Thread: Internet on laptop via mobile phone and bluetooth

Use a dongle simcard in a phone with bluetooth - I've done it with a unlocked samsung a411 and an optus prepaid simcard - but the speed is dismal.

Ive done this via several types of phone on edge and 3g, speed is always bad but its not hard to setup. What kind of phone are you using?

Originally Posted by cal415

Ive done this via several types of phone on edge and 3g, speed is always bad but its not hard to setup. What kind of phone are you using?

I have a Next G Nokia E51 (supplied by my work) but the SIM or phone configuration wont allow web access. I'm open to purchasing another phone if necessary. If I could swap the SIM cards over when necessary, that would save me getting another phone

Would the speeds be better on the Next G network?

I use my old Motorola Razr next G phone as a modem every day. Im road warrioring most days for my work, and I find speed and service great. I use a USB umbilical between the laptop and the phone. I used to use one of the PCMCIA cards on a Telstra plan, but the service results were always disappointing in the bush.
The best part of using the phone is that if you have signal for voice, then you have signal for data. I get speeds up to 6mbs in cities and larger regional towns- checked on a loopback testing service - and a consistent 230kbps in the bush where the NextG service uses a lot of repeaters.
Plans can be as low as $10 per month for the data pack, but you pay for data volume straight up. I am on $38 per month with 1Gb download included. This is not a great deal, but still allows for reasonable road access.
Just have to limit the number of porn downloads!

Sounds like Next G is faster than 3G - it also appears to have better coverage from what I can ascertain.

Looking into Telstra plans, if I get a prepaid SIM and then a Browse Plus pack, it could cost as little as $35 to have the phone set up as a modem.

235Kbs is about what I get at home with my 'broadband' service anyway.

Without having tried it, I'm wondering why people bother with dongles and the expensive modems that Telstra and others sell.

i have had nextg from day 1 when they came out there is nothen else out there that will come within a bulls roar for city and country service, with internet i have the blue mobile modem, had that from day 1 when they come out always had service here in w.a. non of the other teclos can go any where near it for service in the country and city . with the modem you have to have 240 volt power so when i am away from 240 i use a 150 w inverter the modem only uses a few watts . i have a fixed plan $89 for 5 gig shaved when you reach 5gig

Originally Posted by richard4u2

i have had nextg from day 1 when they came out there is nothen else out there that will come within a bulls roar for city and country service, with internet i have the blue mobile modem, had that from day 1 when they come out always had service here in w.a. non of the other teclos can go any where near it for service in the country and city . with the modem you have to have 240 volt power so when i am away from 240 i use a 150 w inverter the modem only uses a few watts . i have a fixed plan $89 for 5 gig shaved when you reach 5gig

Would that be another advantage of using a NextG phone as a modem? -no need for external power sources

Telstra has 2 wireless networks, the phone and bigpond (I didn't know they were different until recently). The speed you get via the phone is not so good. The bigpond speed is much better. You get bigpond by buying a bigpond dongle and sticking it in the computer. If you are using the phone then you can only use the inferior data service which is coupled to the gsm network (3g not nextG). Every Telstra shop will tell you this. Vodafone and Optus on the other hand carry all there stuff on their single 3G networks. Speeds are OK in the major cities but are dismal even in the bigger regional areas. Coverage is crap really, (I have Vodafone). I got no signal after Dubbo until I reached Alice Springs going via Bourke, Cameron Corner, Innaminka, Birdsville, Boulia. Then none from Alice to Port Augusta. Also, they have rolled out their 3G on the main highways at a frequency (900mhz) that very few phones can pick up so it drops to GPRS crap speed in that case.
The other thing is that 3G seems to be determined by signal strength. If the signal is no good then it drops to edge or gprs. I have been assured by telstra techs that nextG bigpond is the same speed regardless of signal strength. And yes, if you are getting a telstra phone signal, then you will get bigpond.

Mike