wifi or data - why one over the other

[radioman42001]

I have tried to find this on other threads, but could not find an answer. On the Android we can use the Sprint data or wifi. When we are in a location where both work, what is the benefit of one over the other? And in reverse, what are we giving up if we only use the Sprint Data? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Radioman42001
New Hero user

 

[imtravis]

I believe wifi uses less power than the cdma radio. Less power, means longer battery life. Of course I could be wrong in that aspect.

 

[Glitch4583]

I see two things.

1. Speed. Wifi is just faster most of the time.

2. No data usage. When I'm home I turn on the wifi. If my Droid wants to stream music or pull down podcasts, it just does it as much as it wants without dinging my data cap.

 

[Nechasin]

2. No data usage. When I'm home I turn on the wifi. If my Droid wants to stream music or pull down podcasts, it just does it as much as it wants without dinging my data cap.

But, But, But we have an unlimited amount of data on Verizon right? Oh yeah...it is unlimited up to 5gb. So that isn't very unlimited is it? how can they get away with calling it unlimited, but limit it?

 

[Zorro1]

Wifi uses less power for sure...and sometimes if it hangs, 3G is faster and more reliable. I noticed in my basement the other night watching football that the wifi wasn't reliable.

 

[Cory Streater]

I've been using Wi-Fi exclusively this past week - while I'm at home - and have noticed a significant improvement in battery consumption.

 

[herki]

I need special software to use the full speed Wi-Fi at my school, and my phone doesn't support that (They just got around to supporting the iPhone though *grumbles*). So most of the places where I could get Wi-Fi, I have to use the crippled guest Wi-Fi and the speed is terribly abysmal (dial-up speed).

I'll be loading a youtube video, make a shot at "blazing fast web speeds", and then realize it's because Wi-Fi is turned on. I turn it off, and blam! video loads.

When I'm in my room, though, I can use the full speed Wi-Fi instead of 3G.