Getting Online With AT&T?

ukchris · 10-14-2004, 01:11 PM

Does anyone use an AT&T phone to get online, either by Bluetooth or with a cable? My company account is through AT&T, I was wondering if by switching packages I could use it to get online too.

Chris.

Squid · 10-14-2004, 01:14 PM

I have AT&T and a SE T616 phone. I use the bluetooth functionality to get both my
IPAQ and Laptop with dongle online... Works good. Speeds in the range of a dialup connection
I would guess... (I've had a cable modem at home for so long... I don't really remember dialup speeds

)

ukchris · 10-14-2004, 03:06 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Squid

I have AT&T and a SE T616 phone. I use the bluetooth functionality to get both my
IPAQ and Laptop with dongle online... Works good. Speeds in the range of a dialup connection
I would guess... (I've had a cable modem at home for so long... I don't really remember dialup speeds

)

So I assume you are on AT&T's digital service, can you give me any idea of the package and costs involved? Do you play a flat rate or per minute, is this classed as an "EDGE" service?

Thanks, Chris.

Squid · 10-14-2004, 03:12 PM

No my phone doesn't support EDGE, just GPRS. Yes it's the GSM plan. I pay 39.99 a month
for the nationwide cell service, and I tacked on the 13$ internet plan for like 4 megs.
Complete ripoff but only solution for me

. I hear they just announced unlimited internet
for $19.99 a month, but that's too high for me. I don't use it that much now cause I'm so afraid
of going over the 4 meg limit. I just use it for emailing pics & mMode and such directly from
the phone. Or ICQ from my IPAQ. But if that price would drop just a bit more I'll prob jump on that plan.
I have no clue what the price will be when AT&T becomes Cingular sometime here
in the next few months.

-Squid

ukchris · 10-14-2004, 03:16 PM

So pardon my ignorance, but if you get online via Bluetooth does that count as minutes or come from your 4mb limit? i.e. the 19.99/month would or would not allow unlimited internet?

Chris.

Squid · 10-14-2004, 03:42 PM

Yes the $19.99 is unlimited... brand new plan... my bro-in-law has his own cellphone business...
so I hear things before they are released... not sure if that plan is yet available...

No, when you pull data thru the phone, it goes towards your megabyte limit not your cellphone limits.
When connected to the laptop, I am using it as a ISP since I do not have
a dialup account to use. I have broadband at home and they do not provide a free dialup access number.

If you have a dialup number, the phone can be used as a regular "modem". And that then would go against your minutes and not megabytes.

If I go to the unlimited plan, then yes, I could use the internet always from my phone
for that price. No real need for that yet tho. Unless FrodoPlayer has some
cool internet features when his next version comes out.

ukchris · 10-14-2004, 03:46 PM

Sounds promising, thanks. I'm putting together an app that will retrieve web pages and save them offline such that it should connect, downlaod then break the conenction leaving you with an offline copy. You can then either stick with just that or refresh it at will which will pull down the latest and greatest.

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the AT&T store tomorrow.

Chris.

Squid · 10-14-2004, 03:57 PM

Cool... no problem!

GoodLuck on the app!

-Squid

ukchris · 10-15-2004, 06:21 PM

Are you sure they don't charge extra when you use the PC or PDS through the phone to get online? The forums at www.howardforums.com say some people got whacked with extra charges, there is suspocion that this is only if you use the AT&T connection manager though.

Also, can you pull photos off the camera via BT?

Chris.

Squid · 10-15-2004, 11:10 PM

I've never got charged for anything but the megabyte cost... For connecting to the net, I just use a D-Link bluetooth dongle
and connect with that. It makes a Dial-Up connection icon for the device, and up put in this cryptic #9**11 (example) and thats what it uses to get online.

Same exact way for the IPAQ.

Yes, you can pull anything off the phone using the bluetooth... files, themes, pictures, sounds, etc... synchronize, contacts, etc...