Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Use a mobile phone to access the internet?

This is topic Use a mobile phone to access the internet? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-13-2006, 12:00 AM:

I know there are cell phones that can get onto the internet, but I don't need it frequently enough to be worth the monthly expense. Here is my specific question...

Can I use my phone to get onto a dialup account that has nothing to do with the cell phone provider? Essentially I just want to be able to use the phone like a normal land line and let it eat up minutes (of which on weekends and nights are free anyway). I an on Cingular with a Razr.

Any info on this would be appreciated, as I'm sure someone on here has done this somehow. [Big Grin]

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 04-13-2006, 12:10 AM:

A lot of phones (not sure if the Razr is one of them) can be used in this or similar fashion with a data cable.
Check with your wireless provider, they usually have access to the cable. But take any thing they tell you with a grain of salt just in case they're not "familiar" with that feature of the phone.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-13-2006, 12:11 AM:

I found this article. It might help.
http://www.jiwire.com/motorola-razr-v3-setup-usability.htm

To this day I have not purchased a mobile phone. But I am thinking about buying a RAZR V3i (iTunes capable model) once they are released; I don't like the current "candybar" SLVR model Cingular is pushing.

Posted by Andrew McCrea (Member # 674) on 04-13-2006, 12:14 AM:

My phone service provider, Telus (Canadian), use to sell an adapter that works with some phones (LG, I believe), that could be used for this purpose with dial-up connections.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-13-2006, 01:24 AM:

If you phone is Bluetooth capable, you might be able to get a USB Bluetooth adapter for the laptop and use it that way.

While I just *know* somewhere out there, there is a cable to hook directly to your laptop via USB, I can't seem to quickly locate one. I'm surprised Sky Mall didn't have anything.

I have a Sony Ericsson GC83 card.

While I have a separate service for my laptop, this PCMCIA card uses a SIM card that I have removed and used in cell phones that also use GPRS cellular service, so if your phone uses a SIM card, you might be able to get one of the GCxx cards and use your phone's current cell service. Depends on what service you have.

It runs a little faster than dialup, depending on the signal and network.

What happened to that phone you had with the slide-out keyboard?

[ 04-13-2006, 02:59 AM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-13-2006, 01:40 AM:

Ok now I'm confused.

Adam you are saying to buy one of these Sony cards and put it's SIM card in my cell phone, then use the usb connector to connect? Somehow that doesn't make sense (but I don't doubt you, I just don't get it).

I got rid of the keyboard phone, as it was too bulky.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-13-2006, 01:43 AM:

No, I'm saying to get the card and use your cell phone's SIM card in it instead of buying a separate service. This all depends on what kind of data service your cell phone account comes with.

And go back and read my Bluetooth edit.

I could never use a flip phone, much less that thinner-than-paper Razr. It would be broken in less than 3 minutes.

[ 04-13-2006, 02:57 AM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 04-13-2006, 01:57 AM:

I use a cable between my Nokia and my laptops USB port, connection is made by GPRS, which is surprisingly fast. I'm charged per megabyte of data trasnferred, so if I don't use it, I don't pay any more than the standard rental & call charges, or rather the company doesn't.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-13-2006, 02:56 AM:

It turns out that Cingular is phasing out the technology that Brad wants to use that would allow him to use his cell phone as an analog modem. So that leaves Brad paying for bandwidth on GPRS or getting a data service for the laptop.

If a bear shits in the woods, does Cingular charge me for it? Probably.

Posted by Kenneth Tiffany (Member # 3643) on 04-13-2006, 05:09 AM:

The RAZR can use a standard mini-usb cable the connect to a computer(PSP cable, some Dig. Cameras, etc.). You'll just need to install the proper driver so Windows can use the phone as a modem. You'd get charged per KB by Cingular. I don't ever do this but I do use MiniOpera on my RAZR once in a while. I just set it to not show images and it keeps the data usage down.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-13-2006, 10:47 AM:

They make "cellular modems", both for desk tops and laptops. You add it to your plan as if it were a second cell phone (cheap if you have a family plan). On the other hand, the cellular modems are not cheap for the hardware.

Search the internet on "cellular modems".

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 04-13-2006, 12:00 PM:

T-Mobile will let you use your phones GPRS to blutooth functionality without charging any additional service fees. [thumbsup]