Sprint Nextel 800w manual Connecting to a Wi-Fi Network, Why Use a Wi-Fi Connection?, 188

Connecting to a Wi-Fi Network

Many environments, such as corporate offices, coffee shops, airports, and libraries offer access to a Wi-Fi network. A Wi-Fi network is a wireless local area network (WLAN) that is based on the 802.11b/g standard. When you’re within range of an accessible Wi-FI network, you can use the Wi-Fi feature of your Palm® Treo™ 800W smart device to connect to that network and access the Web.

Why Use a Wi-Fi Connection?

A Wi-Fi connection is especially helpful in the following situations:

⬤You’re outside a coverage area and you want to access the Web.

⬤Your Sprint service plan incurs additional charges for data services and you want to minimize data service charges by using a Wi-Fi connection instead.

⬤You’re inside a coverage area but outside a Sprint Mobile Broadband Network.

(A Wi-Fi connection may provide faster throughput than a 1xRTT data connection.)

⬤You want to maintain a Web connection while talking on the phone.

Note

You can use a Wi-Fi connection for scheduled synchronization with an Exchange server, but you must use the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network to take advantage of Microsoft Direct Push technology for wireless synchronization with an Exchange server.

Are there different types of Wi-Fi networks?

There are two types of Wi-Fi networks:

⬤Open networks: These networks broadcast their name (SSID) and do not require you to enter a password or other settings. To learn how to connect to an open network, see “Connecting to an Open Network” on page 190.

188 Section 3F: Using Wireless Connections