[cairomerta]

Sorry for the ignorance guys but this is a serious question. What is the absolute benifits of the WiFi for the blackberry. Who benifits most with it (meaning business person, web junkie, traveler) and what uses will you truly get out of it while using it on the blackberry.

Any education on this matter will be helpful. Thanks.

[Dubdub]

I doubt if we can answer that until we see how RIM implements it and see what they let you do with it.

Personally, I can't see much usefulness since you have to have a dataplan anyway to surf and get email. And it will most likely CRAWL anyway.

[greggebhardt]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

I doubt if we can answer that until we see how RIM implements it and see what they let you do with it.

Personally, I can't see much usefulness since you have to have a dataplan anyway to surf and get email. And it will most likely CRAWL anyway.

Not suire about that. Do not really care if the BB has WiFi but I would think that it would be faster that using BB data. Much faster.

[coreyg510]

Wi-Fi does offer some benefits. Consider this..You are in an office building or motel/hotel where you cant get any service on your BB but still want to be able to access the internet. Wi-Fi would allow you that use and in some cases, Wi-Fi can be faster (depending on your connection and service coverage) than you actual phone service. So those are the benefits. Enjoy and keep your mind open to new possibilities

[Aroc]

Who benefits the mosts? People with BB dataplans, but lack proper building penetration or coverage at all at home or at work.

One of the biggest complaints with the mobile carriers is that service doesn't work at home/work (or both). WiFi addresses that. That's the primary driving force I see.

[northerner]

Would you even need a data plan if Wi-Fi is present and enabled on the BB? If you can hop onto a free Wi-Fi say at an airport or in a coffee shop, why would you even need a data plan? Wouldn't it be just like using your laptop to get web access at a Wi-Fi hotspot?


peace

[Dubdub]

My guess is that RIM won't allow email over the WiFi connection. Just a guess, but that would be cutting their revenue.

I can see what some of you are saying about having it. However, the speed of the connection is also limited by the speed of the processor and memory available. These devices don't have blazing speed processors and are limited in memory available. And nothing at all like a desktop or laptop. I think many will be disappointed by that.

If someone has a WiFi unit, please shed some light on the subject.

[bollar]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

My guess is that RIM won't allow email over the WiFi connection. Just a guess, but that would be cutting their revenue.

BES already supports e-mail by WiFi -- That's the basis of the 7270. I am told that a WiFi enabled BB will be able to connect to a BES by internet. It's BIS that might or might not work -- and it wouldn't surprise me if Cingular disabled access to their BIS via internet.

[greggebhardt]

Originally Posted by northerner

Would you even need a data plan if Wi-Fi is present and enabled on the BB? If you can hop onto a free Wi-Fi say at an airport or in a coffee shop, why would you even need a data plan? Wouldn't it be just like using your laptop to get web access at a Wi-Fi hotspot?


peace

Another good reason RIM will likely cripple the device WiFi. :(

[BryanHarig]

Originally Posted by northerner

Would you even need a data plan if Wi-Fi is present and enabled on the BB? If you can hop onto a free Wi-Fi say at an airport or in a coffee shop, why would you even need a data plan? Wouldn't it be just like using your laptop to get web access at a Wi-Fi hotspot?


peace

You would need it because every carrier in the US requires you to sign up for BB service to get a blackberry. The number of people who would buy their own unlocked BB and start using it are insignificant compared to the number who buy via the carriers.

[mymitsu3kgt]

Originally Posted by northerner

Would you even need a data plan if Wi-Fi is present and enabled on the BB? If you can hop onto a free Wi-Fi say at an airport or in a coffee shop, why would you even need a data plan? Wouldn't it be just like using your laptop to get web access at a Wi-Fi hotspot?


peace

I would love to have WiFi but I wouldn't want it at the expense of not having a data plan. I can get my service provider's signal in a lot more area than I could find a WiFi signal. I still want WiFi for when I'm at home or in a hot spot because I'm sure it can still browse faster than EDGE service.

[jjones]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

If you use a BES then probably no speed difference. If you use BIS I would guess WiFi is faster for data. Not sure how EDGE will handle multimedia.

[northerner]

Originally Posted by mymitsu3kgt

I would love to have WiFi but I wouldn't want it at the expense of not having a data plan. I can get my service provider's signal in a lot more area than I could find a WiFi signal. I still want WiFi for when I'm at home or in a hot spot because I'm sure it can still browse faster than EDGE service.

So if you had the choice between 3G only -OR- Edge+Wi-Fi, which would you chose?


cheers

[mymitsu3kgt]

Oh no, if 3G were tossed in there, I would loose WiFi and EDGE in a heartbeat.