Do you Dial-up?

[codyplaysguitar]

I recently purchased a samsung a930 from Verizon and have paired it with my axim x51. The a930 can be used as a wireless modem for my axim, however, Verizon's broadband plan runs about $60.00 in addition to my regular phone plan, so I've decided to go with the ol' dial-up. I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who uses dial-up on their axim and what company they use?

I've been researching this and have had no luck finding a company that has dial-up and is compatible with my axim.

Thanks,

-C

[mbloof]

Greetings:

While this is not "axim specific" you do have a few options available to you.

1. "plain old dialup" requires a modem. Might it be a CF card modem which you attach to a POTS (plain old telephone service) line or a serial cable which you cable a standard external modem to your Axim.

2. Wifi/Bluetooth to a access point/another device. While this will work at home, on the road there are many FREE access points available, however in many places only PTU (pay to use) access points are available.

3. Bluetooth/cable to your cell phone. All the wireless carriers call this "tethering" and in most cases will require a "data plan" to be able to use this feature.

5-6 years ago, Verizon sold a "mobile office kit" which allowed "tethering" a data device to a cell phone for only the cost of the minutes used @ 14.4KBPS. After finding that most users would rather suffer along for cheap/nearly free at that speed instead of paying for their overpriced and overly restrictive "data service", Verizon is rumored to have disabled that feature on their network.

Sprint buys their hardware from the same suppliers and as such has/had a similar problem. In their case, they did not disable the feature on the towers, but instead just stopped selling "data kits" and later programed their phones not to use the feature. Rumor has it that those with older phones and after market data kits are still able to "tether" at up to 76KBPS.

Sprint will sell "PAM" (Phone As a Modem) plans to folks that have a voice plan.

T-Mobile has a number of 'data plans' that go from cheap to expensive. They allow "tethering" in some limited cases. Its rumored that some of these plans could be "misused" or "cheated on".

Cingular also has a number of 'data plans' that go from cheap to expensive. They allow "tethering" in some limited cases.


While the FCC and Congress wonders why "broadband" has not taken off in the USA, the simple fact is that its just priced outside of reach of most Americans. Cellular service did not take off in this country until simple, cheap wireless plans became the norm. The internet was limited to "geeks only" until cheap "unlimited flat rate" pricing became the norm.

Until cheap flat rate services become the norm, the same could easily be said for wireless data services.

Good luck!!

[Mahstah]

Great post Mark.

I used my old LG VX-6100 phone through Verizon to dial out over a cable with my laptop at 14.4. The VX-6100 is not compatible with broadband speed plans.

When I broke my VX-6100, insurance replaced it with a VX-8100 because they no longer had the 6100 in stock. The LG VX-8100 is broadband compatible.

I paired my X51v to the 8100 over Bluetooth and configured it to be a modem. All appeared well until I'd try to dial out, the phone would dial the number when I wirelessly told it to from the Axim, connect, then disconnect after a couple of seconds. I worked with Verizon support up through their tech levels (this was far too complex for the multiple choice question people) until I got to a competent representative.

He explained that Verizon disables DUN (dial-up networking) on its broadband capable phones because their network couldn't differentiate between broadband and non-broadband phone models. This means that if you use DUN on a broadband capable phone, you'd get high speed without paying for it. DUN on a non-broadband phone gets you 14.4. Verizon purposefully cripples DUN on their broadband capable phones unless you pay for the service.

Note that this was all about a year ago, if anyone has had success getting low speed DUN on a high speed capable phone without paying for high speed service with VZW since then feel free to update.

[codyplaysguitar]

Mark and Mastah - Great posts, thanks very much to the both of you. I really appreciate the detailed, knowledgable responses. Always trying to find new ways to utilize the technology I have in front of me, but when I've hit a road block; I guess I must move on.

Mastah - I experienced the EXACT same issue. Never had I found the correct answer to my problem, I had no idea they disabled DUN on high speed capable phones.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it.

-c

[nate]

I wanted to add a little information to this post as I've been using verizon for data for the last 4 years.

It is true that Verizon offers free internet on their 1x network to the 1x only phones. The speeds on this network peak around 140K, not too shabby for a cell phone. They also offer a low speed service called "QNC" that is only 14.4K.

I recently upgraded to a new LG phone that was EVDO capable because I wanted my x50v to be able to link up BT and get on the free network. I found out that you can no longer get on the 1x free network if you have a EV(EVDO) capable phone. I found after researching online that it wasn't Verizon that was limiting the phone, but the phone itself.

These new EVDO phones are capable of data transfer speeds up to 2MB/s, which is insanely fast for a cell phone. I believe this is why Verizon doesn't allow you to use your new phone for free internet, they don't want to give away such high speed internet.

The proper way to connect to the National Access 1x data network is by dialing #777 and using the username 5555555555@vzw3g.com and the password vzw. The username should be your 10 digit phone number@vzw3g.com for clarification.

There is a file on the phone that stores the connection settings for logging into the Verizon data services (mobile web, get it now, pix, vcast). With these new EVDO capable phones, verizon has started forcing the phone to connect with the username 5555555555@dun.vzw3g.com instead of @vzw3g.com.

This file can be changed and the @dun.vzw3g.com changed to @vzw3g.com which magically allows the phone back onto the network. Also, by having this information stored in the phone, when you log on from the pda or laptop, you only have to dial #777 as the username and password is hard coded into the phone.

If anyone is interested in this, I recommend forcing your phone into 1x only mode and not allowing yourself to get on the EVDO (2MB/s) network. Verizon still allows you to get on the 1x network with a 1x phone, so at least force your phone into 1x mode if you do this.

I'm not trying to suggest that anyone hack their phone or steal anything. When I called them on the phone, they said as long as you have a non EVDO phone, you can get on the internet for free. All this stuff does is force your phone into 1x mode and fix the connection string so that it can properly log on again.

-nate

[Mahstah]

Thanks for the quality info Nate! I will be experimenting with your suggestions and my Axim.

[nate]

Let me warn you that you will need to use your computer with your phone. That means either bluetooth or the usb cable.

If you want any aditional info, I'd be happy to write a little how-to.

[Mahstah]

I'm interested in using the phone for dial-up with an X51v, not a desktop.

Which did you test with?

[nate]

Originally Posted by Mahstah

I'm interested in using the phone for dial-up with an X51v, not a desktop.

Which did you test with?

After the phone's data file is adjusted, you can use the phone with either. I'm just saying that you need a computer to edit that file.

[codyplaysguitar]

nate,

I'm very interested to learn how you accomplished this; a how-to would be greatly appreciated when you have the time. I'd love to use my cell phone as a dial-up for my axim.

Also, I agree with Mahstah, thanks for the quality info!

Thanks,
-C