Cheaper phone to use as modem - suggestions?

[yardcat]

Over the past several months I tried soo hard to find the perfect, super PPC PE device that just wasn't there. I would like to put as much money as I can into a really nice PPC (Loox N560 ?) and just get a cheaper phone gprs/edge capable phone with decent bluetooth, that could be used as a modem. I don't care about the web capability of the phone and am not a big email/text user. The PPC can do ALL of the heavy lifting, and the phone can (hopefully) be a small device that doesn't get in my way.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. thanks.

[Cybrid]

Over the past several months I tried soo hard to find the perfect, super PPC PE device that just wasn't there. I would like to put as much money as I can into a really nice PPC (Loox N560 ?) and just get a cheaper phone gprs/edge capable phone with decent bluetooth, that could be used as a modem. I don't care about the web capability of the phone and am not a big email/text user. The PPC can do ALL of the heavy lifting, and the phone can (hopefully) be a small device that doesn't get in my way.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. thanks.This would require your location and a list of carriers in that area.

[GSmith]

I think the relevant carriers in Pheonix, AZ, USA are going to be Cingular, T-Mobile, and Verizon. I don't have any experience with Verizon (High EVDO speeds with reportedly bluetooth-DUN-disabled phones), but both Cingular and T-Mobile offer reasonable monthly rates on slow (GPRS/EDGE speeds, in my experience, up to 15kbytes per second for edge).

In Pheonix, you may be getting UTMS "by the end of the year" but I'm not sure of the rollout schedule nor the prices (in fact, you may already have UTMS aka "High Speed Internet"). Ulimited EDGE on T-Mobile and Cingular costs +$20/month on top of a voice plan. Although Cingular will try to sell you $40-$80 per month "tethered" MediaNet plan, in my experience it is not necessary.

I've used Sony Ericsson T610 (the modern equivelant *used* to be the T630, but these are not available anymore) and the Motorola V551 with success. The T610 and T630 are GPRS (5kbytes per second) while the V551 is EDGE. Both require power cycling every once in a while (depending on 1) usage, 2) specific PPC, and 3) inadvertant loss of bluetooth connection). It's relatively easy to stay on the low end: get the cheapest phone with bluetooth and get the highest data throughput you can. Pick your carrier based on service in your area. Then once you get the phone (from a friendly local store), test it with your Windows Mobile device. There will be a limited selection at your local store that offer both bluetooth and data. Make sure you go to a "corporate" store, not one of those "multi-vendor" stores. In my experience, the "corporate" stores are more lenient with getting you the right phone.

Hope this helps.

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - The Pocket PC *direct* RSS text, audio, video, podcasts
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road

[yardcat]

Thanks for your generous input, I will definitely check these out. Future UTMS service may be another reason to go the cheap phone + 'fabulous' PPC route, because when UTMS COMES out, I can just buy another phone!

I will probably be using T-mobile, (no UTMS currently).
A slight possibility for Cingular, but some surveys show
poor service in Phoenix, and want to stay with GPS
providers. I don't like Verizon. On my budget, I'de
rather use free and T-Mo hotspots for WIFI bandwidth.
These kinds of access points are readily available here,
and I may even go pure PPC VOIP in the future. BTW does
anyone know if T-Mo cripples its branded devices?
Generally, I guess I would prefer to get an unlocked
phone, leaving more options with GSM carriers.

The cheap/inexpensive phone option, of course, relies on
excellent bluetooth tethering ability or possibly 'direct
cabling' connectivity of the phone. Is buggy bluetooth
only a problem with PPC/WM5 devices? Also, in my
ignorance, I assume that an inexpensive phone, itself,
will not somehow slow down the (original) GPRS/Edge data
stream (poor CPU speeds or 'whatever'?-- beyond my
knowledge).

[Menneisyys]

Is buggy bluetooth
only a problem with PPC/WM5 devices?

I use my WM5 x51v (connected to a WM5 HTC Wizard via BT) regularly, using the Wizard's EDGE modem to access the Net. No bugs/annoyances so far, except for the need for a restart of both devices (say, once a day).

[yardcat]

Thanks Menneisyys
I previously read your blog tutorial on setting up bluetooth connections with your x51v and the excellent PE HTC Wizard device. But I'm not sure I can afford a Wizard to use as the 'phone' part with PPC. The phone definitely needs edge (gprs too slow). I checked the SE 610, 630 that many have been using, and I don't believe they had edge support. The newer SEs do, but the ones I saw were pretty expensive. I would prefer to spend $200 +/- unlocked.

Does anyone know of a cheaper simple phone with edge and bluetooth?
Also could data throughput thru the phone itself be slowed down in any way by using a cheaper phone? Thanks again for everyones suggestions.

[Menneisyys]

I checked the SE 610, 630 that many have been using, and I don't believe they had edge support.



Yup, they're GPRS only.

You may want to ask the HowardForums.com forum folks for their opinions on a cheap EDGE-capable phone.

[GSmith]

Motorola v551 has EDGE (although I've had one in-store Cingular representative tell me otherwise). I've downloaded about 15kbytes per second through it to my Windows Mobile Pocket PC over bluetooth.

[yardcat]

Thanks again GSmith,
however, I just took a more expensive plunge and ordered the T-Mo MDA, which had always seemed to be one of the better PE devices, and the $350 price (with rebate) persuaded me. I still fully intend to get a PPC, for the previously discussed reasons, but this will provice a PE that I can carry everywhere, at times when I don't want to carry an expensive PPC (Loox N560 ?, or the roomy HP4705 - less expensive) or two items. I also gives me time to see how some of the WM5 bluetooth issues get worked out. Not exactly the cheap phone, but I can use some of its functionality on a daily basis.

yardcat

[yardcat]

GSmith wrote:

I've downloaded about 15kbytes per second through it to my Windows Mobile Pocket PC over bluetooth.

Oh! I forgot. That seems much slower than what I figured might be 90 +/- kbs! Is anyone is getting faster data throughput speeds?

Also, (and this shows my limited knowledge) is it possible to hardwire a connection between 'phone modem' and a laptop or PPC. I guess you need the equivalent of a network card in the 'phone' PE device and input/output to connect the hardwire to?[/quote]

[GSmith]

I was simply reporting my experience as 15 kiloBYTES per second. Your expectation of 90kbs is likely 90 kiloBITS per second. Which is roughly equivalent to somewhere between 9 and 11 kiloBYTES per second.

(That's why I wrote it as kbytes per second in the first place, to avoid the bits/bytes confusion.)

Does this help?

[yardcat]

Thanks GSmith,

That is a very acceptible speed, and I also learned something.
yardcat

[Menneisyys]

GSmith wrote:

I've downloaded about 15kbytes per second through it to my Windows Mobile Pocket PC over bluetooth.

Oh! I forgot. That seems much slower than what I figured might be 90 +/- kbs! Is anyone is getting faster data throughput speeds?

90 kbit/s = 11.25 kbyte/s.

The maximal throughput I could achieve was around 220-230 kbps over EDGE, with the fastest ROM. You may want to read this article (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=518&more=1) for my benchmarks and remarks on different HTC Wizard ROM version EDGE speeds. (Also read the comments.)


Also, (and this shows my limited knowledge) is it possible to hardwire a connection between 'phone modem' and a laptop or PPC. I guess you need the equivalent of a network card in the 'phone' PE device and input/output to connect the hardwire to?

Sure it is possible. See my tutorial on using PPC PE devices as dial-up GPRS/EDGE modems.

[Mark Larson]

If you're with T-Mobile, good cheap phones with EDGE are: Nokia 6101 (no Bluetooth, has IR), Motorola V330 (good phone), Motorola V360 (has mp3 player) and Samsung T809 (costs as much as a PPC). The V330 is the best option out of these, and I think I saw a post on the PHX craigslist listing one of these for $50.

T-Mobileweb is $5.99 but you can't access https, the $29.99 plan includes Hotspots. Both include EDGE.

[russd7]

I don't know if this is a real true speed or not but I have a v551 and I live in Michigan and I just learned how to get my cell to connect to my laptop by blutooth to use the internet. When I got it connected it said its speed was 921.23 Kbps. I'm not kidding in any way! I don't know if this is the true speed as I don't have unlimited medianet and don't want to rack up a huge bill to test it any further. I plan to get the unlimited media net to start using it if it really is this fast. Does this speed seem normal or not. I also am planing on using it with a Axim x51v when I get it!

Thanks Russell

[Menneisyys]

I don't know if this is a real true speed or not but I have a v551 and I live in Michigan and I just learned how to get my cell to connect to my laptop by blutooth to use the internet. When I got it connected it said its speed was 921.23 Kbps. I'm not kidding in any way! I don't know if this is the true speed as I don't have unlimited medianet and don't want to rack up a huge bill to test it any further. I plan to get the unlimited media net to start using it if it really is this fast. Does this speed seem normal or not. I also am planing on using it with a Axim x51v when I get it!

Thanks Russell

It's just the (theoretical) Bluetooth connection speed between the computer and the phone, not the "real" speed of the phone. The latter is EDGE "only", so, you can't expect more than 200-220 kbps from it.

[yardcat]

I'm still checking out "cheap" bluetooth phones to use for a phone PPC combo. The previously mentioned Motorola v330 seemed like one good possibility. Maybe I'm wrong but most of the Motos seemed like they were branded on pricegrabber. I'm leary of buying a branded phone, because of my experience with a new T-Mo MDA and the hacks that seemed to be necessary to make this phone function (see thread Branded vs Unbranded). But maybe it doesn't matter for simple 'unsmart' phones.

Noone ever answered me directly, but are data throughput speeds slowed down by using a cheaper 'unsmart' phone as a modem to access Edge through bluetooth? Also, if I want to 'hardwire' tether the phone with a PDA (not go the bluetooth route), do I need to go to a smart phone to be able to have a USB port, what phones have USB ports and do they need to be Host USB?

[Mark Larson]

The V330 and V360 are T-Mobile exclusive phones.