How do you get onto the internet via a mobile phone?

Jeff121

Can anyone tell me how connect a laptop to the internet via a mobile phone? I have ordered a Dell Inspiron 6000 and at present have 2 PC's at home both networked wirelessly via Netgear DG834G. The new laptop comes with an "a b & g" wireless network card so using it at home shouldn't be a problem. I don't have a clue how to use the laptop via a mobile while away from home. Do any of the ISP's like AOL offer a mobile service or do you buy kilobytes from the likes of Vodafone I'm almost at the end of my mobile phone contract with 3 so changing mobile phone companies isn't a problem, also not tied to a 12 month contract with my broadband ISP so could change to another ISP if I need to. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

james123

the easiest way would be to get a mobile phone that has a built in modem, there are alot of models with this feature although it is not always a feature that is highlighted. then you connect the phone to the laptop in one of three ways, first is by cable, although this can sometimes be a hassle but it is the most stable. the other ways are either by bluetooth(you'll need a bluetooth enabled phone and a dongle for your pc) or via infared, probably the least favourable option as you have to keep the ports aligned and the transfer speed is usually pants.

so you've got your mobile connected to your pc, you've loaded up the mobiles modem drivers to your pc (usually on the cd provided with the mobile now your ready to go.

unfortunately there is one major drawback to this, the download speed for most networks is only around 9kbps this is usually charged at around 10p a minute.

i believe orange offer high speed data wich goes at up to 28kbps however this only applies to certain handsets and is charged at around 25p per minute. There may be a way to configuring your handset to dial up through gprs however veiwing full web pages on it will use probably cost as much through download charges


hope this makes some sort of sense


jim

bonzer

It depends on how fast a connection you want and how often you intend to use it.

A large range of phones, even old ones, will support dial-up via a cable as james123 says. You just call up your ISP as normal using a modem built into the phone. The advantage of this is that it will work almost anywhere there is a phone signal and you don't need any fancy kit. The main disadvantage is the speed is about 1/4 of the rate you get on a fixed phone line via a modem. The mobile carriers will also often sting you for 'data calls' at a higher rate than normal voice calls i.e. the 10p a minute that james123 quotes. However, historically this was enforced by black lists of ISP 0845 dial-up numbers, so you could get around it by using geographic numbers published by some ISPs intended for use when overseas that wern't on the phone companies lists and hence use your free voice minutes for data calls. I have no idea if this is still the case or if they have got smarter about enforcing it. This type of dial-up will be fine if you just want to check your e-mail on the road occasionally and not much else.

For better quality of service for web surfing etc you want GPRS. The coverage of this is quite good and the data rates are more plausible although still a bit variable. The primary advantage or GPRS is that it is charged by the meg not by the minute so you're not paying for time spent reading web pages as you are with dial-up. However the charges are high, on my pay and go tariff it's a couple of quid a meg. You're paying the money to the network, you can't choose another service provider and stay on the same network as far as I know so you're stuck with the tariffs they offer. You'll go through megs in no time when web surfing so you probably want to switch off images in your browser and do whatever you can to limit how much it downloads. As james123 says you're best off with a cable or bluetooth. Don't bother with infra-red.

Another option that's sprung up recently is to forget the phone and get a data card. This is a PCMCIA card that slots into the side of your laptop and connects to the mobile network via a built in transmitter. A tiny aerial pokes out of the side of your laptop. These are available for GPRS or for 3G (that scales back to GPRS where 3G is not available). The Vodafone GPRS card can be had for about 50 - 70 quid with various usage contracts or pay&go but it's not cheap to use. I think Orange do a 3G PCMCIA card as well for laptops .

Jeff121

Thank you james123 and bonzer for your reply's. With the information you posted in detail I will be able to get my Laptop connected to the internet. I have a spare Sony Ericson T610 which has GPRS with Vodafone smart step sim, so it looks like I'm in business thanks to you guys. All that I need to buy is a cable or maybe a Belkin Bluetooth USB connection for the laptop as the T610 has Bluetooth, so other than the cost of using it, no expensive outlay which is great. Think I will go for the GPRS option rather than dial up. Most of the usage will be for sending and receiving e mail will only surf web pages when essential now that you have pointed the cost.

Thanks again.

Jeff

Paul_Varjak

I agree with most of what has been posted. You may also like to consider ONSPEED to compress your internet connection, thereby saving money (especially on GPRS).

I know that ORANGE used to have an unlimited WAP browsing package which I found could be used to browse the Internet as well! I was doing about 100MB/month for just £4 - cheaper than landline dialup and paid no line rental on the VIRGIN OVP tariff!

Unfortunately, the unlimited WAP package has ceased and the OVP Virgin tariff is no longer available! You will just have to hunt to find any loopholes in other tariffs!

feival

I strongly recomment the T-Mobile 3G network. I am currently surfing using a 3G datacard and the download speeds are fantastic - up to 140Kbs and they will shorlty be raised to 384Kbs (a friend works there). Not only that but the card includes WLAN which menas I can go into a Starbucks and use the 3G there - very useful when I am travelling for work. I have a corporate subscription through my comapny meaning I get unlimited usage of both!! not only that but the WLAN includes the USA, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Netherlands which is handy when I travel for work - admitedly that isn't too often.

A lot of people ignore T-Mobile when considering such services but I have been happy with them. Alternative to 3G is GPRS whihc you can use a datacard or a moile phone as reocmmended in another post. I wouldn't recommend this although this is far better and cheaper than using circuit switch phone calls where you are by duration!

Jeff121

Thanks for your advice feival, had a look at the t mobile website and their 3G data service looks impressive, however as I will only be making occasional use of my laptop "on the move" I don't want tied to a 12 month contract and fee of £70 per month + £199 set up fee. Their GPRS service costs £40 per month+ £9.99 set up but that too is a 12 month contract. Its a pity that they don't offer a pay as you go service and pay for what you use when needed as that would suit me.
Paul, I looked at Orange's price plan, and you can add data/MB bundles to an Orange price plan, lowest tariff bundle is £4 per month for 4 MB. Data is also available on a pay as you use basis which is 4 times the price at £4 per MB. I looked at the ONSPEED website, if its as good as it claims to be it would save money.