What is the difference in using WIFI or 3g on our Droid X? Is WIFI faster?

[modmomm]

Excuse my ignorance...........I have always wondered about this. Considering I can get on the Web with 3 G, why would I take the time to access my homes WIFI? What am I missing?

Thanks,

Modmomm

[bearone21]

i don't acces my home wi-fi but in case you're someplace where you can't pickup 3g but a wireless connection is available you can still acces the web.

[bcram11 · Accepted solution]

You may not be missing anything.  Wi-Fi allows you to access the internet without using any Data from your plan.  If you have an Unlimited Data Plan this makes no difference.

 Wi-Fi may also allow faster connection speeds depending the speed of your home internet signal vs your 3G signal. 

Wi-Fi may also use more battery life if your phone is constantly looking for a strong Wi-Fi signal. 

In the end, it is a personal preference.  I like using my Wi-Fi because I get a stronger, faster signal in my house vs. 3G most of the time.  (I live in rural West Central MN.)

[Jax_Omen]

My home internet: 20mbps down, 4mbps up.
3g internet: 1.4mbps down, .6mbps up.

THAT is why Wifi is awesome!

[bearone21]

i've got 15 down but rarely see it, you probably don't either.

one of my son's lives in olympia, the other goes to ups in tacoma.

[Jax_Omen]

Please don't doubt my computer-fu sir. I regularly get between 18-22mbps down, I averaged it to 20. The Comcast guy didn't believe it either, because my self-owned cable modem is only DOCSIS2.0 capable. But hey, I'm not complaining

Besides, it's still 10x faster than 3g. My home internet spanks 4g speeds even (on Sprint's WiMax 4g, I get maybe 5mbps down and 1mbps up according to the speedtest.net app for Android).

[bearone21]

on real dl's or test? i'll see 25+ on the cox test.

[Jax_Omen]

On real downloads. Keep in mind that 20mbps is only 2.5mBps. It's really not as fast as it sounds, but it's plenty fast for my needs.

The speedtest.net app on my phone reports 36mbps, speedtest.net on my computer reports anywhere from 30mbps to 40mbps. Speed tests are notoriously inaccurate with comcast because their "powerboost" CRAP skews the results: they give double speed for the first minute of a connection then it drops down to regular speed. Makes them look great in speed tests, but has little-to-no impact on real world performance.

I build computers as a hobby and am an aspiring programmer, I wouldn't quote you **bleep** numbers

[bearone21]

Re: What is the difference in using WIFI or 3g on our Droid X? Is WIFI faster?.Options
Mark as NewBookmarkSubscribeSubscribeHighlightPrintEmail to a FriendReport inappropriate content....02-20-2011 02:42 PM

On real downloads. Keep in mind that 20mbps is only 2.5mBps. It's really not as fast as it sounds, but it's plenty fast for my needs.

The speedtest.net app on my phone reports 36mbps, speedtest.net on my computer reports anywhere from 30mbps to 40mbps. Speed tests are notoriously inaccurate with comcast because their "powerboost" CRAP skews the results: they give double speed for the first minute of a connection then it drops down to regular speed. Makes them look great in speed tests, but has little-to-no impact on real world performance.

I build computers as a hobby and am an aspiring programmer, I wouldn't quote you **bleep** numbers

i did a speedtest.net test yesterday and showed 0.7mb/sec in 3g and 3.4mb in wi-fi so i'm having a real hard time believing that you're seeing 36mb on your phione

[modmomm]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll just stick to my computer for my home WIFI Besides-it has a bigger screen!

[droidsw]

modmomm, in computer terms:

3G is like a dial-up modem and wifi is like a cable modem.

If I am browsing the web on my phone with 3G, I swear I can hear that old dial-up modem sound (er er ra ra ta ta) as I stare at the display waiting for the webpage to load.

Wifi loads webpages faster and lowers blood pressure at the same time.