I have a Verizon iPhone 4 that I want to use as an iPod. It's not on any plan but it still says it receives a signal, is this normal? Should I just use it with airplane mode on with wifi enabled?
No the phone will still get a signal even if it can't connect to the network. You will not be able to use the network as you are not connected. The same thing happens to blacklisted cell phones. I would just turn your wireless network off to save battery personally.