Recommendations for best Bluetooth / wireless solution

[mikew]

I'm finally making the [long overdue] wireless step for my iPAQ 3870, and am looking for recommendations. I'm located in Chicago, which has decent coverage from most vendors these days.

In the best case scenario, I'm looking for a wireless solution (phone + carrier) with...

+ Bluetooth support. What phones are recommended, including not-quite-released models?

+ Reasonable bandwidth. Preferably 56KBps+ on a good day (like most GPRS offerings)

+ Good pricing. Sprint offers a $99 "all-you-can-eat" service, but none of their phones are Bluetooth enabled.

Muchos gracias.

-- Michael Wells

[Rune]

AT & T is rolling out their GSM network and is perhaps in your large area. They are offering the Ericsson T68i which is Bluetooth enabled, WAP internet access and email support, probabley everything you may want. They are also offering a $99 unlimited plan out here the Sacramento, CA area which may be nationwide.

GSM coverage may not be the best yet-but they are aggressive in this area with additional towers in the next year. Couple this with your CF Bluetooth card form Socket Communications and you're ready to go. Plus both Ericsson and Jabra offer Bluetooth earpieces for use with your phone too.
:D

[mobileMike]

Couple this with your CF Bluetooth card form Socket Communications and you're ready to go.

mikew has a 3870 with built-in Bluetooth. I on the other hand, have a Socket Communication card. Anyway.... I don't live in the USA but I was in Chicago 2 or 3 years ago and already VoiceStream (now T-Mobile) had GSM coverage I could only expect they considerably expanded since then. I also use VoiceStream in St Louis, Denver and nearby ski resorts.

Besides look who their spokeswoman is: Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones

I seems people have the best luck with Ericsson phones when it comes to Bluetooth. Personally, I have a Nokia 6310 (the 6310i would work in the USA) but I don't know if I would recommend this from a bluetooth perspective.

/ mike

[fulltilt]

Can't help you with local service providers, but as far as phones go, I prefer the Nokia 6310i - I found it to be more solid than the Colour ericsson phone. Felt a little nicer in the hand.

No problems with the BT aspects of using the phone.
Be sure to get something like IA Phone Manager....

[Wiggin]

Just picked up the SonyEricsson T68i, and started GSM service with AT&T. The plan is to use the phone as my modem via Blue comm with my Laptop and iPaq. Phone is outstanding, and actually comes configured for more services than the AT&T system can handle... room for growth! GSM coverage is good in major cities... pretty poor everywhere else (in the US anyway ... GSM is huge in Europe/Asia). But I'm sure the companies are going to be agrressive with expanding the cover area. Comm using the phone as my link to the Net is pending my purchase of a BT SD card (or CF card if necessary) as I have a 3850, not the 3870. But I have seen it demonstrated using the T68i & 3870, and it worked well.

T-mobile is a bit of a gamble due to unsure plans by DT on their ownership direction. No personal experience with Sprint, but the few folks I know who have tried it moved to other carriers.

As for Nokia versus SonyE... for what it is worth... I was on the phone with AT&T Tech Support for 1 hour last night, and the level 2 tech uses the Nokia phone for his personal account... he was wishing out loud that he had gone the SonyE route. Be aware that the Nokia does not have a cable option that allows the phone to be used with a PC/Laptop, which the SonyE supports. If you ever want to use the phone as your modem on the road (in a pinch), a PC/Laptop without Bluetooth will be in trouble.

Good luck... and post what you end up choosing... I'm sure folks will be interested.
Cheers

[don dre]

I have a Nokia 3360 on ATTWS. I will be hard pressed to by another Nokia phone anytime soon. Besides having an outdated form factor, the phone resets after i check voice mail, has poor volume control while talking, stores only th elast five incoming call numbers, and the battery comes loose all the time. I used to have an ericsson and while it had its flaws i prefer my OLD phone to my newer one. I look forward to coupling my 3970 with the T68.

[fulltilt]

Points to be aware of....I believe SonyEricsson are scaling back on the whole phone joint venture.

Wait for the new Nokias to arrive, as much as I would like the (PPCPhone)stinger, you won't be able to beat the style of the new colour nokias. I've used the 7650, and while it is early days for cameras in mobile phones, it eats the offering in the same space from SonyEricsson....

[merlin]

I've been using the T68i and my iPAQ3870.
It's been working very well. I'm using AT&T in Las Vegas.
Also the Motorola bluetooth headset works well with it also. :)

[njb42]

Another data point: I have the T68m and T-Mobile service. Coverage in the Philadelphia area and around the suburbs is very good, comparable to what I have with SprintPCS even though Voicestream is (was) a much smaller company. I have a 3850 with Anycom CF bluetooth card, Motorola BT headset, and Ericsson HBH-30 BT headset.

[hilldl]

I purchased a new T68i from BestBuy last week ($25 after rebates) and signed on with ATTWS. So far everything is excellent. I use the bluetooth between my iPAQ and my T68i for the web and am so thankful for the mobile version of PocketPCThoughts. I just wish Yahoo could tell me how to connect Yahoo! Messenger. I downloaded the app from yahoo and it fires up, finds all of my friends, but never finishes connecting.

Oh well, the T68i and PDA is a hit!... :D

[ajf]

I have had a T-Mobile account for the past few years and used it across the US with a high rate of success.

I just got a Nokia 6310i , which has excellent battery life, from expansys.com recently and while I don't yet have Bluetooth on my iPAQ (3835) I have linked via IR. Also, I played with a 3970 at CompUSA and had no problem linking to the Nokai via Bluetooth. :P

Finally, I have heard the T-Mobile are revising their GPRS data rates (which currently don't exactly promote extensive data use) to something more realistic.

ajf.

[Underwater Mike]

I'm in the middle of a 12-month contract with Sprint, and just got a new LG 5350 to replace a poorly performing Samsung. The Sanyo 4900 is the BEST Sprint phone as far as reception, but the 5350 is the only one that can link via cable to a PPC. Speaking of cables, $70 for phone-toPC and $65 for phone-to-iPAQ! Guess I have to keep the 3635 longer, too, now that I've purchased ANOTHER ridiculously expensive cable. :cry:

It KILLS me that Sprint has no phones with IR, let alone Bluetooth. And all the CDMA Bluetooth phones currently in the pipeline are slated for Verizon, not Sprint. Stupid, stupid, stupid. :x

I know that some manufacturers (e.g., Ericsson) offer BT adapters for their phones, but they're big and expensive -- often as much as the phones themselves. And I've yet to find a BT adapter/dongle for ANY Sprint phone.

I've been with Sprint and had the same number since '97, but the total lack of BT support is the last straw. My next PPC (Dell? Loox?) will support BT either natively or through a card; I really don't care which. But if Sprint doesn't come out with a BT phone when the contract's up, I'll be long gone. And I suspect that the best users of Sprint's higher-margin services (e.g., data, bulk minutes) also will leave.

[ajf]

It KILLS me that Sprint has no phones with IR, let alone Bluetooth. And all the CDMA Bluetooth phones currently in the pipeline are slated for Verizon, not Sprint. Stupid, stupid, stupid. :x


Sprint is unusual as a cell phone provider in that they spec the phone rather than have the manufactures spec the phones as is the norm with the GSM phones.
In the GSM market, the phone manufacturers develop phone specs based on what their market research folks tell them is needed. Then they try to sell the network providers on the different models. That way the network providers buy phones that have already been "pre-segmented" from a marketing perspective and arguably have to spend less time figuring that out on their own. Sprint obviously believes that they can segement the market better and probably have better control on the margins on the phones.

They probably have not seen a large demand for BT and will only start producing BT phones when there is a popular demand.

This is one of the reasons I use GSM/GPRS vs Sprint's CDMA network (besides the fact that it works virtually everywhere outside of the US :wink: ).

[EricMCarson]

I can wholeheartedly recommend to you the SonyEricsson T68i as a great companion phone to use with the 3870/3970 series iPaqs. It is easy to connect (Voicestream, now T-Mobile support talked me through setting up the second profile on my phone, which is necessary for the GPRS on the iPaq).

BTW, I am in contact with the SonyEricsson team and there are no plans for them to scale back on phone production (they are actually releasing more phones than ever in Q4 02 and Q1 03). The T68i appears to be just the beginning for the U.S. market.

Also, I would recommend T-Mobile over ATTWS as your carrier. The support at ATTWS has always been dismal with my wife's phone (T68i as well), while the T-Mobile folks just seem more informed. I also live near the Chicago area (South Bend) and am over there quite a bit, so I can tell you that T-Mobile coverage there is great.

Just my 2 cents.

[Wiggin]

Also, I would recommend T-Mobile over ATTWS as your carrier. The support at ATTWS has always been dismal with my wife's phone (T68i as well), while the T-Mobile folks just seem more informed. I also live near the Chicago area (South Bend) and am over there quite a bit, so I can tell you that T-Mobile coverage there is great.

Not to be contrarian (double negative? :? ), but I have been on the phone with ATTWS support 3 times now, and each time they have been extremely helpful and patient as I have run them ragged trying to push the T68i envelope. (I have to believe that the phone support folks have a love/hate thing for extreme techs that call :P ). Just wanted to give ATTWS some public support for their excellent tech support.

As for which is better between ATT and T-Mobile, that conclusion needs to rest squarely on the "coverage & quality" pegs. Folks should choose the provider who offers the best GSM coverage and signal strength in their geography. Phone features and customer support are important...but that's a constantly moving target. Solid coverage is the key! 8)

[RKosin]

Keep an eye or should we say ear :? out for the upcomming motorola line begining with the T720i

[Janak Parekh]

Keep an eye or should we say ear :? out for the upcomming motorola line begining with the T720i
Is the "i" going to have Bluetooth? I've not heard anything in that direction. Currently the only (freaking) Motorola phone with Bluetooth is the Timeport 270c, and it doesn't support high-speed. Rumor has it that Motorola will support Bluetooth via the GSM/GPRS P280i, but it's not out yet and in the meantime the Nokia 6310i and T68 have conquered the Bluetooth-GSM market.

Motorola is one of the big problems in non-Bluetooth adoption, especially with respect to CDMA networks. I used to say the same about Nokia, but they have about 3 phones in the pipeline with it, and SonyEricsson has been one of the best (now, if either would start producing BT CDMA phones...). Even the P800 smartphone will have Bluetooth! I'm using a T68m now (well, it's getting upgraded to an "i" as we speak) and, yes, it's one of the best BT phones on the market today.

Mike: which Verizon phones are slated to have Bluetooth? The only one I hear rumblings about, occasionally, is the LG VX9000 or somesuch, but rumor also has it that phone is not making it to market. BTW, a rumor I read here or on a similar webboard wrt Sprint is that they won't encourage BT for now because it will complicate their Vision plans. I'm not sure how true that is... it's frustrating in any case. I'm waiting for the day when big businesses start moving from Sprint due to their lack of BT. I know I moved away from Verizon, even with their superior coverage over T-Mobile, because of their lack of BT... but one consumer doesn't make enough of a difference...

--bdj

[inkfox]

I purchased a new T68i from BestBuy last week ($25 after rebates) and signed on with ATTWS.

I hate you! I just paid $200 for mine. :)