Wireless discovery
After the demise of MetroFi, which was my fast, free Internet access at home since I moved in, I had no Internet connection at the condo. Cafes nearby have free WiFi, but my laptop doesn't do everything and I don't always want to go buy a treat just to get online. After checking on sharing with neighbors, I decided to try Internet through my cellphone.
A few months ago, I decided to upgrade my phone and wanted one that could at least do EDGE (the fastest data speed T-Mobile has). I hate the Windows Mobile phones, and Blackberries are expensive. So I went with the Samsung T-639, hoping someday I could use Bluetooth to connect from my computers to the Internet when WiFi isn't available. Someday just got here.
On Linux it wasn't cooperating my first couple of tries. So, I plugged my USB Bluetooth transceiver into my work laptop with Windows XP, and called up T-Mobile's tech support during the day. About half an hour later, I had Internets. Using the settings from the Windows config and some online cookbooks, I got my EeePC laptop working through my phone too. It was a pretty short step from there to make my home Ubuntu computer do the same.
How fast is it? It's not speedy, but it's about twice as fast as a 56k dialup connection. The fastest I've clocked it was around 170kbps. Good enough to get songs on my eMusic subscription, reasonably well. Turns out I got a phone that does the upcoming 3G service from T-Mobile, which was a nice surprise. It's supposed to show up here around October, and then my Internet access will hopefully get faster. It costs $20 now on top of my regular calling plan for unlimited Internet including browsing on the phone, which is a bargain at less cost than a land line. It even gives me unlimited T-Mobile hotspot usage if I need it.
I love not having a cable or DSL bill on top of my cellphone.
A few months ago, I decided to upgrade my phone and wanted one that could at least do EDGE (the fastest data speed T-Mobile has). I hate the Windows Mobile phones, and Blackberries are expensive. So I went with the Samsung T-639, hoping someday I could use Bluetooth to connect from my computers to the Internet when WiFi isn't available. Someday just got here.
On Linux it wasn't cooperating my first couple of tries. So, I plugged my USB Bluetooth transceiver into my work laptop with Windows XP, and called up T-Mobile's tech support during the day. About half an hour later, I had Internets. Using the settings from the Windows config and some online cookbooks, I got my EeePC laptop working through my phone too. It was a pretty short step from there to make my home Ubuntu computer do the same.
How fast is it? It's not speedy, but it's about twice as fast as a 56k dialup connection. The fastest I've clocked it was around 170kbps. Good enough to get songs on my eMusic subscription, reasonably well. Turns out I got a phone that does the upcoming 3G service from T-Mobile, which was a nice surprise. It's supposed to show up here around October, and then my Internet access will hopefully get faster. It costs $20 now on top of my regular calling plan for unlimited Internet including browsing on the phone, which is a bargain at less cost than a land line. It even gives me unlimited T-Mobile hotspot usage if I need it.
I love not having a cable or DSL bill on top of my cellphone.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home