use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
Is there anyway to connect a laptop to a cell phone and use voice
minutes to send and receive
email instead of having to sign up for a $40 data plan to connect
your laptop?
I used to be able to do this with Verizon....the connection was only
9600 bps, but fine for text
email.
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
In <1188485305.434348.273550@50g2000hsm.googlegroups. com> bsd_mike <bsddorin@gmail.com> writes:
>Is there anyway to connect a laptop to a cell phone and use voice
>minutes to send and receive
>email instead of having to sign up for a $40 data plan to connect
>your laptop?
>I used to be able to do this with Verizon....the connection was only
>9600 bps, but fine for text
>email.
T-Mobile offers "circuit switched data" which, at least used to
(haven't checked lately) work that way.
In the Good Old Days it was a simple "please activate this
feature" option. When I asked six months ago they wanted
an extra $10/month (which is why I'm not using it).
--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
At 30 Aug 2007 14:57:50 +0000 danny burstein wrote:
> T-Mobile offers "circuit switched data" which, at least used to
> (haven't checked lately) work that way.
>
> In the Good Old Days it was a simple "please activate this
> feature" option.
Actually in the Good, Good Old (Voicestream) Days it was automatic-
every account had it enabled by default.
> When I asked six months ago they wanted
> an extra $10/month (which is why I'm not using it).
>
Try again, Dan, you got a confused rep.
T-Mo offers two levels of CSD. The basic one is free, but doesn't
allow faxing- just data. The $10/month CSD plan is called "business
CSD" and includes the ability to send/receive faxes, plus a separate
"fax line"- you get issued a second phone number to use as a fax
number, and faxes get saved in that number's "faxmail box" and can be
redirected to any phone number you want later.
The last time they accidentally shut off my CSD I had a devil of a
time getting it reactivated because T-Mo doesn't call the feature
"CSD" on their billing system (when they query "CSD "only "business
CSD" pops up!) IIRC, it was called something generic like "GSM
data." Once they actually found the correct code and applied it,
it's worked ever since. I usually test it once a month or so to make
sure it's still there!
Ah the good ol' days. CSD is actually the reason I originally signed
with T-Mo. I was deciding between Voicestream and AT&T's (the old
AT&T) new (at the time) GSM charter plans, but AT&T didn't offer CSD,
and wanted a ridiculous amount of money for the then-new GPRS data
plans (8MB was $30, IIRC, and they had no unlimited plans yet!)
Back then I used data by tethering my Casio E-115 PPC via IR to a
Nokia 8290 (which had no WAP browser or e-mail client of it's own!)
It'd take that Casio about 45-60 seconds to establish a dialup
connection, five-ten minutes to retrieve e-mail and another 10-15
minutes to update my Avantgo account (Avantgo was/is an offline web
reader for PPCs. You'd register your favorite websites with them and
they'd send an updated copy of the page and all links 1-2 levels deep
so you could "browse" those sites offline at your lesiure almost as
if you wre online!)
And God help you if the PPC and phone IR windows weren't lined up
just right! ;-)
--
"I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
In <6jGBi.22231$9W6.16121@fe103.usenetserver.com> Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> writes:
>At 30 Aug 2007 14:57:50 +0000 danny burstein wrote:
>> T-Mobile offers "circuit switched data" which, at least used to
>> (haven't checked lately) work that way.
>>
>> In the Good Old Days it was a simple "please activate this
>> feature" option.
>Actually in the Good, Good Old (Voicestream) Days it was automatic-
>every account had it enabled by default.
What's this Voicestream of which you speak? It
wouldn't be kin to Omnipoint, would it?
--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
At 30 Aug 2007 23:38:12 +0000 danny burstein wrote:
> What's this Voicestream of which you speak? It
> wouldn't be kin to Omnipoint, would it?
You go back even further than I, my friend. My regional-area
Voicestream (Kansas City) had just bought out "Aerial" (a member of
the "GSM Alliance!") when I signed up in 2000, so I missed out on
Aerial's old "first incoming minute free" plans!
I was an 800MHz snob in those days, and a happy Cingular TDMA customer,
but I needed a crapload of minutes for my business cellphone back
then and no one could touch the regional 3000 minutes for $49.95 plan
(though the AT&T $99 unlimited minutes GSM Charter plan tempted me,
the data costs ($10+/MB GPRS on ATTWS, vs. $0 for CSD on VS) sealed
the deal with VStream.
T-Mobile has treated me VERY well in the last 7 years, with great CS
and excellent value. The coverage has improved dramatically as well
from pretty crappy to at least competitive with the big three.
--
"I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40data plan?
Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 30 Aug 2007 23:38:12 +0000 danny burstein wrote:
>
>> What's this Voicestream of which you speak? It
>> wouldn't be kin to Omnipoint, would it?
>
>
> You go back even further than I, my friend. My regional-area
> Voicestream (Kansas City) had just bought out "Aerial" (a member of
> the "GSM Alliance!") when I signed up in 2000, so I missed out on
> Aerial's old "first incoming minute free" plans!
>
> I was an 800MHz snob in those days, and a happy Cingular TDMA customer,
> but I needed a crapload of minutes for my business cellphone back
> then and no one could touch the regional 3000 minutes for $49.95 plan
> (though the AT&T $99 unlimited minutes GSM Charter plan tempted me,
> the data costs ($10+/MB GPRS on ATTWS, vs. $0 for CSD on VS) sealed
> the deal with VStream.
>
> T-Mobile has treated me VERY well in the last 7 years, with great CS
> and excellent value. The coverage has improved dramatically as well
> from pretty crappy to at least competitive with the big three.
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
On Aug 30, 9:48 am, bsd_mike <bsddo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is there anyway to connect a laptop to a cell phone and use voice
> minutes to send and receive
> email instead of having to sign up for a $40 data plan to connect
> your laptop?
>
> I used to be able to do this with Verizon....the connection was only
> 9600 bps, but fine for text
> email.
>
> -Mike
Depending upon what you have in your plan, it might only be $10 more a
month with Sprintpcs. That is all I am paying. Now if you do not have
a lot of features, it will cost you the $40 a month. I love using my
phone as a modem when I am at work because I cannot use the company
system to do my homework, check my personal email, etc. I use my phone
with my laptop and it works beautifully. Just make sure you get a
cable that charges as it goes.
use phone as modem and burn voice minutes and not have the $40 data plan?
Linear Mode
