Your wifi experience with Photon?

[tlaz]

I'm a former Pre owner that recently jumped to the Evo 3D. I have a little bit of a love/hate thing going for the phone right now. Battery life and call quality/reception are not great so far, but web browsing is excellent, and wifi and bluetooth are also very good. I'm considering jumping ship for a Photon, but my biggest hesitation is about Wifi and BT. I rely on these constantly. If Wifi is even a slight issue, I won't switch to the Photon. After seeing several posts here about Wifi, I'm very concerned. So tell me, how many of you are having Wifi issues? How often and how bad? Are you toggling a lot? Rebooting? Thanks in advance for your help!

You've convinced me - I made the switch and am really liking the Photon much more than the EVO 3d. Thanks to everyone for their votes in the poll!

 

[RBrown9180]

Im really not having any wifi issues. Sometimes I have to toggle a couple of times to connect but thats it. Idk honestly if its my wireless connection or my phone. It could be router/modem issues for all I know. I had the samsung epic before the photon. Now that phone had wifi issues.

 

[Gator352]

I use wifi with my belkin N+ and connects and runs just fine. Connection is about on par with my Acer netbook as far as range is concerned.

 

[mobile79]

Wifi has been fantastic for me. At home I pull full signal from my router and the data on my photon flies. Even at work wifi connects to our only non-secure hotpot; I show no signal bars but still get good results.

 

[Puzzlegal]

I am also a former Pre owner, and seriously considering returning to the Pre. But not because of wifi. The wifi works perfectly, as far as I can tell. I had some issues with having to re-log-on to a third party wifi provider (Hotspot, in Germany) but I'm pretty sure that was something they built to knock devices off their system if the device is inactive for a while. I have had zero problems at home, and never had a problem getting back onto the HotSpot wifi.

(I miss "just type". I miss the svelt size of the Pre. I miss the hardware keyboard - although I think I could get used to swype. I am a little skeeved out by the permissions every application wants to have. Does Facebook really need to know where I am all day long? The Pre gave me instance-by-instance control over stuff like location services, I didn't have to grant permanent permission to various app. Of course, I don't miss "too many cards". The Photon seems quite reliable. I am torn over what to do.)

 

[sjamie]

I am also a former Pre owner, and seriously considering returning to the Pre. But not because of wifi. The wifi works perfectly, as far as I can tell. I had some issues with having to re-log-on to a third party wifi provider (Hotspot, in Germany) but I'm pretty sure that was something they built to knock devices off their system if the device is inactive for a while. I have had zero problems at home, and never had a problem getting back onto the HotSpot wifi.

(I miss "just type". I miss the svelt size of the Pre. I miss the hardware keyboard - although I think I could get used to swype. I am a little skeeved out by the permissions every application wants to have. Does Facebook really need to know where I am all day long? The Pre gave me instance-by-instance control over stuff like location services, I didn't have to grant permanent permission to various app. Of course, I don't miss "too many cards". The Photon seems quite reliable. I am torn over what to do.)

As a former Pre owner, I could NOT imagine going back to the Pre after owning the 3VO for 29 days (swapping for a Photon). The speed and capabilities of these new phones make the Pre seem like a rotary dial phone. However, I do miss "just type" and "cards" TREMENDOUSLY! Not a chance on going back to the Pre though. If I have too many issues with the Photon, I'll just go back to the 3VO.

 

[tlaz]

I am also a former Pre owner, and seriously considering returning to the Pre. But not because of wifi. The wifi works perfectly, as far as I can tell. I had some issues with having to re-log-on to a third party wifi provider (Hotspot, in Germany) but I'm pretty sure that was something they built to knock devices off their system if the device is inactive for a while. I have had zero problems at home, and never had a problem getting back onto the HotSpot wifi.

(I miss "just type". I miss the svelt size of the Pre. I miss the hardware keyboard - although I think I could get used to swype. I am a little skeeved out by the permissions every application wants to have. Does Facebook really need to know where I am all day long? The Pre gave me instance-by-instance control over stuff like location services, I didn't have to grant permanent permission to various app. Of course, I don't miss "too many cards". The Photon seems quite reliable. I am torn over what to do.)

Puzzlegal -

I am right there with you. I had no idea what a massive tradeoff using the EVO 3d would be. I so miss the notifications, the multitasking, the swipe/gestures and the compact size of the Pre. And i agree about the permissions - such a big brother experience with the world of google and Android! But, on the other hand, web browsing is so much better on the EVO, and there's no lag - despite overclocking the Pre, I still had to suffer with unrecognized taps/touches and long waits to open calendar, etc. You can also do so much more with Android in terms of apps. Anything you could imagine. But navigating everything is so clunky, and a bunch of extra taps. And yes, i really loved just type.

But my Pre's hardware was falling apart, and there seems to be no new WebOS smartphone for Sprint. FrankenPre seems like the only option, and I just don't think I'm that hardcore. But, if the Pre3 or another WebOS slab phone shows up on Sprint, I will jump in a heartbeat. Based on the limited info I'm getting, it sounds like the Photon might be better than the Evo 3d for me, but who knows?

 

[sjamie]

... I still had to suffer with unrecognized taps/touches and long waits to open the calendar.

Yes, that was simply murderous!

 

[scoobdude]

Wifi is great using a wrt54g with tomato firmware.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Yes, that was simply murderous!

Agreed. And the "wait to see if it noticed that I tapped it" was annoying in general.

My Pre hardware is in perfect condition, though, despite my carrying it in my pocket with no protection beyond a Phantomskinz on the front. It still looks all glossy and new. I have no idea why so many people complain that the hardware is falling apart. I guess I got lucky.

And I probably am hardcore enough to try a franken Pre. But it would still be on barely supported software.

 

[tlaz]

Agreed. And the "wait to see if it noticed that I tapped it" was annoying in general.

LMAO. My wife was entirely unable to use my Pre because of this! She would tap once, and the phone would lag, so she'd tap 4 more times, and suddenly the phone would register all 4 taps and take here to some other app/location and she would scream, "I hate your phone!"

I beat up my phone pretty well over the last 2 years. Dropped it and a piece of the edge cracked off. Then I managed to scratch the screen quite nicely. I could live with those things, and the slight oreo effect, but the internal speaker started to die on me. I would often have to listen to calls on speaker phone - couldn't hear through the ear speaker. So I finally, reluctantly and sadly gave in to Android.

 

[sjamie]

Puzzlegal, my SEVENTH Pre still looks brand new too but my touchscreen is 100% dead! I had to decide to get an EIGHTH one or finally jump ship to Android and try these new fangled 3VOs and Photons. Moving to another carrier was not an option due to Sprint's phenomenal $99 truly UNLIMITED plan.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Puzzlegal, my SEVENTH Pre still looks brand new too but my touchscreen is 100% dead!

Ouch! That would make it hard to use.

As far as I can tell, everything works on mine, too. The first Pre I got had bad wifi, but when I finally replaced it, I got a refurb that never gave me any trouble. Well, except for "too many cards" and generally sluggish responses. It does make me a little nervous to contemplate a franken pre when I read how many hardware problems other people have had.

 

[sjamie]

Yeah, I just couldn't take it any longer plus the dropped support from HP and lack of app development were turn offs. Hello Android!

I do wish that my Pre held it together long enough for the kinks to be worked out with the 3VO and Photon because being an early adopter is not for me anymore eventhough it looks like I am one again! I spend waaay too much time on these forums looking for fixes and updates. Thank God I own my own business or I would be fired for getting no real work done!

 

[LeaninBack916]

Im about to get the Photon (switch from the NS4G thanks to my Airave line upgrade LOL) but I do miss my pre. I was trying to hold out for a Pre3 on Sprint but of course... no. ( I miss the physical keyboard and everything about the OS. I dont however miss the sluggishness or the faults of the hardware. The radio was always top notch though.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Im about to get the Photon (switch from the NS4G thanks to my Airave line upgrade LOL) but I do miss my pre. I was trying to hold out for a Pre3 on Sprint but of course... no. ( I miss the physical keyboard and everything about the OS. I dont however miss the sluggishness or the faults of the hardware. The radio was always top notch though.

+1

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Just picked up the Photon myself, and my wifi connection is not as strong as it was with my Evo. Speed seems comparable though, so we'll see.

 

[cybersar]

I was getting great wifi signal and speeds until I put on my ottobox defender case. It has cut my signal strength almost in half.

 

[ScandaLeX]

I'm a former Pre owner that recently jumped to the Evo 3D. I have a little bit of a love/hate thing going for the phone right now. Battery life and call quality/reception are not great so far, but web browsing is excellent, and wifi and bluetooth are also very good. I'm considering jumping ship for a Photon, but my biggest hesitation is about Wifi and BT. I rely on these constantly. If Wifi is even a slight issue, I won't switch to the Photon. After seeing several posts here about Wifi, I'm very concerned. So tell me, how many of you are having Wifi issues? How often and how bad? Are you toggling a lot? Rebooting? Thanks in advance for your help!

You've convinced me - I made the switch and am really liking the Photon much more than the EVO 3d. Thanks to everyone for their votes in the poll!

For me, WiFi has never been an issue and I've had my Photon since day 1. My wifi says on 24/7 w/3G kicking in when I'm away from wifi- which is when I leave my street. My sister lives across the street from me and when I decided I wanted a newer router, I gave her my old one leaving all settings the same so I'm outside and closer to her house, my phone will connect to her SSID. I have 2 other neighbors whose wifi I'm also connected too which is why I say I am barely ever out of range of a signal. N S E & W of me is wifi so I'm fortunate in that regard.

As far as BT, the jury is still out on that. I'm down to one pair of BT headset and when I connected it w/the Photon, I could barely hear anything. I don't want that to impact negatively since it could just be the headset thats gone to crap. I won't know until I get another one.

Since there were so many issues regarding proximity sensor and missed calls, I took the advice I came across and uncheck "in-pocket protection" and since doing that, I haven't had either of these issues any more.

I also had the EVO 3D and returned it faster than you can say boo! That phone never did feel like an upgrade to me and it had more issues that I wasn't willing to suffer thru 30 days w/ Nor wait on a "fix."