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

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?

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: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: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?

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