It would occasionally be useful to be able to connect my laptop to the 
internet when away from home. I would like to be able to do this - as 
economically as possible - using one of my mobile phones as a modem, rather 
than using WiFi and having to be in the proximity of a hotspot.

I have 3 mobile phones, all on Orange - 2 PAYG and one on Eq Virgin tariff. 
All have infra-red. I have a USB-based infra-red adaptor for the laptop.

Can some kind soul please explain what the options are, in words of one 
syllable - 'cos I'm somewhat confused by what it says on the Orange site. My 
3 phones are a Nokia 6070 on the OVP tariff - a free upgrade for the 
S-E-K300i (now with a PAYG SIM in it), itself a free upgrade for the 
original Nokia 6150e (also now having a PAYG SIM) - but I can mix and match 
phones and SIMs if there is any advantage in doing so.

The Orange website has a blow by blow account of how to use quite a lot of 
different phones as a modem - but none of my 3 phones shows up in their 
drop-down menus! But, looking at the menus on the 6070 (for example) I 
appear to be able to select GPRS Packet Data or somesuch, and the word 
'modem' appears on the screen - so I assume I can use this phone as a modem 
even though it isn't listed as such on the Orange site?

Then there's the question of pricing. The £1 per day deal would suit me very 
nicely, but it's not at all clear (to me at any rate!) whether this only 
applies when I'm using the phone *itself* for emailing and browsing (which 
I've no desire to do) as opposed to using it as a modem to connect my 
laptop.

Can someone please clarify just what *is* possible?

When using the phone as a modem I presume there's some way of connecting it 
to an appropriate Orange server (special number to dial?) rather than 
dialling an 0845 number to connect to one of my existing dial-up accounts - 
which would cost an arm and a leg and probably be dreadfully slow? What sort 
of speed does GPRS achieve?

All help appreciated!
-- 
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly 
monitored..
Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO 
NEWSGROUP!

On 15 Jun, 18:54, "Roger Mills"  wrote:
> It would occasionally be useful to be able to connect my laptop to the
> internet when away from home. I would like to be able to do this - as
> economically as possible - using one of my mobile phones as a modem, rather
> than using WiFi and having to be in the proximity of a hotspot.
>
> I have 3 mobile phones, all on Orange - 2 PAYG and one on Eq Virgin tariff> All have infra-red. I have a USB-based infra-red adaptor for the laptop.
>
> Can some kind soul please explain what the options are, in words of one
> syllable - 'cos I'm somewhat confused by what it says on the Orange site. My
> 3 phones are a Nokia 6070 on the OVP tariff - a free upgrade for the
> S-E-K300i (now with a PAYG SIM in it), itself a free upgrade for the
> original Nokia 6150e (also now having a PAYG SIM) - but I can mix and match
> phones and SIMs if there is any advantage in doing so.
>
> The Orange website has a blow by blow account of how to use quite a lot of> different phones as a modem - but none of my 3 phones shows up in their
> drop-down menus! But, looking at the menus on the 6070 (for example) I
> appear to be able to select GPRS Packet Data or somesuch, and the word
> 'modem' appears on the screen - so I assume I can use this phone as a modem
> even though it isn't listed as such on the Orange site?
>
> Then there's the question of pricing. The £1 per day deal would suit me very
> nicely, but it's not at all clear (to me at any rate!) whether this only
> applies when I'm using the phone *itself* for emailing and browsing (which> I've no desire to do) as opposed to using it as a modem to connect my
> laptop.
>
> Can someone please clarify just what *is* possible?
>
> When using the phone as a modem I presume there's some way of connecting it
> to an appropriate Orange server (special number to dial?) rather than
> dialling an 0845 number to connect to one of my existing dial-up accounts > which would cost an arm and a leg and probably be dreadfully slow? What sort
> of speed does GPRS achieve?
>
> All help appreciated!
> --
> Cheers,
> Roger
> ______
> Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
> monitored..
> Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO
> NEWSGROUP!

The £1/day deal on pay as you go includes both browsing the internet
from the handset and when using it as a modem.  I think it is still
against their terms and conditions to use the service as a modem
however; but for occasional use only, they'll never know.

The service only applies to GPRS data only so no dial-up.  I normally
enter *99# as the "dial-up number" but rather than dialling this
number the phone should read it as a command to start a GPRS session
instead.  So, even though your laptop thinks its a dial-up connection
the phone isn’t actually dialling a number if that makes sense.

As for speeds, GPRS is pretty slow...similar to a home dial-up
connection.  I know the Nokia 6070 supports EDGE that supports speeds
up to 3x faster than GPRS (I think).  You would need to have EDGE
coverage to be able to use it though and at the moment coverage is
very patchy.  If EDGE is available then the phone would use it over
GPRS automatically – (you cant choose between them).
I'm not sure if using an Infra-red connection would slow things down
either...I dont personally know what speeds it supports but I'm sure
someone will be able to tell you.

One thing you may want to look at is a data bundle:  One good one to
try is "2 months free Evening and Weekend Orange World Access" which
will give you ‘unlimited’ access to the internet during the evenings
(7pm-7am) and weekends free for 2 months.  This you'd need to apply to
the OVP sim as its a pay monthly bundle.  (pay as you go may have a
similar equivalent too?)  This will give you a chance to see what
speeds you get etc for free.

I have done this many times.

The general idea is that you connect the laptop to the phone in some
way (bluetooth or cable - not sure IR works for this) and then use the
dial-up networking connection option on the laptop to set up a DUN
connection. For GPRS/3G the number dialled is *99# if I remember
correctly.

This will give you plain internet access and the billing is per
kilobyte no matter what the data is used for.

Bluetooth is nice for this because you just lay the phone next to the
laptop. But you need a laptop with BT or with a BT adapter plugged in.
Cables are more tricky because not many phones come with them...

You can also use a phone as a plain dial up modem where you set up the
phone # of a dialup ISP. I have just been doing this with a satellite
phone (no GPRS/3G) and been dialling 0044845.... (the ISP number) and
there are various ISPs which are "free" in that they make money off
the phone call. I have been using Primex but there are many. This
works at 9600 baud i.e. very slow, but better than nothing. And you
pay per second, as with voice calls.

I warn you: data on PAYG is very expensive. £1 in the UK maybe but
wait till you go abroad and discover the roaming charges... £10/MB or
whatever.


"Roger Mills"  wrote

>It would occasionally be useful to be able to connect my laptop to the 
>internet when away from home. I would like to be able to do this - as 
>economically as possible - using one of my mobile phones as a modem, rather 
>than using WiFi and having to be in the proximity of a hotspot.
>
>I have 3 mobile phones, all on Orange - 2 PAYG and one on Eq Virgin tariff. 
>All have infra-red. I have a USB-based infra-red adaptor for the laptop.
>
>Can some kind soul please explain what the options are, in words of one 
>syllable - 'cos I'm somewhat confused by what it says on the Orange site. My 
>3 phones are a Nokia 6070 on the OVP tariff - a free upgrade for the 
>S-E-K300i (now with a PAYG SIM in it), itself a free upgrade for the 
>original Nokia 6150e (also now having a PAYG SIM) - but I can mix and match 
>phones and SIMs if there is any advantage in doing so.
>
>The Orange website has a blow by blow account of how to use quite a lot of 
>different phones as a modem - but none of my 3 phones shows up in their 
>drop-down menus! But, looking at the menus on the 6070 (for example) I 
>appear to be able to select GPRS Packet Data or somesuch, and the word 
>'modem' appears on the screen - so I assume I can use this phone as a modem 
>even though it isn't listed as such on the Orange site?
>
>Then there's the question of pricing. The £1 per day deal would suit me very 
>nicely, but it's not at all clear (to me at any rate!) whether this only 
>applies when I'm using the phone *itself* for emailing and browsing (which 
>I've no desire to do) as opposed to using it as a modem to connect my 
>laptop.
>
>Can someone please clarify just what *is* possible?
>
>When using the phone as a modem I presume there's some way of connecting it 
>to an appropriate Orange server (special number to dial?) rather than 
>dialling an 0845 number to connect to one of my existing dial-up accounts - 
>which would cost an arm and a leg and probably be dreadfully slow? What sort 
>of speed does GPRS achieve?
>
>All help appreciated!

"Roger Mills"  wrote in message 
news:6bl3a5F3cfkuuU1@mid.individual.net...
> It would occasionally be useful to be able to connect my laptop to the 
> internet when away from home. I would like to be able to do this - as 
> economically as possible - using one of my mobile phones as a modem, 
> rather than using WiFi and having to be in the proximity of a hotspot.
>
> I have 3 mobile phones, all on Orange - 2 PAYG and one on Eq Virgin 
> tariff. All have infra-red. I have a USB-based infra-red adaptor for the 
> laptop.
>
> Can some kind soul please explain what the options are, in words of one 
> syllable - 'cos I'm somewhat confused by what it says on the Orange site. 
> My 3 phones are a Nokia 6070 on the OVP tariff - a free upgrade for the 
> S-E-K300i (now with a PAYG SIM in it), itself a free upgrade for the 
> original Nokia 6150e (also now having a PAYG SIM) - but I can mix and 
> match phones and SIMs if there is any advantage in doing so.
<snip>
>
I hope you have a lot of patience, cos none of those phones are 3g
which you need for effective speeds.

I used to use a Nokia 6310i on Orange world £1 daily to connect my laptop,
it's a good way to fall asleep

Steve Terry

"Steve Terry"  wrote in message
news:g3402s$div$1@news.albasani.net...
> >
> I hope you have a lot of patience, cos none of those phones are 3g
> which you need for effective speeds.
>
> I used to use a Nokia 6310i on Orange world £1 daily to connect my laptop,
> it's a good way to fall asleep
>
> Steve Terry

I use the service with a phone as a modem occasionally and it works OK.
Slow 'obviously', but not useless and certainly better than nothing if you
want to get online from a place where there is no fixed line.....

"Ivor Hardone"  wrote in message 
news:6bnrvhF3cvvkvU1@mid.individual.net...
> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
> news:g3402s$div$1@news.albasani.net...
>> >
>> I hope you have a lot of patience, cos none of those phones are 3g
>> which you need for effective speeds.
>> I used to use a Nokia 6310i on Orange world £1 daily to connect my 
>> laptop,
>> it's a good way to fall asleep
>> Steve Terry
>
> I use the service with a phone as a modem occasionally and it works OK.
> Slow 'obviously', but not useless and certainly better than nothing if you
> want to get online from a place where there is no fixed line.....
>
I would rather buy a used Nokia 6630 with a 3 PAYG sim,
then for from 5quid a month, I'd have something useable.

Wait a min that's what I'm doing.

Only now I would look for a Nokia 6120 for it's turbo modem
which could be up to 4 times faster than i've got, on a 3.5G cell

Steve Terry

"Steve Terry"  wrote in message
news:g36guc$e0q$1@news.albasani.net...
> I would rather buy a used Nokia 6630 with a 3 PAYG sim,
> then for from 5quid a month, I'd have something useable.
>
> Wait a min that's what I'm doing.
>
> Only now I would look for a Nokia 6120 for it's turbo modem
> which could be up to 4 times faster than i've got, on a 3.5G cell
>
> Steve Terry

But how much data can you get for 5 quid a month?    I am looking for a
mobile solution to use in the van at weekends....
Was gonna buy a 3 modem, but is this option a better one?

"John Morris"  wrote in message 
news:6bpj62F3d367qU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
> news:g36guc$e0q$1@news.albasani.net...
>> I would rather buy a used Nokia 6630 with a 3 PAYG sim,
>> then for from 5quid a month, I'd have something useable.
>>
>> Wait a min that's what I'm doing.
>>
>> Only now I would look for a Nokia 6120 for it's turbo modem
>> which could be up to 4 times faster than i've got, on a 3.5G cell
>>
>> Steve Terry
>
> But how much data can you get for 5 quid a month?    I am looking for a
> mobile solution to use in the van at weekends....
> Was gonna buy a 3 modem, but is this option a better one?
>

3PAYG has a 2GB limit while the 3 Contract one has a 1GB limit?

-- 
Gerry (The MOTH)
Website: http://nokiAAddict.com

"Gerry (The MOTH)"  wrote in message
news:4858c40a$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>
> 3PAYG has a 2GB limit while the 3 Contract one has a 1GB limit?
>
> --
> Gerry (The MOTH)
> Website: http://nokiAAddict.com


I find that 3 PAYG costs are difficult to understand.  Are you suggesting I
could have a mobile '2GB' 3G connection for a month for 5 quid and no more?
Or is this some kind of addon to another PAYG package which costs more each
month?  As I said 3 PAYG seems complicated to understand the actual costs.

"John Morris"  wrote in message 
news:6bpj62F3d367qU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
> news:g36guc$e0q$1@news.albasani.net...
>> I would rather buy a used Nokia 6630 with a 3 PAYG sim,
>> then for from 5quid a month, I'd have something useable.
>>
>> Wait a min that's what I'm doing.
>>
>> Only now I would look for a Nokia 6120 for it's turbo modem
>> which could be up to 4 times faster than i've got, on a 3.5G cell
>> Steve Terry
>
> But how much data can you get for 5 quid a month?    I am looking for a
> mobile solution to use in the van at weekends....
> Was gonna buy a 3 modem, but is this option a better one?
>
5quid a month for internet, 2gb limit, @ up to 400kb/s

10quid a month for broadband 1gb limit @ about 800kb/s,
more with a turbo modem.

15quid a month broadband, 3gb limit

3 Contract, now offering broadband at half PAYG price if you ask for it
i.e. 5quid for 1gb, 7.50 for 3gb

I like the mobile phone solution over a USB dongle, as you can also
use it as a phone, and the phones Planet 3 Wap to keep tabs on your
account, and billing date.
Also the phone will have a data counter.

Steve Terry

"Steve Terry"  wrote in message
news:g3aurg$8na$1@news.albasani.net...
>
> I like the mobile phone solution over a USB dongle, as you can also
> use it as a phone, and the phones Planet 3 Wap to keep tabs on your
> account, and billing date.
> Also the phone will have a data counter.
>
> Steve Terry

Where did your quote of 5 quid come from earlier in this thread then?  Was
it an error?

"John Morris"  wrote in message 
news:6bsehhF39dvsdU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
> news:g3aurg$8na$1@news.albasani.net...
>>
>> I like the mobile phone solution over a USB dongle, as you can also
>> use it as a phone, and the phones Planet 3 Wap to keep tabs on your
>> account, and billing date.

I find the My3 "data usage" page is very slow to update, unlike T Mobile's.

>> Also the phone will have a data counter.
and easier to access.

>> Steve Terry
>
> Where did your quote of 5 quid come from earlier in this thread then?  Was
> it an error?
>
£5 is for internet access on the handset.
£10  is for internet access using a handset as a modem.

FWIW
The Orange OVP Virgin Mobile tariff is limited to GPRS.
I did hear of one person who paid dearly to obtain a 3G phone upgrade from 
Orange.

BTW
There appears to be different APN's used on Three for "Handset" use and 
"Mobile broadband" use.
The "Mobile broadband" option has a few less hops in the chain.

Alan

"John Morris"  wrote in message 
news:6bsehhF39dvsdU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
> news:g3aurg$8na$1@news.albasani.net...
>>
>> I like the mobile phone solution over a USB dongle, as you can also
>> use it as a phone, and the phones Planet 3 Wap to keep tabs on your
>> account, and billing date.
>> Also the phone will have a data counter.
>> Steve Terry
>
> Where did your quote of 5 quid come from earlier in this thread then?
> Was it an error?
>
5 quid a month for what 3 call "internet" as opposed to their faster
and more expensive broadband

"Internet" = around 400kb/s d/l, 50kb/s u/l, 2gb per month limit

Steve Terry

"Alan"  wrote in message 
news:hAc6k.74034$1B6.16762@newsfe21.ams2...
> "John Morris"  wrote in message 
> news:6bsehhF39dvsdU1@mid.individual.net...
>> "Steve Terry"  wrote in message
>> news:g3aurg$8na$1@news.albasani.net...
<snip>
>> Where did your quote of 5 quid come from earlier in this thread then? 
>> Was
>> it an error?
>>
> £5 is for internet access on the handset.
and using it as a modem, i'm using it now connected to my laptop.
>
> £10  is for internet access using a handset as a modem.
>
You are paying the extra for a faster connection

Steve Terry