Help needed: Mac satelite (cell phone) internet access

[mahayoga]

Can anyone help us figure out how to interface a Mac via Cingular (or any) cell phone for in internet access in a RV crossing the country?? We thought it was going to be fairly easy and need access ASAP....Thanks for your help.
Please respond here and let us know if we can write or call you, or where to turn.

[bobafifi]

You may want to reconsider doing this. I went through the hassle last year (with a Cingular reps help to set my cell phone up to do it) to access my email via my cell phone. After spending just a few minutes just connecting to the Web - nothing more - , I'd already spent about five bucks transfer charges! I cancelled the email service immediately. What I *think* you're after is called Wi-Fi access - much more widespread, cheap (even free in places!). A friend of mine from Boston traveled across the country in his RV last year with his Mac PowerBook and had no problem keeping connected using Wi-Fi for the six-weeks he was on the road.

-Bob

[tstrand]

As Bob mentioned, the easiest path is to use Wifi (e.g. your Airport) on a laptop. Many places you park will offer Wifi access; sometimes free, sometimes $7-$10 day or $30/month.

Wifi is the fastest and easiest option.

With some Cingular phones (Treo), you can read email directly on the phone, but the screen size and keypad are limited.

Using a cell phone as a modem is known as "tethering". You need to add a DATA plan to your account which is now $20/month for unlimited access (other Cingular users note the recent price decrease).

But, this path gives a very slow connection (akin to the old 28k modems) and unreliable. I haven't found clear instructions at Cingular on how to do this. It took me a while to get it going.

Hmm. There may be a faster route. Details here. "Bluetooth" is a wireless connection between your Mac and the phone.

https://tech.netscape.com/viewstory/...437&frame=true

The slow connection is GPRS. The fast connection is EDGE, but you need a phone that handles it. So the buzzwords for what you are looking for (to enter in Google or talk to a Cingular rep) is:

tether cell phone cingular mac GPRS

tether cell phone cingular mac EDGE

All-in-all I would stick with Wifi.


Tom