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coday182

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 26, 2006
237
0
Jamestown, IN
I have a Motorola Q. It can connect to the internet, email and do all that portable internet stuff. It is bluetooth enabled too, so it can connect to my macbook. Does that mean I can use it to gain internet access on the laptop wherever the motrola Q has a signal? If not, then are there any devices which I can do that with?
 
Yes, you can. Just make sure to set it up properly when you pair the phone to your laptop.

I do it with my Verizon RAZR phone, albeit at dialup (1xCDMA) speeds as opposed to EVDO.
 
now that is just awesome. I don't really have either one but I am getting both in the near future for college/work. Some peole told me it didn't work and I was curious.
 
few more more questions...

How fast is it?

Can I connect it to a normal cell phone that has a bluetooth adapter?

Will my phone bill get charged for the downloaded content onto my laptop?
 
coday182 said:
few more more questions...

How fast is it?

Can I connect it to a normal cell phone that has a bluetooth adapter?

Will my phone bill get charged for the downloaded content onto my laptop?

Not very fast

Unlikely

Yes
 
To clarify:

When I use my RAZR as a bluetooth modem, it's just like making a phone call. I'm just being charged for minutes, so I usually call after 9PM or on the weekends (free nights and weekends)
 
I have a Treo 650. I pair it with my notebooks to browse the net where wifi is not available.

Here are some things you need to know:

Unless you have an unlimited data plan, you will be charged per KB. They do have like 50MB plans, but beyond that you will be charged. Verizon and Cingular charge a lot for their data plans. Sprint and Tmobile are much more reasonable. US Cellular might be as well.

Bluetooth DUN is against the TOS. You can get away with it, but excessive downloading, say 500MB per month is a red flag and they will charge you. I have seen some people get bills for a couple thousand dollars. I wouldn't use the connection to download GB's of data. You will be surprised when the bill comes.

EV-DO can get between 300KB -500KB/sec. My Treo 650 is 1x, so i get maybe 80KB/sec.

Make sure the phone you get has BT DUN enabled. Some cell companies especially Verizon, cripple the Bluetooth and disable BT DUN. You would have to read up on the carrier to see if they are disabling things. Although, the Moto Q is only verizon at this point. (I think)

Do you use a Mac? If so, you may have trouble getting things onto the Q considering it is Windows mobile.

I have a recommendation for you. The Treo 700P and sprint. Sprint has the SERO program found here http://www.sprint.com/sero. Basically you get 500min (1250 and 2500 also available) and unlimited everything (data, picture mail, IM, etc.), No roaming. If you go over your minutes it is $5 per 50 min. Unlimited Nights and Weekedns, All for $30 a month. I have this on my 650, and it is amazing.

To get it, you have to have a sprint employees email address. Here is what I did. Go to a sprint store, chat with the guy for a bit. Then say I will be back and ask for his card. That contains the email address. And bam. You got it.

If you have any questions, PM me.
 
SC68Cal said:
To clarify:

When I use my RAZR as a bluetooth modem, it's just like making a phone call. I'm just being charged for minutes, so I usually call after 9PM or on the weekends (free nights and weekends)

This isn't the case if you have an unlimited data plan.
 
It isn't a data plan. Trust me, our mac owners group had a guy from Verizon come in and give us all the details on the deal, and also had confirmation from Verizon about it.

Oh, and to the poster talking about downloading gigabytes of data through BT DUN. You do realize I'm lucky if I have 17kb/s connection.


Verizon doesn't care, it does not violate your TOS. They're just not going to advertise the service because they have their EVDO (Data) network that people can use.
 
SC68Cal said:
It isn't a data plan. Trust me, our mac owners group had a guy from Verizon come in and give us all the details on the deal, and also had confirmation from Verizon about it.

Verizon doesn't care, it does not violate your TOS. They're just not going to advertise the service because they have their EVDO (Data) network that people can use.

What exactly are you getting at? I can use the net all day and I am not charged minutes. I have an unlimited data plan. You may not be on one, but you have to pay for it to use it at al times.

It does violate the TOS. Whether or not they catch is the question.
 
SC68Cal said:
To clarify:

When I use my RAZR as a bluetooth modem, it's just like making a phone call.

How's that done? I've tried it on a Windows system but not Macs.
 
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