iPod touch Push Wi-Fi

[Maxamillious]

As iPod Touch users, we don't the consistent 3G wireless connection that iPhone users do and this has led me to ponder the possibility of "Push Wi-Fi" for the iPod Touch (and iPhone owners without an unlimited data plan). I'm a pretty heavy Wi-Fi user, always using apps that utilize a Wi-Fi connection, but when I'm on the go I dislike leaving my Wi-Fi on because it kills the battery searching for networks, much like checking and pulling email from a server every 15mins. With Push Wi-Fi, my favorite or most visited locations could be configured as first priority to "push" it's connection to my iPod Touch instead of leaving it on, searching for a random businesses' unlocked Wi-Fi connection that won't transfer data and let me surf the web.

Now, this is a CONCEPTUAL idea and I'm wondering what everyone's take on it is. The technical scope of how it would work or to implement it is beyond me. But being seriously realistic here, could Push Wi-Fi be something of value that we could see somewhere along the road?

 

[macfan881]

i think it could be i signed up for mobile2web its a free exchange server email system and with the wifi push seems to do a great job i seem to get emails on the excact same time i do as im loged in as my browser but i do think it would be a good thing especailly if there were more public wifis around i think thats the key thing that this would need to take off.

 

[DeaconGraves]

I'm not sure I understand...

Doesn't the phone/touch automatically join the networks you've connected to previously? You can also change settings to where you can only connect to unknown networks manually (and therefore the phone/touch won't be actively searching for them until you go to the settings page).

It's an interesting idea, but a wifi network "pushing" its network to the phone would mean that the network would have to identify that you're out there to be "pushed" to (kind of like a bluetooth being "discoverable") which probably wouldn't help with your battery draining issues.

 

[janey]

Keeping track of how to connect to your iPod touch at all times is prohibitively difficult. Not to mention all the possible NAT problems...and who knows what else.

 

[Maxamillious]

I know there's already push email, contacts, calendars, ect. That all works really well with mobile me. I'm strictly referring to having a Wi-Fi connection being pushed to your iPod Touch.

That is a good point that you would have to be "discoverable" to the network. Possibly a ping from a network to the device could do this? However, you would still have to be "discoverable," emitting so kind of signal to a Wi-Fi connection/network to "discover." I'm not too tech-savvy with networking so pardon my lack of understand (or ignorance, lol).

 

[goosnarrggh]

I know there's already push email, contacts, calendars, ect. That all works really well with mobile me. I'm strictly referring to having a Wi-Fi connection being pushed to your iPod Touch.

That is a good point that you would have to be "discoverable" to the network. Possibly a ping from a network to the device could do this? However, you would still have to be "discoverable," emitting so kind of signal to a Wi-Fi connection/network to "discover." I'm not too tech-savvy with networking so pardon my lack of understand (or ignorance, lol).

Wi-Fi access points routinely broadcast a network identification, called an SSID, every couple of seconds. It is these SSID broadcasts which allow any Wi-Fi-enabled device to identify the network and place the network's name on the list of available connections. If your network access point has been configured to suppress these SSID broadcasts, then the network will not automatically show up in a device's list of available connections, and you need to configure your connection to the network manually. In this sense, Wi-Fi discovery already is "push" in nature by default.

If the Wi-Fi radio is left shut off, then obviously there is no possibility of ever receiving anything.

If the Wi-Fi radio is left on, then is is possible to receive those SSID broadcast messages. It also consumes battery power to do so.

 

[4DThinker]

What the Touch needs is a simple app you can keep on your home page to toggle wifi off and on.