Setting up prefferred networks (WiFi)

[Guest DavidC]

I've had my Omnia for 24 hours now, just about getting my head round things. I've got my hotmail and gmail set up, the home Wifi works and now the Vodafone live works too. What I want to do is set up the home Wifi connection to be the default internet connection whenever it's available. How can I do this? IE I don't want to use Vodafone's internet when there's an 8Meg broadband wifi at home.

I also want to know how to set up profiles (nokia stlye) such as meeting, loud, normal etc with different ringtones or alerts in them.

Other than that, I think I've got most things working how I want to. I like the way the flick scrolling works when looking at photos you've taken with the camera, but why can't I get that to work when I'm looking at photos in the Photo Slides App?

DC

[Guest chesterfield]

Hi,

Exactly the same as you - Ive got wifi at home and would like it to default to that network, and use the gprs etc when away from the wifi.

Ive had this phone since Sunday, in fact I bought two to use as business phones, and so far I have had the joys of setting up push email and synchronization with exchange server over the air - what a bundle of fun that was.

Now Im into sorting out the device to make it as user friendly as possible - ensuring it defaults to the wifi when at home is certainly on the agenda - however I have noticed that for some reson it will drop the wifi network every now and then, even though the laptop in the same place has a very good signal back to the router.

I have also experienced the phone "forgetting" the wep key assigned to the connection too. Every now and then it asks for the wep key again - so much so that I have saved a document with the key in so I dont have to keep looking it up on the router every time.

There are other issues/bugs Ive found with the phone, and will post other threads to see if we can get those resolved, but I shall be sure to post up here if I find out how to default to wifi. :D

[Guest Neil5459]

As a rule, you don't need to configure anything to connect via WiFi.

As long as there is a valid WiFi connection, all data traffic should use it in preference to GPRS. The problem comes however if your device goes into standby, because WiFi turns off as soon as the device sleeps, to conserve power. Hence all push email etc will continue to use GPRS when the device is off, as it is unable to wake the phone and turn on WiFi.

Not sure why the WEP key is forgotten, but possibly it is because these new devices prefer WPA or WPA2 over WEP which is very insecure.

If the WiFi network drops, try going to Settings/Connections/WLAN and look at the Power tab. Move it to the LEft to increase its power and reduce power saving. It may result in slightly worse battery life, but the connection will be more stable.

[Guest chesterfield]

Thanks for the reply, Ill look at WPA instead and see if that makes any difference.

With regard to the signal strength, I dont think Imade it very clear.

Its not the laptop im bothered about, its the phone. My laptop will get a great signal when in the living room, (router is opposite side of house) but the phone gets a minimal signal. Cant find any way of increasing the strength on the phone?

Good point on the WEP though, Ill give it a whirl.

[Guest Neil5459]

Most PPC devices will have a much lower signal then a PC/Laptop because the antenna is much smaller

My point about the Power Save function is that it may allow the phone to hang onto the signal a bit better. My advice did relate to the phone, not the laptop or router.

[Guest chesterfield]

Most PPC devices will have a much lower signal then a PC/Laptop because the antenna is much smaller

My point about the Power Save function is that it may allow the phone to hang onto the signal a bit better. My advice did relate to the phone, not the laptop or router.

Where do I find the setting to increase the power on the phones WiFi? :D

Back from the office now, so will be giving WPA a try instead now.

[Guest Neil5459]

Where do I find the setting to increase the power on the phones WiFi? :D

Back from the office now, so will be giving WPA a try instead now.

As I said above :D Start/Settings/Connections/Wireless LAN; then look for the Power tab, which has a slider which goes from Max Performance (fully Left) to Best Battery (fully right)

It may not help, but worth a try!

[Guest chesterfield]

As I said above :D Start/Settings/Connections/Wireless LAN; then look for the Power tab, which has a slider which goes from Max Performance (fully Left) to Best Battery (fully right)

It may not help, but worth a try!

Nope - cant find that on the i900.

I get as far as start/settings/conections - then I have the choice of wi-fi or wireless manager, none of which have any tabs relating to the power of the device. I know Ive tweaked this setting on laptops etc before - but it doesnt appear the i900 has the option.

Ive set synchronisation to manual outside peak times anyway, so that should minimise the usage of the gprs when the phone is out of range of the router.

Thinking of getting a wireless extender anyway as the other halfs laptop doesnt cut the mustard with a decen signal in the lounge anyway.

Good call on the WPA, that seems to have sorted things on that front :D

[Guest Neil5459]

Nope - cant find that on the i900.

I get as far as start/settings/conections - then I have the choice of wi-fi or wireless manager, none of which have any tabs relating to the power of the device. I know Ive tweaked this setting on laptops etc before - but it doesnt appear the i900 has the option.

Ive set synchronisation to manual outside peak times anyway, so that should minimise the usage of the gprs when the phone is out of range of the router.

Thinking of getting a wireless extender anyway as the other halfs laptop doesnt cut the mustard with a decen signal in the lounge anyway.

Good call on the WPA, that seems to have sorted things on that front :D

My bad on the WiFI Power thing- for some reason, Samsung have omitted this from the Control Panel. There have been a few other threads now relating to the poor reception of WiFi on the Omnia- seems like a hardware issue as Radio ROM updates don't fix it.

Glad WPA worked :D WEP is not really up to scratch nowadays as it can be broken so easily; WPA is much simpler to configure as well!

[Guest chesterfield]

I wonder if the wi-fi power setting is burried somewhere in these hidden menus.

It does seem to have a very poor signal. No bother though as the wi-fi in the office (if I ever install one) will be no more than a few meters from my desk, and I dont really need to use the wi-fi at home, as I have a laptop. It will just be for the odd time I want to do a sync with the exchange server while at home.

Not being able to sync via the wi-fi at home is no big deal. It helps me define the line between work and home which seems to become far to blurred every now and then. :D

[Guest DavidC]

Okay then, so I've found the Data Call Manager which I'm using to end the GPRS connections (less fiddly than the task bar) but would like to set the GPRS to automatically disconnect if it's been idle for 5 mins. Is this possible?

I reckon the management of the data connections is the only issue I've got at the moment, which is a bit of a result really :D If the GPRS could auto disconnect when idle, as well as autodisconnect when my Wi-Fi is connected, I think I'd have the perfect set up :D

Can you set up shortcuts to icons in the Settings menu? I'd like to have a link to the Data Call Manager either on a home screen or links to one of the buttons on the handset. Oh, and I'd like programs to end when I hit the 'x' rather than just running in the background. I'm seeing as much of the task manager screen as I am of the Today Screen.

Just out of interest, is anyone actually using the Widgets? I've found it to be a bit of a gimmick and not particularly useful. I'm on Samsung Today 2 instead.

DC

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

PhoneAlarm ... "should" allow you to set location snapshots. Therefore you could potentially turn off 3G when you are at home, and get it to use wifi.

I guess there are the issues that the wifi will probably disconnect one the screen goes into standby etc.