Re: [A/S] Cell Phone Internet Connection

[Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are a lot of different ways to get online in a mobile environment. 
Most folks assume that the typical cellphone is the only way to go. It 
is usually the cheapest as far as initial outlay is concerned, and can 
be reasonable when accessed using an unlimited access plan, but for 
someone who lives on the road a lot, it is not the best choice.

I hear folks referring to the approximately 14.4K speeds they're 
getting. The actual throughput without compression is probably averaging 
less than 9.6K. In this case you're using the cellphone to dial in to 
some local access number, and it becomes a cellular equivalent to a 
telco modem. This will give you the absolute worst possible performance. 
Using it is almost painful.

Most cellular providers have higher speed options available that can 
still be accessed using a cellphone. Verizon has rolled out their CDMA 
1xRTT service nationwide, and Cingular/Ameritech has rolled out their 
GSM EDGE service nationwide that is faster than CDMA 1xRTT. If you have 
one of these providers, a call to the provider will shed some light on 
what is available using your current phone. If you're digital, you most 
likely can use one of the higher speed plans, and probably save money in 
the process. If you've got a compatible cellphone, you should be able to 
get at least a 4-5x speed improvement over using it as a dial-in modem.

With the higher speed plans, the cellular provider is the ISP, and you 
never worry about local access numbers or the like, so you don't need to 
pay an ISP $20 something each month on top of your cellphone charges. 
With an unlimited plan, air-time charges don't apply and you are not 
eating your phone calling minutes. One of my cellphones will still 
receive phone calls while surfing the Internet using the high-speed 
digital plan, all at the same time.

Even higher speeds are possible, and I've had uncompressed download 
speeds of as high as 200K and more (peaked at 280K) using Cingular's 
GPRS EDGE network and a Sierra Wireless MP-775 modem. This is about 6 
times (or more) faster than regular land-line dialup. These speeds are 
not attainable with compatible cellphones because most cellphones can't 
bond multiple time-domain-multiplexed time slots on a tower site. 
Dedicated wireless modems can, and will provide these speeds. Speeds are 
not limited by digital plan, and using a slower modem will just eat air 
time. If you're unlimited, who cares, if not, it's important.

For those who travel a lot and want decent wireless Internet access, a 
far more satisfactory solution than the typical cellphone plan is 
possible. These modems will roam seamlessly and can maintain a 
connection during travel if desired. You can feed a wireless access 
point and roam around the campsite showing off to friends doing VOIP 
instead of long-distance to loved ones for free. You can stream music. 
Air time charges are the same as for digital high-speed cellphone access 
plans, except that you'll be getting lots faster speeds. The modems will 
use an outside antenna and will offer lots better coverage possibilities 
than any hand-held cellphone can. Because they don't have to worry about 
a microscopically small battery power budget, sensitivity and immunity 
to intermodulation in high signal areas is massively better than a 
typical cellphone. They work *lots* better and far more reliably.

Such a solution won't allow you to make telco calls, so it can't replace 
the cellphone entirely. But it certainly makes mobile Internet access 
fun again.

For someone who isn't on the road a lot, this is obviously overkill. But 
if you spend lots of time traveling around the country, this makes lots 
of sense.

The cost of these dedicated modems is dropping fast and they really 
aren't as pricey as they were when first introduced. The cost now is 
about double a decent hand held cellphone. With many times higher 
speeds, it's getting lots easier to justify moving to modern high-speed 
mobile Internet access.

Rick Kunath
WBCCI #3060