Re: [A/S] Cell Phone Internet

[Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I believe so, mainly based on my look this week at a soon to be rolled out 
Cingular (AT&T) post-merger national coverage map for Cingular's 
3G(GPRS)/EDGE product provided by a Cingular Executive Sales Engineer for 
government contracts. According to the map, there are Cingular roaming 
agreements in place nationwide. GPRS/EDGE is burstable up to 384K down and 
will go higher next year (EDGE is not plain GPRS). Not all roaming carriers 
will support EDGE, and I don't believe T-Mobile does. So you'd throttle way 
back off of an EDGE network.

T-Mobile is not exactly a large footprint carrier. Their national coverage map 
looks mighty sparse. You'd need a tri-mode data capable phone at least, and a 
quad-mode would be better. Even better would be a mobile modem solution from 
Sierra Wireless, like an MP-775 mobile data modem (not an Air Card) and a 
better carrier. I've had the chance to use their product at work (we've got a 
few thousand of them) over the years and will be upgrading to their latest 
offering in a month or so (at work.) I've used Sierra Wireless external 
modems under Linux (They work nicely) and M$ operating systems, and I don't 
see why they couldn't be made to work on OS X on a Mac, but it wouldn't be 
easy for a non-techinically inclined end user. They'll hold on to a signal 
like a bulldog, even while in motion, hand off towers on the fly, and run 
higher power than the PCMCIA style Air Cards do. They also use a wide variety 
of remotely mounted antenna configurations. 

If T-Mobile is local to you, as long as you can roam without additional 
charges and get a quad-mode phone or modem, you'd probably be OK. From their 
coverage map, it doesn't look like you can.

Just remember that not all carriers use the same frequencies. There are 
several modes and several bands in use. If you don't have the capability in 
your phone or data modem, and/or your carrier does not have free roaming, you 
can't use your equipment.

Rick Kunath
WBCCI #3060