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  1. #1
    I was looking at data plans on the Sprint website but it doesn't
    provide info about speeds etc.

    What I am looking for is a replacement for my DSL at home.

    I'm currently shopping for cell service and looked at Verizon and
    Cingular.

    The V plan says it is broadband... so I take it that it would be
    decently fast. Whereas the C plan says it is a PC Card Modem... so I
    would be using my phone as a modem to dial up.

    Will I be using voice air-time for any connections to the Internet?

    When shopping for the data plans on the Sprint site... I chose the
    unlimited plan for $60 (no corporate discount allowed on this)... then
    I choose a phone. So it sounds like this is similar to using the phone
    as a modem as well. What about the voice plan? How would that work in
    this situation?

    If there is a chart with the services and features available... that
    would really help.




    See More: Data Plans




  2. #2
    Cavity Search
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >I was looking at data plans on the Sprint website but it doesn't
    > provide info about speeds etc.
    >
    > What I am looking for is a replacement for my DSL at home.


    If you rely on a speedy, reliable internet connection, stick with DSL.

    > I'm currently shopping for cell service and looked at Verizon and
    > Cingular.
    >
    > The V plan says it is broadband... so I take it that it would be
    > decently fast.


    Cell phone "broadband" is marketing hype. It is NOT anything like the speed
    and reliability of a DSL connection.

    Remember what CS the Cynic says, "Salespersons are in charge of promises,
    tech support are in charge of excuses."

    Just going by the numbers, it's unlikely you'll get close to DSL speeds.
    What the numbers, and the salespersons, don't tell you, is that data
    services are a lower priority than voice services. If a goodly amount of
    people are jabbering on their cell phones in your area, your data connection
    will slow to a crawl, or stop altogether, until somebody shuts up. You'll
    also have slow/shutdowns during solar flares, when your neighbor fires up
    their 1.8 jiggawat welder, or whenever the Gremlin of Cell Phone Dropped
    Calls pays you a visit.

    > Whereas the C plan says it is a PC Card Modem... so I
    > would be using my phone as a modem to dial up.


    Not quite. The PC Card connects to your laptop, giving you direct internet
    access to the internet. Using a phone, instead of a PC Card, allows you to
    access the internet with your phone, or any computer or PDA that can
    'connect' to your phone, either with a serial port, USB port, bluetooth, or
    irda. Personally, I prefer the phone for this reason, although it is a bit
    clumsier than a PC Card.

    > Will I be using voice air-time for any connections to the Internet?


    No. Charges for data access is almost always calculated by data
    transferred. Cingular charges $0.01 a kilobyte. Sounds cheap, but a page
    showing Google search results is about 23k, a Yahoo home page is over 100k,
    and a map on Google can be over 300k. A short session, say, just to get
    directions, could easily cost you $20.

    > When shopping for the data plans on the Sprint site... I chose the
    > unlimited plan for $60 (no corporate discount allowed on this)... then
    > I choose a phone. So it sounds like this is similar to using the phone
    > as a modem as well. What about the voice plan? How would that work in
    > this situation?


    Voice plans are generally seperate from data plans.

    > If there is a chart with the services and features available... that
    > would really help.


    I don't know of a chart of all companies, but most have their own charts of
    their services.

    CS





  3. #3
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:02:07 -0700, "Cavity Search"
    <[email protected]> wrote in
    <[email protected]>:

    >Cell phone "broadband" is marketing hype. It is NOT anything like the speed
    >and reliability of a DSL connection.


    While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.

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



  4. #4
    DecaturTxCowboy
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    John Navas wrote:
    > While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    > capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.


    How fast is a broadband category?



  5. #5
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    <[email protected]>:

    >John Navas wrote:
    >> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.

    >
    >How fast is a broadband category?


    The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the speed of
    the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    broadband.

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



  6. #6
    DecaturTxCowboy
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    John Navas wrote:
    > On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    > <[email protected]>:
    >
    >> John Navas wrote:
    >>> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >>> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.

    >> How fast is a broadband category?

    >
    > The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the speed of
    > the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    > broadband.


    BZZZZZZZ......Wrong answer. Anything over 500 Kbps is legally considered
    broadband. Accept the fact you have been corrected.



  7. #7
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:55:11 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    <[email protected]>:

    >John Navas wrote:
    >> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >> <[email protected]>:
    >>
    >>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >>>> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.
    >>> How fast is a broadband category?

    >>
    >> The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the speed of
    >> the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    >> broadband.

    >
    >BZZZZZZZ......Wrong answer. Anything over 500 Kbps is legally considered
    >broadband.


    Legally? What law (venue and section)?

    >Accept the fact you have been corrected.


    Accept the fact you've put your foot in your mouth.

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



  8. #8
    DecaturTxCowboy
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    John Navas wrote:
    > On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:55:11 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    > <[email protected]>:
    >
    >> John Navas wrote:
    >>> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >>> <[email protected]>:
    >>>
    >>>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>>> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >>>>> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.
    >>>> How fast is a broadband category?
    >>> The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the speed of
    >>> the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    >>> broadband.

    >> BZZZZZZZ......Wrong answer. Anything over 500 Kbps is legally considered
    >> broadband.

    >
    > Legally? What law (venue and section)?
    >



    Read the FCC definition on broadband www.fcc.gov


    >> Accept the fact you have been corrected.

    >
    > Accept the fact you've put your foot in your mouth.






  9. #9
    DecaturTxCowboy
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    DecaturTxCowboy wrote:
    > John Navas wrote:
    >> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:55:11 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >> <[email protected]>:
    >>
    >>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >>>> <[email protected]>:
    >>>>
    >>>>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>>>> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >>>>>> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.
    >>>>> How fast is a broadband category?
    >>>> The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the
    >>>> speed of
    >>>> the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    >>>> broadband.
    >>> BZZZZZZZ......Wrong answer. Anything over 500 Kbps is legally
    >>> considered broadband.

    >>
    >> Legally? What law (venue and section)?
    >>

    >
    >
    > Read the FCC definition on broadband www.fcc.gov
    >
    >
    >>> Accept the fact you have been corrected.

    >>
    >> Accept the fact you've put your foot in your mouth.



    I stand corrected, its 200, not 500 Kbps. They define broadband as:

    The FCC defines broadband service as data transmission speeds exceeding
    200 kilobits per second (Kbps), or 200000 bits per second.

    www.fcc.gov/cgb/broadband.html

    If I apply for a grant to provide rural broadband and fail to meet that
    speed, they can legally sue me to recover the money.

    ISDN is only 128 Kbps.


    That was too easy to sucker punch you...






  10. #10
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 23:02:09 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    <[email protected]>:

    >John Navas wrote:
    >> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:55:11 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >> <[email protected]>:
    >>
    >>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>> On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:00:29 GMT, DecaturTxCowboy <[email protected]> wrote in
    >>>> <[email protected]>:
    >>>>
    >>>>> John Navas wrote:
    >>>>>> While not as fast as typical DSL, UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA2000 EV-DO are
    >>>>>> capable of speeds that are definitely in the broadband category.
    >>>>> How fast is a broadband category?
    >>>> The definition is fuzzy, but most would probably agree that the speed of
    >>>> the above services qualify as broadband. Even ISDN can be considered
    >>>> broadband.
    >>> BZZZZZZZ......Wrong answer. Anything over 500 Kbps is legally considered
    >>> broadband.

    >>
    >> Legally? What law (venue and section)?


    >Read the FCC definition on broadband www.fcc.gov


    <http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/2001/spmkp110.html>

    1. What is broadband?

    Oddly enough a clear, uniformly accepted definition evades us. It is
    accepted that whatever broadband is, it is fast (the Commission has
    ------------------
    defined it as 200kbs).
    --------------------

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



  11. #11
    Steve
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    DecaturTxCowboy wrote:
    > Read the FCC definition on broadband www.fcc.gov



    I looked and searched and didn't find it. Could you point to where on
    the FCC site this is specified?

    Steve



  12. #12
    Steve
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    DecaturTxCowboy wrote:

    > I stand corrected, its 200, not 500 Kbps. They define broadband as:
    >
    > The FCC defines broadband service as data transmission speeds exceeding
    > 200 kilobits per second (Kbps), or 200000 bits per second.
    >
    > www.fcc.gov/cgb/broadband.html


    Now I see it. Thanks.

    At least one definition found by Google is anything over 56 Kbps.
    (www.satellite-tv-hq.com/telecom-glossary-b.htm)
    Another reference mentions greater than 128 Kbps.
    (www.streamium.com/support/glossary.cfm) Still another >2Mbps.
    (www.3gnewsroom.com/html/glossary/b.shtml) another >20 khz.
    (www.sprint.com/sprint/ir/it/ig.html).

    It all seems "fuzzy" to me

    Steve



  13. #13
    DecaturTxCowboy
    Guest

    Re: Data Plans

    Steve wrote:
    > DecaturTxCowboy wrote:
    > > Read the FCC definition on broadband www.fcc.gov

    >
    >
    > I looked and searched and didn't find it. Could you point to where on
    > the FCC site this is specified?
    >
    > Steve



    www.fcc.gov/cgb/broadband.html



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