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kutibah is offline kutibah
2006-04-24 , 01:01
Posts: 182 | Thanked: 3 times | Joined on Mar 2006
#1
This method in my opinion is best. If you don't want to buy the $19.99/month unlimited internet data plan to use with the 770 from Cingular, you can use your home internet for only $3.99/month.

1. What you do is you call cingular and tell them you want to add the Data Access CSD. It's also called Dial Up & Fax if they don't know what the CSD is (you can add this via the internet by logging into your Cingular account as well). For Cingular, it costs $3.99/month.

For Verizon/Sprint customers, sorry but I'm not sure if it's called the same thing for you or if they even offer it. They may call it GSM Data. Or, Verizon/Sprint may offer this for free and you don't even have to activate anything. If you have Verizon/Sprint, I recommend continuing below to see if this works without activating anything. If it does, then you're already set up

2. After you activate that service, you'l need to find out what your DSL dial-up number is. Use the one for the 14.4k modem. If you use dial-up, then you already know your number . For SBC/Pacbell customers, here is a list for the numbers in your area: http://public.pacbell.net/cgi-bin/findpops.cgi

3. Then fire up your 770 and create a new "Data Call" connection. Enter your dial-up number and your username/password for that connection.

4. Finally, pair up your phone with the 770 and connect to that Data Call connection. Within 10 seconds it should connect and you'll have unlimited access anywhere you have a cell phone signal!

It is $4/month, but this sure beats $20/month. And also, don't forget that this DOES use your Airtime. So make sure you don't spend hours on it unless you've got unlimited night & weekend minutes.
Last edited by kutibah; 2006-04-24 at 01:33.
 
Stickarm is offline Stickarm
2006-04-24 , 07:36
Posts: 42 | Thanked: 1 time | Joined on Dec 2005
#2
This is a great suggestion. Most people forget or don't know that the service they're paying an ISP for usually includes dial-up access. Hooray for legacy.
Originally Posted by kutibah
After you activate that service, you'l need to find out what your DSL dial-up number is. Use the one for the 14.4k modem.
Just to be totally clear, what kutibah is suggesting is that if you pay for any kind of Internet access you probably have access to a dial-up account. You are not going to be getting the same speeds as you see when using a DSL or cable modem to access your Internet Service Provider's service, but you can access your dial-up account from a lot of places -- for instance, places other than the geographic location of your Digital Subscriber Line or the cable after which your cable service is named.

Using a dial-up account can be a great, if slow, solution if you find yourself in a location with a phone line and no other Internet access. Most laptops include an analog modem that you can use in such a situation.

kutibah's suggestion includes the obsevation that most "smartphone" type devices can act as analog modems. Cellphone carriers usually refer to this by the correct, if pedantic, name "circuit-switched data." The carrier's don't really want you to use their CSD sevice (they'd rather that you pay a monthly fee for some flavor of high speed service), but they all offer a CSDoption in one form or another.
 
michaelalanjones is offline michaelalanjones
2006-04-24 , 12:57
Posts: 128 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Dec 2005
#3
What I wonder is how fast is it? I currently use the $20/month unlimited option from Cingular, and I am being ripped off. I don't recommend that anyone get it. Why? The speed is supposed to be 144K, and instead, it is governed by Cingular, to only 40K-48K. If you call and ask Cingular about it, (I am told), they will ask how you know your speed, and then they will realize that you are tethering, and they will cut you off. It's like the mafia. I think that sometime, someone will bring a class-action lawsuit against Cingular for selling something they are not providing. I will join that suit.

That's why I wonder about the speed. If it is 56K, then I would use it. If it is 19.2K or 14.4K, which is that I think it will be, then I dunno. I can (barely) surf the web at 45K, only if I set Opera to "View->Images->Never". I can easily refresh RSS news feeds and do email, and use web forums fine, (text things) with Images turned off. But I would not want to do it at 19.2K.

And I will never pay $40/month for "high-speed" cell access. They can bite me. I already pay a little more than that for FastAccess DSL, and I am not paying another $40/month to them. No way.

I think there is something else to this - when the politicians stop accepting "donations" from the telecommunications industry, and they legalize nation-wide, or even city-wide WiFi, Cingular/Spring/Verizon will no longer be able to make this kind of money, so they are grabbing all the money they can get now. They know it is only a matter of time.
 
kutibah is offline kutibah
2006-04-24 , 13:27
Posts: 182 | Thanked: 3 times | Joined on Mar 2006
#4
Originally Posted by michaelalanjones
What I wonder is how fast is it? I currently use the $20/month unlimited option from Cingular, and I am being ripped off. I don't recommend that anyone get it. Why? The speed is supposed to be 144K, and instead, it is governed by Cingular, to only 40K-48K. If you call and ask Cingular about it, (I am told), they will ask how you know your speed, and then they will realize that you are tethering, and they will cut you off. It's like the mafia. I think that sometime, someone will bring a class-action lawsuit against Cingular for selling something they are not providing. I will join that suit.

That's why I wonder about the speed. If it is 56K, then I would use it. If it is 19.2K or 14.4K, which is that I think it will be, then I dunno. I can (barely) surf the web at 45K, only if I set Opera to "View->Images->Never". I can easily refresh RSS news feeds and do email, and use web forums fine, (text things) with Images turned off. But I would not want to do it at 19.2K.

And I will never pay $40/month for "high-speed" cell access. They can bite me. I already pay a little more than that for FastAccess DSL, and I am not paying another $40/month to them. No way.

I think there is something else to this - when the politicians stop accepting "donations" from the telecommunications industry, and they legalize nation-wide, or even city-wide WiFi, Cingular/Spring/Verizon will no longer be able to make this kind of money, so they are grabbing all the money they can get now. They know it is only a matter of time.
Well, GPRS is claimed by Cingular to be anywhere between 10K-40K. The CSD is only 14.4K, but in my opinion most times on GPRS that is the same speed you will get. I highly doubt you will ever get a GPRS connection higher than 20K. It's not that much of a pain. I was able to surf to Google in 4 seconds and eBay takes anywhere from 10-30 seconds. In my opinion, saving $16/month from what you're currently paying is very worth the few KB sacrifice you're making...
 
Stickarm is offline Stickarm
2006-04-24 , 18:10
Posts: 42 | Thanked: 1 time | Joined on Dec 2005
#5
Originally Posted by michaelalanjones
If you call and ask Cingular about it, (I am told), they will ask how you know your speed, and then they will realize that you are tethering, and they will cut you off.
Tell 'em you used this website: www.dslreports.com/mspeed
 
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