EDGE phones and tethering

Hello! It's getting to be about time to renew my contract with Alltel
or move over to something else. I've been eyeballing Cingular because
I have very niche needs with my phone. In the Spring, I drive all over
the plains chasing and photographing tornadoes. I require a phone
service where I can tether my phone to my laptop to download radar
data, weather models data, and high-res sat shots. (XM radio already
offers a service that kinda sorta does this over a sat receiver, but
the thing costs a fortune and the data is pretty low-res). In the
past, I read the Cingular "allowed" (i.e., said you couldn't but gave
you a nudge-nudge-wink-wink to non-abusers) one to tether their phone
to their laptop for GPRS and the occasional EDGE access. The plan ran
about 20 bucks and was all you can eat. Do they still allow this?
(And if they don't, how strong are their enforcement policies? I
wouldn't be bittorrenting episodes of Lost over the phone or anything,
I'd just be sucking some images and data, maybe 10-20MB worth in a
chase).

If they do, what are the best EDGE compatible phones to use for this?
I'd be using the phone for voice, too, so a PC card wouldn't be
optimal. I've Googled the heck outta this and while I've found some
info, it all seems kinda outdated and stale, and I've come across a few
Usenet posts that suggest that Cingular may be cracking down on the
tethering, in which case I'd just need to stick with Alltel (who allows
god-awful slow CSD tethering that tends to drop calls right in the
middle of downloading the latest low-tilt velocity radar scan while I'm
sitting a few miles from the angry end of a supercell).

Thanks!

-R

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› See More: EDGE phones and tethering

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> Hello! It's getting to be about time to renew my contract with Alltel
> or move over to something else. I've been eyeballing Cingular because
> I have very niche needs with my phone. In the Spring, I drive all over
> the plains chasing and photographing tornadoes. I require a phone

> tethering, in which case I'd just need to stick with Alltel (who allows
> god-awful slow CSD tethering that tends to drop calls right in the
> middle of downloading the latest low-tilt velocity radar scan while I'm
> sitting a few miles from the angry end of a supercell).
>

Is your current phone TDMA? Many rural areas are still TDMA/AMPS and
will be for some time yet. CSD may be slower than GPRS or EDGE but it's
still faster than *NO* service.

Some small carriers may not even support GPRS at all even when they do
finish their conversion--they may not have the capacity. Or they may
not allow roamers to use it--at least automatically. Much less EDGE.

Also, Cingular is apparently not turning on the CSD feature for GSM now
unless you are very persistent--so no backup if GPRS is not available.
Nor will they add an AMPS phone--which I bet Alltel does--which could be
used with a cellular modem if digital data isn't available in an area.

If I were you I'd check your needed areas very carefully before
switching carriers or you may find yourself with much less data ability.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on 2 Dec 2005
18:49:25 -0800, "Chaka" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello! It's getting to be about time to renew my contract with Alltel
>or move over to something else. I've been eyeballing Cingular because
>I have very niche needs with my phone. In the Spring, I drive all over
>the plains chasing and photographing tornadoes. I require a phone
>service where I can tether my phone to my laptop to download radar
>data, weather models data, and high-res sat shots. (XM radio already
>offers a service that kinda sorta does this over a sat receiver, but
>the thing costs a fortune and the data is pretty low-res). In the
>past, I read the Cingular "allowed" (i.e., said you couldn't but gave
>you a nudge-nudge-wink-wink to non-abusers) one to tether their phone
>to their laptop for GPRS and the occasional EDGE access. The plan ran
>about 20 bucks and was all you can eat. Do they still allow this?

No. You can do it, but it's against the rules.

>(And if they don't, how strong are their enforcement policies?

Nothing yet, but you risk being hit with a big bill.

>If they do, what are the best EDGE compatible phones to use for this?

The new Motorola V360 (the version with the proper bands).

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

On 12/2/05 9:49 PM, in article
[email protected], "Chaka"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> In the past, I read the Cingular "allowed" (i.e., said you couldn't but gave
> you a nudge-nudge-wink-wink to non-abusers) one to tether their phone to their
> laptop for GPRS and the occasional EDGE access. The plan ran about 20 bucks
> and was all you can eat. Do they still allow this? (And if they don't, how
> strong are their enforcement policies? I wouldn't be bittorrenting episodes
> of Lost over the phone or anything, I'd just be sucking some images and data,
> maybe 10-20MB worth in a chase).
>
> If they do, what are the best EDGE compatible phones to use for this? I'd be
> using the phone for voice, too, so a PC card wouldn't be optimal. I've
> Googled the heck outta this and while I've found some info, it all seems kinda
> outdated and stale, and I've come across a few Usenet posts that suggest that
> Cingular may be cracking down on the tethering, in which case I'd just need to
> stick with Alltel (who allows god-awful slow CSD tethering that tends to drop
> calls right in the middle of downloading the latest low-tilt velocity radar
> scan while I'm sitting a few miles from the angry end of a supercell).

I do it all the time with a Nokia 6620 and an AT&T Wireless mMode unlimited
plan at $25/month, and while tethered usage is SUPPOSED to be charged at
about $1 per megabyte, they have yet to actually bill me for my usage via
Bluetooth with my iBook G4.

Steven Buehler <[email protected]> wrote:

> I do it all the time with a Nokia 6620 and an AT&T Wireless mMode unlimited
> plan at $25/month, and while tethered usage is SUPPOSED to be charged at
> about $1 per megabyte, they have yet to actually bill me for my usage via
> Bluetooth with my iBook G4.

The AT&T plan wouldn't be available to any new subscriber, as far as I
know. The Cingular charge is $0.01 per KByte, $10 per MB.

The Cingular equivalent at $19.99, MEdiaNet Unlimited, could be used for
tethered data, although it is "not intended" for that usage, and your plan
might be inconveniently dropped.
<http://www.cingular.com/media/media_legal>
<https://www.cingular.com/media/media_net_purchase>

The EDGE or EGPRS service is available in a lot of places, some that I
wouldn't expect, due to lack of population, and is missing in other places,
but GPRS, the fallback, is available, probably anywhere Cingular GSM is
available.

The full Laptop Connect was $79, $59 currently.
They will pro-rate, so you could consider it $15 per week, and you could
enable it and disable it as you needed it for a chase.
http://www.cingular.com/sbusiness/data_connect

I get about 100Kbps with EDGE, 30Kbps with GPRS, with my Motorola v551,
which can tether either USB or Bluetooth.

The specifications for the Motorola v551 show GPRS class 10, EDGE class 4.
www.cingular.com - Customer Service - Phones & Devices
"Go to Phone & Device Support".


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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5