how do i connect from a travelling car??

[andrea76]

1) I'm a new user
2) I purchased my Toshiba ppc 755 because i wanted to be able to connect to the internet, check email (blah x3) all from the comfort of the passenger seat of my car, when i travel from MA to Ont. for 12 hrs.

I have no idea what i need to do this, I'm assuming a wireless card or something.. . seems to me that looking for WiFi hot spots defeats the purpose, since I'll be on the highway.

Any Ideas or Advice?

[dh]

I think the only way you can do this is by using the cellular system, either GPRS on ATT Wireless, T-Mobile or Cingular, or the CDMA thingy on Sprint.

There are a couple of possibilites, you can get a Compact Flash Bluetooth card and connect using a GPRS Bluetooth equipped phone, buy a GPRS CF card and connect directly or get a CF CDMA card from Sprint.

You should be able to find more info on this site. Another good resource is www.howardforums.com

You also might have been better purchasing a PocketPC phone, MS Smartphone or a Treo600 if connecting when driving is important to you.

Of course you can always stop at Starbucks on the way and use the T-Mobile WiFi system. Your 755 already has the ability to do this.

[andrea76]

I'm not really keen on smart phones, i only use the cell phone i have on rare occasions.

It's not that being connected while driving is a priority for me ~ i don't actually drive. I just wanted to be able to connect without having to plug in to something.
If i had a wi fi flash card with an antennae (sp) would my ppc just look for a signal and then tune into it? or is there more to it than that?

I suppose i need more of an education on connectivity and the like, but again, never know quite where to look.

any advice,
is appreciated

thank
andrea

[Dave Potter]

The solution that I have used for the past 8 months has been a Bluetooth enabled Pocket PC with an Bluetooth enabled cell phone. It works great in a moving car, airports, trains etc - provided that you can get a cellular signal - not a problem for the most part.

I was using a iPAQ 3970 (built in BT) with a Nokia 6310 cell phone. It has worked well overall.

Recently I puchased a Socket SDIO Bluetooth card for my iPAQ 1935 - and to my surprise it works even better. Much faster believe it or not! I am still using the Nokia 6310 cell phone.

[Sven Johannsen]

If i had a wi fi flash card with an antennae (sp) would my ppc just look for a signal and then tune into it? or is there more to it than that?

Yes, but since the range of WiFi is limited to about 1000 ft (more in good conditions, of course), you'd have to be damn good, have very little mail and be driving real slow to get anything done while driving by a hot spot :) assuming you happen by one that is not protected by encryption.

Your soluton is the cell system's data capability. Whether that is a smartphone (phone with pda bits), a Pocket PC phone edition (PPC with phone bits), or a PPC and data capable phone linked together somehow (cable or BT).