On other parts of these forums, there have been a few times where the idea of a device which would act merely as a GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA+HSUPA/EVDO/WiMAX to BluetoothDUN/BluetoothPAN/WifiAccessPoint gateway, so you could do away with the general cell phone part of things.

Over time, I've come across 5 such devices, but none of them are quite there yet.

Here they are, with some notes:

GlobalSAT GT-703

• Pros:
  • Size (it'll fit in your coat pocket)
• Cons:
  • No mention of battery/power-source
  • GPRS, not EDGE nor faster
  • Manufacturer appears to have discontinued it.
• Easydevices page for it

Option Globesurfer II

• Pros:
  • GSM family
  • POTS phone supprt (POTS handset to voice GSM)
  • Wifi and/or wired ethernet clients
• Cons:
  • Size (not a full briefcase size, but not coat-pocket size either)
  • GSM famliy _only_ (can't use it with EVDO nor WiMAX)
  • Power -- fixed power only, no battery
• Option's page for it

Top Global MB8000
(top global has multiple products, but they sell a battery power option for the MB8000; the others are fixed power only)

• Pros:
  • EVDO (not limited to GPRS nor EDGE speeds)
  • Card slot based, with support for multiple carrier's cards
  • Wifi access point
• Cons:
  • EVDO only (no GSM family support, nor WiMAX)
  • Size (with the battery, it sounds like a briefcase sized solution)
• Top Global's MB8000 page

Kyocera KR1 and KR2
(KR1 is PC-Card based, KR2 is Express Card based)
(they support using it with socketmobile's battery pack)

• Pros:
  • EVDO
  • Card slot based, with support for multiple carrier's cards
  • Wifi access point
• Cons:
  • EVDO only
  • Size (like the Option Globesurfer II, seems to be, with the battery, smaller than a briefcase but plenty bigger than a coat-pocket)
• Kyocera's KR-1 page
  Kyocera's KR-2 page

CradlePoint Technology CTR-350

• Pros:
  • Size (smaller than an N800!)
  • USB based (support for multiple carrier's devices)
  • Express Card via Adapter
  • EVDO
  • Wifi access point
• Cons:
  • EVDO only (I contacted the vendor, they're working on GSM)
  • Power (current one is fixed power, vendor says they're working on an internal battery version)
• Cradle Point's page
• Express Card to USB adapter from MoreMobileInternet

The Cradlepoint looks really good. In the US, three of the four major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, but not T-Mobile) have USB dongles, so once they add GSM support, you'll have a lot of flexibility for carriers (maybe a T-Mobile sim card will work with an Option dongle? that'd handle the T-Mobile support). Still, I'd rather have an Express Card slot on it, but even so, I could put it and its USB dongle in an otterbox, probably, and not have to worry about the fact that the USB device isn't actually integrated.


Once the battery powered version of the Cradlepoint is out, I'm very heavily thinking about getting one for use with Sprint's unlimited data plan. That device with an N810 seems like a rather nice path to take.

(Depending on release dates for the N8x0 version with WiMAX, and what it's feature set looks like, whether or not I have to buy it as part of a carrier subsidized deal with a contract, and how much I end up liking/disliking Skype over time)