Re: OT mobile and online

In laymans terms, you can buy a credit card sized thing that now plugs into
a laptop and operates like a mobile phone connecting you to the internet at
approx 128 mbps (about twice the speed of a 56K dial up modem.

You can buy these direct from vodafone or whoever.

Or you can still connect a cable from your laptop to a mobile phone for the
same result (not sure what spped this will give you).

I'm sure an expert will come along and explain this in more detail as that's
about as far as I understand it all.

Muddy

"Mr.Nice." <mr.nice@*nospam*clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ok, here's a question that I am sure can be answered here.
> What do I need to have mobile access to the internet whilst out and
> about?
> I'm thinking laptop based via a mobile phone network somehow.
> I have no idea how this works, so an idiots guide please folks.
>
>
> Regards.
> Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 18:16:50 +0000 (UTC), "Alan Mudd"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>In laymans terms, you can buy a credit card sized thing that now plugs into
>a laptop and operates like a mobile phone connecting you to the internet at
>approx 128 mbps (about twice the speed of a 56K dial up modem.
>
>You can buy these direct from vodafone or whoever.
>
>Or you can still connect a cable from your laptop to a mobile phone for the
>same result (not sure what spped this will give you).
>
>I'm sure an expert will come along and explain this in more detail as that's
>about as far as I understand it all.
>
>Muddy

You want a nice red Vodafone 3G card, which gives you 56K modem
anywhere that there is mobile coverage. If you find a 3G zone (which
is getting easier, but still limited to major population centres, and
only big ones at that) you get the full 380kbps. Which is nice.

The bill, however, is not so nice. Orange are about to launch summat
similar (and may have done already), so prices may fall.

Orange also do High-Speed Data, which gives 19200 on their standard
network. Also not especially cheap for what is still a too-slow
connection for the kind of thing I think Mark is likely to be wanting
to do.

If you do go for the 'standard mobile as modem' approach, you might
like to invest in a bluetooth model. This means you can use your
laptop to talk to t'internet via the mobile, but keep the mobile in
your pocket. Much easier than trying to keep the two lined up,
especially on the train.

Lots of public places are now offering internet via 802.11b -
airports, motorway services etc. Full broadband speed, and lots of
times it is free. Where it isn't free it is not all that expensive,
so if you are in a position to get to a Starbucks, MacDonalds, service
station etc you might find this viable for website updates. I updated
my website from Dublin airport t'other day just like so.

HTH


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> In laymans terms, you can buy a credit card sized thing that now plugs into
> a laptop and operates like a mobile phone connecting you to the internet at
> approx 128 mbps (about twice the speed of a 56K dial up modem.
>
> You can buy these direct from vodafone or whoever.
>
> Or you can still connect a cable from your laptop to a mobile phone for the
> same result (not sure what spped this will give you).
>
> I'm sure an expert will come along and explain this in more detail as that's
> about as far as I understand it all.

*grin*

Right, all this about 9.6kbps is rubbish today, however the actual speed
you'll get depends on your location and appropriate coverage.

The things you'll depends on whether you want a dedicated device or a
phone and data device. The former will plug into a PC slot (PC/PC
Card/PCMCIA) on your laptop, whereas the latter will require some sort
of connection. Forget serial cable, the interface is horrendously slow.
Infra red is better, but requires line of sight which can mean awkward
balancing acts. Bluetooth is best, though you want to look at online
articles about the security of Bluetooth and make sure you're locked
down[1].

Then you want to consider your service. There are three types of data
service available. GSM, GPRS and 3G.

GSM is what your basic mobiles use and is made of 9.6kbps channels. Most
providers these days use HSCSD which allows you to use multiple channels
simultaneously, allowing connections up to 28.8kbps. Charges are per
unit time.

GPRS is a half-way house between GSM (second generation, or 2G service)
and the new third-generation services (3G - as opposed to the 3G
operator, "3"). It gives you an always on connection at up to 64kbps and
you pay per unit data downloaded (by the Mb usually).

Finally, you can choose a 3G service which allows you to connect at up
to 384kbps (theoretically). Pricing is typically as for GPRS. Note that
eventually, fixed location 3G services will allow you to connect at up
to 2Mbps.

Then, depending on which technology and which provider, you may need to
choose an ISP. For that, I'd recommend looking at www.adslguide.org at
the rants there, and don't forget - like most things in life, you get
what you pay for. The old adage still holds true - cheap, fast, good:
pick any two.

Cheers,
Aled.

[1] At this point I'd like to say hi to those people in PC World in
Woolwich and Tottenham Court Road last weekend whose mobiles were in
"discovery" mode on Bluetooth and, had I been more evil, would by now
have a large phone bill as I used them to connect to the Internet.

In article <[email protected]>, tim@
101ambulance-urine.net says...
> The bill, however, is not so nice. Orange are about to launch summat
> similar (and may have done already), so prices may fall.

All of the big four (Orange, Voda, T-mobile and O2) offer 3G services.
Quality is another thing. Strangely, 3 don't.

> Lots of public places are now offering internet via 802.11b -
> airports, motorway services etc. Full broadband speed, and lots of
> times it is free. Where it isn't free it is not all that expensive,

Ah yes forgot about this. 802.11 can be quite handy, but if you're
getting a card, I'd get a 802.11g or 802.11a compatible on (802.11b will
come with that) as most places these days are dual-standard.

> so if you are in a position to get to a Starbucks, MacDonalds, service
> station etc you might find this viable for website updates. I updated
> my website from Dublin airport t'other day just like so.

*ahem* On that note, it looks like almost all McDonalds' accross the UK
are getting HotSpots installed. Nice.

Ta,
Aled.

Aled wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>, tim@
> 101ambulance-urine.net says...
>> The bill, however, is not so nice. Orange are about to launch summat
>> similar (and may have done already), so prices may fall.
>
> All of the big four (Orange, Voda, T-mobile and O2) offer 3G services.
> Quality is another thing. Strangely, 3 don't.
>
>> Lots of public places are now offering internet via 802.11b -
>> airports, motorway services etc. Full broadband speed, and lots of
>> times it is free. Where it isn't free it is not all that expensive,
>
> Ah yes forgot about this. 802.11 can be quite handy, but if you're
> getting a card, I'd get a 802.11g or 802.11a compatible on (802.11b will
> come with that) as most places these days are dual-standard.
>

Get either 802.11b or 802.11g

802.11a may as well be dead - it's not compatible with either of the others.

Centrino supports 802.11b.

P.

--
If Mind over Matter is a Matter of Course
Does it Matter if Nobody Minds?

>
>[1] At this point I'd like to say hi to those people in PC World in
>Woolwich and Tottenham Court Road last weekend whose mobiles were in
>"discovery" mode on Bluetooth and, had I been more evil, would by now
>have a large phone bill as I used them to connect to the Internet.

I was in a meeting a few days ago with someone who was telling me that
they had done a lot of work on network security in the last twelve
months. I kind of shot him down by asking him which of his servers
he'd like reformatting first, using the unsecured 802.11b connection
his network had granted me as I drove into his car park....

;-)


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

"Alan Mudd" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In laymans terms, you can buy a credit card sized thing that now plugs into
>a laptop and operates like a mobile phone connecting you to the internet at
>approx 128 mbps (about twice the speed of a 56K dial up modem.

With UMTS/3G up to 384 kbit/sec.





regards - Ralph

--

Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt

Ralph A. Schmid, DK5RAS wrote:

> With UMTS/3G up to 384 kbit/sec.

Which at Orange's current GPRS per Megabyte charges, that's roughly one
GBP every 30 seconds...

Steve

Steve Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:

>Which at Orange's current GPRS per Megabyte charges, that's roughly one
>GBP every 30 seconds...

Huh, fu**in expensive I have 5 megabyte per month included, and it
is not too expensive when there is some more traffic...but the
included amount usually is enough for checking mails and news
sometimes.



regards - Ralph

--

Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt