I'm going on a two week vacation shortly and wanted Internet access
without having to depend on motel and camp cabin data ports.
After some exploration, and some research with my cellular provider,
I opted to buy a cellular capable modem for my PowerBook. There are
many cellular PCMCIA modems out there that will work; one of the best
IMO being made by a Canadian company called Ositech.
I bought one of their modems/cellular kits for my Nokia 5100 series
phone off of
eBay for $70. According to coverage maps, I should be able to
access about 70-80% of the U.S. via cellular.
After my research with my local Cingular office, I upgraded to a
plan with free nationwide roaming, free long distance, and 3500 minutes
of night/weekend airtime, for a very affordable $39.95 per month. (Most
of my vacation usage will fall into the free nighttime hours). I use
CompuServe 2000 for net access, and they have numbers all over the
country. Even if I don't have a "local" number, the free long distance
will allow calling a nearby access number.
The modem came in on a Saturday and worked beautifully on the
PowerBook, although Ositech doesn't officially support Macs. The only
place I've tested it so far was at my home, but it worked well here,
and I have a fairly weak signal at home. The main advantage of this
solution is that I can use it anywhere that has analog cell phone
coverage available, which at this point is still about 70-80% of the
U.S. No special service is needed from the cellular provider, just
regular analog service.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that depending on signal
conditions, cellular connections can be very slow - sometimes 9600 bps
- and can be delicate if you are in a weak signal area. Still, it is in
my opinion a very attractive alternative to wireless services that will
only give you a very limited service area and mostly in large
cities.
If you are concerned about the upcoming transition to digital, the
company has modems available that will work on analog or digital
connections. I felt that for $70 I could get my money's worth out of
the deal before it becomes obsolete. The new models of this modem that
are analog/digital capable start for around $150.
If you decide to give this a try, don't assume anything. Check out
the capabilities of your particular phone, check with your cellular
provider as to availability of analog service in the areas you want to
use it in, and do some calculations as to whether the hours you need to
use the service will prove to be economically attractive.
Make sure that you buy the right cellular kit for your phone, as
they are by no means universal. If you are doing this on an older
PowerBook, make sure you get a 16 bit PCMCIA modem. There are some
newer PC Cards that require a CardBus (32 bit) slot, and these will not
work with the older PowerBooks.
One other thing I will mention as to cell service in general is
this: Check with your provider regularly about what calling plans are
available. Cellular companies frequently update their plans to more
attractive options and most will not automatically inform you of
a better deal than your current plan. If you don't check it out
regularly, you will almost surely be paying too much for your cell
phone service whether you are using it for Net access or not.
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