CELL PHONE INTERNET ACCESS

[DanaMc]

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 the topic. Rather it is intended to help folks get acquainted with what is necessary and a suggested resource or two. The first step in this process would be to check with your cell phone carrier. Make sure there is no reason you can’t use your phone like a modem. Some carriers can provide this for an additional fee.

It is the most cost effective way to keep up with your email and favorite web pages from nearly anywhere. In most cases you do not need a separate or different phone plan. You will use your plan minutes and can manage it to take advantage of the unlimited nights and weekends just as you might for conversations. Regular cell phone roaming charges may apply depending on where you are and whether your carrier has an agreement with the local service provider. This is no different than any other situation.

The key components needed are your cell phone, a special USB cord designed specifically for your cell phone. It will connect your cell phone directly to your computer via a USB port on the computer. Finally you will want software to manage the connection and compress the data being sent. There are many sources for this equipment. You can check with your local cell phone retailer. Radio Shack is a good source on this topic as well. But they will only be familiar with the phones they sell. I have been using SnapDialer. I have been very happy with the combination of Verizon and SnapDialer to connect to the internet.

Once your software is installed and configured for your internet service provider, you will only need to click on the Icon to launch your internet session. What service provider you use is not part of this topic. However there are many low cost or free email services such as Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s Hotmail, or Yahoo.

Below is some additional reading on this topic:

HOW-TO: Use your CDMA cell phone as a USB modem

Cell Phone Internet Connections

Cellular Fills Gap Between Hotspots

Looking for a boost in your signal? There are third party systems that can enhance your cellular signal and/or facilitate the use of a cell phone in your RV or your home. One example of this is Wilson Cellular Antennas & Amplifiers. Properly installed, these systems can enhance your range of coverage.

[MrWizard]

the 'software drivers' for the phone to function as a modem, should be availble for both 98 & xp, watch out for vista, some people have NO problem others do

if you purchase the 'data plan' option from altel, it will NOT affect your plan minutes in any way,

many of us on Verizon, use the 1x backdoor, which does use plan minutes , so we go online at nights.. data plan is an addition to your voice plan, NO minutes are used

[nanadean]

Ok, I want to ask a plain english questions and hope someone can answer it so that I can understand.
DH wants to buy me a new cell phone, that is fine, we are with Alltel. He wants to get the internets stuff to go with it. My question is does the time I am on the internet either from my computer at home or my cellphone does it go against my minutes and are there any hidden charges. I am not totaly computer illeteret but I don't want to get a cell phone bill that will give me heart failure.
We are looking at new laptops but not sure when we purchase one and my desktop at home runs Windows 98, will this make any difference.
Hope someone can help me.
Thanks
Dean

[MrWizard]

you really should check, www.howardforums.com for your carrier ( vzw ? ) and the carrier's PDA sub-forum

iPaq is not the same operating system as windows, the settings i listed are for windows OS to connect to LG phones and the the ipaq will have settings unique to that device

you also have to make sure that the u740 is set to 1X only.

[phitur]

I am using the SAmsung u740 and I am trying to enable it as a modem for my PDA and laptop. I am currently working with the iPAQ PDA and have entered the settings that MrWizard listed above. However, when I try to connect, I get an error that I have the wrong user I or password. I have done this several times, all with the same effect. I am trying to connect with the phone's bluetooth conenction. Any help?

Thanks!

[Index_Jeff]

MrWizard wrote:

I would take that to mean that , altel does NOT have 'data connection roaming " agreements regarding cellphones, but does for aircards, or even that their aircard service is just rebranded VZW,

I think that alltel has some sort of agreement with Sprint, when it comes to EVDO.

[forestcamper]

We are contemplating buying a power booster for our cell phone. Looking for better send/receive signal in rural areas. Is it worth the $200 (plus or minus) expense?

[dchasteen]

My husband and I both have LG5200 cell phones. We have one Verizon Office Kit but we can use both phones giving us hours of access to the internet on nights and weekends for free with the America's Choice Plan. At home our dial up speed is 49.3. Normally, we get
115 or better with the cell phones. So we use them at home as well as on the road. We do not have access to DSL nor Cable where we live.
This phone also has a camera.

We cannot use the Verizon Air Card from our home location. I tried one on a trip to Florida and it was wonderful; but you have to stay
close to the major highway. When we came home and tried it, even
though we could use the cell phones, we could not use the air card.
We do have the Wilson Truck Antennae, and it helps when we go to the
lake, etc.

Verizon is our choice of carriers because we are in the trucking business and all our drivers have Verizon;(they seem to cover more remote areas) so that we can call within the network at no charge.

[burlmart]

Thanks for all the help.

I was unsuccessful, but will probably dig back into it later - don't have a notebook PC yet anyway.

[MrWizard]

the MOK has a disc with the drivers

the setup is in USER CHOICE steps

just install the drivers from the cd

you MUST install the drivers BEFORE you plug the cable into the PC

do NOT have windows do an AUTO install search etc..

AFTER the drivers are installed , reboot the PC, after the PC has finished booting plug the cable into the PHONE FIRST, then plug the cable into the PC

decide which USB port you want to use and ALWAYS use the same port, or you are going to get errors the next time you use the phone as a modem

windows will find the phone and finish the setup , this will take a minute or two, NOW you can create a new dialup connection choosing the 3300 modem

the number to dial is #777

your ID is your cellnumber xxxxxxxxxx@vzw3g.com

the PW is vzw

make sure the connection properties advance has 'allow unencrypted password'

protocols check mark the PAP box

uncheck all the rest

if you see a wait for dial tone box make sure its NOT checked

and DON"T forget IF your phone has EVDO-vcast , the phone must be PUT in CDMA/digital mode only NO EVDO

I don't know if the 3300 has evdo, I know the 3200 doesnot

[burlmart]

Got the MOK for the lg vx8100,8300,9800, but the data cable seems dead to windows - there is no ping pong when it isplugged into the USB port. Like the Radio Shack cable, the cable fits the phone fine, but even the radio shack phone caused windows to make an odd ping pong sound.

I understand now what the 6 6 1 setting was about, and realize we probably had set that correctly with the radio shack (and verizon) cables.

Who would I contact higher up at Verizon to complain of lousey support of their product? (Do not feel that the store people value my $43/mo check to VZW as much as I do, and wonder if anyone higher up would.) I should expect service and to be able to list the part number you guys mentioned and have verizon provide it to me ASAP.

I am a bit leary now about ordering third party parts thru mail after two cables that didn't do trick - just too many compatibility issues of soft/hardware.

I will try one more thing before returning the cable. I had loaded drivers and software from the cellphonemall site, and will try their manual connection procedure outlined as follows:

Manual Install of the Modem
4) Download, Unzip ? LG Modem Drivers
5) Open Device Manager (Control Panel ? System ? Hardware Tab)
Verify the “Prolific USB Data Cable” (or similar) Exists in the port section, and note the Com Port that it uses (Com(4) or similar)
6) Control Panel ? Phone and Modem ? Modems Tab.
Click Add ? Check “Don’t Detect My Modem” and Click Next ? Have Disk ? Point to location of file stored in Step 4, Click OK? Select “Verizon Wireless Phone”, Click Next ? Select Com port (from Step 5), Click Next ? Click Yes to message that indicates that the driver is not digitally signed ? Click Finish.

On Edit: No luck. Looked at DataPilot,FutureDial, and radioshack's Mobile Access product sites and there seems to be a difference of opinion as to how similar vx3200 and vx3300 are, and as to whether the vx3300 can even work as a modem.

[MrWizard]

my wifes 8100 and HER backup 3200 have different cables the 8100 is 7 months old the 3200 is 31 months old

your 3300 is 18 months,

if the store is close enough I would go look, but i wouldn't buy it , unless he open the box and tried the cable in the vx3300 and it fit

[burlmart]

At 3 times dial-up, which is all I have at home, I want to set up the lg vx3300 here just for the occasion when I need a big file download.

I called the local verizon store and the guy said the MOK for the lg vx8100 should have a cable compatible with the vx3300.

Can anybody confirm this, since he has 2 in stock!

On Edit: I just looked in the phone mauual and undet a section called
'PC Connection' it says

'Allows you to select the data port.
1. Press {Left Menu Key} 6 6 1
2. Select USBC/RS-232C/Closed then press {OK Key}'

If this was not done prior to my hooking up the radio shack cable, is it possible that this is why windows did not recognize the phone. I am starting to think maybe I had a good cable...I had installed the driver for the phone already.

[MrWizard]

I am connected via 1x DUN with the NEW Samsung u740 cellphone, this connection will use call minutes Use Sparingly or use at night & weekend minutes

you have to set the phone to CDMA and then set the PORT setting for 'data' to USB

this is thru the service menu

here is the speed test, THIS IS 1X NOT EVDO .........................

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Download Connection is:: 151 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 579 kB)
Download Speed is:: 18 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (Server 1)
Test Time:: 2007/02/22 - 12:10pm

Bottom Line:: 3X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 56.89 sec

Tested from a 579 kB file and took 31.469 seconds to complete
Download Diagnosis:: May need help : running at only 9.33 % of your hosts average (myvzw.com)
D-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-R2E4UPID1
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.1) Gecko/20061204 Firefox/2.0.0.1 [!]

nothing has been tweaked, this is 1x NOT broadband, your speed may vary

here is the phone setup

menu/tools

press #
press 000000

(4) port map
......(1) data choose one
............(2) USB
............(3) bluetooth

......(2) diag choose one
............(2) USB
............(3) Bluetooth

(6) Force Mode
........HYBRID MODE
........CDMA only this one for 1x DUN
........EVDO only

this is a typical situation/setup for verizon NEW phones
the sammy is a little different than LG but not much, it took about 30 minutes for the whole setup

do this part first then

install the phone driver software
make dialup connection setup in windows ( internet connections )
choosing the Samsung modem

i posted all this to show you, the 1x connection is still a live an well even with BRAND new phones, this phone is 4 days OLD

NO it didn't take me 4 days to figure it out, i just got around to switching over from the LG vx9900, and likely I will go back to that phone because it is my favorite phone

and yes i'm a gadget freak

my Son will probably end up with this phone because the DW loves her LG vx8100

[pulsar]

MrWizard wrote:
I think your phone uses the same cable as the LG vx3200
the turn over ( churn) of sales people in verizon cell phone stores is very high
typically young people who get enough experinece to then move on to something else

if it isn't the newest fashion accessory-trend, their minds are a blank

have you tried an ebay search for 'verizon MOK' that can be a good place to find one, often unopened and at 1/2 the price

For what it is worth: The part number for the LG VX3200 cable is

CLGIM09-03S

Or least that is what is on my cabled purchase at the same time as I got my LG VX3200 phone.

Tom

[MrWizard]

I think your phone uses the same cable as the LG vx3200
the turn over ( churn) of sales people in verizon cell phone stores is very high
typically young people who get enough experinece to then move on to something else

if it isn't the newest fashion accessory-trend, their minds are a blank

have you tried an ebay search for 'verizon MOK' that can be a good place to find one, often unopened and at 1/2 the price