Dial up internet on cell phone

[lein]

I want to use my cell phone as a phone line to connect my laptop to the internet. I remember with ATT Wireless, you could do that, and I have seen someone do the same with a Verizon phone. What other carriers let you do this (I think Cingular drops the call to the ISP - not sure though)?

 

[BornStar]

I was able to do it with T-Mobile over bluetooth.

 

[Zim Hosein]

I'd like to know as well lein

 

[yllus]

I think you can do this with Motorola and Nokia cell phones, over a USB connection, using Mobile Phone Tools.

 

[Looney]

I never heard of actually using the cellphone and dialing up into a diaup ISP... but if your phone has GPRS or Edge, you can connect your computer to it and use it to go online.

 

[Looney]

Well apparently you can... or at least some claim they do: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=620645&highlight=dial+up

 

[lein]

Well, the point is to use the cell phone as you would a land line. GPRS and EDGE cost money, but using the cell to dial your ISP only costs minutes. I believe it is carrier dependent for your call to the ISP to be successful. I would like to know what carriers allow you to do this, and which don't.

 

[jaybert]

i dont think its carrier dependent, moreso phone dependent. Your phone must include the correct drivers for windows to see it as a modem. After you get that done, its just a matter of getting your ISP dial-in # and dialing. I've done it with t-mobile and know it is possible w/ verizon (havent had a need to do it yet)

 

[Looney]

Well i just tried it with two providers (Fido and Rogers), and didn't work with either. It was through BT, but i don't have MPT install (i'll need to dig that up)

 

[dartworth]

people have been using Verizon's service for free for a while now...no need for an ISP

 

[blodhi74]

sprint .... get the vision plan

 

[Looney]

Well, i discovered your carrier needs to support Circuit Switched Data... unfortunately in my case, both my carriers don't. And some carriers that do, charge for CSD capability (like only $4 a month though... they use your anytime minutes, weeknights and weekends don't count)... and it's 14.4. Good for emails, but i really can't imagine browsing the web at 14.4, even if it's just a forum like this.

 

[Thegonagle]

I use Verizon Wireless, and I "teather" my phone to my laptop if I'm using it anywhere I can't get an 802.11 connection. I currently use the LG VX6100 phone, and a couple months ago, I bought the Verizon Wireless "mobile office kit," which includes a USB cable, "VZAccess Manager" software, USB Modem drivers for the VX6100, "Venturi" image compression software (optional to use, doesn't make a huge difference in speed anyway), and a tool for backing up your phone's phonebook. The cost was $40 for the kit. There are cheaper options, but I went with the official option because I didn't have time for any hassles making it work. For my $40, I'm satisfied, because once the USB modem driver was properly installed, the connection worked on the first try (the driver took two or three tries because the installation software and XP were fighting each other--to make it work, I think I let XP handle the driver installation by manually pointing to the driver CD).

Verizon uses its own ISP. You're "supposed" to get a data plan, but you don't really need one if you only connect occasionally; every minute online just comes out of your voice minutes, a non-issue during nights and weekends (9:01 PM to 5:59 AM, all Saturday and Sunday, and several major national holidays). The important thing to understand is that it's kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing; if a rep figures out that you want to connect your laptop to the internet using your cell phone, they're "supposed" to sell you a data plan. But because it is allowed for occasional use, most of them don't care.

Verizon has three different types/speeds of data connection: QNC (quick network connection?) @ 14.4 Kbps, 1xRTT "National Access" @ "up to" 144 Kbps (overall speed is only slightly faster than 56K modem most of the time), and EV-DO "Broadband Access" @ "average speeds of 400 ? 700 kbps."

Currently, you've got to pay quite a bit for the Broadband Access, and the system isn't live in all areas yet. (Also, only a couple of their phones support EV-DO at the moment.) I understand, however, that where it is live, it totally rocks.

The two services that are "free" are QNC and NA. NA (the faster of the two) should work anywhere there is a native Verizon Wireless signal; QNC should work if you're in one of the vast non-Verizon "extended network" areas, which is technically roaming, except that there are no roaming charges.

The experience using NA is similar to, maybe a little faster than, using a 56K modem, but with a few seconds of extra latency if the connection has gone "dormant," meaning it wasn't active in the last 30 seconds or so. (Speed testing the NA connection shows anywhere from about 50 to 90Kbps, both up and down, with a strong cellular signal.) The QNC connection, as far as I can tell, doesn't go "dormant," but it's super slow otherwise. (Speed testing the QNC connection, as expected, showed exactly 14.4 Kbps.)

You can also dial up to your regular ISP using one of their regular phone numbers, but the connection is only going to be 14.4k. The only reason I can see to do this is for email only, if your ISP doesn't allow outside connections to their e-mail servers (a common tactic to prevent spammers from hijacking your email account remotely to send spam).

Conclusion: If your need for speed is relatively modest (if 50-90 kbps will do for occasional use), if you don't need access often during peak times, and if you don't want to pay extra per month, minute, or kilobyte, get Verizon Wireless. (Yes, it uses your peak minutes during peak times, but otherwise, it's essentially a free ISP on nights and weekends.)

 

[thomsbrain]

you canNOT do this with AT&T Wireless. they won't let you connect unless you use mMode (mBlow, if you ask me).

as I understand, T-Mobile lets you do this.

i am able to use my Sony/Ericcson T610 as a modem using infrared (laptop doesn't have bluetooth), and it was extremely easy to setup. but since AT&T/Cingular won't let me connect, it doesn't do me much good. i did try a GRPS connection once and it worked... but they "automatically" signed me up for an mMode plan, instead of just charging me for the data like they used to. fvck you, assholes!

 

[DannyBoy]

I use my mobile as a standard modem, connected through the IR port on my laptop.

 

[lein]

Wow Thegonagle, you have a lot of info on this stuff. 1 question: Is the QNC and NA automatic - if you're in a strong verizon network, will you automatically be part of the NA when you dial your isp? Or is there something you have to do to enable the NA?

 

[Thegonagle]

AFAIK, the only way to get NA is to use Verizon as the ISP. The "dial-up" number for using VZW as the ISP is #777. If you dial your own ISP's standard 10 digit number, you'll only connect at 14.4.

Three options (aside from EVDO broadband, which I've never used):

1) National Access (50-90kbps)--Verizon is the ISP; the dial-up number is #777, and the L/P depends on your wireless phone number.
2) QNC (14.4kbps)--Verizon is the ISP; dial-up number is also #777, but it uses a different L/P.
3) Your own ISP (14.4)--you dial in to your regular ISP phone number, and use your regular login/password.

For NA to be enabled on your account, all you need to do is buy a camera phone or any phone with "GetItNow," since those services use the same data network (1xRTT) as National Access. (AFAIK, the only phone VZW carries that has neither GIN nor camera is the cheap Nokia. Avoid the Nokia, and make sure the phone you are buying has a "Mobile Office Kit" available for it, and you should be good to go.)

Hope this helps.

 

[imported_Phil]

I use a Sony Ericsson S700i connected via Bluetooth to my iPAQ if the need arises. It dials up using GPRS (you tell the iPAQ to tell the phone to dial #99 or something like that), and it gets up to about 3k/sec.

 

[psiu]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

*snip*

Verizon uses its own ISP. You're "supposed" to get a data plan, but you don't really need one if you only connect occasionally; every minute online just comes out of your voice minutes, a non-issue during nights and weekends (9:01 PM to 5:59 AM, all Saturday and Sunday, and several major national holidays). The important thing to understand is that it's kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing; if a rep figures out that you want to connect your laptop to the internet using your cell phone, they're "supposed" to sell you a data plan. But because it is allowed for occasional use, most of them don't care.

Verizon has three different types/speeds of data connection: QNC (quick network connection?) @ 14.4 Kbps, 1xRTT "National Access" @ "up to" 144 Kbps (overall speed is only slightly faster than 56K modem most of the time), and EV-DO "Broadband Access" @ "average speeds of 400 ? 700 kbps."

The two services that are "free" are QNC and NA. NA (the faster of the two) should work anywhere there is a native Verizon Wireless signal; QNC should work if you're in one of the vast non-Verizon "extended network" areas, which is technically roaming, except that there are no roaming charges.

Okay, so I have the America's choice which is "no roaming" as is my understanding of it and the Free Night and Weekend minutes, so if I use it at night/weekend, even on extended network, it's free?

HAAAWT :beer:

This should be pure sweetness on late night road trippin' excursions (Usually go from Detroit to either Pittsburgh--.5 hours or to the U.P.--10-12 hours).

Especially when my wife gets us lost in Pittsburgh

 

[PoPPeR]

Sprint will let you but if you use it too much they'll bill you fori t

 

[StageLeft]

Good post, gonagle!

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: psiu

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

*snip*

Verizon uses its own ISP. You're "supposed" to get a data plan, but you don't really need one if you only connect occasionally; every minute online just comes out of your voice minutes, a non-issue during nights and weekends (9:01 PM to 5:59 AM, all Saturday and Sunday, and several major national holidays). The important thing to understand is that it's kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing; if a rep figures out that you want to connect your laptop to the internet using your cell phone, they're "supposed" to sell you a data plan. But because it is allowed for occasional use, most of them don't care.

Verizon has three different types/speeds of data connection: QNC (quick network connection?) @ 14.4 Kbps, 1xRTT "National Access" @ "up to" 144 Kbps (overall speed is only slightly faster than 56K modem most of the time), and EV-DO "Broadband Access" @ "average speeds of 400 ? 700 kbps."

The two services that are "free" are QNC and NA. NA (the faster of the two) should work anywhere there is a native Verizon Wireless signal; QNC should work if you're in one of the vast non-Verizon "extended network" areas, which is technically roaming, except that there are no roaming charges.

Okay, so I have the America's choice which is "no roaming" as is my understanding of it and the Free Night and Weekend minutes, so if I use it at night/weekend, even on extended network, it's free?

HAAAWT :beer:

This should be pure sweetness on late night road trippin' excursions (Usually go from Detroit to either Pittsburgh--.5 hours or to the U.P.--10-12 hours).

Especially when my wife gets us lost in Pittsburgh

Totally "HAAAWT!"

I mean, yes, that's pretty much right.

"Extended Network" (which, as I mentioned, is technically off-network roaming, except without roaming fees) will probably only yield a 14.4 connection on QNC, but from Verizon's literature, it's supposed to work just fine. (And if it doesn't work, you've still got the option to dial your own ISP's 10 digit number and get a 14.4 connection that way.)

BTW, just for fun, I'm using my Verizon Wireless phone to post this message.