can someone clarify the bluetooth modem/phone thing for me?

[chaos86]

Ok so I'm looking into a sony-ericsson t68i with at&t/cingular. Now if I get one of those and pair it with my powerbook to make it work like a modem, and tell it to dial my ISP, will that work? Or do I need to pay att/cingular lots of money to enable the data feature or something?

thanks,
Chris

 

[Applespider]

Depends on the service plan that you are on and how you want to connect.

I use mine with GPRS to get a slightly higher speed but then it comes out of my data allowance.

I guess you could connect by dialling in direct but I think that might be pretty slow. Whether your network can identify ISP data calls and charge accordingly is something you may have to ask them directly.

 

[chaos86]

but i mean, if the t68i knows how to talk like a modem, can the phone company even tell that whats going through is data? do they care?

in the case of normal 56k modem ISPs, its just a modem making funny noises through the phone line, and as far as the phone comapny cares its like a normal phone call.

so is it right to assume that cellphone lines could be used the same way?




conversly i could carry around one of those ancient modems that you stick over the microphone and speaker holes on the phone? what dya think?

 

[expergo]

Your carrier must have CSD (i think) enabled on their network, which it may not since it's old technology and unused.

Rogers (GSM) for me doesn't have it either so I can't dial like a regular phone. That also means you can't fax from your cell if you were thinking of bt/fax, which would be pretty cool.

 

[chaos86]

well that sucks. i have an unlimited phone plan, a dsl connection that also provides dialup if you want (though most dont), can get a bt phone (old one is dying anyway), and i wanted to be able to use the internet while on a bus driving up I-85!

anyone else know anything about this?

 

[evil_santa]

I had a year of hell with my t68i, i liked the phone but it just wouldn't hold the connection (any type of call) I got through at least 4 of them an all developed the same "fault". I now got a nokia 6600 its much better!

My network (orange in the uk) allows me to call as a normal dial up & i get charged the same as a normal voice call, or i can opt for the more expensive GPRS service. As I need to dial up from the laptop occasionally it is cheaper to use the slower non GPRS service. I think its something like a 14k modem, very slow.