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headbirth · Nov 20, 2003, 02:25 PM

Hi,

My ISP is currently Earthlink....they have a national Wireless access plan for laptops (http://earthlink.omnisky.com/index.j...nt=Laptop-CDMA), but of course don't offer it for the Mac platform.

Does anyone know of a similar plan with another ISP that's more Mac friendly? or is there a way to still use this Earthlink option on a Mac via software...?

Tomster · Nov 20, 2003, 03:27 PM

If you need cdma/3G connection, have you considered Sprint? It is an extra ten bucks a month. Speed is pretty good but latency is high. Best thing is that it is unmetered.

headbirth · Nov 20, 2003, 04:36 PM

cdma/3G? sounds interesting, can you fill me in on what that is and add a few links :-)

Thanks!

TAZ · Nov 20, 2003, 06:35 PM

CDMA stands for the type of signal encoding that the wireless provider offers, ala ATT, Cingular use TDMA or GSM. Sprint and Verizon use CDMA and so on. Dont know what the actual letters stand for off the top of my head. 3G is a third generation phone with capabilities like data, polyphonic ring tones, high res screens and such.

As far as Sprint goes the $10 Vision pack only legally applies to the phone and not a tethered laptop. While you can use the phone as a modem and log into the SprintPCS network you are doing so against the terms of service and can have service terminated. They arent monitoring it much as many people have done light surfing using a laptop, but if you use it as a primary ISP you will eventually get tagged. Their true data packs are pretty high dollar $80/mo for 100 Mb in addition to buying a $129 PCMCIA card.

You can check out www.howardforums.com for info on the providers and phones...

Lorinserbenz · Nov 21, 2003, 02:23 AM

At&T just came out with a new service that is supposed to be the fastest... up to 200K.
If you have a T-mobile phone you can add unlimited 802.11 using a T-Mobile hotspot for $19.95.

wy4tt · Nov 21, 2003, 03:45 AM

just after i got my albook i was at starbucks and checked for possible airport reception. saw Tmobile listed. you can pay as you go with them, but it's expensive (10c/hr with a minimum of 60 minutes.) or, $9 per day. it's nice to have that option though. you know, i'm really surprised laptop design hasn't incorporated a cell phone in yet (since some are so tiny now). then, you could dial-up easily. break out the head-set to talk, etc. someday...

d4nth3m4n · Nov 21, 2003, 06:43 AM

Originally posted by wy4tt:
just after i got my albook i was at starbucks and checked for possible airport reception. saw Tmobile listed. you can pay as you go with them, but it's expensive (10c/hr with a minimum of 60 minutes.) or, $9 per day. it's nice to have that option though. you know, i'm really surprised laptop design hasn't incorporated a cell phone in yet (since some are so tiny now). then, you could dial-up easily. break out the head-set to talk, etc. someday...

10c/hr OR 10c/min?? small kine confusing brah.

shoots.
Dan.

DigitalEl · Nov 21, 2003, 08:37 AM

but of course don't offer it for the Mac platform

Is EarthLink still Apple's ISP of choice or has that deal ended?

headbirth · Nov 21, 2003, 02:35 PM

Do you recall what ATTs new service is called or have a link? Their site is a nightmare to navigate.

Anyone else have any ideas other than 802 hotspots. Something along the lines of Richochet, but nation-wide.

wy4tt · Nov 21, 2003, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by headbirth:
Do you recall what ATTs new service is called or have a link? Their site is a nightmare to navigate.

Anyone else have any ideas other than 802 hotspots. Something along the lines of Richochet, but nation-wide.

think it's called mlife.

Minty Fresh · Nov 21, 2003, 06:11 PM

Originally posted by TAZ:
CDMA stands for the type of signal encoding that the wireless provider offers, ala ATT, Cingular use TDMA or GSM. Sprint and Verizon use CDMA and so on. Dont know what the actual letters stand for off the top of my head. 3G is a third generation phone with capabilities like data, polyphonic ring tones, high res screens and such.

As far as Sprint goes the $10 Vision pack only legally applies to the phone and not a tethered laptop. While you can use the phone as a modem and log into the SprintPCS network you are doing so against the terms of service and can have service terminated. They arent monitoring it much as many people have done light surfing using a laptop, but if you use it as a primary ISP you will eventually get tagged. Their true data packs are pretty high dollar $80/mo for 100 Mb in addition to buying a $129 PCMCIA card.

You can check out www.howardforums.com for info on the providers and phones...

See now...I have a Sanyo 5300, with Sprint. And I have the PCS Vision plan too. Wonder if I could get it to work. What would I need? I'll be checking out those forums.

Lorinserbenz · Nov 21, 2003, 06:50 PM

At&T 's new service is called EDGE
http://www.attwireless.com/speed/
Mlife is the cheesy name for their SMS service, most people have no clue what the hell Mlife is. They were critized for their ads since they never explained WHAT mlife was..

The service is $29.95 a month, not sure if the card is Mac compatible.

T-mobile is the serice provider for the Starbucks service, it is 802.11 and runs $20 a month unlimited if you are a T-mobile user.

Lorinserbenz · Nov 21, 2003, 06:57 PM

I have personally tried most of the wireless internet services (those based upon celluar.. not 802.11 like T-mobile). IMHO all are no better than dialup. If you are a traveler your best bet is just to check for an access point where you travel ,or sign up for the T-mobile service. If you must be able to connect anywhere than try one of the cellular services, chances are they are not Mac compatible. I know someone wrote a driver for the Nextel card, but their speed is only 50k and its pricey $79.95.

http://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot/default.asp?nav=hm

s0litude · Nov 21, 2003, 07:13 PM

I use my Nokia 3650 to dial up when i'm anywhere. My company basically pays for my phone because we travel a lot, so i have the Tmobile unlimited data plan and tmobile hotspots... So while I'm on the train or in a random area, i just use my phone to dial up to check email, get directions, then i trek it over to a barnes and noble or starbucks if i need to use a higher connection speed, for example when i want to play warcraft 3 on battle.net...

NYCFarmboy · Nov 21, 2003, 09:01 PM

Verizon has wifi access at several locations thruout NYC that supposedly comes with your DSL service...which I have..but I've not tried it yet.

..I found a spot once..but didn't remember my user name & password so I couldn't log in.

Thorin · Nov 23, 2003, 12:56 PM

Originally posted by wy4tt:
just after i got my albook i was at starbucks and checked for possible airport reception. saw Tmobile listed. you can pay as you go with them, but it's expensive (10c/hr with a minimum of 60 minutes.) or, $9 per day. it's nice to have that option though. you know, i'm really surprised laptop design hasn't incorporated a cell phone in yet (since some are so tiny now). then, you could dial-up easily. break out the head-set to talk, etc. someday...

You think that's expensive? I was in London on Friday. London is almost as bad for Star Bucks as New York is now. They also have wifi provided by T-Mobile, except it's �5.50 an hour (US$9.36), or �16.50 per day (US$28.09). Now that's expensive. I didn't bother using it though. I attempted to find London's first free hotzone (and failed - but apparently it'll be extended to Leicster Square soon which should be better) and used the free hotspot in Euston Station's first class lounge instead. Much more satisfying

.

headbirth · Nov 23, 2003, 05:37 PM

ATTs EDGE specs say it's for Windows :-(

System Requirements: Windows 2000 and XP Pro, 30 MB free hard disk space. Dell, IBM and HP notebooks.

Weight: (in oz.) 38 grams incl. antenna

Dimensions: Type II or Type III nonextended, PC Card 16 bit, Support 3.3 volt PC Card slots

I wonder if there are any mac devlopers like the IOXpert guys that make software for products like this? Anyone know?