[kmac50]

I am just beginning to learn about Bluetooth and what I can do with it. It still confuses me, though. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
OK, I am going to buy a Motorola V551 cell phone. I am not necessarily interested in connecting to the internet with it. From what I've read, I gather that only wireless type web pages can be accessed anyway. And, I'm not interested in viewing my couple of hundred emails a day on my cell phone.
BUT, what I AM interested in, is occasionally using my cell phone as a modem and my bluetooth equipped iBook, to connect to the internet.
Is that a real option for me?
Do I need to sign up for a MediaNet package? (This is with Cingular)
How long does it take to use up 1 MB of traffic on the phone?
Assuming I can use the cell phone as a modem in this way, what do I need to do to make it happen?
Any help will be appreciated as I know NOTHING ..... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[pdrayton]

I would think that you could use up 1MB of traffic rather quickly when surfing the net.
Why do you want to use your cell phone as a modem? Do you need to be able to connect anywhere you can get a cell phone signal, or could connecting via hotspots with your Airport card work?
The nice thing about hotspots is that they're frequently free... or have a charge but not a bandwidth maximum.

[kmac50]

I DO connect via hotspots when I can. However, there is one place I go to do research, a genealogy library, where thy do not have internet access, nor any network I can use. It would be very helpful at this location, to be able to access the internet. That's why I'm interested in being able to use the cell phone as a modem. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[pdrayton]

Gotcha!
Cingular should be able to handle it... graphics and files can quickly get you to 1MB, though. Be careful about going over any bandwidth limit... that's where cell phone companies make their big bucks!

[g.x]

I been connecting via a bluetooth Sony Ericsson phone and an iBook with a bluetooth dongle for a while now. Some things to keep in mind:
- Before you buy a GSM phone, research it to see whether it's GPRS or EDGE. EDGE is much, much faster, but not as available in various areas. With T-Mobile's service, I get sustained download at 10-30 kbps. Like dialup. EDGE is faster, but only available through ATT/Cingular, I think. And only on certain phones.
- Before you assume you can connect to every site you want to, research the GPRS/EDGE connection to make sure it handles encryption. T-Mobile's t-zones services does not. Therefore I cannot use my iBook-through-phone connection to get to my work VPN, hotmail, gmail, etc. Note that hotmail, gmail and various other sites require encrypted authentication. POP and IMAP, unless re-configured to work over secure ports, do not.
- As mentioned in previous posts, 1 MB goes by faster than you think. If you're going to be a heavy data user, consider the "unlimited" plan. It usually beats the overage charges.
HTH.

[g.x]

I should have qualified that. T-Mobile's service WILL work with encrypted sites, but you have to pay extra. I think it's some kind of "business account" or "corporate email" upcharge when you sign up for service. I paid $20/month until I got sick of the slow download speed. I think $30/month would've gotten me the increased functionality...but no extra speed. In fact, due to encrypted packets, it's probably even slower.

[g.x]

Okay, I'm probably going to get bounced off this board for posting multiple times. Upon re-reading your posts, I see I've warned you of things properly, but not given you the help you requested. See below:
- You need a bluetooth-enabled phone; the phone MUST have the DUN (dial-up networking) profile activated, as opposed to just headset & handsfree, which are good only for external devices.
- You need a bluetooth-enabled computer; internal or via USB dongle.
- You need service from a provider; covered my previous posts.
- You need a "modem string"; just google your device w/ the phrase "modem string"...you'll find it, along with phone-specific instructions; this is the little snippet of code that allows your computer to recognize the phone as an "external" modem.