CELL PHONE INTERNET ACCESS
CELL PHONE INTERNET ACCESS This is designed to explain the basic approach to using your cell phone with your computer to connect to the internet. It is not intended to be an in depth coverage of t...
Forum Discussion
Hi DanaMc
Thanks for taking the time to address this rather complex subject. It seems the practicality of the "tethered laptop" approach depends on which wireless carrier and wireless plan a person is dealing with. In my case I have a Cingular Nation plan. I have spent a fair amount of time investigating this subject on this forum, the Yahoo forum, and the Howard forums. To make along story short it seems that a Cingular customer will be charged data by the kb when tethering to a laptop. kb usage can be very high. One report on this forum indicated a Cingular customer received a one month bill for $1500. An obvious option is to buy the Cingular Media Works package for $19.95 per month which has unlimited wireless internet. This should solve this problem-right? Nope, it seems Cingular says this is plan is only for direct cell phone internet access and anyone wanting to "tether" a laptop is supposed to buy one of their even more pricey data plans which cost up to $80/month.
I know there are people on this forum who state they are charged only air time minutes when hooked to their laptops. I have no reason to disbelieve their claims but I have no explanation either. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe these folks have an older Cingular plan that does not charge for data by the kb.
At this point I have just about decided to forget about the "tethered laptop" approach and will continue to use WiFi when it is available or find a place to use my trusty dial up connection in the campground.
Please let me know if I am in error on any of the above and keep in mind I was referring only to Cingular Wireless.
Bill in Florida
Thanks for taking the time to address this rather complex subject. It seems the practicality of the "tethered laptop" approach depends on which wireless carrier and wireless plan a person is dealing with. In my case I have a Cingular Nation plan. I have spent a fair amount of time investigating this subject on this forum, the Yahoo forum, and the Howard forums. To make along story short it seems that a Cingular customer will be charged data by the kb when tethering to a laptop. kb usage can be very high. One report on this forum indicated a Cingular customer received a one month bill for $1500. An obvious option is to buy the Cingular Media Works package for $19.95 per month which has unlimited wireless internet. This should solve this problem-right? Nope, it seems Cingular says this is plan is only for direct cell phone internet access and anyone wanting to "tether" a laptop is supposed to buy one of their even more pricey data plans which cost up to $80/month.
I know there are people on this forum who state they are charged only air time minutes when hooked to their laptops. I have no reason to disbelieve their claims but I have no explanation either. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe these folks have an older Cingular plan that does not charge for data by the kb.
At this point I have just about decided to forget about the "tethered laptop" approach and will continue to use WiFi when it is available or find a place to use my trusty dial up connection in the campground.
Please let me know if I am in error on any of the above and keep in mind I was referring only to Cingular Wireless.
Bill in Florida
