vB Easy Archive - Surfing via GPRS

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Surfing via GPRS
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Posted by: xerxes

Is anyone using their S55 as a GPRS connection to enable internet surfing/email from a Windows PC over Bluetooth?

I have recently bought a Belkin Bluetooth adapter for my notebook in the hope that I could pick up email etc whilst out of the office.

When configuring the set up I have been able to pair the adapter with my S55 but I the adapter then reports that the S55 has no LAN profile for it to attach to.

This can not be the case as I have been surfing from my Palm Tungsten T for a few months now.

Can anyone advise me?

Posted by: xerxes

Nobody uses their S55 for surfing from a PC?

Posted by: FlyPenFly

I do with pocketpc... works great just as long as you get the settings correctly with your provider.

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by xerxes
Is anyone using their S55 as a GPRS connection to enable internet surfing/email from a Windows PC over Bluetooth?

I have recently bought a Belkin Bluetooth adapter for my notebook in the hope that I could pick up email etc whilst out of the office.

When configuring the set up I have been able to pair the adapter with my S55 but I the adapter then reports that the S55 has no LAN profile for it to attach to.

Can anyone advise me?

I have been using the dlink DBT-120 usb bluetooth adapter for several months to surf from my laptop (windows XP) and my desktop (windows 2000).

The dlink software pairs with the device and then shows me the dialup networking profile. I connect to it, dial *99# via windows DUN and I'm away and surfing.

Never had a problem with it so far.

/v

Posted by: xerxes

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

As a matter of interest, where did you find the "*99#" number to dial?

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by xerxes
Thanks, I'll give that a try.

As a matter of interest, where did you find the "*99#" number to dial?

reading and searching. For example, for cdma 1xRTT, the number of choice appears to be #777

/v

Posted by: Ack!

Can anyone comment on data throughput performance of GPRS vs. tradtional dialup (DUN) when using the S56 as a modem?

I've tried the phone both ways - one way using the Siemens GPRS Modem Assistant software, and the other way, configuring my ATT dialer software to use the Bluetooth DUN connection, and they seem to be roughly the same, in terms of throughput.

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by Ack!
Can anyone comment on data throughput performance of GPRS vs. tradtional dialup (DUN) when using the S56 as a modem?

I've tried the phone both ways - one way using the Siemens GPRS Modem Assistant software, and the other way, configuring my ATT dialer software to use the Bluetooth DUN connection, and they seem to be roughly the same, in terms of throughput.

In areas of fairly poor signal reception, I have gotten sustained 4.5-5.1 kilobyte/sec download speeds on compressed files using s56 over bluetooth.

The battery life is so sucky however, that I am forced to use a nokia 6310i for bluetooth/webbing. Also the S56 speaker volume is insanely low and it is almost unusable as a phone.

/v

Posted by: Ack!

Quote:

In areas of fairly poor signal reception, I have gotten sustained 4.5-5.1 kilobyte/sec download speeds on compressed files using s56 over bluetooth.

So, you're saying that Bluetooth is the bottleneck, and that the actual data transmission over the airwaves is greater than the BT protocol can pass? That's confusing, because I thought that BT was capable of a theoretical 720K, which suggests that you misunderstood my question. I'm asking about which method of connecting to an ISP is faster - dialup via DUN, or GPRS. To simplify the question, take BT out of it, and assume a serial cable connection as the basis for the example.

Quote:

The battery life is so sucky however, that I am forced to use a nokia 6310i for bluetooth/webbing. Also the S56 speaker volume is insanely low and it is almost unusable as a phone.

Agree with qualifications on the battery life, but disagree with the speaker volume point. I find the S56 to have great sound, and ample volume. It does fall down a bit, however, when being used as a speakerphone.

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by Ack!
So, you're saying that Bluetooth is the bottleneck, and that the actual data transmission over the airwaves is greater than the BT protocol can pass? That's confusing, because I thought that BT was capable of a theoretical 720K, which suggests that you misunderstood my question. I'm asking about which method of connecting to an ISP is faster - dialup via DUN, or GPRS. To simplify the question, take BT out of it, and assume a serial cable connection as the basis for the example.

Agree with qualifications on the battery life, but disagree with the speaker volume point. I find the S56 to have great sound, and ample volume. It does fall down a bit, however, when being used as a speakerphone.

No, bt is not the bottleneck. I am just using BT as the connectivity method. The speed is GPRS limited, the best I've seen sustained on non-compressible files is about 5kilobyte/sec over the air.

Maybe my ears are going, but I cannot use the S56 as a phone without the headset. I have switched to the nokia.

/v

Posted by: Ack!

Ah! Gotcha. So, I'm right... there really wasn't a fundamental difference. It seems that the maximum throughput of GPRS is roughly the same as a 56k landline dialup. Interesting. Looks like I can't see a reason to bother paying Cingular additional money for that!!!

Y'know, I think I understand what you're saying about the speaker volume. I tend to think it's the shape of the S56 that places the speaker port farther away from the ear canal. It's a matter of getting accustomed to how to angle the phone in such a way that you get the 'sweet spot' that's right for your ear.

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by Ack!
Ah! Gotcha. So, I'm right... there really wasn't a fundamental difference. It seems that the maximum throughput of GPRS is roughly the same as a 56k landline dialup. Interesting. Looks like I can't see a reason to bother paying Cingular additional money for that!!!

Need a very long landline to go with you to the airport, etc

Posted by: Ack!

Vgill, I think you're missing my point.

I'm using an S56 via BT to dial up to the ATT.net account I've had for 5+ years, which gives me the equal performance of using GPRS that I have to pay extra for. So, in my case, I can drop the GPRS service, save myself the money, get extended battery life, and not look back, since I'm not losing anything in the way of performance or functionality.

Posted by: vgill

Quote:

Originally posted by Ack!
Vgill, I think you're missing my point.

I'm using an S56 via BT to dial up to the ATT.net account I've had for 5+ years, which gives me the equal performance of using GPRS that I have to pay extra for. So, in my case, I can drop the GPRS service, save myself the money, get extended battery life, and not look back, since I'm not losing anything in the way of performance or functionality.

My bad, yes, you are correct. It will eat up your minutes though, vs. the flat-rate gprs which means I can surf and check email without having to worry about keeping an eye on my usage. To me, thats worth some extra bucks. Do I use it often enough to justify the price? No, I have wifi at work and at home, but when I do use it, I just don't care to worry about minutes or overage or other stuff. Flat rate is actually more expensive but its worth it to me for peace of mind.

/v

Posted by: Ack!

Quote:

It will eat up your minutes though, vs. the flat-rate gprs which means I can surf and check email without having to worry about keeping an eye on my usage.

Well, here's the thing of it. With Cingular, they got wise to the popularity of data transfer, so now they're charging by the data transferred. Yes, there's a 'flat rate' plan, but it assumes text only, in the anemic form used by the WAP micro browser in a cellphone, not the regular graphics intensive pages of a normal web page.

Ergo, if you have a flat rate calling plan with unlimited minutes, or one of their 'rollover' plans, it makes more sense to use the phone as a modem, and dial into a traditional ISP landline.