iPhone/internet browsing question

[ThelmaLou]

I have a Blackberry. I don't have any kind of wifi network at home, so when my BB connects to the internet, it is connecting as a cell phone, just as my aircard (that sticks in my computer) does.

My client has an iPhone, and they do have wifi at her office. When I'm there, i can't get Sprint cell reception (yeah... the Sprint users have to go out on the front porch to talk on their phones... like smokers or something), so I connect my Dell computer with its internal wifi modality and don't use the aircard.

She said that when she gets on the internet with her iPhone, the phone is using the office's wifi network. Is that true? I asked her if she can get on the internet with her iPhone at home (where she has NO computer, no nothing), and she said "sometimes." It doesn't make sense to me that the iPhone wouldn't be able to connect to the internet for web browsing unless the holder is in a wifi zone. What's the point of that? The whole world is not wifi'd.

My Blackberry phone doesn't use wifi, and I can connect to the internet any place I can get a cell phone signal. My aircard (removable) also connects as a cell phone, and it might be able to also connect using wifi, but my Dell computer has that built in, so I've never tried.

Does the iPhone look for wifi first and if it can't find that, it connects as a cell phone (Kind of like "seek first the kingdom of God and all the rest will be given to you"?)

[beowulff]

Does the iPhone look for wifi first and if it can't find that, it connects as a cell phone (Kind of like "seek first the kingdom of God and all the rest will be given to you"?)

Yes.

[MsWhatsit]

Yeah, it sounds like her 3G reception is spotty at her house. If you don't have cell service, you obviously don't have 3G service either. But generally speaking, the iPhone works as you say: It will connect to wifi if available, but if not, it'll use the Internet via 3G instead.

[Ferret Herder]

I have an iPhone, and yes, it does "look" for WiFi first and then use the 3G network otherwise if there's none available. Typically the first time you're in an area, you have to pull up the list of available networks and select one; after that if you return with WiFi still enabled, the phone will find that familiar network and auto-connect.

One thing I've noticed is that if I'm in an area with crappy WiFi connection but good cell connection, the phone will keep trying to get to the Internet on the WiFi, and I have to shut off the WiFi temporarily to get it to pick the better cell signal. It's a good thing I have home WiFi because I barely get any kind of cell signal inside my house (few cell towers in my town, and a very well-"shielded" house).

iPhone data transfer via WiFi doesn't count against your monthly limit on your phone plan, so trying to default to favor WiFi makes sense in that context.

[ThelmaLou]

Yeah, it sounds like her 3G reception is spotty at her house. If you don't have cell service, you obviously don't have 3G service either. But generally speaking, the iPhone works as you say: It will connect to wifi if available, but if not, it'll use the Internet via 3G instead.

She can make phone calls at her house fine.

I have an iPhone, and yes, it does "look" for WiFi first and then use the 3G network otherwise if there's none available. Typically the first time you're in an area, you have to pull up the list of available networks and select one; after that if you return with WiFi still enabled, the phone will find that familiar network and auto-connect.


I'm pretty sure she is completely incapable of this. If a menu or dialogue box appears spontaneously, she usually shuts it without reading it. Then complains 'cause something's not working.

But y'all answered my question--thanks! I dint know how that worked. I have the Sprint Everything plan so I don't worry about how much I'm downloading.

[Amblydoper]

She can make phone calls at her house fine.

The signal at her house may be good enough for voice, but not strong enough for data. Maybe there is no 3G coverage at her house, and EDGE is sometimes so slow for data that it feels as if there is no connection at all. Since we are getting all this info third hand, its hard to say what exactly is going on at her home.

[ThelmaLou]

The signal at her house may be good enough for voice, but not strong enough for data. Maybe there is no 3G coverage at her house, and EDGE is sometimes so slow for data that it feels as if there is no connection at all. Since we are getting all this info third hand, its hard to say what exactly is going on at her home.

I'm thinking this. Or if, as an earlier poster said, some kind of menu appears such that the user has to make a choice re networks, this person will just skip over that without reading it and assume she can't get on the web because of some mysterious computer problem that is beyond her capacity to understand.

She's not asking; I am. I just wanted to know how the iPhone does its thing. And now I do. :)