Looking into new cell phones with integrated WiFi. Any suggestions? (AT&T)

Hello everyone. I'm due for an upgrade at the end of this year in December, and I've been looking around at phones just researching and such (a little early, I know, haha). I basically just want to get an idea of what's out there and what would be good to go with when the time comes. Right now I have a pretty basic Samsung D807 slider, which I like a lot, but I'm starting to be interested in smart phones, which I never used to be as much. Basically, I'm wondering what my choices would be if I want a phone that has integrated WiFi? I know the iPhone is one of course, but I don't really want one of them, not to mention they're pricey even with the recent price cut. I was checking out the Blackjack II, which seems pretty nice, but it doesn't have WiFi. My only other question is about the WiFi. If the phone has WiFi, then that means you can use the internet in any WiFi hot spot and you won't be charged a cent for it correct? That's the impression I'm under, which is why I would like one with WiFi, as I probably won't be paying all the extra money just for unlimited data on my phone. Also, as I mentioned, I'm on AT&T, so I would prefer the suggestions be phones that AT&T carries so that I can get a deal on them when I upgrade. Thanks a bunch in advance for any help. I appreciate it.

im interested in this as well

I have a samsung i760 w/ verizon wireless. Its so/so. WiFi works good. The worst part is that it doesnt synch with exchange. Windows mobile allows you to do more custom things that other phones with more locked down OS's

I see you want to write off the hyped 3g iphone, but thats hard to do. It does basically everything, and is supposed to synch with exchange. For the $200 subsidized discount price, you cant really beat it.

Any decent smartphone with wifi is going to cost you money.

A heads up - if you do get a phone with wifi and dont get an unlimited data plan, be careful! Many apps like to do whatever it takes to access the internet. I've heard horror stories of people racking up cell bills of $5,000+ because they wernt on a data plan and their phones were tapping the wireless data without them even knowing.

I have a AT&T 8525 made by HTC. Mines unlocked and running on T-Mobile, and I freakin love it! Wi-fi is just as fast as on my laptop, mines running WM6 with a custom UI and I have the blackberry application on it so if I wanted to use the BB service (which is supposed to be exclusivley for BB phones), I could.

Hm, so you're saying that even if you're accessing the web using Wi-Fi, that you'll still get charged some sort of service charges? So the only advantage to having Wi-Fi is the speed or something? If that's the case then I won't worry about the Wi-Fi so much, which will open up my options quite a bit.

sparky3009 said:

I have a AT&T 8525 made by HTC. Mines unlocked and running on T-Mobile, and I freakin love it! Wi-fi is just as fast as on my laptop, mines running WM6 with a custom UI and I have the blackberry application on it so if I wanted to use the BB service (which is supposed to be exclusivley for BB phones), I could.

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For sure, i had 2 of those, cracked the screen on both.

Go for the Tilt, the 8925 i think it is. its the upgrade to the 8525. its teh awesome.
There was a program floating out there that let you turn it into an 802.11 b/g wifi router.
that plus a laptop was teh shit.

wow, i almost mistook this for a thread i made. i had a d807 and upgraded. i was looking at the blackjack2 as well but went with the tilt. on it right now in fact at work lol. i cannot encourage it enough. its tough getting used to, but once its setup and customized, there's not much better.

hm. the tilt does look pretty nice now that you mention it, haha. i guess my best bet though really is to wait until december when my upgrade is available, and see what they've got at that point. thanks for all the input though everyone. i'll keep the suggestions in mind.

I'm with ATT and have a Blackberry 8820. I think it's one of the first models to have WiFi built-in. I used it on occasion when I was back on campus and, the browser functions as normally as it does on EDGE, maybe a bit faster.

I'm also interested in a new phone. So far the Blackjack II (no wifi), Tilt, and the unreleased iPhone interest me.

I want a good Nokia NSeries, but I can't find them anywhere (and when I do they are EXTREMELY expensive). If anyone can find good NSeries I'm sure the thread readers will be happy. N96 is unreleased.

hardware_failure said:

I have a samsung i760 w/ verizon wireless. Its so/so. WiFi works good. The worst part is that it doesnt synch with exchange.

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What do you mean it doesn't sync with Exchange?

I think the OP should investigate upcoming technology. Several phones will be released within the year which are relevant to CLock3's interests.

In addition to the iPhone 3G (July 11) and the Nokia N96 (Q3 2008), the following are scheduled for release:

What about the new Blackberry Bold (Summer 2008) and the HTC Touch? (June 2008) I see they both have similar features to what you're asking for. The HTC Touch has a custom WM 6.1 Pro OS which should support a wide variety of apps. The Blackberry has become somewhat of a standard issue for businesses (at least in my area). Both are scheduled to be released within the summer.

A slim phone, the Nokia E71 (July 2008) will be released soon as well, if you prefer the slim form factor.

PS. I mentioned these based on your feelings for the iPhone in the first post.

PPS. Regarding the Wi-Fi issue:
You will not be charged for Wi-Fi access as long as you're on a free access point (your house, neighbor's, city wi-fi, etc...).
The issue is some applications want to be online always. If for some reason you leave the range of the hot spot, the cellphone will typically try to connect over cellular wireless. If you do not have the unlimited plan, this may rack up multiple charges to your account. Check into how the phone and its applications manage connectivity. You may be able to disable auto-connection to cellular networks. Still, $20-30 a month is a good safety to prevent a $5,000 bill (I've heard stories).

I am in the same boat as you. I am waiting for the US release of the HTC Touch Pro.

DanniBoy said:

I am in the same boat as you. I am waiting for the US release of the HTC Touch Pro.

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The Touch Pro is "essentially the HTC Diamond with a slide-out five row QWERTY keyboard."

If ya can't wait, and don't mind the onscreen keyboard, I saw an unlocked Diamond at Tiger under $800.

Also note, I believe the Cellular Broadband in the HTC Touch is faster than the iPhone's.

How about the blackberry 8820...I just ordered one through the att premier site as an upgrade for like $119.00 refurb and it has WIFI & GPS...No camera, though...lol

Also check to see whether or not you want the faster and newer 3G network (HSDPA).

here is the best forum for all HTC phones including the TILT.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=376

I own a tilt and it would suck if i left it stock. flash w/ new rom added apps and an wifi or unlimited data 3G and this phone is awesome.


I even have tomtom running on it and it plays through my car sterio via A2DP streaming bluetooth.

beware of the crappy video performance. it plays vidoes fine but will not really do anything else GPU wise. the GPU hardware is there but qualcomm was sued for their design bye broadcom for copyright infrignment and therefor the drivers were not released for the Chip.

it sucks and there is ongoing work at XDA to code or steal a working driver, but it hasnt worked yet.

Thanks a bunch for the info Neon2303. Exactly what I was looking for, haha. Thanks.

CLock3 said:

Thanks a bunch for the info Neon2303. Exactly what I was looking for, haha. Thanks.

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Glad I could help.
I'm curious which one interests you the most at the moment?

I will not be getting my phone until at least late July. I have to see how the Blackberry, Touch, and iPhone do and decide whether or not to wait for the NSeries.

If I hear certain "undocumented features" are available on the iPhone 3G, I may get the iPhone and use AT&T's free trade-up deal to receive a 3G.

hardware_failure said:

I've heard horror stories of people racking up cell bills of $5,000+ because they wernt on a data plan and their phones were tapping the wireless data without them even knowing.

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These stories are probably true. AT&T charges $.01 per kilobyte if you don't have a data plan. You would only have to download 488MB to rack up a $5,000 bill. 488MB isn't all that much. Some song downloads, some videos on YouTube, a little streaming radio, and some normal web browsing will get you there easy.

$30/mo data plan definitely is better than risking a bill like that. Also, 3G is relatively fast.
Does anyone know if the cell provider can tell you're tethering to your notebook?
I don't want to rack up additional charges to use my cell to get online.