[Wolves] Internet with a mobile?

[Chris Procter]

I've been looking into getting my Mac connected to the internet using a
mobile (no landline in my house either).

The various mobile companies do data packages for use with GPRS (General
Packet Radio System, an always on data connection pay by the Mb), you need a
GPRS capable phone however. From what I could tell Orange do the cheapest
deal at (http://www.orange.co.uk/talkplans/gprs/costs.html) they also do
unlimited data for £45/month other companies do similar packages, T-mobile
aparently do do GPRS stuff but I couldn't find any info on costs etc on
their website, they do do PCMCIA cards though.

Bandwidth wise a normal mobile will give you a max data rate of 9.6kbps (yes
thats k, i.e. dog slow), GPRS anything up to 56.6kbps (iirc it multiplexes
9.6kbps channels and is shared so it depends on what other people are
doing). If you're wondering why 9.6kbps, thats all the bandwidth you need to
carry a voice call with reasonable quality, normal 64kbps phone lines are
just overengineered.

If you just need email then many mobs can do pop3/imap stuff, plus WAP
browsing (for what thats worth)

I'm currently waiting on a bluetooth/USB adaptor to connect my laptop to my
mobile so have yet to actually get this all working on OSX and have no idea
for Linux thats a project for the future :)

chris


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Hughes [mailto:se.osiris at btinternet.com]
> Sent: 19 April 2004 23:44
> To: WolvesLUG MailList
> Subject: SPAM: [Wolves] Internet with a mobile?
> 
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> I've just found out that the company house I'm moving to does 
> not have a 
> landline. Obviously, bad news for a net user.
> 
> I was wondering if anyone had any idea of how to use a mobile phone 
> /cheaply/ for this? This is slightly offtopic I know as it's 
> not Linux 
> centric, but I was hoping someone could help out.
> 
> I'm using T-Mobile at the moment, who charge 10p per minute for 0845 
> numbers. I can't use 0845 numbers in my first minute. They 
> also charge 
> 0.75p per kilobyte, which is a bit hefty in my opinion.
> 
> Any better deals out there? I've noticed a broadband kiosk by 
> the Square 
> in Wolves, so that should do me for a bit. Not used one before though.
> 
> Any help appreciated,
> 
> --
> Gary Hughes
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Wolves LUG mailing list
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> 


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