Internet Access via Cell Phone HOWTO

Nate Carlson writes "I've been searching for a decently fast, inexpensive wireless 'net access solution. It's finally here! Sprint recently cut their PCS Vision pricing so that US$40/mo gets you unlimited data and 300 voice minutes to boot. I've written up a document on how to get this working with Linux - it works great, and averages 7-12kbytes/sec download speed. All I can say is, wow!"

Comments

Symetric?

[skrowl]

Is it 7-12K upload speed as well

Re:Symetric?

[Anonymous Coward]

After about the 20th person uses this for 24/7 net access this service will END!

Re:Symetric?

[Necroman]

Unlimited PCS Vision. Sprint may deny or terminate service without notice where use is in connection with server devices or host computer applications, other systems that drive continuous heavy traffic or data sessions, or as substitutes for private lines or frame relay connections. Unlimited PCS Vision offer for PCS Free & Clear Plans with Vision is: (a) only available with a Vision capable PCS Phone or PCS smart phone device; and (b) not available with Connection Cards, Aircards, or any other device used in connection with a computer or PDA - including phones, smart phones or other devices used with connection kits or similar phone-to-computer/PDA accessories. Sprint reserves the right to deny or to terminate service without notice for misuse.

They will just cut you off if you are running a server or some other mode that continuously uses up their bandwidth.

Re:Symetric?

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting how an unanswered question can be moderated as informative.

Re:Symetric?

[jpyeron]

the SLA with our provider (nextel) allows for static IP, 57.6k (max 28.8 typ). There is no filtering going on, no resrictions on data usage. It is designed for "server use" as well as realtime "client use".

we are interested in putting some of our product in private use vehicles at COST, we want to get our name out there.

please see http://www.pyerotechnics.com/products

questions: 30 day: mailto:jpyeron+dated+1039193539.f76bff@npyerotechn ics.com
+1 (410) 808-6646

Re:Symetric?

[tHiNk411]

In the article they mention 7-12 kBYTES(56-96kbits about what 3G claims to be) which would be faster then 56kbits or 28.8kbits. The diffrence between bits and bytes is a factor of 8. It amazes me that no one ever seems to know the diffrence between kbit transfer and kbyte transfer. Either that or they allways get it wrong.

Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[Anonymous Coward]

Connection to the Vision network via anything other than a Vision enabled phone is a violation of the new TOS. In fact, SPCS has gone so far as to remove the PC connection kits from stores and the online shop.

Check out alt.cellular.sprintpcs for details.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[swordboy]

Connection to the Vision network via anything other than a Vision enabled phone is a violation of the new TOS.

No it doesn't.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[curiosity]

Check the plans for the data-specific devices you linked to - you can't get the standard voice plans, and the data is far more expensive. $40 only gets to 20MB, and voice calls are charged per-minute.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes it does. Here is the TOS for the Sprint Vision service plan copy'n'pasted (bold is my emphasis):

Service Plan: Offer ends 12/31/02 and requires a one-year PCS Advantage Agreement. Night & Weekend hours are Mon-Thu 9pm-7am & Fri 9pm-Mon 7am. $150 early termination and non-refundable $34.99 phone activation fee applies to each phone activated on the account. Service plans not available in certain markets. Subject to credit. Depending on credit: (a) select Affiliate markets may require an initial prepayment for services; and (b) a $125 or $250 deposit may apply. Voice usage rounded to the next whole minute. Prices do not include taxes. Included minutes are not good for calls made while roaming off our network, whether local or long distance. Roaming calls are charged $0.50 per minute with an additional $0.25 per minute for long distance. Restrictions apply. PCS Vision (Data) Services: Unlimited PCS Vision offer limited to PCS Phones and is not available with any device used as a modem. Requires a Sprint Vision-enabled PCS Phone. Services are not available everywhere. Access to and downloading of premium content is not included. You will incur separate, additional charges for premium content.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[Anonymous Coward]

The "unlimited" Vision plan if you're connecting the phone to a laptop of PDA is $100/month in addition to whatever you're already paying for the service. Sprint sucks anyway. Their customer service is absolutely horrible.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[mofu]

From SprintPCS TOS:
Unlimited PCS Vision. Sprint may deny or terminate service without notice where use is in connection with server devices or host computer applications, other systems that drive continuous heavy traffic or data sessions, or as substitutes for private lines or frame relay connections. Unlimited PCS Vision offer for PCS Free & Clear Plans with Vision is: (a) only available with a Vision capable PCS Phone or PCS smart phone device; and (b) not available with Connection Cards, Aircards, or any other device used in connection with a computer or PDA - including phones, smart phones or other devices used with connection kits or similar phone-to-computer/PDA accessories. Sprint reserves the right to deny or to terminate service without notice for misuse.

Depending on your translation of "host computer applications" and "not available with . . " I'm not sure it is strictly prohibited, although they do seem to hold the final right of service regardless. I could see running a remote X session or VNC over your connection falling under "host computer applications" but would browsing, e-mail, or chat if done from a connected computer? And while the won't make this plan available with PC connection accesories what stops me from purchasing cable from Sanyo or Samsung afterwards??

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole idea there is that 144k of internet has a real cost.

One T1 at the rates Sprint PCS pays is about $500/mo or $20/64k channel. At $40/mo they're just recovering bandwidth cost and thats not an acceptable business model.

If they're dumb they'll let the network get congested, but they're not so they'll raise the rates to around $60/mo for people using devices other than vision phones, and that will be that.

Just my humble opinion, but I run a wireless ISP that covers a five county area ...

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[AlienSoul]

I don't know anything about stopping sales of connection kits. I am an inventory tech for the Sprint Store in Walla Walla, WA and we carry the connection kits for these phones. We have had several debates between managers and myself as to what Sprint will allow before they cut your account and tell you that you use too much bandwidth. I guess we will see. I am getting one of those plans since I am leaving Sprint at the end of this week and I plan on using the connection kit also.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[Shmoe]

all those wireless cards are for connection to sprint's old network, not vision.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[terraformer]

They are still selling it in the online store I see when I log in ro my account.

Re:Great..except it violates the new TOS.

[stilwebm]

Sprint has their own backbone and their own MAN in most cities. Their cost is not $500 per T1. I would guess that the data and voice are both moving across the same local loops between towers and a CO, then splitting off to either the POTS network or Internet. This is because Internet traffic probably makes up a small portion of the data being transmited. From the CO they are using their own long distance and IP backbones.

/. rocks today

[spacefight]

1. Story about BMG
2. Story about Gnutella2 (how to find BMG discs online)
3. Story about how to access (how to access Gnutella2 while travelling) 4. ...
5. Story about d/l pr0n from the m00n ;)

Re:/. rocks today

[Chiggy_Von_Richtoffe]

so i guess the ones you skipped would be:
4. ???
6. PROFFIT!!!

--
Eyes closed....Chloe talked us into caves where we meet our power animal. Mine was a
penguin.

Wow!

[DJPenguin]

That seems amazing! Too good to be true? I know that o2 (BTCELLNET) here in the UK got into trouble a while back when they advertised an "unlimited" text message price plan, which turned out to only allow 300 text messages.

Also - anyone know of a price plan in the UK that allows unlimited data?

Re:Wow!

[Mwongozi]

Sort of. If you buy an Orange SPV when it comes out, you get a promotional tarrif that allows unlimited internet access, but only for 6 months.

Nifty

[BShive]

This is pretty cool, really 'News for Nerds'. Too bad it's Sprint though, most of the people I know that have had wireless through them have been pretty unhappy with it. Get it set up and enjoy it while it lasts, I can't see it lasting too long.

For those on the road though this would really make sense. For those areas that actually get good Sprint connectivity. I'd love to test this out on a train and see if it'll hold up to handoffs along the way travelling the Amtrak NE corridor (Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York-Boston).

Re:Nifty

[bogamo]

I've got the pseudo 3g w/ verizon and it works great on acela, almost the entire trip between boston and new york has high speed data.

Re:Nifty

[Sergeant Beavis]

I don't know, I've had Sprint for 5 years and really haven't had any problems with it. I drive from Dallas to Monroe, LA all the time and never lose my connection there. The only dead spot is around the DFW airport but they are supposedly building some new towers in that area. I'm thinking it might finally be time to upgrade.

Re:Nifty

[Anonymous Coward]

Sprint's coverage along the Amtrak NE corridor is pretty poor (at least the Washington-NY part I ride) with lots of big holes. Verizon is much better for that route. I used Verizon CDPD on Amtrak quite a bit until my reseller went under. There were some holes, but it was at least marginally usable.

Re:Nifty

[Anonymous Coward]

A friend of mine works for Sprint and loaned me one of the 3G PCMCIA cards for a trip I was taking from Kansas City to FL. We had a van load and a car adapter for the laptop, and surfed almost every minute of the trip. Everyone had multiple hours on it. We only dropped the connection for about a 5 mile period in a real hilly area about 15 miles northwest of Nashville. The normal speed was about 60kbps (down... I didn't test upload speeds, sorry). The speed range was about 30kbps upto 179kbps, peak, but it was not uncommon to see web pages coming in at 120 - 140kbps. The speeds may slow down as more people start using it, sort of like a cable modem.

That's all the info I have on it. I loved it. My family loved it. But I don't travel enough to pay $99/mo for unlimited (3G PCMCIA as opposed to PCS Vision phone web access at $40/mo unlimited).

how long will it last?

[fifedrum]

It sounds like a good solution to some problems I've been having, rather conflicts between wanting to stay connected and wanting to hang out with the kids at the in-laws... But I can't help but wonder how long the service will be "unlimited data" before they start charging by the byte or minute once we're hooked on it.

Re:how long will it last?

[Zathrus]

It's unlimited bandwidth, but you still pay by the minute. It just means you don't have to pay by the minute AND by the byte.

I don't know anything about the pricing plans, really, since I refuse to get a cell phone, but it seems that 300 minutes for $40 is seriously on the low side. That's only 5 hours a month of connection time - and, yes, downloading data counts as connection time.

Disclaimer - my wife works for Sprint (FON, not PCS). It makes telemarketers asking us to switch LD companies fun though ("Can you beat free? No?").

Re:how long will it last?

[FatRatBastard]

I suspect that the *gotcha* is that while the "data" is free you start running thru your minutes while you're connected. Thus, if you're on for more than 300 minutes peak minutes you start getting charged $0.20 per minute, or whatever their rate is.

Re:how long will it last?

[curiosity]

That's not correct. With vision (and any GSM carrier's GPRS offering), it's packet-switched data. There are no per-minute fees. If you use the old "wireless web" or any other carriers circuit switched data system, it's the opposite - you pay by the minute, regardless of whether you're downloading anything.

Re:how long will it last?

[palmpunk]

It's going to last at least as long as the contract you signed. So, if they decide to change the billing and you dont like it you won't have to stay with them anymore.

Re:how long will it last?

[random735]

the 300 minutes is peak (7am-9pm weekdays?)..these plans have unlimited off peak minutes.

And as the other poster said, using Vision data services doesn't count against your minutes.

(so really what we need is a VOIP solution for your phone :) )

Re:how long will it last?

[Mr. Grimm]

*typical disclaimer* I work at Sprint in retention. Okay the deal with the plan is that at first it was going to be charged per kb and plans were going to have mb included in them. For a variety of reasons, including the slow burn take off of vision and it's still almost impossible for us to get an accurate measure of data used, they switched to unlimited. The plans will be available at least until the 31st of Jan but more than likely they will be renewed as they are extremely popular. If you're on the plan it's grandfathered in and unless you change the plan yourself or change your area code (which causes the original area code subscription to be cancelled) you'll keep it. There are still some people who have plans back from 98 and 99 that work just as they always have.

Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[GeckoFood]

...but if you have to involve your PC in the process, why bother surfing from the phone at all? You get a much better viewable area, and better browse control, through a PC than through a phone's browser. Did I just misread this writeup?

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[DJPenguin]

The article describes how to connect a PC running linux to the phone to allow surfing from the PC. He is just using the phone for "fast-ish, always-on connectivity".

Did you think he meant that you connect the phone to an existing internet account on the PC or something? I must admit I'm not sure what you're on about :)

I don't think he mentions surfing from the phone at all.

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[e8johan]

Have you ever heard of the new invention: (tada) portable PCs. Just one problem, if you want to be connected to the internet you'll need a cable, which reduced the usefulness of a portable computer. But, hey, we can connect using a phone, thus staying mobile and still having access to /.

8-]

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[Jacer]

I envision it as using your cellphone as a soft-modem, however, I'm not sure

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[grahamsz]

Ummmm my 3 yr old cellphone connects quite happily with IR to my laptop.

Most new phones have bluetooth which should have some support in linux and means you can leave your phone in your pocket.

The downside is that downloading will zap your phone batteries...

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[aonaran]

...but for some applications that's ok.

If, for example, you are on the road in a car/rv you could use the cigarette lighter adapter.

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[jafuser]

Just one problem, if you want to be connected to the internet you'll need a cable

No problem here... =)

Re:Perhaps this is a dumb question...

[merlin_jim]

Mine used to. I brought it in for service and they didn't have any comparable model to replace it with. So I asked for any GSM phone with infrared.

Know how many they had? 0. Nadda. Nil. Not a single digital phone with infrared port. Data cables, when you can find them, are $60 or so. For a cable. You know, the thing with a $3 connector at each end and ~8x6ft thin copper wires in between.

I wish I wasn't dyslexic so I could make my own cables. Every time I try, I end up soldering half the wires backwards...

What next?

[natron 2.0]

What has society come to? Our need for information has nearly surpassed our need for a social life. Accessing the net on our phones? Playing Doom on our phones. Looking at photos on our phones? Ok maybe I am a little bias because somebody stole my PCS phone the other day! I WILL FIND YOU AND AND...WELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU BUT IT WON'T BE GOOD!!!

Re:What next?

[DJPenguin]

Come on, read more than the title!

This is essentially broadband on a laptop/pc but using a cell phone to connect rather than a landline / cable / adsl.

It's nothing to do with surfing the net on a phone, which is another story.

Re:What next?

[e8johan]

"WELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU BUT IT WON'T BE GOOD!!!"

Give him burned CDs with copyrighted music and call the RIAA... they'll know what to do to him! :)

Re:What next?

[Jonny Ringo]

I think your looking for the "Cell Phone WHYFOR"

there are no dumb questions...

[Anonymous Coward]

but yes, you misread the writeup. this is about accessing the net on your pc, via your phone.

Sprint to a crawl...

[jaredcoleman]

This sounds like a great idea for city-folk, but for country folk like myself, I think we're out of luck. Sprints PCS towers are great, but they are concentrated around urban areas. I can use my Sprint phone at work, but at around the same place every day on my commute home, I begin to lose signal. Many of my friends have that problem as well.

Has anyone else seen this in there area?

Re:Sprint to a crawl...

[cmeans]

Have you called Sprint to tell them about the dead areas?

The more people that call and complain, the sooner they're likely to address the issue (if they can). After all, they've got no chance at making money when you're not on the phone.

It's the old addage: The squeeky wheel gets the oil.

Re:Sprint to a crawl...

[terraformer]

If you look at their service map of the Boston area (it is relatively good coompared with their coverage in the rest of the nation) you will see they favor the interstates and main roads. Same as in Houston and other places I have been so far. They have to get away from the idea that cars are where people use their phones. Especially with data services.

Re:Sprint to a crawl...

[Mr. Grimm]

I wouldn't look for that to change any time soon either. I work for Sprint and we just got out of a meeting with the V.P. of customer relations. Seems that Sprint did spend 6 billion (yes, billion) on upgrading the network but only in existing areas. The focus has shifted from adding new territories to filling in smaller coverage holes.

Re:Sprint to a crawl...

[Anonymous Coward]

I live about 45 minutes away from the nearest city, and my new sprint phone works better here than my old verizon, which is supposed to have better coverage. It even gets better reception than my friends older sprint phones.

Get 1XRTT service from Verizion, 144Kpbs

[malakai]

You can get unlimited data access from them for 90 bucks a month.

60 bucks for the USB cable. Phone appears as a USB modem to the OS.

-Malakai

Re:Get 1XRTT service from Verizion, 144Kpbs

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sitting in a coffee bar right now connected via my Motorola T720 to Verizon's 1XRTT Express Network. $99/mo for unlimited access.

So far I'm pretty damn happy with the service, but have some gripes about the phone/driver/software -- For example, The Data Cable that hooks up to the phone via USB connects to all pins on the phone (Data and Power), and yet the phone is not powered over USB, which means that your connection time is limited to your phone's battery life, which really blows. ... Hopefully a future driver update will address this.

Re:Get 1XRTT service from Verizion, 144Kpbs

[Brento]

If you're online, and someone calls you, does the phone notify you, or does it go to voice mail?

Re:Get 1XRTT service from Verizion, 144Kpbs

[novitk]

I just had this service(Express Network) cancelled. For the web it's OK, if you can live with multiple software and hardware bugs. For terminal(telnet,ssh,vnc) access it's unusable as the latencies are in the satellite ISP range (pings >300ms).

Who the hell Verizon markets the thing to anyway? I'm personally not gonna fork $100 to read slashdot and browse porn on the train. My company would if it could also be used for real work, which this POS service doesn't deliver one bit.

I wish i had that a year ago

[bigmoosie]

My plan for Sprint was 3000 minutes for 30$ per month it was a PCS network in texas and my only connection to the real world was my cell phone ... there were no phones allowed to be plugged into jacks in teh dorms at Sheppard AFB. So i sat in my room for 6 months with just 3000 minutes with max download speeds of 1.8k/sec if i was lucky !!! I could check my hotmail and read slashdot, but that was about it. Too bad i didn't have this service when i was down there. But at least i got the 150$ disconnect fee waived :-) I moved to an area not serviced by Sprint ... back to god old Vermont :-D btw we got 6 inches of snow last night yay!!!!!
~moosie

My experience

[prisoner]

I bought one of these, along with the pc connection kit. The speed is ok but it still "seems" slow. I had great signal but it takes forever to actually contact the site. Once it starts rolling it isn't too bad but the time it takes (4-5 seconds) to get the transfer rolling sucks. Bottom line is that it's not bad for ocassional use - checking email and whatnot when you're going from place to place but I wouldn't want it as my primary net connection.

Yeah in VT

[bigmoosie]

In vermont Burlington is about teh only area with PCS service ... that doens't help for me who lives in St. Johnsbury and its a 2 hour commute (almost 80 miles mostly little towns with spee dlimits of 35mph) so once your out of your service area you start using extra minutes and get charged for every tower you connect to ... it gets expensive. Tri mode phones up here are god !!!

Re:Yeah in VT

[pulski]

Though, I must say that service in VT has gotten much better. I never used to have any signal as soon as I'd cross the state line from MA. Now I get service in Northern Brattleboro, through Putney, then off and on (more on than off) all the way up to White River Jct. I was very suprised when I was cruising along and my phone rang. Granted, it's all along I-91, but when you're using a cell standard that differs from the local carriers, you have to hit the areas that have the largest population densities first.

I wish they'd spread out as much as anybody, but I do understand the reasoning behind it.

I want Verizon 3G to work w/ linux!

[bogamo]

Has anyone had any luck with getting the kyocera 2235 usb cable to talk to linux? I get gread speeds with windows, but I can't use it at all w/ linux.

-Geoff

Re:I want Verizon 3G to work w/ linux!

[Anonymous Coward]

Go here:
USENET post on Google groups

This will take care of the software config. As for the cable, does Linux recognize the 2235 as a modem? As far as I know, the usb cable is just a usb->serial interface, so does it present a serial device you can access in Linux? If not, just buy the serial cable from Kyocera for the phone. They have a store in their website.

Slashdotting

[evilviper]

Hmmm, if slashdot tradition holds up, soon sprint will be discontinuing this service, and quite possibly out of business.

Hey Sprint, say "Hi" to the "I-Opener" for me.

Re:Slashdotting

[bsignorelli]

Hmmm, if slashdot tradition holds up, soon sprint will be discontinuing this service, and quite possibly out of business.

Actually, I have Sprint service adn went to check something on my acount on their website just now. The front page for the Sprint PCS site works but the account site is down.

Dunno if it's related but one can hope...

Nextel's Offering

[Atryn]

FYI - Nextel offers PacketStream Gold $ 54.99 / month (currently 1st month free) which you can get on a phone (tether to a laptop or PDA) or on an iM1100 modem card (PCMCIA). For this price you get unlimited access to the largest packet-data network in the United States.

Speeds on Nextel are "up to 56k" according to the PR, but reliably I have gotten 20-40 kbps in Knoxville, San Diego, Atlanta, Roanoke, and Maui, Hawaii. I've even used it driving 200+ miles at a time (well *I* wasn't driving) without dropping connection or speed at all along the way.

Re:Nextel's Offering

[Klowner]

First thing I said to myself when I saw this article..

"Holy crap, now my I-opener I have glued to my dashboard can have internet access!"

Not kidding..

Unlimited PCS Vision minutes not for use with PC?

[raygundan]

I can't seem to find it now, but Sprint had a disclaimer on their page about using the "unlimited" PCS Vision minutes with a PC. The original wording said that you could only use the unlimited time with the phone itself, not as a data connection for your laptop or whatever. Can anybody confirm if they have changed this?

For $40 Bucks...

[telstar]

For $40 bucks I want Sprint to stop screwing around with their service and stop making changes that complicate things for their users. In the past 4-5 months these changes have taken effect:

• Sprint relocated the due-date on Sprint bills making is more difficult to find the "pay by" date
• Sprint voice-mail no longer states the name of the caller. Instead you get to listen to a verbose reading of their phone number ... adding about 10 seconds to every call
• The voice-mail indicator requires that you stay on the call an additional 2-3 seconds longer than you used to, when picking up voice mail, in order for the indicator icon to disappear on your phone. If you hang up too soon, you'll have to call back to listen to "No new messages" before it disappears.

This is just a sampling of the changes Sprint has made over the past few months. I can't see how any of them were implemented for any other reason than to increase their profits. Additionally, ALL mobile phone companies are guilty of delaying phone-number portability, because they know that once people can leave their network and take their phone number with them it will open up a completely new area for competition.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[ksplatter]

Sprint relocated the due-date on Sprint bills making is more difficult to find the "pay by" date

Why don't you just pay your Bill when you get it?

Your complaints seem pretty petty to me. Sprint's service is the cheapest and works almost as good. QUit you're bitch'n.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Anonymous Coward]

YOUR damn it! YOUR! How hard is it to not be a complete moron?!

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[still_nfi]

Additionally, ALL mobile phone companies are guilty of delaying phone-number portability

Verizon is the guilty party here since they have the most customers to lose. Where do you think those customers are going to go? Sprint is not too unhappy about the number portability laws and indifferent about the delay.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[mr_gerbik]

The voice-mail indicator requires that you stay on the call an additional 2-3 seconds longer than you used to, when picking up voice mail, in order for the indicator icon to disappear on your phone. If you hang up too soon, you'll have to call back to listen to "No new messages" before it disappears.

Every Sprint phone has a reset for the voicemail notification -- so in the case that you know you don't have voicemail, you can hit the reset option to get rid of the little mail icon. Its not Sprint's fault that you don't know how to use your phone.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[ksplatter]

I'm glad you had something important to add to the conversation

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[dachshund]

I also note that Sprint has introduced new, lower pricing plans without bothering to modify my existing plan. Thanks, Sprint.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[SuperQ]

yep, there's a damn good reason for that. I'm very glad that they don't automaticaly do anything to my plan. If there is a new special, or a new plan, I want to be the one that decides to change to it.

right now I'm on a really old plan.. which has features that are NOT available anymore..

I get 500min + 1500min night/weekend for about $50.

things that are on my contract that arn't available anymore:

night min start at 8pm (currently all new plans start at 9pm)
first incoming min free. this saves me TONS.

yes.. it's SUCH A PAIN to go visit the sprint website and look for new plans. I got burned once when I was using ATT wireless for a bunch of sales people in my company.. ATT released a new plan which would be much cheaper for about 1/2 of my sales guys who don't use their phones much. but I didn't get to use it for a month because I didn't know about it till i called to upgrade plans for a couple guys who were using insane ammounts of min. but basicaly it boils down to this.. there are good summer plans, good holiday season plans, and sometimes a good spring plan.. the rest of the year... you might as well stick to what you have.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[LordWoody]

You have obviously not run a business or worry about making your money work for you. Standard practice: run your receivables short and your payables long as possible. This is a basic Time-value-of-money concept.

That said, if the bill is late arriving in the mail (the USPS would never deliver late) how will you know if the bill is already past due so you can call in an immediate payment (usually costs a small fee) as opposed to mailing one (the cost of a stamp and envelope)?

Finally, you will avoid many obvious gramatical errors if you refrain from writing contractions in the first place. It is "your", not "you're" (you are).

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Milican]

Sweet man! I have had this problem several times where I check my voicemail on a landline while my phone is off. This leaves the voicemail indicator on my Sprint Phone off. However, after reading your post and poking around on my phone there is indeed a softare choice for resetting my phone. I used to have a Samsung SCH-3500 and don't remember seeing that option. However, on my Samsung SPH-A460 you can get to the reset by doing the following:

1. Press MENU
   
2. Select VOICEMAIL (Option 6)
   
3. Select RESET (Option 2)
   

Thanks for the prodding... :)

JOhn

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Milican]

doh...

This leaves the voicemail indicator on my Sprint Phone off.

should have said...

"This leaves the voicemail indicator on my Sprint Phone ON."

Sorry about that..

JOhn

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[telstar]

If I don't have any voicemail, why should I have to press anything to reset my phone?

My point with all of this is that they're changing their system to make it less convenient than it used to be.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[telstar]

If you're not under contract, you should talk to their retentino department and tell them you're planning on cancelling your service. I did that and I got 650 anytime and 3000 anytime keeping my nights at 8pm for $35.99/month.

Their retention department is designed to offer better plans to keep people that have been with them for a while.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[V4L1S]

BZZZ, Wrong. There is no such option anywhere on my SCH-3500.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Chmarr]

I agree that it sucks that they've changed their voicemail system so that it takes longer to get to the information you need. I've only just switched to Sprint myself, so I don't know what the old system was like... the new one seems to be okay to me.

However, the really nice feature is that Sprint don't change a cent to get access to voicemail. No airtime, no extra fee, nada! That, I thought, was really nice. So... the extra time to wade through voicemail is just an inconvenience, rather than a revenue generator.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[ksplatter]

Thank's Four The Konstruktive Kriticism my Freind! Your a real'ly nice p'erson. You'res Truly, me and My'self!

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Grax]

Small fee? $5 is not a small fee. (to me anyway). Why should I have to pay to make a payment? Screw them. A payment that arrives a few days after the due date won't hurt anything.

And your right about the contractions thing.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[torgosan]

I'll second this. Last month was the end of my latest 1-yr contract with Sprint so I called a few weeks before trolling for favors - I figured, been with them a few years so what are they gonna do to keep my business? Long stroy short, talked with the retention dept and kept my 8PM evenings start-time, bumped to 400/4000 for $35/mo. so I'm a happy camper until next October.

By all means, talk with retention.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[bsignorelli]

I have the 3500 too. His directions didn't work for me but these did...

Press the OK/[Envelop picture] button
Select Voice
Select Reset

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[bsignorelli]

This is news to me. Mind you I have an old plan (about 2 yrs old) and have just chosen a new one but it doesn't take effect til the next billing cycle.

But when I got my phone the Sprint people TOLD me that if I didn't want to use my minutes to check voice mail then I would have to use a landline to check it.

So if you meant that by using a landline to check your voicemail then I agree. But if you meant checkign you voicemail from the phone itself then AFAIK they do/did charge you.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[ONU CS Geek]

My Whole thing with Sprint is this:

I have a Samsung I-300 Phone. I'm only about 22, don't have the best credit, so they stuck me on their "Clear pay" plan. Ok...not so bad. Their online and phone-automated credit-card payment acceptors won't take my payment, because the addresses on my credit cards go to a PO Box, and my physical address is, a--PO box! The addresses match up, but it always costs me $8/month (yes, that's 96 bucks a year) to pay my bill with my credit card!

My next gripe is that any company that wants to charge me $3 to talk to a person (e.g., update my PRL, Change ESN's, bitch to someone about my dropped calls) shouldn't deserve my business. I've had it for about a year and a half now, and My contract is up in May. I can't wait. I don't plan on going back.

The next bitch is that phone...the battery life is pathetic, and I get about 5 minutes per battery of cell-phone life. I take it in, they'll tell me it charges fine, but they won't do anything else about it. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a Thera and deal with WinCE when it comes out...anyway....I'm done ranting.

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Anonymous Coward]

> and my physical address is, a--PO box!

You live in a post office?

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[mr_gerbik]

>> BZZZ, Wrong. There is no such option anywhere on my SCH-3500.

> Press the OK/[Envelop picture] button
> Select Voice
> Select Reset

DING DING DING! WE HAVE A NUMBNUT!

Re:For $40 Bucks...

[Chmarr]

Good point. That's an interpretation I did not conjecture.

His website hosted on the phone- (here is mirror)

[Anonymous Coward]

As his phone feels the /. effect that only few can survive, and yes west exodus is barely holding on!

Hrmm...wonder if you can play counter-strike on this bad boy. Would be cool to get a demo unit and see how well this bad boy frags!

What sucks ass is that we just signed 2 1-year contracts for our cellphone...crap! Oh well though I have been told before that Sprint customer service sucks realy bad and service is very crappy too!

Here is the info from his website.

This document describes how to connect a Linux box to Sprint's "Vision" (3G) network using a Sanyo SCP-4900 and the PCS Connection Kit USB cable.

Id: sanyo-4900 php v 1.2 2002/11/06 02:02:11 natecars Exp

Background:
In my ever-lasting search for high speed wireless internet access, I decided to try out Sprint PCS's new Vision service. They recently dropped their prices, so for $40/mo, I'm getting 300 anytime minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends, free long distance, and unlimited 'high speed' (56-144k) data. The best part is that it's simple to get working with Linux - all you need is the proper USB drivers, and the knowledge to set up a PPP connection. The phone cost me $99.99 (after a $50 instant rebate), and the USB cable cost me $69.99. Note that the USB cable looks like it's identical to the one that Sanyo sells directly for $29.99, if you'd like to try that cable, go to https://store.sanyousa.com/osb/showitem.cfm/Catego ry/24.

First Step: Make sure your kernel has the right options
To use the PCS phone, you'll need to have USB support for the USB card in your computer, and support for USB ACM devices (CONFIG_USB_ACM). The kernel included with recent versions of both Debian and RedHat includes everything you need. Also make sure you have hotplugging enabled, so that the modules will be loaded automatically.

Second Step: Plug in the phone, and watch the drivers load
All you need to do is plug in your phone, and all the drivers should be loaded automatically. Note that I have had a few cases where I needed to reset the phone to get the USB interface to show up. When I plug my phone in, I see the following:

Nov 5 19:35:29 knight kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:07.2-1, assigned address 2
Nov 5 19:35:29 knight kernel: usb.c: USB device 2 (vend/prod 0x474/0x701) is not claimed by any active driver.
Nov 5 19:35:33 knight /etc/hotplug/usb.agent: Setup acm for USB product 474/701/0
Nov 5 19:35:33 knight kernel: usb.c: registered new driver acm
Nov 5 19:35:33 knight kernel: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
Nov 5 19:35:33 knight kernel: acm.c: v0.21:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters

Third Step: Create a dialup connection
Now that you've got an ACM device, you just need to create a dialup connection. The 'magic number' to dial to get a connection to the Vision network is '#777'. So, use whatever method you prefer to create a dialer that will dial #777. On my Debian box, I'm using the standard 'pon' scripts. Here are the config files I use:

/etc/ppp/peers/sprint:

# You usually need this if there is no PAP authentication
noauth
# The chat script (be sure to edit that file, too!)
connect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/sprint"
# Set up routing to go through this PPP link
defaultroute
# Use remote DNS
usepeerdns
# Default modem (you better replace this with /dev/ttySx!)
/dev/ttyACM0
# Connect at high speed
230400
local

/etc/chatscripts/sprint:

TIMEOUT 5
ABORT '\nBUSY\r'
ABORT '\nERROR\r'
ABORT '\nNO ANSWER\r'
ABORT '\nNO CARRIER\r'
ABORT '\nNO DIALTONE\r'
ABORT '\nRINGING\r\n\r\nRINGING\r'
'' \rAT
TIMEOUT 12
OK ATD#777
TIMEOUT 22
CONNECT ""

So, I run the command 'pon sprint', wait a few seconds, and then start surfing. I generally get ping times of 300-500ms, and download speeds of 7-12kbytes/sec. Not bad at all, considering it's a connection I can take with me everywhere I go! Note that Sprint also gives you a public IP address, where the rest of the wireless phone connections I've tried have been NAT translated. Note that this service works beautifully with FreeS/WAN as a VPN Client. Well, hope this has been helpful.. good luck getting your connection up!

If you have any comments on this document, please feel free to drop me an e-mail at: natecars@natecarlson.com

I wish that existed 6 months ago

[bigmoosie]

My plan for Sprint was 3000 minutes for 30$ per month it was a PCS network in texas and my only connection to the real world was my cell phone ... there were no phones allowed to be plugged into jacks in teh dorms at Sheppard AFB. So i sat in my room for 6 months with just 3000 minutes with max download speeds of 1.8k/sec if i was lucky !!! I could check my hotmail and read slashdot, but that was about it. Too bad i didn't have this service when i was down there. But at least i got the 150$ disconnect fee waived :-) I moved to an area not serviced by Sprint ... back to god old Vermont :-D btw we got 6 inches of snow last night yay!!!!! ~moosie btw My usage always went over 3000 minutes ... why i didn't buy more time I don't know ... it probably would have saved me btw again sprint service in Wichita Falls texas is the worst service in the world ... the sell almsot 500 phones a week and they still don't put up new towers so you can never get a connection and when you do it gets dropped after 10 minutes i finally got them to reduce my bill one month by half when i told them what good are curtsey (sp) minutes when i can't even use them ... hint hint if they try to give you minutes you won't be able to use when you keep geting disconnected or dropped calls ;-)

That's probably not his goal

[brunes69]

Who is going to run a server on 7k/sec? He is probably asking because he is planning on doing somehting I wanted to do... take a big road trip, and bring the old laptop and digicam. The ability to quickly upload pics to your home from anywhere, combined with some short postings, makes for a nice "live" view of your trip from a website you can give your friends the URL to.

Another possible application is security... you could have your car auto-upload its position (gathered via a cheap GPS unit) along with a snapshot of the driver (via a hidden X10 camera) to a website every half hour or something, from a hidden cheap P133 in the trunk. This would be invaluble if your car ever got stolen.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[jafuser]

Just a tangent of an idea..

I wonder about the possibility of a project that would use GPS data, a compass, declination sensor, and accurate clock to create a "world collage" of sorts.

Most areas would remain blank, but popular touristy areas would probably get enough data together to construct some sort of 3D environment, given the proper algorithms to transform all of the 2D pictures and associated coordinates into 3D.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[Brento]

Another possible application is security... you could have your car auto-upload its position (gathered via a cheap GPS unit) along with a snapshot of the driver (via a hidden X10 camera) to a website every half hour or something, from a hidden cheap P133 in the trunk. This would be invaluble if your car ever got stolen.

Already exists - it's called LoJack, and the police have the tools to track down your car with it. Plus, they cover your insurance deductible if the car is stolen, and it's almost impossible to find on the car - unlike your P133 in the trunk. Combining a Sprint Vision PCS plan, a webcam, and a PC would probably be the wrong tool here.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[spencerogden]

You mean like this? Not automatic, but same idea.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[brunes69]

Yeah, excep tmaybe I dont want big brother to be able to track me wherever I go because I buy a cool looking book about Islam from Amazon. No thanks, I'd stick to my own homebrew solution.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[Anonvmous Coward]

"Who is going to run a server on 7k/sec?"

Anybody who uses ATTBI as their provider because Qworst is their only broadband alternative.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[RestiffBard]

This is slashdot, how many times has their been an article about someone setting up a server on his z-80 or tandy or toaster?

Re:That's probably not his goal

[jafuser]

Pretty close =)

I imagine within ten years or so, the technology will probably be cheap enough to combine the following devices together into one:

• High resolution digital cameras
• Global wireless internet connection
• GPS receiver
• Cheap sensors

At that point, it would be not only convenient, but automatic, if you opted to save your photos to the project as well as your "personal network storage location".

I'm already seeing the beginning of this in Danger's HipTop Sidekick. Though the resolution for it's detachable digital camera is ultra-miniscule, it's enough to instantiate the concept.

I no longer need more than a small buffer for temporary storage when I'm 24/7 on the internet. So long as it can keep uploading pictures faster than I take them, I've got the potential for unlimited storage. Once the resolution becomes more practical, I can see this as being a Very Cool Thing (TM), espeically for professional photographers.

Eventually, when these kind of devices have GPS capability, it will be interesting =)

Re:That's probably not his goal

[Anonymous Coward]

its called a Tablet PC

Re:That's probably not his goal

[racermd]

Normally, I'm a big fan of Sprint's wireless services ("clever" commercials notwithstanding), but there's an alternative here with a decent review of the unit here.

Basically, it's the two-way DirecWay satellite system from Hughes/DirecTV designed for mobile (read: vehicular) use. Obviously, you can't keep this kind of connection alive while in motion due to the satellite aiming requirements, but it does make sense for those with high-bandwidth needs and are on the road for most of their lives or for people who have the cash and the money to spend on this. Those with fifth-wheel campers or RVs, a DirecTV account for their home, and need/want broadband internet speeds when they're out-and-about will probably find this the most useful. The unit will also receive DirecTV signals for those with the ultimate need in mobile entertainment.

It's obviously not as inexpensive as Sprint's offering, and it's far less mobile (you can't carry it with you into a restaurant, for example), but it should be less expensive per unit of bandwidth. If you're wanting this to work on a Honda, it's going to look awefully goofy. But it won't look terribly out of place on a larger vehicle like a pickup truck, camper, RV, or semi cab.

And before anyone gets the idea that I work for these people: I don't. I'm just a bandwidth junkie that has the "occasional" craving to get online when on the road over my annual 2-week-long driving vacations.

Re:That's probably not his goal

[Raven42rac]

dude i hate to be a fucker but you misspelled "there", you must have been tired, it is not the usefullness that counts, its the fucking "cool" factor, like running doom on a pda, why you ask? because you can, quake in java, why? just cuz..

Personally

[mirko]

I IR-connect my Sharp Zaurus to my cell phone.
I didn't know one would need an howto for this ?!

Re:Personally

[Anonymous Coward]

Most clueful people wouldn't, but most slashdotters are hyper-trendy faggots.

Yes it does.

[_xeno_]

And I quote from the Agreement for the very plan the story submitter is quoting (the plan I'm going to be switching to shortly for my phone):

Sprint may deny or terminate service without notice where use is in connection with server devices or host computer applications, other systems that drive continuous heavy traffic or data sessions, or as substitutes for private lines or frame relay connections. Unlimited PCS Vision offer for PCS Free & Clear Plans with Vision is: (a) only available with a Vision capable PCS Phone or PCS smart phone device; and (b) not available with Connection Cards, Aircards, or any other device used in connection with a computer or PDA - including phones, smart phones or other devices used with connection kits or similar phone-to-computer/PDA accessories. Sprint reserves the right to deny or to terminate service without notice for misuse.

The reality I got from that section is that basically if you try and use your phone as your primary Internet connection, they'll shut you down. But if you just use the phone occasionally as an alternate method of connecting to the Internet, then they'll probably leave you alone.

Basically, what this guy is doing does go against the agreement needed to receive the "Unlimited PCS Vision" option. But yes, you can get plans that are designed for use with laptops/PDAs, but at around $40/month for 20MB total and $100/month for unlimited access. And these plans do not come with voice calling, or any features related to it - they are purely for Internet access.

Re:Yes it does.

[_xeno_]

And after I submit this I finally find the link to the agreement which does not require you to actually be signing up for a plan. Keep in mind they expect it to be popped up as a JavaScript popup, and the text really is that small, but:

PCS Vision Advantage Agreement

View the plans themselves here: PCS Plans

Re:Yes it does.

[gl4ss]

gee. here(finland, europe) we can get unlimited gprs for about 50$/month. voice calls cost of course the normal.

zaurus+gprs phone==pr0n everywhere.

Re:Yes it does.

[_xeno_]

Hey, don't forget, this is the Big New Thing out here in the great old USofA. The various cell phone providers (Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T...) been doing the grand rollout only over the past six months or so. It's brand new, and exciting... it's just like what Europe has had ... how long now?

(You have to see the ad where the Sprint guy is extolling the virtues of "screen savers" on your cell phone. I own a "Vision" (read: 3G-ready) phone, and I still haven't figured out what that means, other than possibly the display that is shown on the screen while navigating the nifty features.)

Besides, in a country where Motorolla runs ads showing off the amazing Texting features and Verizon is trying to get people onto the idea of texting, it can't be that surprising that data services are something exciting here. (Yes, we have ads showing people texting each other as if it were something brand new that is only made possible through the innovative genius of Verizon.)

And don't forget, in the US cellphones are used to have an excuse for cutting people off in the lane while drinking coffee and reading your newspaper in your giant SUV instead of just taking the damned bus and being able to do that without risking the lives of everyone around you. Of course, I live in Massachusetts, and apparently we drive worse than practically anywhere else in the nation. From what I've seen, I'd hope so...

(Of course, maybe I'm just pissed because some asshole decided that the big red STOP sign didn't apply to him so he could jump in front of me in traffic. And bitching about it makes me feel better. That and I'm stuck with my normal Voice service until the end of November when I finally get the data service activated.)

zaurus+gprs phone==pr0n everywhere

Aren't you close enough to Sweden...

Re:Yes it does.

[gl4ss]

gprs(cheap fast data open all time) has been around a little over a year for general public(it sure helped our boring nights while doing army service last fall). of course the slow gsm data(9.6kbits) has been around almost 10(?) years.

as what comes to phones and driving,w ell, here as i understand it is regular practice for the police to check the phone records to see if the driver was speaking to a phone around the time of the accident(at least when it isn't clear who's fault it was or why the accident happened, for example if the people are dead&etc). excuses are excuses, and even if it wasn't yet illeagal to use phone while driving, getting distracted while driving has always been. if you can't focus on driving, you should stop. plain and simple.

Ad Copy

[mlknowle]

Why does this story read like Ad Copy? Could it be that an Ad Plant made it onto the /. front page? Or perhaps they just have really enthusiastic customers.... ...then again, everyone I've known who has had Sprint PCS has felt like throwing their phones under a bus - I've never known anyone happy with that service (bad service areas, weird fees, crappy service reps, etc etc)

Re:Ad Copy

[grimjaw]

Ad copy promoting using Linux to connect to their service? Most of the big service providers include software to configure your connection if you're on a Windows PC, and fill your computer with advertising at the same time, for which the service provider is probably paid. Promoting a connection that potentially bypasses all that ad revenue seems to be shooting yourself in the foot, if you're Sprint.

Re:Ad Copy

[Mignon]

Ad copy promoting using Linux to connect to their service? Most of the big service providers include software to configure your connection if you're on a Windows PC, and fill your computer with advertising at the same time, for which the service provider is probably paid. Promoting a connection that potentially bypasses all that ad revenue seems to be shooting yourself in the foot, if you're Sprint.

I thought the grand-parent post idea that this page was created by Sprint was interesting, but knee-jerky. A quick look at his other pages (stuff he's done with Linux, photo album) and WhoIs suggests he's a real guy with his own site.

However, in general, I kind of disagree with your suggestion that Sprint would be shooting themselves in the foot by promoting Linux. On the contrary, I think it's conceivable that Sprint would try to woo the techie crowd, with particular interest in its early-adopters and bandwidth-lovers.

Even if Sprint concedes a few bandwidth-loving users from some advertising program, they surely make more on the per-minute fees from those users than they would from the ad revenue.

plan options

[zogger]

--sorta confused here. Hmm common occurence. Anyway, at the top of the pricing I see the 300 anytime minutes deal unlimited nights and weekends, etc, but when you scroll to the bottom of the page it says 20 megs of data. Now what's the difference here? Is this one of those gotchas, you could accidentaly rack up thousands of dollars of charges surfing and not even realise it? And what about using their pcmcia card and the USB cable to connect to your already existing local dialup ISP? Would that work? Recently got a lowball kyocera that has this connectivity potential allegedly-saw the card and cable on the rack there but didn't buy it- and was wondering if it was worth it to get their card and cable and skip their network and just try my existing ISP, but this pricing deal has me worried.

thanks for your article, BTW

Re:plan options

[deanj]

I believe that the difference is that the unlimited datais for your phone only, and if you hook up an external device to it (like a laptop or a PDA), it's an extra charge. I think for phones like that A500, it's not an issue.

Re:plan options

[zogger]

--thanks, figured it was a too good to be true deal. I've been looking for some sort of less expensive wireless option than satellite ISP. We are thinking about moving further out the boonies and I am concerned about any net connection at all, let alone a "broadband" thing. I could get by only surfing at night with the unlimited nights and weekends but a 20 meg cap with the 40 buck plan is sorta silly-I listen to net radio, that would wipe it out pretty quick- and the 100$ month unlimited is right up there with the satellites. I don't upload much or play online games so satellite latency isn't really an issue with me. I don't need to surf on the phone, just use it as a wireless modem to either my laptop or somehow my desktop. I know this is possible, I just don't want any gotchas, I know when I was talking to a verizon rep(our current cell provider) about internet connectivity it was confusing as the salesgirl described the USB cable as "the small square cable thing" so I was hesitant to believe they were truly offering, or it was capable of, if your isp supported it magically, unlimited net access at night,or should I say that you could use it as such with a different isp than their's, even though she insisted that was correct orally. Fine print on those contracts are always head scratchers.

Re:His website hosted on the phone- (here is mirro

[HyperbolicParabaloid]

you should have read the article instead of copying it. He isn't hosting the site on his phone. He is suing it as a modem.

but seriously

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of loser needs to be connected to the internet while riding on a train using a laptop? The same people that mount a video camera to their head and walk around conferences while streaming it to to their website... After awhile, you wind up looking like this.

Alternative to 802.11b wireless networks?

[MobyDisk]

Would this work as an alternative to 802.11b for those who want long range, but don't need low latency or high bandwidth? Perhaps all those free internet groups setting up 802.11 access points needn't bother.

At the very least, it is a nice way to get on IRC during a road trip, if there's coverage.

Or you can use the older-generation stuff...

[Dr. Manhattan]

I got my Palm to hook up to my Sprint phone pretty easily with the help of this page:

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~moore/hacks/05/

Of course, it's only 14.4 (~1KB/sec) but for email and even a terminal session it's not too bad. You only get around 15 minutes/month for free, and after that it's pretty steep. But you can get unlimited service for $5/month.

We're going on a long road trip early next year, and I plan to get unlimited for that month. Then I can check my email and even do some text websurfing from the car - you usually get good signal on major highways.

(Just to forestall some AC troll, no, I won't be checking email while driving.)

Almost got rid of that T3

[strictnein]

But then I read the TOS:

Sprint PCS Vision enabled devices can not be used as substitutes for private lines or frame relay connections.

Damn... better call the phone company and tell them not to turn off my T3.

Using basic Sprint minutes to dial-up

[lacoste]

As someone mentioned, they use the normal Sprint Service and pay $10/mo for Wireless Web. I wanted to relate my experience with using my normal Sprint service: Sprint considers dialing out to a modem from your cell phone as a data call, it gets billed as Wireless Web minutes, which if you don't pay the monthly fee for, is some crazy per-minute rate. I found this out the hard way when I used my phone for 2 months as my primary dial-up connection with my laptop and then checked my bill ;)
So make sure you pay for the Wireless Web feature if you're going to use minutes regularly.

Lacoste

Get files to your phone

[strictnein]

If you're interested into getting files to your new Vision phone (and not paying for the stupid downloads that Sprint has) check out their development pages

http://developer.sprintpcs.com/adp/welcome.do?re di rect=welcome

Not really the greatest resource, but it contains some decent info

Re:Get files to your phone

[strictnein]

oh... and take that space out of the link (between "redi" and "rect", not sure how it got there... that's really strange actually...)

Re:Get files to your phone

[tstoneman]

Does this mean we can download our own ringers and applications onto our Sprint PCS vision phones?

Re:Get files to your phone

[strictnein]

yes, it does, it's actually quite easy to do

A good place to find programs is:

http://www.microjava.com/

Puts T-Mobile/VS to a shame

[rosewood]

Unlimited download?! AMEN. T-Mobile has been offering wireless internet for a while but has data limits in the 10MB range/mo. That is scary. Now, if Sprint would just offer a decent affordable cell phone plan I would be very ready to ditch T-Mobile. (Im looking for free weekends, no roaming, unlimited mobile to mobile minutes, free long distance).

I do have to wonder what the TOS on this is considering their record with Sprint Broadband Direct (which I thought looked pretty damn cool).

Re:Puts T-Mobile/VS to a shame

[Anonymous Coward]

Sprint Vision can provide up to 144Kbits per second (7-12 KBytes per seconds)...TMobile sucks dirt.

Re:Is this a commercial?

[jimmajamma]

You are just jealous, 'cause this guy actually knows some girls.

No it doesn't

[Andy Dodd]

The TOS explicitly states that you are NOT allowed to do what is stated in the article. If they find you, they will either shut you down or start billing you $$$. (Note: Rumor has it that Sprint is trying to force this issue by having phone manufacturers remove PC connection capability outright from any Sprint-branded phone coming out in the future. This may or may not be true.)

If you want PC data that doesn't violate the TOS, it's $100/month.

Re:Is this a commercial?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, he looks like a pedophile.

Re:Is this a commercial?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't take advice from people who don't have college degrees, so I can't listen to Nate Carlson, the uneducated.

Translating the salesman lingo

[heroine]

After the "anytime minutes" quote, the "unlimited evenings and weekends" quote, the "$99.99 (after a $50 instant rebate)" and the "if you'd like to try that cable, go to" line, I was getting no less suspicious about the real costs than someone shopping for a car. But I wasn't shopping for anything.

Is the "unlimited data" the same as "unlimited vision"? Is "unlimited vision" unlimited in the sense that it's unlimited if you use it on weekends only? Technically everything is unlimited if you only use 300 weekday minutes. Already got screwed by Excite@Home/AT&T broadband/Bin Laden's whore.

At the least, the $150 phone, or rather, the "$99.90 (after $50 instant rebate)" phone is $150 more than my last phone cost. And the $528 yearly cost including tax or rather the "$40/mo" fee is $72 more per year than my last plan.

Re:Translating the salesman lingo

[Mr. Grimm]

*disclaimer* I work at Sprint in Retention. Unlimited data is unlimited data. No time restrictions on it, and there never have been even back on the unit pricing. Data is just the non PR term for "Vision". They're one and the same.

Re:Translating the salesman lingo

[Mr. Slippery]

Unlimited data is unlimited data... Data is just the non PR term for "Vision". They're one and the same.

But, if I read the TOS correctly, it's only "unlimited" if you don't actually do anything with it...you can't connect a laptop or PDA to your phone, you can only use the stupid and worthless "vision" features of the phone. Feh.

Re:Translating the salesman lingo

[Mr. Grimm]

Either way it's still unlimited in the amount that can be used. It just depends on what device is being used the price it takes to get to unlimited.

Just don't use AT&T to dial ISP

[sprekken]

from a large city... I almost bought a 3Com cellular PC modem card with the 3Com Nok6 cable that connects the pc modem to my Nokia 5165 so that I could dial my ISP from my laptop. This is a bad idea if you live in an area where AT&T doesn't provide analog service (Most large cities)... because IT WON'T WORK!

I don't care really about the connection speeds (9.6K is fine), I just need a damn connection for a simple little application I've made but I don't want to have to pay $40. a month + $100 phone + change provider, etc.. though it looks like I'll have to.

Ugh.

Re:His website hosted on the phone- (here is mirro

[LordWoody]

> Hrmm...wonder if you can play counter-strike on this bad boy. Would be cool to get a demo unit and see how well this bad boy frags!

As with any wireless connection, the latency will suck and you will be fragged before you know it. Wireless is a bad connection for gaming.

There's a slot on the adapter for power...

[malakai]

While it can't be powered by the USB line, on the usb phone-side adapter, there is a small slot towards the back of it that allows you to plug the AC or car adatper plug into the usb/phone side plug. Thus powering the phone.

-malakai

Great if your phone is ACM compliant

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, if your phone is ACM compliant, getting it to work under linux is as simple as plugging it in and creating a couple of scripts.

My phone doesnt seem to be, as the ACM driver does not get loaded when the phone is plugged in. Does anyone know of a way to determine if a phone is ACM compliant? I have a Kyocera 2235. Has anyone been sucessful getting this to work in linux?

How does PCS Internet dish out ips?

[jjonte]

Do i get a real world ip? or some propritary 'thing' and then i go through their proxy?

Re:How does PCS Internet dish out ips?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's proxied thru a WAP gateway sir

Re:How does PCS Internet dish out ips?

[tz]

You get a PPP connection (following the Howto instructions), so the IP of both endpoints tends to be quasi-random, but over a limited range. If you surf on the phone itself it goes through a WAP gateway.

Anything like that coming to Europe some day?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if france is going to have something similar to that in the next 20years.

service plans

[vorovsky]

Okay, I don't know if I'm just being stubborn or what, but I cannot seem to understand their service plans.

On their service plans page they have stated "Unlimited" PCS vision with all of the new vision plans. Then someplace else I found (cannot recall the link) there is a 20MB/month limit.

My question is: if I switch to one of the new vision plans, get a nice vision phone, slap the usb adapter on there and start surfing away (albeit not as my main connection, just light use,) are they going to turn around and royally rape me if I hit a limit? Or is it one of those "Free for 3 months then 20MB limit after that" kind of thing? Just trying to get any help from anyone that may have this service already.

Re:service plans

[terraformer]

I have had Vision since about a week after it came out. Originally I had a 2meg limit but when this new promo came out I was automatically upgraded. I called and asked if it was permanent and they said as long as I do not change my plan after the last of this year (when the promo ends). FWIW.
I think they realized that they need to get the geeks on board as early adopters and they will recomend to friends the service. What better way to get geeks on board?
I do not know if there is some high water mark limit like 20 as I did not ask.

loophole

[WhiteChocolate42]

Unlimited data but only 300 voice minutes? Easy:

1. VoIP
2. ???
3. Profit!!

Re:loophole

[Jay Bratcher]

Read your contract carefully - your unlimited data means you don't pay extra for data charges - the minutes still count against your air time...

Re:loophole

[astrotek]

while your downloading data your using your voice minutes, kinda pointless. Unless someone hacks VoIP so that you can do long distance.

This has already been done in Finland

[tactik]

Here in Finland DNAfinland, local small telecompanies mobile service provider, already has this kind of service.

You can use GPRS mobile to connect to the net unlimitedly for less than 17e/month. They offer it as the main 'net connection type for the rural areas. AFAIK their licence doesn't restrict your net use, but encourage it. This service has been available from last christmas, and they are keeping it in their 2003 price lists.

Additionally unlimited voice calls within DNA are 39 e/month. All other national calls can be made at price of 0,16e/minute.

VoIP?

[random735]

I know this sounds a little crazy, but what if someone wrote a VoIP app for one of these phones (for instance the new 7135 smartphone that's coming out soon). Now you can use your unlimited data connectivity (doesn't burn your voice minutes) and make voice phone calls all day, at peak times, without incurring any extra costs!

I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to cram a VoIP app on one of these weak processors, but the time may come....

Re:VoIP?

[Anonymous Coward]

1 second latency.

Re:His website hosted on the phone- (here is mirro

[haa...jesus christ]

I think he was kidding, and I definitely don't think he's suing anything, especially as a modem.

verizon

[simpl3x]

verizon has a similar service which i access through my mot v60 connected to my tibook. 14k is very slow, but its free (except for minutes). since i have a large call plan i use it a lot, but would love something closer to your average land line.

Re:verizon

[sacherjj]

I use the Ositech modem to connect with my Verizon StarTac phone. I used it for connection all across the US on my bicycle tour. The standard Motorola kits only work with digital service (AFAIK), but the Ositech can be used in digital and analog. I found analog to be much more useful for long connections. I can be online with only 2 bars of signal in an analog mode for until my battery dies (1.5 hours). In digital, I could only stay connected for 10-20 minutes at best, if I had 4-5 bars. I would have trouble with 3 minutes if I was unter 4 bars. Connection speed for the Ositech setup was always 19.2k. Not fast, but solid for email.

Black trench coat

[Anonymous Coward]

does it come with?

Alternative: Nokia Communicator

[Anonymous Coward]

You can always get a Nokia 9000 Communicator for $40.

Then sign up for T-Mobile or Cingular with "PCS data Connect" service for about $40/mo total.

Features web, telnet, ssh, VNC, pop/smtp, Fax, SMS. Plus all the standard PDA features.

The Nights & Weekends times havechanged as wel

[joeflies]

When I signed up, nights and weekend was MF 8:00 pm to 7:00 am. After taking another look at the plan, I now see nights & weekend is now 9:00 pm to 7:00 am

What is the latency?

[bobsalt]

What kind of pings are people getting using this? I live in BFE and would be very interested in this...if latency didn't boitehr me, I would have had a directPC long ago... thanks, Bob

Re:Unlimited PCS Vision minutes not for use with P

[Anonymous Coward]

Open source advocates like the slashbot community only abide by terms of service / license agreements if it is in their best interest.

Sprint PCS: run away, run away

[Don Doumakes]

I'm a former Sprint PCS customer, and I wouldn't go back if the service really were unlimited. They've got the worst customer service I've ever experienced. My favorite example: when my phone needed to be replaced under warranty, they called my dead cell phone number to let me know the replacement phone was in. Dumb as a box of rocks.

No

[Anonymous Coward]

A wireless phone as a modem (parent article) is wide area, (relatively) low-speed. I used to have an Omnisky (now Earthlink) CPDP modem for my Palm V. Having some email, irc, and web access when travelling, albeit at no faster than 19k2 speed, was great when the alternative was nothing. Especially when I had to travel a lot and my $PRIOR_EMPLOYER paid for it (yes, I did use it for work). As others have noted, service plans are generally metered and try to discourage "excessive" use.

802.11x is (generally) local area (think wireless LAN), high speed. And unmetered. I can sit on the deck and web surf all day/night, but using it on the bus and subway would be a challenge!

Bluetooth is interconnect cable elimination (desktop area network?). Maybe coverage would reach the deck. Also unmetered.

The different services have some overlap, but are not alternatives or competitors to each other. In particular, the freenet public wireless groups are trying to provide public high-bandwidth unmetered service using capacity that is already paid for and has no marginal cost to them for additional usage.

Have a Palm, Visor or similar device? Solution...

[Hyped01]

Apparently, it is unrealisticly simplistic to have wireless access on the run if you have both of the following

(1) A Palm Pilot, Handspring Visor, Clie, etc
(2) A digital cell phone

Then, simply put, all you need is a cable and a dialup account.

You connect the cable to the digital "Universal(ly different) Connector" on the Palm and then to the connector on your cell phone, configure Palm (v3.1 and up) networking settings for standard dialup via (insert account info of your ISP there) and viola! You are all set.

Problem seems to be everyone wants to sell very expensive connection "software" and cable sets. Well, most everyone. In doing a search, I ran into "The Supply Net" (link goes to cable for my Pam m505 and Kyocera 2135 as an example - but you can choose a myriad of combinations from the site).

The beauty is, with the right browser software (numerous available) you are not limited to just WML pages.

The Supply Net has instructions as well on their site. (PS: I dont work for The Supply Net, or even have any experience with other than my one order for the product indicated - they were found by doing a search on Google and not giving up till I found a reasonable solution for the Kyocera cable that is in the Kyocera catalog that Kyocera thinks doesnt exist and knows nothing about - even though it is in print)

Hope this helps others find a cheap, reasonable speed (depends on your cell carrier), alternative to mobile wireless.

- Rob

Phone cord to head/mic jack hack?

[uwslothman]

Does anyone know if its possible to convert a standard phone cord into the head/mic input of a cellphone to use your cell like an analog line for your 56k modem of your laptop?

Re:Phone cord to head/mic jack hack?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey,

Im on hold on a Samsung AS-500 and I got the battery caharged up good. Volume is on Level 8.

Im on hold with SprintPCS customer service and it's filling my cube with high quality hold music!

Can't wait to cancel teh old SCH-3500

Re:Phone cord to head/mic jack hack?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice fakin color display...

mmmmm

nnice B I G 2 color timer too...

Connected
---------
00:14:47

Re:Phone cord to head/mic jack hack?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok,

Finally 00:22:05 talked to human being. I was almost tempted to ask Clara to come over for dinner.

Aaaannnyways....wanted to cancel an account, didn't happen. Guy says I will break a contract.

"What contract?" I had a 2-year one 2.5 years ago and im paying mo. 2 mo. now. Apparently not.

When he spoke of what breach of contract thing he just had a tone...

He quickly blurted out a $150 figure and began speaking. Also some ramblings about how he "sees" something that says I agreed to a 1-Year.

"That's Fucking rediculus!" (SP i dont care right now), I said.

Pausing, "I have had a phone with you (SprintPCS Customer Service) for 2 years and now your saying i have to pay $150 to get out of it, regardless of the fact I am cancelling becasue I have a better phone also carried by SprintPCS that I would rather use?".

He said he was "just providing information."

Continuing...23:00

I slightly raised my voice (also because people were pounding things outside) and said somethign like, "Thats un-fucking real! How about you try providing a service and tell me how long its gunna take to cancel my fucking account".

He begain yelling "Sir,.."

"I've been on hold for 20 minutes, i finally speak to someone who says thier only providing information, at least you could tell me the goddamn total it will cost to cancel."

He begain spitting out numbers then finally came up with a total of "around $300".

"Around $300?! How much is it gunna cost!?!?"

riled up he says, "I don't know its around 300$ i'm not in cancellations, do you agree to cancellation?"

"Unfuckingbelivable"

"Do you agree to cancelation?"

00:24:10

"No. I will take it up with the guy at the SprintPCS Store..."

Internet access without the laptop

[LiamQ]

When I saw the headline, I thought the article would be about Internet access using just the phone. For those not wanting to lug around the laptop, you can download a Web browser and email client for the Sanyo 4900 (and most other J2ME phones).

Moving to States

[kruczkowski]

I'm moving to the states (Tampa) next week, and want to know if there are any good websites with reviews.

Has anyone tried the ATT mmode service?

What phones to people like best?

Comming from Europe, the cell phones in the states are very diffrent.

Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

The only question I have it who's the gorgeous redhead on the homepage??!!

Handspring Treo ?

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like one might be able to use this service with the Handspring Treo using the following software:

http://www.notifymail.com/palm/wmodem/

Looks like a sweet deal, since the Treo will work with iSync, I could browse from the phone, or I could browse from my iBook..

Phone cord to head/mic (NOW KNOWN AS 'OCSPCS')

[Anonymous Coward]

He didn't know how to do the 8.5% sales tax

hung up

goin for a cruise...

Operation Cancel SprintPCS
T00:25:25

Re:Translating the salesman lingo OCSPCS

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha, Unit pricing is a killer. Go have fun with those 2 whole units you get every month!

also,

month-month to accounts = 1-year

They're one and the same.

Can I do this thing on my PDA?

[Dishwasha]

Anybody know if there's anybody hacking anything out for any PDA devices?

AT&T 'mmode' with Ericsson phone

[Jeff Archambeault]

I have been using AT&T's, now 'mmode' service, for over 2 years now. The throughput itself is "just OK", bringing me back to the "1200 baud daze".

My main use, besides waking me up when work calls, is checking email and light surfing (or is that WAPping?). The "radio" part of the phone, both analog and digital, is impressive, beating my old Nokia handily. Coverage is as well as could be expected, with data coverage "mostly" following digital coverage (not during analog roaming).

I haven't done any real bandwidth tests mainly because the phone, a well-traveled Ericsson R280LX, has never had a solid cable solution. The connections it uses for serial and power are similar examples of bad engineering.

Nokia phones, I've noticed, have a "normal" power connector. This Ericsson uses a small, compressable plastic tab that fits into a square, tabbed hole in the bottom of the phone. The tabs provide sufficient "break-away" without damaging anything, but lack the holding power to keep tiny spring-loaded "pins" against the slivers of conductor on the phone-side. The serial connection uses 2 of the friction tabs, the same used by the separate power and headset connections.

I'm curious about the new Sony/Ericsson T68(?). I don't mind getting another tethering cable, but only if it's external connections are nicer. Then again, it has bluetooth and IR, lessening the need for cable connections.

Hope that helps someone.

Re:Have a Palm, Visor or similar device? Solution.

[Jeff Archambeault]

Then, simply put, all you need is a cable and a dialup account.

My digital phone, using AT&T Wireless (mmode), has a "modem mode". My Palm Pilot (or tethered desktop/notebook) doesn't use the phone #, username, or password fields to get a connection, just an AT command (AT&WS46=4) before sending an ATD will start a PPP connection. No phone # involved. I haven't ever tried just sending it 'ATDT1234567', but will try.

If only the connection on the phone itself were of the same quality as the rest of the phone.

not unlimited?

[jchristopher]

It's my understanding that the unlimited data applies ONLY to usage ON the phone, not "tethered" (i.e. hooked up to a PDA or laptop) access. That is what Sprint's advertising materials say in the fine print.

The author of the references article seems to be aware of this, too. Sounds like something that works now, but could get shut off at anytime.

I'd hate to be the guy that tries this, then gets a huge bill...

Can anyone confirm that it works?

TREO 300

[Anonymous Coward]

Color Palm PDA for $250 that comes with unlimited PCS Vission/Internet for $40 a month?

Why bother with a computer????

TREO 300

[trikster2]

Palm
Color
$240
Built in keyboard

Works with the $40 per month unlimited internet/PCS Vission

Why bother with a computer?

Verizon Mobile Office

[Anonymous Coward]

Verizon's Mobile Office is works with all of their plans at no additional cost for a 14.4 connection (you can pay more for higher speeds). It's slow but a pretty good deal since plans start around $30/month.

I use the Motorola V Series 120c phone and it's not hard to get it to work as a usb modem with linux or OS X.

Re:Unlimited PCS Vision minutes not for use with P

[Anonymous Coward]

Or if it's the GPL.

Re:HA HA HA! Republicans WIN!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just a cycle. As soon as you folks prove that you can't do any better than the liberals, the repugs will all get voted out again. All it will take is a little time. The repugs will not be able to prevent becoming the hated "status quo" after 6-8 years of owning the government. And the economy will still be in the pot when they are on the way out. Mark my words... you only think you've won. No one is free in America.

Take a Look

[Anonymous Coward]

Offtopic link regarding sig:

Take a Look!

Be Careful!!!

[jreames]

The ads running in the baltimore sun specifically say in the fine print that it "excludes devices used as modems"

so there will probably be per minute charges!

-j

Does using Vision use your minutes?

[cltm3]

I am thinking on switching plans since I just got a Samsung A500 after getting a large credit for complaining about my 8500. My plan gives me 350 anytime and too many night time to count. The bonus is the 8pm night minute start compared to the 9pm on the new plan. Anyway, I was wondering if using Vision would use up daytime minutes. If so, I probably will not go with the plan. The downgrade to 300 mins and 9pm night mins start is not worth browsing the web from my phone.

Re:Does using Vision use your minutes?

[Randy Rathbun]

Nope. I just got Vision on Monday. Asked three PCS people and all confirmed that vision is seperate from voice.

Re:loophole - data is unlimited

[tz]

Data doesn't use minutes, at least not PCS web access (using the #xxx numbers).

You can use most phones as normal modems, so if you dial your local ISP using ATDT5551212, it would count (but I think there are night and weekend minutes).

Last Post!

[alpg]

A large spider in an old house built a beautiful web in which to catch flies.
Every time a fly landed on the web and was entangled in it the spider devoured
him, so that when another fly came along he would think the web was a safe and
quiet place in which to rest. One day a fairly intelligent fly buzzed around
above the web so long without lighting that the spider appeared and said,
"Come on down." But the fly was too clever for him and said, "I never light
where I don't see other flies and I don't see any other flies in your house."
So he flew away until he came to a place where there were a great many other
flies. He was about to settle down among them when a bee buzzed up and said,
"Hold it, stupid, that's flypaper. All those flies are trapped." "Don't be
silly," said the fly, "they're dancing." So he settled down and became stuck
to the flypaper with all the other flies.

Moral: There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.
-- James Thurber, "The Fairly Intelligent Fly"

- this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...