Wifi

The Curve is the first Nextel to connect to Wifi Networks. When you are within range of one that you have the security key for, it will utilize that network to receive email and browse the Internet. While this does increase the speed of data transfer, it is still a far cry of what a mobile device that connects to Wifi should do.

What a great feature but terribly under utilized. With the technology that is available today, there is no reason I can think of that calls should also be routed over Wifi. T-Mobile has the right idea when it comes to this. The phones that they have that connect to Wifi also route calls over that connection (perhaps using VOIP technology). What is even more amazing is if you make a call over the Wifi connection and go outside of its coverage, you will seamlessly switch back to the cellular network.

To me this seems like a no-brainer any carrier would want to offer for two main reasons:

1. The calls that go over the Wifi network drastically reduce the usage for that carriers own network.
2. The ability to make calls over Wifi also appear to drastically increase the coverage area for that carrier.

The two reasons I can think of why they would not are:

1. Technology not available (which we know is available, so there goes #1)
2. Overage... yes, minutes... perhaps some carriers don't want to participate in something that would wind up costing them fees in overage minutes. Again, I can't imagine this would really stop them, since I believe the telecommunications industry is one of the most creative when it comes to figuring out ways to charge the consumer extra fees. Anyway, T Mobile addressed this issue somewhat as well... in order to be able to use the ability of making and receiving calls over Wifi, you have to pay like $10 extra a month. Sprint/Nextel also has the Simply Everything plan, which is a flat fee for unlimited minutes, so for these users, there is no overage, so it only makes sense to offer at least to these users to lessen the strain in their network.

Ultimately the fact that it connects to Wifi is cool but I don't notice any difference in speed (I haven't conducted any speed tests on network vs. on wifi)... either way, my emails still arrive and the browser is still slower than what I think we'd all want it to operate it at, although it is acceptable for me.