My impressions of WAP

[erub]

After a long struggle, I was able to get free WAP added to my phone. I'll spare ya'll the details and just let you know what I think of it:

(This is with Cingular TDMA, in Dallas, TX):
WAP is very immature. Speeds are very slow, it takes a long time to connect, and the small screen definitely doesn't help anything. A delay of between 5-7 seconds since selecting a link and being brought to the next page is the norm. WAP is very finicky about signal. On my desk, where my phone usually rests, I get about 3-4 bars of digital signal and have no problem making and receiving calls. However, I can't connect to the wireless internet. My phone will briefly switch to analog, and it will drop the connection, saying "Bearer not available." When I get back to the main screen, the digital D is gone. After a few moments the phone will bring the digital D back. I can connect about half the time when I'm outside or riding in a car.

Nevertheless, I still think it is a cool service, and could come in handy if I wanna check sports scores and browse the web wireless while bored or need to check movie times. I'll mainly use it on N+W because of the minutes (it subtracts from my minutes).

[Malial]

I had a lot of issues with Cingular's WAP service. Couldn't connect to half the sites..disconnects..can't get on...etc.

After swithcing to Verizon, I can say that there definitely is a difference. WAP works all the time and I've never been disconnected. It's also organized much better than Cingualr's was.

I think as more phones come with color screens, networks get upgraded, speeds improve...WAP will get a lot more popular.

Just like computers and the internet, WAP needs the essential hooks- games, downloadable music and pictures, ability to securely purchase items (movie tickets, concert tickets), stuff like that...I see all of this coming in the not too distant future...

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

i never used the WW on at&T since it wasnt a feature available when i had their service.

sprint's WW works well for me, though in approx. one year of heavy usage i have had a 3 to 4 WW network busy times which were solved by just reloading the page.

you can play games, use ticketmaster.com even shop on amazon or FTD florists, hook up with travelocity.com, get taxi and limo info; though i have never used these features. i am not sure if you can buy movietickets on the WW.

i have used:

the news & sports features, checked scores, used AOL IM (which was a pain, i will never enjoy typing on a phone keypad; but it was useful to get my friends attention since they were hoggin up their phoneline by being on AOL and it was the only way to reach them to tell them to LOG THE HELL OFF SO I COULD CALL),

checked my AOL mail, yahoo mail, hotmail, the weather, movie times and theatres while in NYC and areas local to me in NJ when driving (well i wasnt driving lol) but i didnt buy the tickets on the WW, still going to test that out next time i remember.

checked traffic reports, directions via mapquest and one other direction provider, looked up business and residential phone #'s via infospace.com instead of paying the $1 fee to call 411,

used a currency converter for a co-worker who asked because they were going overseas the next day while we were smokin a butt outside the workplace, searched for nearby restaurants while walkin in NYC, looked up a recipe for an italian food dish while at a friends house cooking, and used the online dictionary as well. i even tried a few of the games though they didnt do it for me.

all of these features worked excellently. i agree with u erub i primarily use it on N&W as well though ill hop online during the day for some of the more useful features when im on the road. its great to have on the weekend though especially when out and about in the city or out on a hike near home and want to check on movie times and stuff before we leave.

[Dukedog]

Erub, Cingular wap is a pretty slow, I really don't like to browse on it, I also had Sprint wireless web and their's was pretty much better than Cingular, but let hope Cingular can revise it.

[KevinJames]

That's why I'm waiting until (at least) 4G comes out before I get a web-enabled phone. But by then I may be so old I won't care anymore.

[Dukedog]

Now thats funny. lol

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

hehe lolol

[Wayne]

The force is strong..with.......................crap........... .....now that he got rid of Yoda..........got to come up with a new thing.........


That is a bad dog...................LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ATE MY SMURFS!!!!!! I see it's blue tail stuck to your tooth!!

lol funny Kevin[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Cellout]

Any of you guys tried Nextel Online? Still the same WAP sites but you have unlimited use. It doesnt use up any of your minutes, and it doesnt clog the line. So you can still receive a cellular call and the Data wont be interrupted.

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

that is a cool feature......but umm.....iDen is getting oldddddddd

cdma2000 or GPRS-EDGE is the way to go

[Cellout]

Nextel seems to be moving toward cdma2000. They have some sort of deal with Qualcomm to move toward cdma2000

[IdiOTeQnoLogY]

that is what I heard. but all their networks are currently iDen.

if they are going cdma2000 they have to change their networks, havent heard much on if they have started yet. any word?

[Jon]

Verizon's Mobile Web is actually an easy, fast, and user friendly web interface. It has portals to Yahoo and MSN (Hotmail), which is nice, because our home ISP is MSN, so I can check my home e-mail while on the road. Also, the NASCAR updates are great because I work on Sundays and can't watch the race. I've found movie times, bought flowers with FTD, bought a book on Amazon.com, found business addresses on the yellow pages, even found an old high school buddies' phone number on the white pages. The news is also available: MSNBC, ABC news, NY Times, and CNN. Probably 30 percent of my minute useage is mobile web, but I've got the employee plan so its still real cheap. I've never had a problem with not being able to connect. Pages usually come up within 5-10 seconds. Can't wait for them to turn on 1xrtt, and launch the Audiovox Thera, so I can do some real surfing!!

[amphibian]

Anyone have any experience or opinions on Voicestream's iStream ?

Motorola T193 should be delivered any day now

<< [i]Verizon's Mobile Web is actually an easy, fast, and user friendly web interface. It has portals to Yahoo and MSN (Hotmail), which is nice, because our home ISP is MSN, so I can check my home e-mail while on the road. Also, the NASCAR updates are great because I work on Sundays and can't watch the race. I've found movie times, bought flowers with FTD, bought a book on Amazon.com, found business addresses on the yellow pages, even found an old high school buddies' phone number on the white pages. The news is also available: MSNBC, ABC news, NY Times, and CNN.

<< [i]

Regarding Mobile Web: here's something that I can't figure out from what I see on Verizon's website. If I sign up for mobile web, am I limited to certain content that Verizon/MSN provides (or links to), or can I view any WAP page that exists (say, by entering the address somewhere)?

What's your experience with this?

Apologies for the bad formatting in my post above. It should have read like this:



<< Verizon's Mobile Web is actually an easy, fast, and user friendly web interface. It has portals to Yahoo and MSN (Hotmail), which is nice, because our home ISP is MSN, so I can check my home e-mail while on the road. Also, the NASCAR updates are great because I work on Sundays and can't watch the race. I've found movie times, bought flowers with FTD, bought a book on Amazon.com, found business addresses on the yellow pages, even found an old high school buddies' phone number on the white pages. The news is also available: MSNBC, ABC news, NY Times, and CNN. >>



Regarding Mobile Web: here's something that I can't figure out from what I see on Verizon's website. If I sign up for mobile web, am I limited to certain content that Verizon/MSN provides (or links to), or can I view any WAP page that exists (say, by entering the address somewhere)?

What's your experience with this?

[aiwapro]

Hey amphibian, I got my P280 yesterday and the iStream is great. You can do anything, and I mean anything on there. The pages load pretty quick. I can check email, use various messengers.

[aiwapro]

<< it doesnt clog the line. So you can still receive a cellular call and the Data wont be interrupted. >>



Voicestream's GSM/GPRS is like this aswell. I can be looking at sports scores and then the phone will ring and I have the option to either ignore or answer. If I answer, I can talk just like normal, then when I hang-up it asks me if I want to go back to the browser, and when I say yes it takes me right back to where I was without any hesitation or loading, it's instant.

[scotty]

You are so right! voicestreams gprs wap is fast and easy. get phone numbers turn by turn directions, find an atm location, a resturant, movie times, horoscopes, stocks, e-mail, and instant messangers. The BEST feature is that you can use it whenever you want because you arent using your minutes. you use Data 1 Mega byte (about 500 phone screens full of text)(not to mention the average menu screen is onlu half filed) you can veiw about 900 screens. i dont even want to imagine how long it would take to download this many screens of text with another company but you can bet it will be as many as half you minutes for the month. 1 MB is 2.99 a month versus sprints $5 a month access fee plus your all mighty minutes

[aiwapro]

I'm glad to see another Voicestream customer just as happy as I am. Are you ready for the T-Mobile takeover 'scotty?'

[scotty]

Oh of course, the big question is will DT sell us out to Att or cingular- doubt it, but the only constant is change.......

[rbw411]

When AT&T takes over, are you guys going to do ads for AT&T as well. You should submit some of your posts/ads to VS maybe it will help them get out of the 66 billion dollar hole DT has created.

[aiwapro]

Shut Your Mouth!

[rbw411]

a little sensitive, not too worry AT&T has some deep pockets and will expand the network at a much faster rate.

[aiwapro]

At a much faster rate like they are doing now, building GSM in half of cities instead of covering the whole city. Voicestream is the fastest growing GSM provider in the world, with over 8 million customers since 1994.

[rbw411]

Wow you have a lot to learn.... GSM in the US was not built out till after 95 when the licenses where first auctioned. FL recieved Aerial in 97. Who cares about the rest of the world, Voicestream did not exist until around 1999. It started in Washington state.
Where did you pull 94 from, I have one idea.
Voicestream= Aerial, Omnipoint, Powertel, Digis... etc.
By the way all carrier build out like that.
AT&T just has more money to start other projects while other markets are still building out. That's the only thing that I can think you are talking about. VS and some other companies have to do a couple of markets at a time. I remember when Chicago launched, then Dallas for VS.. See AT&T goes Dallas while doing NY while doing LA while getting ready for Detroit and so on.

[rjlawrencejr]

VZ's WAP is okay and better than nothing, but it could be a lot better. I like getting the scores and the weather if I need it but using it for directory services is not all that great, especially if you must call a place with multiple numbers. Unfortunately (at least for me anyway) I am unable to go back to the data screen I was just at if I successfully place a call via WAP. But it still beats .99 per 411 call. What a ripoff.

[scotty]

<< Wow you have a lot to learn.... GSM in the US was not built out till after 95 when the licenses where first auctioned. FL recieved Aerial in 97. Who cares about the rest of the world, Voicestream did not exist until around 1999. It started in Washington state.
Where did you pull 94 from, I have one idea.
Voicestream= Aerial, Omnipoint, Powertel, Digis... etc.
By the way all carrier build out like that.
AT&T just has more money to start other projects while other markets are still building out. That's the only thing that I can think you are talking about. VS and some other companies have to do a couple of markets at a time. I remember when Chicago launched, then Dallas for VS.. See AT&T goes Dallas while doing NY while doing LA while getting ready for Detroit and so on. >>




No, you have a lot to learn, in 1994 western wireless was formed, in 1999 they split the company into to halves one was branded Voicestream, the other stayed the same. western wireless got new company officers and VS got the CEO and all the company heads, so VS is western wireless. this comapany has been around since 1994!

[aiwapro]

What would I do without you 'scotty?' Noone believes me around here. I said that it started in 1994, but noooo, someone had to say it started in 1999, but I didn't feel like arguing so I left it alone. I knew I was right, I got the info from the Voicestream website, I think they know when they started.

[scotty]

Word to that!