Re: OT: Wireless Internet

[Wolfgang Bechstein bechstein@xxxxxxxx]

"Robert Holmgren"  wrote:

> It's called "tethering": use your cell phone as a modem for
> your computer. I do it all the time, and it works! Travel
> anywhere, go online with your computer. Bloody hotels charge an
> arm and a leg to use their routers or access points! This just
> works: on trains, planes, cars, anywhere.

It works on _planes_? I guess you must be talking domestic flights, and
the rules must be different in the U.S. On most flights I've been on, I
think trying to use my cell phone to go online with my computer would
have gotten me arrested (if not immediately kicked out) pretty quickly.
Quite apart from the fact that there is precious little coverage over
Siberia...

> You need an
> unlimited data plan, and you need a phone that has a real
> operating system in it, like Windows Mobile v6 (aka WinCE).

Aren't you conflating two things here, namely using the phone itself to
browse the net and do computery things, and using the phone as a modem?
For the former, WinCE or similar definitely is helpful, but for the
latter, it is not required. I have used plain vanilla cell phones (with
a dedicated USB cable) from carriers both in Australia and in Japan to
go online with my (separate) laptop. The charges are per "data packet"
and can mount very quickly, so for anything more than occasional
stop-gap use, an unlimited data plan indeed will help to keep you out of
debtor's prison.

Wolfgang Bechstein
bechstein@xxxxxxxx