I am thinking about getting a Blackberry but I am confused as to the current state of mobile, wireless internet access on cell phones and trying to process a lot of information at once.
Now, I live in Los Angeles and don’t leave the city much. I don’t use the phone much either, so the main appeal of getting a Blackberry would be the mobile internet access.
I am led to understand that wi-fi is not necessarily the same thing as internet service provided through the cell network. I know many places have their own wi-fis set up, some of which are free and some which require you to pay for access.
Most of T-mobile’s phones have bullet points for “Wi-Fi and Mobile Calling”, “High speed Internet”, and “Internet and corporate e-mail”. But then if you go through the process of adding a phone and a plan to the cart, you get to a step where you can “add services” and this reveals their wi-fi HotSpot service which costs an additonal $10 a month. Is this something more targeted toward laptop users? Why would you want to pay additional for the wi-fi hotspot service if the phone already comes with high speed internet? And if I got this phone, would I be able to access the internet pretty much anywhere, at least within the greater L.A. area where I spend most of my time?
Internet over the cell network works by connecting and sending data through a cell tower to the internet. Wifi is a little antenna that hooks to a computer, allowing you to access the internet through that computer’s connection over a certain range (say 100 feet for best results). The cellular internet may be “high speed” but wifi is usually faster and more reliable.
You shouldn’t have trouble accessing email and websites, but if you had some real heavy duty surfing or downloading to do, you may want to look for a place with wifi. (I suggest getting a wireless router for your home if you get a phone. The cheapest are $30-40)
Oh yeah, the real advantage to wifi is that you don’t have to pay the cell company for anything you do through wifi. If the cell plan allows you a certain amount of data transfer per month, wifi doesn’t count against that because you’re using a computer connection instead of the cell network.
In the same vein, “Wi-Fi Calling” means you can make calls over wifi, thus not counting against your cell minutes.
It looks like the wifi hotspot service just allows you to access wifi in certain places. They apparently have a deal with Starbucks, for example, so you can access the wifi there for free with that plan. It may or may not be worth it for you. Free wifi isn’t hard to find, but if you go to Starbucks every day, it may be worth it. There are websites that list free wifi locations, you may want to google them to see what’s nearby your location.
I can’t seem to find any information about their plans limiting internet data transfer per month. For example this plan, which is the cheapest, offers 300 minutes per month but doesn’t mention anything about internet, other than the additional services of wifi and “BlackBerry Unlimited International E-mail” which apparently also costs an extra $20/month. Again, I don’t understand why this would cost so much more if you are already getting internet access with the phone.
ETA: I just saw the line for “Data Transfer” under that plan where it says “None”, but it seems that all their plans, even the most expensive ones, say that so I don’t know what to think.
I’m not familiar with T-mobile so you’re probably better off calling them or going to a store than listening to me. But…
It’s possible that most cell plans no longer limit data transfer. It may be unlimited or nothing these days.
On the plan you just linked, I think “Data Transfer: None” means it’s a voice only plan with no internet access. Click on “services” and it doesn’t say anything about internet. If you added email and wifi, you’d be paying to get email and to access the internet through their wifi but not their cell network.
If you click the little pink “plans” button on top, then click “go” under “Internet and E-mail Plans,” you get a list on data plans available. I think you have to get the voice plan and add one of those data plans with it. But again, you’re probably better off asking someone from T-Mobile.