PDA + Cellphone + ISP = Internet Access? 15
marvinx asks: "I'm wondering what other Slashdotters do to hook up their cell phone (analog or digital) to their PDA (Palm or Handspring) to get wireless Internet access. What combinations of phones, wires, PDAs, and ISPs seem to be working? I've got a Visor Deluxe and a Samsumg 3500 PCS phone, and I just know that there is a way to get wireless e-mail. Any success stories?" The combinations are endless, but the results may vary greatly. What combinations have you tried with what varying degrees of success?
Re:Palm IIIe and Nokia 7110 (Score:1)
irda phones ... (Score:1)
so far I only did try out some imap client, but that worked very well
Samba Information HQ
IrDA (Score:2)
Many of the more expensive phones have built-in infra-red modems; these are 'data enabled' phones. You often have to call the mobile provider to get it activated. In the UK, I'm on an 'Orange' plan with 180 minutes a month and a Motorola L7089 phone. I called the provider, Orange, and got the data features enabled (Details are probably in the manual) and now can point it at my laptop and get on the internet, like a normal modem.
If you have a pre-pay plan, or one of the cheaper ones (or a bastard provider), you might not be able to get the data features enabled on your phone, but if you are on a contract and have a data-enabled phone, you probably can; Phone them and ask about it.
If your PDA has infra-red stuff on it, and has software availiable for web browsing and internet access, it should just be a case of enabling infra-red, pointing the two together and doing some settings. Psion has a nice site at mobile.psion.com [psion.com]; you'd be interested in This page [psion.com] I expect.
Check with your palmtop's manufacturer and phone manufacturer. Actually, don't: I've done it for you. Look here [handspring.com] for handspring-related details:
Q. Can my Visor communicate with IR-equipped phones or other IrDA devices?
A. Yes. Visor Platinum and Visor Prism have built-in support for establishing IR communication with IrDA devices. For Visor and Visor Deluxe, there are two simple steps to take. [snip]
Short story, you need a (free) update, and you need a program. There are links on the page.
The Samsung site seems very unclear. this page [samsungelectronics.com] says
Both SCH-3500 and SCH-850 are internet access available and have no speaker phone.
Aha, manuals online... You can get one for the SCH-3500 on Sprint here [samsungelectronics.com] and for STA here [samsungelectronics.com].
I only have a dial-up connection, so I won't bother downloading either, but I'd have a look if I were you.
Just helpin' things along.
Michael
...another comment from Michael Tandy.
SprintPCS (Score:1)
It would be really great to be able to use the SprintPCS wireless web feature on a giant WAP enabled browser for the Palm. Does anyone know if such technology exists?
E-mail by SMS dude. (Score:1)
There's an incredibly popular service (EVERYONE with a mobile phone is signed up, at least everyone I've ever met) called Blue Sky Frog.
Basically, it gives you different Operator logo's on your phone or can SMS you slashdot headlines etc. But it also has an E-mail -> SMS bridge and an SMS -> E-mail bridge.
So you could just send e-mail back and forth from your mobile phone instead of having a PDA too. Especially if you have a nice phone with an organizer (Nokia Communicator, Motorala Accompli etc), except these phones are all WAP capable anyway. But still... :)
ANYWAYS, the downside is, that SMS (short message service, if you haven't already figured that out) is limited to 160 characters per message. So it's probably not good enough for day-to-day usage just yet, but it makes a cool toy.
--dr_zoidberg /bsd: Bah, this sucks."
"Nov 12 16:15:32 couch
I do it, shame it's not packet switched though (Score:2)
I'm looking forward to some faster packet-based stuff and a bluetooth adapter for my new Ericsson T28 and the TRGpro's CF slot will arrive soon, then I don't have to hold the devices next to each other.
It works, but is hardly useful, yet. (Score:1)
Worked perfectly actually, I was surprised. You only need a fairly new Palm OS where you can select the IRDA stuff.
I used IMAP, telnet, IRC and ICQ, everything worked.
Fun for about 1 minute until the lack of speed (9600 bps) and the lack of a real keyboard (had to "type" the password in telnet about a million times before getting it right) took over.
Nokia 6150 with Dell Latitude (Score:1)
However, the phone would not work with my Palm 'cause apparently it as no internal modem. I'm not sure how gnokii did it on the laptop, but if you're looking to get your PDA talking to your phone, make sure it has that internal modem. If you can, try it out at the phone shop before you buy your phone.
Cheers,
Costyn.
Get a Psion (Score:1)
-Justin
Palm Specific Stuff (Score:1)
Here is a web page that talks about to do this for a Palm Pilot:
Palm Notes - Free ISPs [geocities.com]
CDMA Digital works pretty well... (Score:3)
I now have a Motorola 7868W Startac with a Digital Phone Card [socketcom.com] with service through Verizon and it works wonderfully. Let me break it down for you....
Another possible solution is to use a CPCD network. The big problem I had with this one was lack of a CPCD CF card. Well, one just came out (I remember seeing it advertised but can't remember details). With this, you don't need a cable between your phone and PDA, you don't need your phone at all. Get CPCD service and you're really free. Verizon sells this too for $40/month unlimited access in my area and it runs at 19.2K. Never tried it, so I don't know how well it works.
I'm also not a Verizon person. I'm just more familiar with their services since I'm a customer. There could be other combos out there. Also, Socket has the Digital Phone Card (DPC) for use with GSM phones so that must be an option in areas as well...
Analog vs. Digital phones (Score:3)
Well, as it turns out, there's a part missing from the box - the proprietary cable to connect the modem to the phone. This stupid cable ended up costing me another $200!
And to top it off, the service was crap. :) I ended up with unreliable 4,800 baud connections.
Few weeks ago I dumped the whole system in favor of an all digital (CDMA) one (Startac 7867W), after skeptically watching one in action. It was quite impressive. 14.4k (really - solid 2k/sec download), never dropped carrier, even when moving / switching cells, cheaper service, etc. And, to top it off, the cable was only $80. No modem required (serial port connection).
I'd highly recommend anyone who has an analog phone upgrade to a digital one before investing in a wireless Internet solution.
Palm Vx, Nokia 7110 and Dr Salami (Score:1)
Okay I can probably surf with the pison and the 7110 but when you're hacked off with something you just want to get rid, even if it has just started working. Well I do anyway. And the Palm is just such a sexy little device, especially after seeing that great big massive Pison 7 block which doesn't even go in external pockets its so damn oversized. Nice screen though, but far far too big.
As for the other discussion about phone plans I'm thinking of starting a page up for direct comparisons of what people are _actually_ doing. In discussion with some friends I've already surprised them with my tariff even though they think they covered all bases. It's time there was a site up there that lists examples of _actual_ users and what they are really paying.
Palm IIIe and Nokia 7110 (Score:1)
AvantGo seems to work well as a browser when used online.
You can pick up your mail using multimail or any of the other hundreds of alternatives.
And contrary to everything written on the web (and that palm tell you!) it does work with a IIIe with palmos 3.1.1, you just have to get the file called IRupdate from the palm website and choose Cradle or Irda in the preferences menu!
Get a GSM phone with an internal modem. (Score:1)
Configuration was as easy as you would expect with a desktop set-up.
I downloaded the Nokia CE driver from the web, signed up for the Orange ISP service, entered the relevant telephone numbers, usernames and passwords and picked up my e-mail.
I would seriously recommend getting a GSM phone with built in modem and CE/Palm drivers freely available. The Nokia 8210 is an example.
In the UK such phones cost $100 on an upgrade or new contract, thanks to the marketing of WAP phones. Thats less than the cost of a phone cable.
Some of the newer phones have 14.4K of bandwidth on some networks.
I'm just giving the browser a try this weekend.
Anyone had any experience with Avant-Go or another browser, used directly on-line as opposed to downloading from a desktop?