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  1. #1
    magicianstalk
    Guest
    Hello...

    Ok, i am getting a new vga 1000 next week -- and was curious
    about using the phone as a gateway for my laptop to get on the
    internet. I read some stuff on here, but there were mixed responses
    -- so i called a sprint store myself. I asked "If i have the cable
    and software, can i use the vga 1000 to connect my laptop to the
    internet". He said "Yes, that's what it's for". I said the reason
    that i asked was because i heard that seom sprint reps frowned upon
    that. He said "well, it is, just don't abuse it or they will shut
    your phone off and you will have to call cust. serv., and talk to them
    to get it back on" He said that checking your email and things like
    that were just fine. Also, he said there were no charges whatsover to
    use the phone to get your laptop connected to the internet.

    Pretty cool, eh? Of course, this is with the unlimited vision
    package. One more question for you guys -- this connction to my
    laptop doesn't use the minutes, right? I can't remember if he said
    that -- i would assume it doesnt use your minutes.

    Also, what is considered "abuse" anyone have any experience with this?
    How much have some of you used over your phone/laptop connection --
    downloading files, demos, etc? Your feedback is appreciated -- anyone
    had their phone shut off because of this?

    I hear that the phone will connect your laptop at 200k+ in some cases
    -- which is nice.

    Ok, i hope this helps,

    Thanks,

    Chris



    See More: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response




  2. #2
    Donna Becker
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    <I hear that the phone will connect your laptop at 200k+ in some cases
    -- which is nice.>
    I have used Vision with my laptop while RVing over the last year - surfing
    and emailing - no problem. You don't use minutes if you dial #777 to
    connect. I have never gotten that kind of speed. I was also told by
    various Sprint reps I could do this (regardless of what the TOS says).
    DonnaB







  3. #3
    Chris Taylor Jr
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    If you use it as a Spur of the moment I need to do some net access then you
    are fine.

    if you use it AS AN ISP and try downloading lots of stuff for long times or
    to download mp3's etc.. that is abusing it. not what its designed for.
    (their is limited bandwitdh) for example in Murtle Beach Many times I would
    get network busy. IE the bandwidth was full.

    wait a while then log in. I do not use pingers so it does not use bandwidth
    when its not busy (vision arrows go dim) your still "their" but not using
    anythign till you click something.

    most of my "heavy" usage is very rare but very compressed IE all during one
    time each year. but I do this after hours (think nights and weekends) so I
    try to be on off peak when I do my really heavy traffic. I even connect at
    work sometimes now for general browsing but I wait till after 2300 or so to
    do it so I do not suck up peak time traffic. so far they are fine with this
    IE no complaining.

    I have been doing this for nearly the entire time I have been with sprint (2
    years) it got much better once I got a 6400 (3g connection) verse the 6200
    which got me 1kb/s at best :-)

    I do not measure speed like that. I measure in more practical terms. how
    many k can I download per second. The max speed I have gotten is spurts of
    12k/s it varies depending on where I am from 1k/s to 12k/s but I average
    10k/s in most places

    When I was in Kentuky for naram this past year it was interesting. at the
    hotel room I thankfully got 10k/s but at the FIELD I only managed 1-5k/s
    averaging around 1.5 to 2k/s

    I am guessing it varies from network to network and based on your distance
    etc.. from the tower.

    Chris Taylor
    http://www.nerys.com/

    > Also, what is considered "abuse" anyone have any experience with this?
    > How much have some of you used over your phone/laptop connection --
    > downloading files, demos, etc? Your feedback is appreciated -- anyone
    > had their phone shut off because of this?






  4. #4
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    magicianstalk wrote:

    > I hear that the phone will connect your laptop at 200k+ in some cases
    > -- which is nice.


    Boy, there sure is a lot of weird new information in this newsgroup.
    I'd love to know what's real and what's not.

    First, some people are talking about speeds in excess of 200kbps (one
    person mentioned 230kbps). That's funny -- I had always been told that
    the current CDMA 1xRTT network would *peak* at 144kbps under the
    absolute best of conditions, and that's in short bursts and only if you
    had a dedicated card. Now folks are claiming that certain *phones* will
    work almost 100kbps faster than even that. I know my 4900 averages
    about a *fourth* of this touted 230kbps, so I'd love to know about these
    new super phones and how the network suddenly got a whole bunch faster.

    Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones from
    now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a card (and
    pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher speeds. Is *this*
    true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to connect a laptop to the
    net at 14.4kbps?

    Could somebody from Sprint PCS please enlighten us as to what the truth
    of both claims are?


    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





  5. #5
    Drew
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    "Donkey Agony" <root@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > magicianstalk wrote:


    > Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones from
    > now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a card (and
    > pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher speeds. Is *this*
    > true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to connect a laptop to the
    > net at 14.4kbps?


    I think it was the thread I started... and what I'm gathering from all
    the recent discussion is that the Rep I spoke to was trained to
    discourage tethered usage and therefore erroneously stated that all
    new phones were no longer capable of trafficking higher speeds to the
    laptop--simply not true based on firsthand accounts of users here.

    Drew



  6. #6
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    Drew wrote:

    >> Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones
    >> from now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get
    >> a card (and pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher
    >> speeds. Is *this* true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able
    >> to connect a laptop to the net at 14.4kbps?


    > I think it was the thread I started... and what I'm gathering from all
    > the recent discussion is that the Rep I spoke to was trained to
    > discourage tethered usage and therefore erroneously stated that all
    > new phones were no longer capable of trafficking higher speeds to the
    > laptop--simply not true based on firsthand accounts of users here.


    Thanks, Drew, I hope you're right. But have these firsthand accounts
    been about the *really* new phones, like the RL2500?

    Let's just hope the rep was way off base and we don't see this coming
    down the pike with *any* phones in the next year...

    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





  7. #7
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    Isaiah Beard wrote:

    >> Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones
    >> from now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a
    >> card (and pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher
    >> speeds. Is *this* true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to
    >> connect a laptop to the net at 14.4kbps?


    > I've seen an RL2500 data connection go WAY faster than 14.4k bps. And
    > whoever told you this obviously doesn't realize that high speed data
    > is pretty much a requirement for ReadyLink; you simply can't do it
    > with all the overhead required at a measley 14.4k.


    What they were saying is that it was restricted to 14.4k when connected
    to a *laptop*!

    While this does *appear* to be misinformation from one rep, it would be
    nice to hear it from the horse's mouth that there are no brakes on any
    new or upcoming phones when a laptop connection is made.


    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





  8. #8
    Bob Smith
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response


    "Donkey Agony" <root@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
    news[email protected]...
    > Isaiah Beard wrote:
    >
    > >> Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones
    > >> from now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a
    > >> card (and pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher
    > >> speeds. Is *this* true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to
    > >> connect a laptop to the net at 14.4kbps?

    >
    > > I've seen an RL2500 data connection go WAY faster than 14.4k bps. And
    > > whoever told you this obviously doesn't realize that high speed data
    > > is pretty much a requirement for ReadyLink; you simply can't do it
    > > with all the overhead required at a measley 14.4k.

    >
    > What they were saying is that it was restricted to 14.4k when connected
    > to a *laptop*!
    >
    > While this does *appear* to be misinformation from one rep, it would be
    > nice to hear it from the horse's mouth that there are no brakes on any
    > new or upcoming phones when a laptop connection is made.


    What I believe was said earlier regarding the 14.4 connection, was that they
    were dialing into an ISP ..., IOW, not using Vision, but using the phone as
    a modem.

    When one tethers into a laptop with a USB cable and connects via Vision,
    average access times are 50-70KB, and a peak of 144KB. Faster times have
    been mentioned here for those who use a PCMCIA card.

    Bob





  9. #9
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    Bob Smith wrote:

    >>>> Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones
    >>>> from now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a
    >>>> card (and pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher
    >>>> speeds. Is *this* true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to
    >>>> connect a laptop to the net at 14.4kbps?


    ....

    > What I believe was said earlier regarding the 14.4 connection, was
    > that they were dialing into an ISP ..., IOW, not using Vision, but
    > using the phone as a modem.


    No, that was a different thread. The issue here is as dsecribed above,
    and it's based on this post:

    http://tinyurl.com/wkyl


    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





  10. #10
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    Isaiah Beard wrote:

    >> What they were saying is that it was restricted to 14.4k when
    >> connected to a *laptop*!


    > And *I'm* saying that I've seen the connection go faster than 14.4k
    > while connected to a *laptop*.


    Ahh, OK, I thought you were talking about in-phone only. That's great
    news!

    > In fact I witnessed a DSLreports.com
    > speed test just tonight with a Sanyo VM4500 connected to a laptop.
    > Download was 60kbps, upload was 130Kbps.


    Is the VB4500 the blue camera phone sort of version of the RL2500?

    >> While this does *appear* to be misinformation from one rep, it would
    >> be nice to hear it from the horse's mouth that there are no brakes
    >> on any new or upcoming phones when a laptop connection is made.


    > Then it looks like the only way you're going to convince yourself is
    > to plug a phone into your laptop and try for yourself. I'll gladly
    > tell you that the new phones are not hobbled in any way, but I'm
    > clearly not the "horse's mouth" you seek. Which is fine, that's just
    > more bandwidth for me.


    No, I was being a "horse's ass".

    Thank you, Isaiah!


    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





  11. #11
    Bob Smith
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response


    "Donkey Agony" <root@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > Bob Smith wrote:
    >
    > >>>> Then in another thread, someone claims that all NEW Vision phones
    > >>>> from now on will be limited to 14.4kbps, and that you have to get a
    > >>>> card (and pay the corresponding bucks) if you want the higher
    > >>>> speeds. Is *this* true? Is, for example, the RL2500 only able to
    > >>>> connect a laptop to the net at 14.4kbps?

    >
    > ...
    >
    > > What I believe was said earlier regarding the 14.4 connection, was
    > > that they were dialing into an ISP ..., IOW, not using Vision, but
    > > using the phone as a modem.

    >
    > No, that was a different thread. The issue here is as dsecribed above,
    > and it's based on this post:
    >
    > http://tinyurl.com/wkyl


    Ahhh ... gotcha ... The rep was wrong ....

    Bob





  12. #12
    Donkey Agony
    Guest

    Re: I called sprint - about using the vga 1000 as a modem...good response

    Isaiah Beard wrote:

    >> Is the VB4500 the blue camera phone sort of version of the RL2500?


    > Yup. Aside from the blue color, the camera and a few modified menus
    > here and there, it's otherwise the same as the RL2500.


    I know, I just bought one!

    I went into the Sprint store ready to buy an RL2500, then decided to ask
    to see a VM4500 (I hadn't seen your response here yet). I then realized
    they really were the same phone except for the color and the
    camera/camcorder, so I decided what the heck and went for the 4500.

    It's a nice phone; a lot more compact than the old 4900. The only
    things I've found so far where it's not as good as the 4900 is

    a) Vibrate mode is much weaker
    b) To increase your reception, you evidently *should* extend the
    antenna. With the 4900, the antenna was for analog only (at least from
    everything I've heard).

    > There is one interesting thing to note though: the old Sanyo USB
    > drivers will report your connection speed as "28.8kbps." However,
    > the speed tests and the results you get just doing a few file
    > transfers back and forth clearly show this to be untrue. I'm
    > chalking up the incorrect connection speed info to a glitch in the
    > driver.


    Well, I downloaded the new drivers from Futuredial and they seem to work
    just fine. Although I can't believe Sanyo (or Futuredial) still hasn't
    figured out how to sign the damn things for XP and Win2k. What's it
    been, a year?

    My only problem is that my older versions of SnapSync (important) and
    SnapMedia (not that important, but nice to have) don't work with the new
    phone, and Futuredial won't let me log in using the email I registered
    under and the serial number on the CD. They tell me (pre-recorded
    message, no humans there) that I have to send them an email with all the
    pertinent info and they'll snail mail me a new CD within five business
    days! Sheesh. And it's worse with SnapMedia -- for that, you have to
    first send the orginal CD back to them!

    --
    da
    ~~
    "OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
    to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.





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