Just Bought the Motorola Bionic -- Need Some Help With It Please?!?!?

[sk8brdkd]

hi everyone,

how's it going? i'm new here.

i just received the motorola bionic phone today and have been playing around with it for the last 2 hours and have run into some issues already. I was trying to connect to our home wireless network but, it keeps saying it's uncessful. This isn't the first electronic item that i can't connect to our network w/. A year ago i bought an archos internet tablet and i've NEVER been able to connect it to our network. My dad has the network secured by WEP and i have entered the correct password but, on both devices, it keeps saying can't connect. What can i do to be able to connect this phone to our wireless network? A friend told me we may have to update our router but, i just bought a new laptop and was able to connect that just fine to our network, so, what could the issue be?

Also, i am going on a trip this weekend, which is 1 reason i wanted this phone for the gps capabilities, but, does the navigation have to be connected to a network in order for it to work? bc there's prob no available networks when i'm in the car, so how does that actually work?

lastly, for this mobile hotspot thing, do you actually have to pay extra for it? i tried connecting to it but, it said unsuccessful -- if you do have to pay extra for the hotspot, how much extra would i have to pay??

Just to say, i normally NEVER have a problem w/ new electronic items -- i am usually able to figure them out super easily and quickly, however, this phone has stumped me -- it is my very first smart phone i've ever owned and it's throwing me for a loop. Any help w/ this would be MUCH appreciated as i'm Extremely frustrated at this point since i can't figure how to get any of this to work yet.....

 

[dezymond]

If possible, try switching your router to WPA. That should help it, other than that I'm surprised it doesn't work with WEP, my Inc works at my uncle's house and he uses WEP. Maybe the Bionic doesn't support WEP?

As for network, you're on verizon's 4g network. That's what you pay the extra $30/mo buddy! You're just trying to get on wifi at home, but you'll have 4g when you're not in range of a wifi network. And even if you lose 4g signal you'll get a 3g signal, so you'll be fine in the car or wherever else you go.

As for hotspot, yes you'll have to pay for a tethering plan, which is also another $30/mo if I recall.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the board and the world of Android! Check out the Bionic section of the forum for some more tips.

 

[MiDrOIdDOES]

Yes it supports WEP, WPA, WPA2

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[sk8brdkd]

If possible, try switching your router to WPA. That should help it, other than that I'm surprised it doesn't work with WEP, my Inc works at my uncle's house and he uses WEP. Maybe the Bionic doesn't support WEP?

As for network, you're on verizon's 4g network. That's what you pay the extra $30/mo buddy! You're just trying to get on wifi at home, but you'll have 4g when you're not in range of a wifi network. And even if you lose 4g signal you'll get a 3g signal, so you'll be fine in the car or wherever else you go.

As for hotspot, yes you'll have to pay for a tethering plan, which is also another $30/mo if I recall.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the board and the world of Android! Check out the Bionic section of the forum for some more tips.

thanks for the response -- i'll check into switching the router to wpa as u suggested and see if that works. this is my very first smartphone so, this is all completely new to me.

1 other question though -- for the 3g/4g thing, if my phone is automatically connected to that, why am i not able to connect to it here at home since i can't connect to the browser, facebook or gps or does it just "show up" when there's no other wireless network around? -- shouldn't it be available everywhere even if there's wireless networks around? and i'll def check out the bionic section on here -- maybe that'll answer more of my questions bc it's just all very confusing at the moment -- i kno it'll become easier when i get to kno this phone more but, right now, just frustrated/confused.

 

[Shadez]

Moved this thread to here...

 

[dezymond]

thanks for the response -- i'll check into switching the router to wpa as u suggested and see if that works. this is my very first smartphone so, this is all completely new to me.

1 other question though -- for the 3g/4g thing, if my phone is automatically connected to that, why am i not able to connect to it here at home since i can't connect to the browser, facebook or gps or does it just "show up" when there's no other wireless network around? -- shouldn't it be available everywhere even if there's wireless networks around? and i'll def check out the bionic section on here -- maybe that'll answer more of my questions bc it's just all very confusing at the moment -- i kno it'll become easier when i get to kno this phone more but, right now, just frustrated/confused.

the 3g/4g is your data connection. That's where your extra $30/mo goes towards. When not on wifi, or on airplane mode, your phone is automatically connected to it. Think of it as wifi, but everywhere. If you look at your phone right now in the notification bar I bet you see a 4g, but maybe it's a 3g symbol, means you're not within a 4g signal range. With your data plan and phone you don't need a wifi signal to connect to the internet.

I also recommend you check out the link provided in my signature: New to Android?
It's full of information and the basics about Android and it will help you learn the device better and also teach you some tips and tricks.

Also a bit surprised to hear your confusion about 3g/4g. This is something your Verizon salesperson (if you did buy from them), was supposed to go over with you if you admitted you didn't understand what it was. Even at 3rd party stores I've seen this being explained to new smartphone owners.