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Wireless data options for a MacBook?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: San Francisco
Status:
Offline
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What the options for connecting to the net with a MacBook on the road? I'm trying to help out my father-in-law on this one. He uses Verizon with a Treo 700 running Windows Mobile. Can he connect via bluetooth with that? Or is there some sort of a USB wireless device that works with Verizon?
thanks,
kman
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
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I don't think you can use the Treo. I had a Treo 700wx and it wasn't supported by Verizon...and I don't think there was a third party work-around. I am currently using a Novatel USB720 USB modem. It's EV-DO revA, which is the latest iteration of Verizon's 3G network. I use it with my MacBook and I've been very pleased.
(
Last edited by cwosigns; Apr 16, 2007 at 10:59 PM.
Reason: spelling error)
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Chris
2011 MacBook Air, iPhone 4s, iPad 2
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Status:
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Not sure if Verison has the same phones as Sprint, but I use the Samsung A900 phone and connect to their high-speed internet via bluetooth and the phone acts as a modem wirelessly.
I can keep the phone in my pocket/bag and tell the laptop to dial/connect and away we go!
Its really amazing, although the timeout for service is fairly quick. The connect time is nearly instantaneous though so if you are inactive for a minute its not bad to reconnect.
The Treo has more software features than the A900 though, so going backwards in functionality may not be the best option. If the Treo supports phone-as-modem connections and Verison has the feature you should be able to configure his phone (probably via USB) as a modem to connect.
Good luck.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: 888500128
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I've been using the Sony Ericsson k800i with UMTS high-speed internet via Bluetooth here in Europe for months with no problems whatsoever.
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Administrator  Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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You actually get decent speeds via BT? I'm surprised-I've been less than thrilled with the speed my RAZR transfers files to my MBP, and from what I've read most phone's BT implementations are not that fast. Please enlighten me on this.
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Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Status:
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I don't know about the Treo 700, but the Treo 650 (Sprint) works well on the Mac over Bluetooth. It's only GPRS speeds, and the phone itself randomly crashes now and then, but it works well enough.
One thing to note, however, is that phone-as-modem-over-bluetooth means huge battery drain on both devices. :-/ I've run into several situations where, after long sessions online, the phone didn't have enough battery life for an important call.
I'm using the Sprint U720 right now. Great speeds in the LA area. Works perfectly with the Mac. Only complaint is that it sticks out. A lot.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: 888500128
Status:
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Originally Posted by ghporter 
You actually get decent speeds via BT? I'm surprised-I've been less than thrilled with the speed my RAZR transfers files to my MBP, and from what I've read most phone's BT implementations are not that fast. Please enlighten me on this.
I'm seeing 55-60 kBytes per second, which I realize is way below spec at just around 0.5 Mbit (UMTS can ostensibly reach up to 3Mbit IIRC), but that has been stable and caused no problems whatsoever in daily use.
Over here, Vodafone supplies a USB UMTS modem for their customers that apparently works quite well, too. No idea what bandwidth they get, though.
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