Question: Phone as 'modem' with #777

My Fair & Flexible America Plan also includes the Wireless
Web option, but NOT the Vision option.
Out of curiosity I recently used my LG-5350, a 3G capable
phone with my laptop, with installed connection software and
dialed #777.
After this connection was made, the phone's screen indicated
those parallel "Up/Down" arrows which is the 3G connection
indicator.
Next I booted up a browser and did a little Web browsing to
test it out.
Next I booted Eudora and downloaded some e-mail.
After several minutes of this I then had the phone do a Web
disconnect; the 3G indicator then disappeared.

It seemed as though this "3G" connection was noticeably
faster than the usual pokey Wireless Web connections.
The next day at my home desktop PC, I logged into my SPCS
billing account and took notice that there were not any
extra Vision minutes racked-up. Only additional "regular
usage" time was indicated.

Question: Did I actually get away with using a 3G phone
and a laptop to dial #777 for a somewhat higher speed
connection?
Thanks in advance for any comments. ---Juan

---

› See More: Question: Phone as 'modem' with #777

I would wait a couple days, the charges, if any, could be delayed. If
none appear after that, go for it!

Juan Pablo wrote:
> My Fair & Flexible America Plan also includes the Wireless
> Web option, but NOT the Vision option.
> Out of curiosity I recently used my LG-5350, a 3G capable
> phone with my laptop, with installed connection software and
> dialed #777.
> After this connection was made, the phone's screen indicated
> those parallel "Up/Down" arrows which is the 3G connection
> indicator.
> Next I booted up a browser and did a little Web browsing to
> test it out.
> Next I booted Eudora and downloaded some e-mail.
> After several minutes of this I then had the phone do a Web
> disconnect; the 3G indicator then disappeared.
>
> It seemed as though this "3G" connection was noticeably
> faster than the usual pokey Wireless Web connections.
> The next day at my home desktop PC, I logged into my SPCS
> billing account and took notice that there were not any
> extra Vision minutes racked-up. Only additional "regular
> usage" time was indicated.
>
> Question: Did I actually get away with using a 3G phone
> and a laptop to dial #777 for a somewhat higher speed
> connection?
> Thanks in advance for any comments. ---Juan
>

If you have a 3G phone, it should not have Wireless Web ??? Are you sure
you don't have Vision?

"Juan Pablo" <jpsmail2(DELETE THIS SECTION)@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My Fair & Flexible America Plan also includes the Wireless
> Web option, but NOT the Vision option.
> Out of curiosity I recently used my LG-5350, a 3G capable
> phone with my laptop, with installed connection software and
> dialed #777.
> After this connection was made, the phone's screen indicated
> those parallel "Up/Down" arrows which is the 3G connection
> indicator.
> Next I booted up a browser and did a little Web browsing to
> test it out.
> Next I booted Eudora and downloaded some e-mail.
> After several minutes of this I then had the phone do a Web
> disconnect; the 3G indicator then disappeared.
>
> It seemed as though this "3G" connection was noticeably
> faster than the usual pokey Wireless Web connections.
> The next day at my home desktop PC, I logged into my SPCS
> billing account and took notice that there were not any
> extra Vision minutes racked-up. Only additional "regular
> usage" time was indicated.
>
> Question: Did I actually get away with using a 3G phone
> and a laptop to dial #777 for a somewhat higher speed
> connection?
> Thanks in advance for any comments. ---Juan
>

You might want to do a deep search on threads like this in this NG, it has
come up before many times.

Right now the consensus of opinion is that users who hook their laptops up
to their vision phones and access the web that way via #777 may get away
with very limited use (as in no charge). There have been conflicting
opinions though about what exactly Sprint's policies on this are, with the
suggestion that light or minimal usage tends not to get noticed, but, if
it does get noticed by Sprint, you might find yourself with either a heavy
per minute or per kilobyte usage charge. There was a post or two last year
from people who said they got nailed and alot of posts though from people
who said they did not.

I did it awhile and did not get charged, later, decided I needed heavy use
and bought a data card and plan and am now legit.

"Frank Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Juan Pablo" <jpsmail2(DELETE THIS SECTION)@earthlink.net> wrote in
message
> news:[email protected]...
> > My Fair & Flexible America Plan also includes the Wireless
> > Web option, but NOT the Vision option.
> > Out of curiosity I recently used my LG-5350, a 3G capable
> > phone with my laptop, with installed connection software and
> > dialed #777.
> > After this connection was made, the phone's screen indicated
> > those parallel "Up/Down" arrows which is the 3G connection
> > indicator.
> > Next I booted up a browser and did a little Web browsing to
> > test it out.
> > Next I booted Eudora and downloaded some e-mail.
> > After several minutes of this I then had the phone do a Web
> > disconnect; the 3G indicator then disappeared.
> >
> > It seemed as though this "3G" connection was noticeably
> > faster than the usual pokey Wireless Web connections.
> > The next day at my home desktop PC, I logged into my SPCS
> > billing account and took notice that there were not any
> > extra Vision minutes racked-up. Only additional "regular
> > usage" time was indicated.
> >
> > Question: Did I actually get away with using a 3G phone
> > and a laptop to dial #777 for a somewhat higher speed
> > connection?
> > Thanks in advance for any comments. ---Juan

Somehow I missed this thread previously. First off, if one were to use the
WW, and use their minutes, they would be dialing a different number, of
which I don't remember ... something like #2929 or something close to that.
When one dials into #777 with a 3G phone, they are dialing into Vision.

Even though you didn't see any usage on your manage page, I believe you will
get billed for that usage described above, as you don't have the Vision
option on your account.

> >
>
> You might want to do a deep search on threads like this in this NG, it has
> come up before many times.
>
> Right now the consensus of opinion is that users who hook their laptops up
> to their vision phones and access the web that way via #777 may get away
> with very limited use (as in no charge).

That's been the majority of posts here, for those that do have Vision on
their account. Yours truly hasn't seen any extra charges for accessing
Vision with my laptop tethered to my Sanyo 5300. Mind you, I don't do it
often, or for long period of times.

> There have been conflicting
> opinions though about what exactly Sprint's policies on this are, with
the
> suggestion that light or minimal usage tends not to get noticed, but, if
> it does get noticed by Sprint, you might find yourself with either a heavy
> per minute or per kilobyte usage charge. There was a post or two last
year
> from people who said they got nailed and alot of posts though from people
> who said they did not.
>
Absolutely true. Rob mentioned that per the T & C, no usage through a laptop
is allowed. In saying that, and to paraphrase Phillipe (Gasp!), for those
that don't do much, and keep under the radar, SPCS is not charging those
users.

> I did it awhile and did not get charged, later, decided I needed heavy use
> and bought a data card and plan and am now legit.

So Frank, are you on the $80/mo. unlimited plan? If you aren't, how much are
you doing on average per month, what's your expense, and how much are you
spending on overage charges?

Bob

>
> So Frank, are you on the $80/mo. unlimited plan? If you aren't, how much
are
> you doing on average per month, what's your expense, and how much are you
> spending on overage charges?
>
> Bob
>


Yes, I am on the unlimited plan. I am not sure what my total usage is per
month, when I check on line it just says zero.

On the connection software it does provide the total per session. Those
numbers are all over the place, but 5 to 30 megs per session, which
includes some normal browsing, email and what I really use it for, down/up
loading files from the field to our ftp site. I would guess my monthly
usage is in the 200-400 megs per month range.

"Frank Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> >
> > So Frank, are you on the $80/mo. unlimited plan? If you aren't, how much
> are
> > you doing on average per month, what's your expense, and how much are
you
> > spending on overage charges?
> >
> > Bob
> >
>
>
> Yes, I am on the unlimited plan. I am not sure what my total usage is per
> month, when I check on line it just says zero.
>
> On the connection software it does provide the total per session. Those
> numbers are all over the place, but 5 to 30 megs per session, which
> includes some normal browsing, email and what I really use it for, down/up
> loading files from the field to our ftp site. I would guess my monthly
> usage is in the 200-400 megs per month range.

Thanks for the feedback. So, on average, how long are you on Vision per day.
6 hours or so? And ... how many times do you dial up each day?

Also, how are the connections? Every get a disconnect when on line? Many
"Server busy" messages?

Sorry for all the questions, but we don't get much feedback here from those
on the unlimited plan and their kind of usage pattern.

Thanks, Bob

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:6sh2d.3405.
>
> Thanks for the feedback. So, on average, how long are you on Vision per
day.
> 6 hours or so? And ... how many times do you dial up each day?

Well, its not really daily, I am in the office maybe two or three days a
week, then the rest of the time I'm on the road. On those days I travel, if
by plane, then the laptop gets used at the airport in the AM, maybe later on
at a job site, then at night at the airport bar . maybe an hour or two and
in the evening at the hotel, if the hotel does not have free wifi or other
free hi speed connection.

Sometimes I use it to get faxes, I have my fax line set up so that it
autoforwards to a fax to email service. I also use it to send faxes, I
have a email to fax service for that.

If driving, sometimes I fire the laptop up, run it off an inverter,
connect, then tune in a couple of internet radio stations I like, and it
might be on for a few hours.

All this is done with the data card, there is no dial up. You just fire up
the sprint connection manager software. (As a side note, I used to use an
AT&AT analog phone with special PCMCIA card it cabled into and that you
could use to dialup a land line to a dialup ISP and go on line that way. In
many areas, the connection tended to be very unstable, and it was slow as
molasses, 14.4 on a good day, most of the time it was 9600 baud. )

>
> Also, how are the connections?

For me the card has worked very well for what I want, normal file transfer
speeds down run about 10-11 kbytes/sec (call it 88 kbs) in most areas,
theres a few where it slows down to 2-3 kbytes/sec. I have found that even
with a one bar weak signal, I can get on the internet. I have used this all
over the place, and any place your sprint vision phone works, the data card
works.


>Every get a disconnect when on line?

Never when there was minimal signal or better. I have driven out of
coverage area with the internet radio going and lost the connection, but it
comes back on as soon as it gets even one bar.

> "Server busy" messages?

Never on the data card.

>
> Sorry for all the questions, but we don't get much feedback here from
those
> on the unlimited plan and their kind of usage pattern.
>
> Thanks, Bob
>

As far as I am concerned, the data card from Sprint is the best thing they
have, I never have trouble with it, its easy to use, and does what its
supposed to do. Its a little pricey if you compare it to dsl and dialup,
but, this is a get on the internet anywhere in the US without wires
business tool, and it has paid for itself over and over. I have a small
shop, and when the phone call comes in when you are out in the middle of
nowhere, we need this memo, that file, that proposal, can you email it/ fax
it, NOW, I just pull over and do it. Its a good tool.