o2 phone and internet

Bang Bang

Apologies if similar questions have been asked before but I ran a search and can't find a difintive answere, not even from o2!!

I recently went contract with o2 and have a Nokia N95 8gb. When I chose the contract I did not take the data package, the reason as follows.
I enquired from o2 if I would be charged for using WIFI points to browse the net from my phone, one o2 rep told me yes I would, which left me puzzled, then another told me no there are no charges because I'm using a different server and not o2's server, exactly as I thought.

So I've been using the WIFI access point in work to browse on the phone.
Yesterday I got a text from o2 informing me that they have applied a data package add-on to my contract because I use the internet. I didn't ask for the data add-on.
I rang o2 this morning and the rep on the phone informed that I can still incure charges because the phone can "hop" onto the o2 server if the WIFI signal is weak, thus accruing charges.
This left me puzzled yet again. As I have yet to receive a bill from them, now a week late!! The rep on the phone informed me that I have used €46 worth of internet in the past month, yet I've only ever browsed using the work place WIFI.

I apologise for the long winded question but o2 do not appear to have a clear answer because three different reps have given me three different storis regarding WIFI connections and o2 browser connections and charges.

Does anybody here know what way WIFI and phone company server fees and connections work?

Thanks in advance.

cgarvey

You are not charged for any WiFi access (by any Irish provider). Quite simply, because it is not their network, they have no control over it.

However, like one o2 CS agent explained, your phone can (depending on how it is configured) hop from WiFi to an o2 data connection (and thus incur charges from o2). So if you're using a browser and are moving around, it might be that the WiFi signal disappears (even momentarily) and the phone switches to o2 3G/EDGE/GPRS to continue browsing.

How that is configured on the N95, I don't know. I know my Nokia has an option to "Always select" the connection. If WiFi dies, under that configuration, then I have to manually re-select a connection type.

Bang Bang

Thanks for the quick reply.
Something that o2 should really tell it's customers.
I will look into my phone settings to see if maybe it does hop onto the o2 network when the WIFI signal drops.