Cell phone as modem

[Darin]

I'm about to make the change from my broadband provider to my Verizon Palm Treo700p as a modem. I had to install SP2, which I was reluctant to until I just had to. I had to download all the drivers from Palm etc. Now I just got to find my cord to connect my Treo to my PC. I lost it a while back since I never used the sync feature. I don't use Windows for anything other than an OS, no outlook, email or anything. Gotta love the open source code guys.

What happened was, my internet was $29/mo, it just went up to $51/mo. I'm already paying for unlimited internet on my Palm Treo about $50/mo. I asked why not try to use the phone as a modem, turns out you can. I have the service activated, got my broadband getting cut in 2 days. Just wondering if anyone has done this. What can I expect. Other than slow as DSL speeds. Going from 10megs to 600k is going to hurt a bit, but not as much as the $51.

Any advice?

Darin

[jemsite]

i've seen sprint and verizon in use but in NJ/NYC... speed is widely dependant on your location. verizon has like $49/mo unlimited (over 5GB bandwidth and they probably will drop you) but sufficient speed for email and basic web navigation like slower DSL. usb or express card slot into notebook pc.

i'm on 20mbps FIOS here so i would want to use this except in an emergency but if you travel alot these services work great (again in major markets where you have signal).... glen

[Darin]

Well, I've been using my Verizon Palm Treo 700p as a modem for several days now. It kinda suck actually. It works, but you have to plug in the phone and start the program and wait for a connection, and of course, you can't be on the phone at the same time, and no one in the house can be online when you're not home, because you got the modem with you. But it's $15 on top of my already %40 for my phone to be online already. a months for DSL speeds. I don't know why they charge you extra to use you phone as a modem, other than they can. I mean. I'm already paying for internet on the Treo, and then I get hit with $15 a month to connect my computer to my Treo to go online, which I'm already paying for. It's quite madding actually if I let it be. I wonder if Bill Gates really owns Verizon? This seems like something he'd think of.
My recommendation is, don't do it unless you have no other choice. And I have no other choice. It's $15/mo, or $51/mo.

Later, Darin