[ZacAttackCiT]

Hi all

I just got my iPhone, jailbroke and unlocked it and so far I've been very impressed with the development community here. There is one problem I haven't been able to find a solution for and I know it would be very useful to myself and possibly many other users.

First, some background information. I make relatively few calls and am almost always within range of a WiFi network. Therefore, I would prefer to be on something like a T-mobile prepaid plan which charges per minute and per text message but has no data plan. This is an attractive option because for me the cost would be $10-$15/month as compared to the $65+ it would cost to have a monthly plan and data service. However there is one problem with this setup: automatic email checking really does not work.

Push email functionality is out because there is no persistent data connection, so the iPhone can't be alerted when new messages arrive, but fetch email should be possible! The problem is that when the iPhone silently wakes up to fetch email, it only tries to use the 2G or 3G data connection. If you don't have a data connection, it gives up and goes back to sleep...

It seems like an ideal solution, which shouldn't be too complicated, would be to have an app which could wake up the WiFi antenna periodically, wait for it to connect to a known network, then check for mail and go back to sleep. Does something like this already exist?

The closest thing I've found is the "Insomnia" app, but it doesn't seem very well suited for this problem because: 1) you would end up having to leave the WiFi antenna on all day, leading to massive battery drain, and 2) even with Insomnia, the WiFi antenna turns off some period of time after the phone locks (30 mins I think), and then stays off until you unlock the phone again.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this post, it turned out to be a pretty long one!