Using mobile phone as modem

[Lucretia]

Hi,

I've previously posted about my intentions to buy a new phone, but I'd like to know if anyone could answer some questions regarding the use of the phone as a modem.

I don't have ADSL or a phone line at the moment, and may not get one
for some time. So, I've been considering rigging up my computer to dial
through the phone. I've seen GNUBox, but that seems to enable the
access of the internet from a computer to the phone - the wrong way
round for me.

Has anyone done this? If so, I have a number of questions:

1) What would be the cost of doing this on PAYG (if I were to buy a
phone on ebay)?
2) Would a contract be better?
3) What are the speeds?
4) Would the network connection go through the USB cable or through
bluetooth?
5) I also use Linux (mostly), are there any HOWTO's anywhere about this?

Thanks in advance,
Luke.

[Ben]

Hi :)

1) The charges are extortion every way you look at it. PAYG charges per megabyte (upload and download) are up to £7.50. Contract charges are usually around £2.35. At least with GPRS you pay for what you consume, not how long you're connected. Look at each operators website for their individual charges.
2) Yes, ideally you want one of these: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.view3Gdatacards
You'd need to rig the card up to your PC somehow - it's a laptop card. You might be able to put the SIM into a handset and connect over that. Datacard tariffs are by far the cheapest way to consume data.
3) Providing you opt for a 3G handset or datacard with compatible SIM card (Orange and O2 standard SIM cards cannot be used with 3G, you need a USIM which is usually only supplied when you purchase a 3G device from them) and are in 3G coverage you can expect download speeds of up to 384kbps and upload speeds of 64kbps.
4) If you used a datacard then you'd need to buy some kind of router or adapter that it could slot into. If you used a handset then you could connect either via USB cable or Bluetooth.
5) Linux... good luck, I tried to get ADSL working on a Linux machine once, granted it was a couple of years ago, and failed miserably. But hey, Google is your friend. If you could find a wireless router that accepts a laptop datacard then you could hook up via WiFi - that'd be the best way of setting it up on Linux IMHO.

[damiancutts]

i sometimes connect my n70 to the net via the usb cable supplied with the phone oand nokia pc suite. for some reason i've never been charged:D
i'm with o2 online 200 and connect at 468k

[Hands0n]

There is a router that takes the Vodafone 3G/2G data card and presents a WiFi and 4-port cable hub. I cannot recall the name of it, but it does exist - the idea is to provide Internet services to remote work groups i.e. on constrution sites and suchlike.

Such a device would work with any IP device - regardless of its OS and so your Linux machine would work just fine in such an instance. But the up-front cost for the router and card will be somewhat high.

I do not know of any practical 3G/2G data card implementations for Linux - although that does not mean there are not any! It is just that the [Linux] drivers for these cards will not be available from the card manufacturer but written by some of the Linux development community.

But, as Ben says, the data charges are at this time extortionate! If you have absolutely no other way of accessing the Internet then be prepared for spending a serious amount of money.

[Ben]

i sometimes connect my n70 to the net via the usb cable supplied with the phone oand nokia pc suite. for some reason i've never been charged:D
i'm with o2 online 200 and connect at 468k
Ah good old O2. How they can still be in a muddle when it comes to data charges is beyond me!

If you're in 3G coverage the theoretical limit is currently 384kbps, with the actual download speed being somewhat less. Windows was probably misreporting the connection speed - my laptop used to tell me my GPRS connection over IR was 115kbps, I wish!