here. Just as skype is downloaded onto the PC, is it not possible to do the same onto the phone, and make calls?

There are different Installs available for mobiles. These are usually ".cab" files. The Skype ythat gets installed on you PC is not the same that would install on your Phone. You need the ".cab" setup file for that.

[manveet]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

I have entered the WiFi keys for all the WiFi networks at my friends' houses. So when I'm there, I dont need to carry/ use my laptop, or request to use their machines. In fact, even when I'm sitting and chatting with them, I'm browsing on the sly. Although my office WiFi network is also connected to my phone, I am using my machine at all times when there.

Bad manners.

I usually browse Internet on the phone when I am waiting for food to arrive at a restaurant, or waiting in a queue, etc.

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Activating WiFi + logging on to network is a 10 second job.

If you plan to do long-term browsing, 10 seconds to connect is OK. But if you have a 5 second job like downloading unread email headers, 10 second is too long.

[luvjascha]

Originally Posted by manveet

The Skype that gets installed on you PC is not the same that would install on your Phone. You need the ".cab" setup file for that.

OK. That clears why Fring needs to be downloaded.