wifi

The HTC 8S finally allows Wi-Fi to stay on with the display off, making it the first Windows Phone device to offer this much vaunted feature.

We've noticed something pretty awesome on our HTC 8S (review coming shortly, folks), something that many have been calling out for from Microsoft since Windows Phone launched back in 2010. In the Windows Phone 8 build that's loaded on the HTC 8S, we can enable the setting to allow the WiFi connection to remain active when the screen times out.  Huzzah!

The rumor that the HTC 8S would bring this functionality was first reported back on November 22nd and it is now 100% confirmed.

We’re not one to delve too deep into the various Wi-Fi security profiles out there. For one, we’re speaking out of league and can’t offer pros/cons to each one and two, it’s just not something we hear a lot of from our readers. But there are a few of you out there and for them, certain protocols like EAP-TLS is important.

The good news is that Microsoft is conscious of the need for EAP-TLS for Wi-Fi security (especially important for enterprise) and it looks like it will come to Windows Phone at some point, but it’s not high on their priority list...

If there's one area where have heard a lot of complaints on it's the WiFi function on Windows Phone.

The problem is a bit niche but it has frustrated quite a few of you ever since 2010. That "problem" is when the phone goes to the Lock screen, WiFi automatically disconnects. Obviously Microsoft had good intentions in mind here with power-saving as the chief concern. But recently, evidence and personal anecdotes seem to betray the idea that turning off WiFi (when not in use) saves battery.

We’ve covered the whole how-to-keep-your-Wi-Fi-alive issue before on Windows Phone Central. It was first realized that some apps keep the data-connection channel open which then allows your Wi-Fi to stay on when the phone is placed in standby (screen off).

Then a bloke over at XDA Forums created an app to mimic that scenario and it worked quite well except for the fact that it appeared to play a dummy song in your music controls.

Jaxbot from Windows Phone Hacker has now thrown his hat in the ring with Keep Alive. It too is a homebrew app that does not require root, meaning regular ‘dev unlocked’ phones can use it but it uses a slightly different method. Instead of pretending to stream a dummy song, Jaxbot evidently has set up his own server which then keeps your phone connected—data is kept at a minimum as it is just using pings to keep the connection open.

Does your Lumia 900's WiFi occasionally go dead?

We're getting a few reports that at least for some users their Lumia 900 behaves a bit oddly on WiFi. The reports vary as to the experience but most of it seems to revolve around the idea that when the device goes to sleep, the WiFi data connection doesn't re-connect properly upon waking.

From one description on Nokia's help forum is thus:

"When my Lumia 900 is connected to my house's WiFi (airport extreme), it will connect fine.  However, when my phone goes to sleep (or when I don't use the connection for awhile), I can't connect to the web even though my phone saids that it is still connected to the network.  It seems like some other people are also having the problem.  http://forums.wpcentral.com/lumia-900-ace/189504.htm

Sometimes a soft-reset will fix the problem, and sometimes it will take some time before I can browse the web with my WiFi network.  I tested with my other phones / laptops / PDAs, so I am sure that it is not my router's problem."

Others reported the same issue as well even after the latest update. Admittedly we had this problem with our review and purchased units but it seemed to have been fixed with the first patch. However, even our WiFi got a little funky after the latest update just a few weeks ago. It's not an "all the time" bug and it's a bit hard to replicate but we've certainly experienced some odd data issues with our 900, though rare.

So the question for everyone here: do you notice any dropped data issues with your Lumia 900? Is it with WiFi, cellular or both? Take our poll after the break and/or leave a comment. Thanks, səlɹɐɥɔ sɯıs, for the tip

An article has been published over at Nokia Conversations detailing the 1600.2483.8106.11500 firmware update for the Lumia 800, which is in the process of rolling out. The update is being pushed out gradually using Zune software and contains two benefits; battery performance (making use of the capacity too) and WiFi connectivity improvements. This is update number two of two that were announced at the end of last year.

"The update will not be delivered to every Lumia 800 simultaneously, but rather will be staggered over the next two weeks through Microsoft’s standard update process. This helps each owner gets the update without any hitches. Around half of owners will get the update in the next seven days, with the remainder over the following seven days."

Unfortunately, we've received reports that users have encountered issues with soft key lighting and battery performance after updating, but we've yet to confirm this on our models. Let us know in the comments when you get the update.

Source: Nokia Conversations

Heading out to London? Sick of some dead spots caused by the high rise buildings? Nokia is hoping to change this by offering free WiFi for everyone across the capital. 26 hotspots will be made available starting today. Spectrum Interactive is teaming up with the handset manufacturer to offer this free service until December, with speeds being capped at a reasonable 1Mbps download and 500Kbps upload. The beauty of this service is there's no requirement to login, simply accept the T&Cs and you're good to go.

I bet you're wandering what parts of the big smoke will be getting this access? The 26 hotspots can be found in the following areas: Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, Westminster, Sloane Square, Victoria, and Marylebone (the hotspots will be shown on Nokia Maps). All locations fairly well known and touristy. Nokia is looking to take this move further across cities around the world, a bold move. A Nokia spokesperson told journalists this morning:

"It’s something we want to see, how will this be taken up, how will it be used. We’ll look at how we can take those opportunities to other cities in the world... it’s really looking at how we bring all that together."

Where would you like to see free WiFi?

Via: ElectricPig

There has been some confusion surrounding tethering (Internet sharing) in Mango, but a list of supported handsets has been compiled over at the XDA Developer forum. OEMs and carriers have the choice to enable tethering for customers should firmware allow it, for example Orange has recently alerted customers to a tethering add-on, but work has begun for workarounds in enabling the feature. Unfortunately, tethering depends on LAN chipset used and we have bad news for Venue Pro owners.

In one hand we have the handsets that run on the Broadcom 4329 chipset and have tethering functionality, whether it be via OEM activation or by third-party hacks. In the other we have handsets that sport the same chipset but require either the carrier to enable tethering, OEM to support the feature or for workarounds to be posted. So, what devices are able to use tethering and which are still pending?

Supported

• Samsung Omnia 7
• Samsung Focus
• HTC Mozart
• HTC Titan
• HTC Radar

Waiting

• HTC HD7
• HTC 7 Pro
• HTC Surround
• HTC Trophy
• LG E900

You may have noticed we mentioned the Venue Pro in the title and above, this is because the Dell handset sports the Broadcom 4325 chipset, which apparently doesn't support AP mode. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, as reports suggest that the Mango USB tethering hack works.

Source: XDA Developer forum, via: WPSauce

Microsoft has recently made changes to its geographic location service, which we reported on not so long ago as having a lack of safeguards and a privacy flaw. Elie Bursztein, a researcher at Stanford University, created a web page that allowed visitors to search the database at Live.com for locations using device MAC addresses.

Reid Kuhn, a Partner Group Program Manager on the Windows Phone engineering team, made the announcement today over at Technet and stated that while it was not possible to track a roaming mobile phone or laptop using its MAC address, they aware of the fine line Microsoft was treading on with regards to privacy issues surrounding geolocation.

"Microsoft's privacy and security team has been in contact with Elie and we will continue the ongoing dialog with experts in the privacy field to improve our service offerings. We thank Elie and his team for working with us on this issue."

Kudos to Microsoft in taking measures to address the issue head on.

Source: Microsoft, via: WinRumors