Motorola Xoom™: Companion

Connecting to a Personal or Business Wi-Fi Network

If you have a Wi-Fi network at home or in your favorite coffee shop, library, or pub, you're probably ready to connect to it to get online. You may have already been prompted to join such a network (and already joined). If not, read on.

The first step to connect is to verify that your Xoom's Wi-Fi feature is enabled. The second is to get within range of the network you'd like to join. With that done, you may be prompted to input credentials to join the network. You can tell when you're connected because you see the Wi-Fi Signal icon (an upside-down triangle) in the Status area.

WHEN TO ENABLE WI-FI When you are in an unfamiliar area and want to see what open Wi-Fi networks are available, turn on Wi-Fi and let your Xoom tell you when it discovers a network.

With Wi-Fi on, you can learn where free Wi-Fi networks are and can join them, and you can be connected automatically the next time you're within range. This beats being offline when you're away from your home but within range of a network that you don't know about.

As an added bonus, Wi-Fi is generally faster than any cellular data option you have, be it 3G or 4G, if that's a connection option. And speaking of cellular data, when you connect to the Internet through a Wi-Fi network, you don't use any cellular data. This means if you have a limited data plan, that plan will last a little longer.

Of course, if you find yourself in a situation where you must preserve battery power, ...