Internet Access From....

[brandon184]

A Cellular Phone?

Is this possible, and if so, what would the max data speed be? The only thing I've heard of this is for faxing, and thats about it.

Anyone have any ideas about this?

- Brandon

[chipbgt]

there are some sprint PCS phones that allow for some basic web surfing, check email form hotmail, check stocks from yahoo, weather reports....

full blown surfing? not yet. One day though.

[madcat85]

they need better sattelites out there (increase bandwidth)

[SysOpt]

Are you referring to using the phone itself for access to the Net, or using it with a notebook PC's dial-up modem? If you're referring to the latter, yes, it's possible. I have a Nokia 6160 and AT&T Wireless, and connect to ISP's at anywhere from 9600bps to 19200bps - the connection is usually unreliable though. Stays connected long enough for me to check and send mail.

[brandon184]

Scott : For access from a notebook pc's dialup modem.

[SysOpt]

Ok. That's what I thought, but I think chipbgt thought you meant surfing from the phone itself.

Yeah it's pretty cool to do actually. I've done it from airports, did it from a remote windsurfing spot in Oregon, etc. Like I said, sometimes the connection can be unreliable, but it still works. You need a phone with a data port and a special cable that connects your laptop modem to the phone. It is best for email, but can kind of be used for surfing depending on your connection luck.

[This message has been edited by SysOpt (edited 06-18-2000).]

[RobRich]

I will agree with Scott, as results can vary. The FCC has imposed a limit of 19,200bps for most radio frequency communications, which has proved to be the limiting factor of the cellular internet explosion (phone or cell modem based).

This limit even carris over to amatuer radio packet transceiving, which is ridiculously SLOW! I believe it's time for the FCC to update their policies regarding this, as the technology is in place for these devices to scale much higher in bandwidth.

My daily rant,
Robert Richmond

[brandon184]

Thanks for the info..

This would be simply for email.. And checking out the odd link here and there..

- Brandon