newbie: what is needed for wireless connection with my notebook pc
bill dawson
I have a notebook PC, an HP Omnibook 6000, and I'm interested in using a
wireless modem with
it. This is all stuff that I know nothing about. I've been studying up on
it a bit, but have lots of questions that maybe some of you can help me
with.
Of course to use a wireless modem I realize I need a wireless account, such
as one I might have with my mobile phone. But in looking over the
documentation of mobile phones (such as my Nokia 3310), I see little info
about how one might use it as a modem. I was hoping there would be some
mechanism by which you connect from PC (perhaps via the Omnibook's USB or
serial or some special PCMCIA card) to mobile phone, then you can dial out
to any old dialup ISP for which you have an account. No go?
I did notice lots of talk about GPRS phones being used via their infrared
ports as modems: the notebook IR port and the GPRS phone IR port swap data
back and forth, and the GPRS phone interacts with the GPRS network for
TCPIP; I take it your operating system then needs some sort of infrared IP
stack. __BUT__, my Omnibook has no IR port, so this is not a solution for
me. Also, it means GPRS must be supported from wherever I'm trying to use
it. (I live in Austria and believe just about everywhere out here supports
it now, but I'd have to check).
Given that my Omnibook does not support IR, is there then some sort of
intermediary device (again, via USB or PCMCIA or whatever) that can give the
Omnibook the ability to communicate with a mobile phone's IR and do some
GPRS-based web surfing?
Are there any other methods of accomplishing this that I haven't thought of?
Many thanks in advance if you've made it thru this message and give some
answers.
--Bill Dawson
http://www.BillDawson.com
Tom Miller
It all depends on what cellular services are provided in your area.
I have Verizon (in Denver) and can use it with my cell phones just
by plugging in a cable from the phone to a serial port. I don't have
a separate ISP. Verizon lets me connect to the internet directly
and charges me by the minute just like a voice call. It's currently a
little slow (19.2K baud), but they claim to be in the process of
upgrading that.
I can also use the same connection to dial into a phone server on my
SOHO network for file access. And I can get to the internet through
this route as well, but it's really slow -- the speed of a slow dial-up
connection coupled with the latency of satellite internet.
This only works with certain phones. For some the cable is serial, for
some USB and for a few you have a choice. Check with cell phone
companies in your area.
Good luck,
Tom
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