I have a Nokia 6086 phone for hotspot@home. I'm looking to switch both AT&T phones in the house to T-Mobile because of the rock-solid connections I've been getting for the past year. (I picked up a free phone and service at the hotspot rollout.) The only issue I have with the Nokia is that the web browser won't use wifi. Thus, I cannot authenticate at "free" wi-fi hotspots that require wi-fi users to "accept the terms". Even if I had a data plan I still couldn't authenticate because web access would use the cellular network instead of the wi-fi.

I've looked at the phones that are available now and have searched for wi-fi information about the phones. They have browsers, they have wi-fi (duh), but I can't find out if their browsers use wi-fi. It also appears that the Blackberry phones require a data plan, which I don't need, but I can seem to get around that requirement. I'd consider those phones if I can get them without a plan. I have built an online order with the Pearl and Curve without a data plan and it lets me go to checkout but I haven't completed the order. Oddly enough, I can not add the Samsung T409 to the order with the Blackberries still on the order, but I can add the Samsung Katalyst, which has had poor usability reviews.

(The 8820 looks real sweet but it's more expensive [and not even a rebate] than my still-working (and bigger screened) Palm T|X.)

So, do any of you hotspot@home users have a compatible phone with a web browser that uses wi-fi? Have you successfully authenticated at "free" hotspots with the web browser?