One of the most enjoyable things about the iPhone is how browsing the internet is such a pleasant experience. When you log onto a page, you’ll probably be surprised by how easy it is to read and scroll through, especially in landscape mode. Even when there is something you’d like to see more closely, you can easily zoom in using the touch screen.

To zoom in on a particular portion of a website, you only need to use the same pinching zoom controls you use when navigating photos or zooming on Google Maps. Or if you’re not familiar with the pinching controls, Safari itself has a menu with several zoom controls for you to choose from.

Safari will indicate the boundaries around boxes of text or images, so if you double-tap the screen on an area of text or image, the browser will automatically zoom in so that particular area fills the screen from left to right with the font size increasing accordingly. You can then cycle up or down and use the same flick controls to browse your music or contacts. To zoom out, simply double-tap the screen again.

One thing to keep in mind when using the Safari double-tap zoom control is to avoid tapping on links – if you do, you’ll inadvertently open a new page and it can be quite frustrating to keep pressing back every time you attempt to zoom in on a block of text or an image.

Like a full-sized browser, you can open multiple windows at the same time. Occasionally this will occur when a link opens in a new window, otherwise you can open one yourself by pressing the button and the right-hand corner of the screen. Once you press this button, the page you already have open will shrink and you can choose whether to open a new page or navigate the pages that are already open by sliding your finger across the screen left or right and then tapping the page you wish to view.

To close your open Safari windows, you can press the red X in the top left hand corner of each page. If you’re down to the final two pages and you close one, the finally page will automatically be selected for you to browse in full-screen mode.

And because the iPhone lets you browse the full internet – not just a modified mobile version, you can encounter the same problems and risks of contracting a virus on the iPhone as you can with your PC.

However, like browsing on a PC, there are various things you can do to minimise the risk you run and impact these sites have on your browsing experience.

For a start, blocking pop-up windows is simple by just enabling or disabling Safari’s in-built pop up blocker in the Settings menu. There are also options for disabling or enabling JavaScript and Plug-Ins, as well as the ability to restrict Cookies.

When using these security options, it is wise to remember that for every bad function out to capture your personal data, there are plenty of good programs and sites that require access to these features. For example, switching off JavaScript may restrict your ability to use sites like Facebook, MySpace or Google Docs.

When it comes to Cookies, which are small data files used to identify your browser, the story is much the same. Turning Cookies off will mean you cannot do internet banking or online shopping, but it will stop an online advertiser tracking your browsing history.

Rather than turning Cookies off completely, it’s probably safest to set your iPhone to only accept Cookies from sites you’ve visited. This means that only the sites you actually load on your iPhone will set Cookies and no one else can.

The last thing to remember about safe browsing on the iPhone is to regularly clear out your cache. Not only will it free up some of the phone’s memory, but it will also get rid of any browsing history you have stored.

All four of the major networks in Australia offer 3G and HSDPA to consumers. In the case of 3, they deal exclusively in 3G, and Telstra’s NextG network is widely regarded as one of the strongest and best networks in the world. On top of that, both Vodafone and Optus have ambitious plans to expand the reach of their 3G networks over the coming years.

In terms of the iPhone, it offers a spiffy tri-band HSDPA chipset that works on the 850 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz networks. At the moment, NextG uses the 850MHz spectrum to offer mobile voice and data to 99 per cent of the Australian population, while 3, Vodafone and Optus all use the 2100 MHz spectrum for their HSPA offerings.

The problem for those thinking about getting an iPhone is that both Vodafone and Optus – the first two Australian companies to offer the iPhone 3G – are expanding their network using the less popular 900 MHz spectrum, which will not work with the iPhone. Optus have committed to expanding their network to cover 98 per cent of the population by the end of 2009, however most rural areas will be exclusively on the 900 MHz spectrum, meaning the iPhone won’t work in large areas of the Australian country.

In any case, it’s an important fact to consider for anyone considering an iPhone – especially those who live in a rural area, or need to travel to rural areas regularly. The iPhone may still work in those areas, but there will be no thrill of 3G and HDSPA speeds – rather you’ll be crawling along the 2G network with GPRS speeds.

How to Connect
No matter where you are, you’ll need to turn on the iPhone’s Wi-Fi switch, located in the Settings section. In most cases, the connection is very easy – the iPhone will search for all the available networks and you select the one you want, enter a password if required and begin browsing.

Sometimes it’s not so simple. If the network administrator wants to restrict who can access the network, they can switch on MAC address filtering which means only devices that have had their unique MAC address added into a safe list will be able to connect.

Other networks will be hidden and can only be found by your iPhone if you know the name of the network and enter it manually in the “Other” option on the Wi-Fi settings page. It will be case sensitive so make sure you enter it exactly.

Once you’ve selected which wireless network to connect to, you may be asked to specify a password. There are two different types of encryption technologies that require you to enter a password – WEP and WPA – but you don’t need to know the differences to connect your iPhone, just the password. This can be obtained from the network administrator.