Cell Phone Internet Access

[ScrapIrony-2]

Now that we are traveling more, I've been looking at cell phone plans.

See if I understand this right....You get a bluetooth enabled phone, and with the laptop (and Airport card), I can dial into our ISP in Durango on the unlimited nights and weekends.

[guy99]

We use verizon, all that is required is a data capable phone, a mobile office kit (phone to compter cable and software), a plan which allows data connection.

There is an internet by cell phone yahoo group which has good information.

[Westfalia]

Scrap, you need to make sure that the Bluetooth phone you get supports the Dial-Up Networking Profile. You also need to be in a service area that has data coverage as well, like EDGE, GPRS or Vision. Do they have that in Silverton? I'm pretty sure that Sprint doesn't have Vision down there, but I'll confirm when I'm down there next week.

[robandzoe]

I use the TREO 600 with Cingular with 600 minutes for $49.99 w/ Rollover, and the Data Plan (Media Works) @ $19.99 for unlimited data. With the TREO and PDANet software (a one time $30) you connect at 57k via the cell phone just about anywhere. Check www.cingular.com for coverage. Also, the phone can connect via pop3 to your internet provider for email and it has a browser also, so you can check you forums portal throughout the day on the go! It works nice.

Rob

[mtpalms]

Check out Ev-Do:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/te...070&oref=login

"PLENTY of technologies can get you online wirelessly these days, but there's always a catch. Wi-Fi Internet hot spots are fast and cheap, but they keep you tethered to the airport, hotel or coffee shop where the hot spot originates. A Bluetooth cellphone can get your laptop online, but at the speed of a slug. And smoke signals - well, you know. The privacy issues are a nightmare.

But for the laptop lugger with an expense account, there may be another option. It's a relatively new cellular data network called C.D.M.A. 1xEV-DO, which, as you surely knew, stands for Code Division Multiple Access Evolution-Data Only. No wonder Verizon Wireless, the earliest and largest adopter of this technology, just calls it the BroadbandAccess plan..."

[59toaster]

The blue tooth is secondary. If you have a laptop with Bluetooth then the phone will connect to it without needing a cable. Blue tooth is simply a wireless way of joining two or more electronic devices. Think of it as an invisible cable.

You will not need to connect to your ISP. You will be connected to the Internet through Cingular as a ISP.

Now most of the phones that are capable of "EDGE" (high-speed wireless data feature) happen to have bluetooth.

I work for Cingular and up till just a few months ago I was a sales person. Before that I repaired Phones.

I use the TREO 600 with Cingular with 600 minutes for $49.99 w/ Rollover, and the Data Plan (Media Works) @ $19.99 for unlimited data. With the TREO and PDANet software (a one time $30) you connect at 57k via the cell phone just about anywhere. Check www.cingular.com for coverage. Also, the phone can connect via pop3 to your internet provider for email and it has a browser also, so you can check you forums portal throughout the day on the go! It works nice.

Technically your not suppose to use "Media Works" on the treo. It will however work but your not suppose to know that. You are suppose to be on a $44.99 data connect package for the Treo. Judging from the plans you quoted The Media Works plan has changed. You may have the plan with Unlimited Media. Thats' no longer available.

The new Media works plan does not have the unlimited. You can however get Media Net Unlimited for $19.99 It is unlimited Media but it does not include the Multi Media and Text messaging stuff that the old Media works plan did. And your not suppose to know that it will probably let you connect a laptop via either Bluetooth or a data connect cable if you laptop doesn't have Bluetooth. .Your really suppose to use a Data card.

Once the EDGE system gets filled in you will start seeing faster line speed. If you are close to a tower you could see speeds as fast as 100k. In my current roll I am handling the tower equipment. UMTS is the next big thing. And I am already seeing it. This is 2.5 and 3G stuff. This will probably get to 150-175k line speeds (DSL speed). Larger cities are starting to deploy but it will be a couple more years before wide coverage is available. This new technology you will start to see Data cards that will automatically try to find a WIFI port then if its not available it will hit the Wireless connection.

What the future may one day hold is your ISP and electronic entertainment will totally base off your phone. When you walk out of your house you will grab your phone and take your ISP connection with you. It will connect via bluetooth to your desk top or laptop once you get within 30ft of it. It will probably also provide your entertainment. Your TV will get its signal from your phone. You may well be watching the news on your phone as you walk into your home and it will click on your TV when you walk in the door and tune to the same channel.


Think that sounds a long way off?

I already use "Mobi TV". I can watch live streaming Video on my Nokia 6620. http://www.mobitv.com/

[Westfalia]

Priceless!

[mtpalms]

59toast,

Nothing personal, but I'd just like a reliable signal. I hope Cingular does a better job than AT&T did, but a friend of mine who lives at the bottom of the hill from what was an ATT tower and is now Cingular, just got his 'upgraded' Cingular phone package, and his signal went from strong to weak. My signal can go from 4 bars to zero just sitting on my couch. I understand that what matters is that the majority of customers have good service, but it is annoying nonetheless.

I think reliable wireless cellular internet in America is a long way off.

I also found it interesting that Cingular apparently cripples services in the name of selling their customers more products that they don't really need to get the system to work:

Technically your not suppose to use "Media Works" on the treo. It will however work but your not suppose to know that.

and

And your not suppose to know that it will probably let you connect a laptop via either Bluetooth or a data connect cable if you laptop doesn't have Bluetooth. .Your really suppose to use a Data card.

Realistically, yes, I find all of Cingular's digtal wonders a long way off, but I appreciate your honesty regarding your employer's business practices.

I will continue to allow Cingular to rip me off for now, because they are the only carrier right now with a signal at my house, unreliable as it is. 2 years ago it was Verizon, and briefly, Nextel. Apparently they are all eager to sign up subscribers, but not so keen on upgrading their transmission hardware, so the signal drops off, and we have to switch.

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by mtpalms

59toast,

Nothing personal, but I'd just like a reliable signal. I hope Cingular does a better job than AT&T did, but a friend of mine who lives at the bottom of the hill from what was an ATT tower and is now Cingular, just got his 'upgraded' Cingular phone package, and his signal went from strong to weak. My signal can go from 4 bars to zero just sitting on my couch. I understand that what matters is that the majority of customers have good service, but it is annoying nonetheless.

I think reliable wireless cellular internet in America is a long way off.

I also found it interesting that Cingular apparently cripples services in the name of selling their customers more products that they don't really need to get the system to work:
and
Realistically, yes, I find all of Cingular's digtal wonders a long way off, but I appreciate your honesty regarding your employer's business practices.

I will continue to allow Cingular to rip me off for now, because they are the only carrier right now with a signal at my house, unreliable as it is. 2 years ago it was Verizon, and briefly, Nextel. Apparently they are all eager to sign up subscribers, but not so keen on upgrading their transmission hardware, so the signal drops off, and we have to switch.

I don't understand what you mean by crippling service.

It all comes down to planned use. The reason the old media works plan was changed is two fold. It was a Promo to get people interested in the service. It still cost money to provide the service. DATA still eats bandwidth. The Unlimited regular data plans are targeted for being used with just the hand held device. A hand held device doesn't move huge amounts of data like a laptop would. So thats why there are different billing plans for data. If you are going to use a laptop they known you are going to use a lot more data stream in the process.

So lets put it this way. You own a house and have a water spigot at the corner of your property. Your neighbor wants to use it to fill a dog bowl because its close to his dog pen and offers you a couple bucks a month to do so. You agree.

You com home one day and find same neighbor filling his new 20,000 gallon in ground swimming pool off your spigot .....would you bill differently?

By the logic you just made ....its the same pipe so there should be no change in billing price even if your using 1000 times more volume then the original agreement was designed for even though it caused the provider higher expense.


I had 256 Million dollars "Thats not a mis print" worth of NEW cell tower equipment come through where I now work in the last 12 months. That was just for the state of GA. Cingular is building hand over fist to become the country's best coverge.

That said building new towers is tough. On average it takes 1.5 years to get through the zoning fights. Seems everybody wants a pegged signal but nobody wants to let carries build towers to provide it. Buying AT&T was how Cingular added hundreds of towers to their system.

[mtpalms]

Originally Posted by 59toaster

I don't understand what you mean by crippling service.

You spelled it out quite eloquently yourself:

Technically your not suppose to use "Media Works" on the treo. It will however work but your not suppose to know that.

and

And your not suppose to know that it will probably let you connect a laptop via either Bluetooth or a data connect cable if you laptop doesn't have Bluetooth. .Your really suppose to use a Data card.

It all comes down to planned use. The reason the old media works plan was changed is two fold. It was a Promo to get people interested in the service. It still cost money to provide the service. DATA still eats bandwidth. The Unlimited regular data plans are targeted for being used with just the hand held device. A hand held device doesn't move huge amounts of data like a laptop would. So thats why there are different billing plans for data. If you are going to use a laptop they known you are going to use a lot more data stream in the process.

So why didn't they just charge more for the service after they got enough people hooked, instead of "enhancing" it by adding unnecessary software (or maybe this is hardware?) to fool consumers into thinking they are getting something better? If it was promotional, then I am sure that was spelled out when people signed up.

So lets put it this way. You own a house and have a water spigot at the corner of your property. Your neighbor wants to use it to fill a dog bowl because its close to his dog pen and offers you a couple bucks a month to do so. You agree.

You com home one day and find same neighbor filling his new 20,000 gallon in ground swimming pool off your spigot .....would you bill differently?

By the logic you just made ....its the same pipe so there should be no change in billing price even if your using 1000 times more volume then the original agreement was designed for even though it caused the provider higher expense.

By my logic, my friend's service should be the same, whether the tower is owned by AT&T or Cingular. As it is, his signal was cut in half.
Also, a company should meet the demands of the customer base it has built:
By your logic, my water spigot should be filling the water dishes for 20,000 dogs. I didn't sign up with Cingular to get broadband or anything of the sort - I signed up for simple phone service. One dog, one bowl. Except Cingular signed up 20,000 of us, without taking into consideration that we might want our bowls filled. It isn't as if, like with your pool analogy, that I signed up for phone service, then hijacked Cingular's tower so I could provide wireless T3 speeds for myself and the entire area that tower services. That is ridiculous.

I had 256 Million dollars "Thats not a mis print" worth of NEW cell tower equipment come through where I now work in the last 12 months. That was just for the state of GA. Cingular is building hand over fist to become the country's best coverge.

That said building new towers is tough. On average it takes 1.5 years to get through the zoning fights. Seems everybody wants a pegged signal but nobody wants to let carries build towers to provide it. Buying AT&T was how Cingular added hundreds of towers to their system.

I am in line of sight of a Cingular tower 5 miles away. This tower is big/tall enough that I can see it from my house, plus it is on a hill. A tower that large ought to have the capability to get a signal to me. As a matter of fact, it has in the past. Lack of towers is not the issue.

Again, please don't take this personally - it isn't just your company, my beef is with all large companies like Cingular who either don't know that their customers are being slighted because there is no way to tell them, or they don't care that 50,000 customers are getting slighted, because 15 million customers 150 miles away in Los Angeles are satisfied, and that is the bottom line for them. They don't care if we're happy, they want those all Angelenos driving through here to Las Vegas to have a signal.

What if the electric company said everybody in Atlanta can use all the elctricity they want, folks in Athens can run their refrigerator and a TV (but no more!), and people in unincorporated areas can use a 60 watt bulb. But everybody pays the same flat rate for their electricity? The rollover for the rural folks would be tremendous but moot, after all, a 60 watt bilb is still a 60 watt bulb.

[59toaster]

mtpalms:

If they have equipment problems or system complaints Cingular is allowing breaks in contracts without reprisal. They are also allowing former AT&T customers to become a full fledge Cingular Customer without any credit checks or anything else. New agreement and pick your phone.


Cingulars policy is if you are not happy with your service you can break contracts the 1st 30 and all you have to pay is for what you used and the $25 processing fee. There will not be a multi hundred dollar bill back in that first 30 days...PERIOD. If you are told differently call Corporate. 1 866 Cingular

The service the previous AT&T customers lost may be because they are using old equipment. The TDMA systems is fading VERY fast. The AT&T TDMA system in many areas are slatted to be turned off very soon. If your friend is using TDMA thats why their service is suffering. If they are a GSM subscriber they need to call Cingular. Their service should not have changed and in most larger urban area it should have improved.


Here is why it might not have. The phones carry information that tells it what systems to use. That information is remotely updatability. This is called IRDB (Intelligent Roaming Data Base). On Cingular its suppose to be automatic. On Verizon you have to call a number that will down load it.

Its carried on the SIM (Subscriber Information Module) in a GSM (global System Mobile...the world standard) product. If for some reason the phone doesn't catch that update it will cause a conflict in the phone. The system will tell the phone to use a tower in a channel hand off. That tower according to its data base is a competitor (because it still has old AT&T data). Like any good computer...garbage in garbage out. Its a conflict. It rolls over plays dead and drops the call.

A couple years back both Cingular and AT&T went from a 32k SIM to a 64K SIM. That larger capacity was for a larger IRDB load. It will be marked on the SIM what it is. If its a 32k it needs to be swapped out to a 64K.

Lastly....AT&T was very hard core using what is known as SOC (System operator code). The phone was coded to a network....theirs. Some of those phones it is impossible to reverse that. Cingular has done as much as they can to work around that.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by 59toaster

...If they have equipment problems or system complaints Cingular is allowing breaks in contracts without reprisal. They are also allowing former AT&T customers to become a full fledge Cingular Customer without any credit checks or anything else. New agreement and pick your phone.....

Hmmm... on the face of things cingular sounds like an OK bunch of folks. But for us ATT customers who were sold to them, it has not been good. In my household we have 3 cell phones and numbers. 2 months before the "big improvement" we all purchased new gsm phones as our digital phones were aging. In the Northwest gsm coverage rots, there are dead spots - lots of 'em. (Sigh)

The bigger problem is that Cingular insists that if any one of us needs/wants to upgrade a phone we will all have to. They tell us that cingular phones are different - not just the sim cards. They still sell 2 of the 3 models we purchased - so this seems just a little bizarre.

Not a happy customer - here... but don't see an alternative.

[Janets Husband]

Truth be known, All cell phone companies are at the same point the old Ma Bell system was just before it was taken apart.
They are abusive, expensive, they stop inovation, and they require people to purchase un-needed equipment to increase revenues.
Their is "no" technical reason that requires someone to only purchase phones from the cellular service provider.
Ma Bell use to rent phones because they also said any other phone would cause damage to their system. False statement then and false statement now.
Phones that work on any system in the world can be purchased from second party suppliers, and they will work just fine. But if you listen to the network suppliers they are the only people who know how a cell system works.
I would be willing to bet that there are not any cellular providers in the US who build their own phones or cell site equipment.
They purchase their equipment just like any individule could purchase.
To be frank about the situation the US is way behind the rest of the world in cellular technology and service. This is a well documented in many trade journals.
It is time that our lawmakers act on our behalf just like they did with the Bell system back in the 70's.
Take them apart, open up phone sales, increase compitition and reduce costs.

[mtpalms]

Originally Posted by 59toaster

mtpalms:
The service the previous AT&T customers lost may be because they are using old equipment. The TDMA systems is fading VERY fast. The AT&T TDMA system in many areas are slatted to be turned off very soon. If your friend is using TDMA thats why their service is suffering. If they are a GSM subscriber they need to call Cingular.

Let me elucidate:
My friend just got his new Cingular phone package about a week ago, including a new phone. His signal was halved. Yes, he has called Cingular. They tried to sell him a different phone. A week old phone isn't that old, really.

Their service should not have changed and in most larger urban area it should have improved.

Once again you have handily reinforced my complaint:

Originally Posted by mtpalms

...they don't care that 50,000 customers are getting slighted, because 15 million customers 150 miles away in Los Angeles are satisfied, and that is the bottom line for them.

Thanks for your support. Perhaps you could bring this up with your bosses.

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by Janet's Husband

Truth be known, All cell phone companies are at the same point the old Ma Bell system was just before it was taken apart.
They are abusive, expensive, they stop inovation, and they require people to purchase un-needed equipment to increase revenues.
Their is "no" technical reason that requires someone to only purchase phones from the cellular service provider.
Ma Bell use to rent phones because they also said any other phone would cause damage to their system. False statement then and false statement now.
Phones that work on any system in the world can be purchased from second party suppliers, and they will work just fine. But if you listen to the network suppliers they are the only people who know how a cell system works.
I would be willing to bet that there are not any cellular providers in the US who build their own phones or cell site equipment.
They purchase their equipment just like any individule could purchase.
To be frank about the situation the US is way behind the rest of the world in cellular technology and service. This is a well documented in many trade journals.
It is time that our lawmakers act on our behalf just like they did with the Bell system back in the 70's.
Take them apart, open up phone sales, increase compitition and reduce costs.

OK here it is with no BS. My 18 years in this business. I have been in sales, I am a Level 2 Repair technician for Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson. I have enough certificates for repair and service to cover about 4ft x 10 feet of wall with the certificates touching inf I dragged the all out. Now I work in Network related and get the Cellsite equipment repairs and help with the Logistics of network upgrades.

I have worked for Cingular, Bellsouth Mobility and several agents of theirs and PacTel/Airtouch. I did contract installation work for everybody around 13-18 years ago. I have seen it all and done it all in this business. Here is facts.

The law makers are what caused most of the complaints in this thread. The FCC is a really screwed up organization. You are correct. We are 10 years behind the rest of the world and the FCC is why. Cingular and AT&T have made most of that 10 years up over the last 4 but its still an ongoing process. The next big step the rest of the world is making we are about 2 years behind. UMTS and and 3G. Thats going to be the BIG speed data.

Coverage is all about the towers. The more people in a given area the closer the towers need to be to provide capacity. Every tower will always have somebody that will have a problem about it being there and will take a LONG time to get zoning clearance.

If they could just walk onto a piece of property and build a tower with the Telco and power connections already on site it would take about a week to build a working tower that could handle hundreds of phone calls. Most of that week would be waiting for Concrete to dry.

It takes 1.5 years to get to the point where they can build.

The last thing I want is the law makers involved because I actually know the truth. They got involved in the gas company....said that competition would cause lower prices. My gas bill TRIPLED in 6 months (before this gas crunch) even though I did home improvements that should have lowered it.

As far as price....you couldn't be more wrong. 15 years ago the CHEAP phone was $1000. I know because I was installing them. I been at this for 18 years. The great plan was 300 minutes for $129.99. Long distance was extra.
Now its 39.99 for 450 minutes WITH UNLIMITED MOBILE TO MOBILE and 5000 nights and weekend. NO long distance EVER if its to a US location (and that does include some places like Puerto Rico).


Yes you can buy phone from anywhere you want. You are absolutely correct.

Yes you can get service without contract.

You give up the Mobile to mobile to do it on Cingular.

You also give up the $100+ Perk that the carrier puts in with a 2 year contract.

You give up the Manufacture rebate as well in many cases.

Phones DO NOT cost $20 new. The least expensive phone that Cingular sells cost Cingular about $95 plus shipping and all the Stuff it takes to get it to you. So the carrier is selling the phones at a deficit to get your business. ALL of them do it. Thats why they make you sign the contract so that they know they will eventually make a profit. It takes about 14 months on the average customer to make a profit. The average customer

Personally I think the Carriers have made their own worst enemy by continuing to do this because people have no value in the product if they are getting it nearly free. They think they are being ripped off because of all the legal BS that a carrier has to do and stipulate to protect themselves.

How about If they did no contracts and sold the phone for the typical mark up of 100% that most products and serviced have. Then things would not be like they are now. They would get their profit right up front and be fat and happy. You could leave anytime because the carriers would not start out in the hole with new customers. The Cost of acquiring new customers in this business is right at $300. If they didn't do the $100 discount, Fired all the repair support people then mark up the product they would be dead even to start with.

O yeah I forgot this, If you buy your phone through a different source you also give up the warrant repair services that most carriers do for you. It will be up to you to contact the phone manufacture, provide proof of purchase, Pay for the shipping, and wait for the 7-45 business days it takes most manufactures to repair product. So instead of getting a replacement in 3 business days with the carrier eating the shipping by Providing you with a paid return shipping like the carriers now do with you spending a little bit of time on the phone or Internet. After all standing in line at the Post office and paying for shipping and insurance is no big deal right?

After all that 2 year contract is BS and you get nothing for it do you?

This is a Switch. This is what it takes to make a system work. This is what you don't see. They cost millions for a small one.

[mtpalms]

You put alot into that post, you're not my target, and I'm going off rant now, except for one thing all phone service providers are guilty of:

When American cell phones catch up with the rest of the world, I'll be the first to sign up, until then I just want a phone. Not a camera, not a mini gameboy, nor a text messenger. These enhancements get in the way of what I would guess most people want - a phone with buttons big enough to hit accurately with adult digits. You are right on about the cost of phones. I'd buy a simple phone with the options my landline provides (sans internet). People who want/need all those extras should pay for them.

I could get basic satellit tv for around $30, but I want the extra channels, HBO, pay per view, an extra receiver, and a dvr - so I pay extra for the service and hardware. It mystifies me why some marketing genius at a cell phone company hasn't come up with a basic 'economy phone'.

[59toaster]

Originally Posted by mtpalms

You put alot into that post, you're not my target, and I'm going off rant now, except for one thing all phone service providers are guilty of:

When American cell phones catch up with the rest of the world, I'll be the first to sign up, until then I just want a phone. Not a camera, not a mini gameboy, nor a text messenger. These enhancements get in the way of what I would guess most people want - a phone with buttons big enough to hit accurately with adult digits. You are right on about the cost of phones. I'd buy a simple phone with the options my landline provides (sans internet). People who want/need all those extras should pay for them.

I could get basic satellit tv for around $30, but I want the extra channels, HBO, pay per view, an extra receiver, and a dvr - so I pay extra for the service and hardware. It mystifies me why some marketing genius at a cell phone company hasn't come up with a basic 'economy phone'.

Oh I'm not taking it personal at all. I want people to know the absolute truth about it all. I'm trying to educate. There is so much misinformation about wireless providers. I want the record straight.

I agree about our service not being up to par. Its really awful in many respects to other places in the world.

See the US took a step the rest of the world Bypassed thanks to the Misguided rulings of the FCC.

The majority of the world has been on GSM for nearly 12 years now. Because the FCC required that Analog be around for "X" years the Carriers were screwed when GSM was hitting the rest of the world. At the time nobody made a phone that was Analog and GSM. They were still sorting out GSM and couldn't figure out how to integrate a Analog transmitter with a true digital transmitter. GSM does crazy things.

So GSM was modified into a simpler form that they could make work with Analog in the same package. TDMA is trimmed down GSM. CDMA is a variant using a different way to do things. The reason a digital technology was so important is capacity. Analog is a bandwidth hog. In TDMA and CDMA you can put three calls into the same bandwidth as one analog call. The importance here is instant tripling of the capacity without building any sites. In GSM you can get 8 (the 9th channel is a control channel).

Then to really screw things up the FCC stuck it to the bigger companies when PCS frequency was released. So instead of the big companies taking that spectrum and making it GSM right off the bat it became a fight of technologies and smaller companies. SO it further delayed the US going to the Standard the rest of the would for the most part adopted....GSM.

Now the rest of the world is interested in Data and understand what drive this. The US is relatively new. Phones were a part of our life early on and in the planning of our relatively new cities it was easy to integrate. Think about what it takes to integrate a phone/cable/electric system into a 800year old city in Europe.

Wireless makes it it so much easier then trying to bring new hard wired technology into a ancient infrastructure that much of was built before electricity.


Now look at a third world country with minimal to no real infrastructure. A single sell site can cover hundreds of miles. So its cheaper to integrate a wireless technology where there is almost no technology. You have a tower and you put a device in the hands of the end user....your done.

Getting the PCS frequency was a milestone too. We have a Shortage of bandwith....Again our government hard at "waste". When Europe went to GSM they just said the hell with anybody that was on that frequency and took it over. Built the system and went. Whens the last time you watched UHF? Hell I think maybe 1 of the TV's I own might beable to tune it. Its just sitting there but the Government that people say should get involved just does nothing. Do you realize how much Bandwidth our Military has that it doesn't use but still wont release?

You also need to consider something too. Many of the Cell companies in the rest of the world are government owned and operated. 13 years ago they told all the Analog customers "Tough luck we are changing technologies and Analog is gone...end of discussion". Meanwhile, we still have Analog available here. It was early enough in the game that wireless was still a rich persons thing. Imagine doing that now with 50 million customers.

[59toaster]

Ohh and your friend with the week old phone. Call corporate. Sounds like the bought it from a Agent. Cingulars policy is if you are not happy with a phone in the first 30's days bring it back for a full credit. The stipulation is you have to have box and packaging and the phone not have obvious signs of abuse Ie- doesn't look like you kicked it across a parking lot in the rain.

The Agents are required to honor that policy but it does have to go back to the agent if it was bought at an agent.

Its right on the web site.
http://www.cingular.com/customer_ser...n_phone_return

I love agents. You might pay a few more bucks at a company store for some things but your shouldnt get that sort of BS out of them when you are not satisfied with a product.

[Rivetedude]

I have Sprint PCS service and use a Sanyo PM8200 with unlimited wireless web (no waiting for nights and weekends). All I need is a data cable (USB) and the driver (www.driverguide.com). On Driverguide the Username is "drivers", and the password is "all". You can rigister if you want, but that's the name and password they give everybody. Do a search for you phone.

After installing the phone as a modem useing the driver you just downloaded, use the internet connection wizard and select your phone as the modem to use. The username and password for your connection is the same as your wireless web username and password. #777 is the number that you use to dial out. It's four times faster than dial-up (230k), it doesn't cost you a dime extra, and you've got Internet access anywhere in the Sprint area. I have a Nationwide plan.

Ben

[n2916s]

A simpler solution that works for us: we are with Verizon and have a single LQ3200 phone. Bought the wireless office kit for it which is basically a cable to hook the cell to the laptop and a disk full of drivers.

After you load up the software you can sign up for and get "National Access" which is high speed and costs extra (either flat rate or per Mbyte).

or

You can use the "Quick 2 Net" which is slow (14K) but costs no extra (just uses minutes like any other call).

We went this way as we only need the cell phone hook up occasionally and mostly to check e-mail. If I want to do anything large (download pictures or anti-virus updates etc.) I just wait until I mosey across a WiFi site. The Quick 2 Net works just fine for simple things.

Mike