I've just bought my wife an 8GB iPhone and I'm curious about the internet access ability.
1. I assume that the normal method of internet access is through the phone network? That is why you pay for the internet data on your phone plan?
2. The iPhone has detected our WiFi modem in our house, and after setting the password, the little WiFi icon is now displaying all the time. Does this mean that it is now accessing the internet through our modem, and not the phone network? I hope it is as this is a far cheaper option.
3. So if you pick up any free WiFi in town, at the airport etc. will the iPhone automatically switch to the WiFi for access?
The two main ways the iPhone will connect to the internet is via the 3G/2G network and via wi-fi.
By letting the iPhone connect to your wi-fi you are using your broadband connection while in range of your home network. This can be the cheaper option depending on the iPhone plan you are on if you have a small data pack plan. I have a 1G data plan and I have never gotten close to using it all up even with lots of youtube and web browsing. Your mileage may vary though.
If you set the wi-fi to on and leave it like that the phone will try and connect to any wi-fi that it finds. Obviously you'll have to enter in any user/pass to access the networks, but once a network is known to the phone it will auto connect unless you tell the phone not to.
Just keep an eye on your battery life when using wi-fi as you might want to turn wi-fi off at night or you can put the whole phone into airplane mode when not using it.
