Well, basically...anything you will get here in the
United States will be a less than a perfect solution.
And unless you can put up with little niggling
problems, it's not really worth the effort. There have
been some success stories using various pieces of
equipment. Most notable is the Sprint solution...but,
unless you plan to be within 3-5 miles of a major
interstate, chances are that there will be no Sprint
coverage. And don't rely on their coverage maps
either...Sprint says they have coverage but it's
spotty at best and not contiguous. Sprint just doesn't
have the saturation to cover remote areas.
The best bet is that if this is something you really
want to do is to use a dual mode phone that allows a
forced connection to analog. Analog will probably be
your best bet for data. But, don't expect anything
faster than 9,600 baud...(or slower). My own personal
recommendation (because that's what I've used) is to
use a Motorola Startac, (any model will work...fcn-2
puts the phone in analog mode) and a Motorola Montana
card. The tricky part will be getting the interface
cable that goes between the cell phone and the
card...They are usually expensive, costing somewhere
around $60-100 new...I doubt you'll be able to find
one used...
Honestly though...the wireless communications industry
in this country is soooooo out dated...it's almost
impossible to get anything useful out of wireless
messageing...Heck, even SMS doesn't work the way it
should!
I believe in the FAQ, there is further information on
cellular interfacing with your Newton. But I hate to
rain on your parade...it more than likely will not be
worth it.
Ed
web/gadget guru
http://newton.tek-ed.com (download Newton packages)
http://npds.tek-ed.com (my NPDS server and it's new
subdomain)
--- John Goggan <jgoggan_at_dcg.com> wrote:
>
>
> Later this summer, I'll be taking some Scouts to
> Summer Camp for a week. I
> don't want to be without email access during that
> time (can't get too woods-y,
> now can we??). So -- I'd like to be able to use my
> Newt with SimpleMail while
> I am there.
>
> Currently, I have a wireless phone that I'm about to
> ditch since I'm not happy
> with the plan nor service. Therefore, I'm fairly
> open as to where to go --
> either wireless or cellular from wherever. I'm
> therefore looking for
> recommendations on what hardware can be used on the
> Newt to do what I'd
> like... And what phone (if any) I might need to do
> it. I see several ways of
> doing this:
>
> 1. Cellular PCMCIA modem (i.e. no phone needed).
> 2. Wireless/PCS PCMCIA modem (i.e. no phone needed).
> 3. Serial-port connected cellular device/phone?
> 4. Serial-port connected wireless device/phone?
> 5. PCMCIA-to-phone connection?
> 6. Serial-to-phone connection?
>
> I'm just not that familiar with cellular or wireless
> -- especially when it
> comes to it being compatible for connecting to a
> Newt.
>
> So -- anyone have any recommendations? I did do
> some searching, but most of
> what I found seemed to be specific to Europe. Or,
> at least enough that I
> didn't want to go buying anything before I actually
> spoke with someone using
> the hardware in the USA.
>
> I'd basically like to stay cheap, of course. I can
> live with buying an older
> 28.8k modem or something (as opposed to 56k) if that
> will save me cash. I see
> some $20-$30 older cards on EBay that seem that they
> might work, but I'd like
> some suggestions from people actually using hardware
> first...
>
> Thanks!
>
> - John...
>
> P.S. I do have access to a Nokia 5165 that I'm
> considering making my normal
> phone. So, if someone has any specific experience
> with this phone and a Newt
> via either a serial or PCMCIA connection cable to
> it, I'd certainly be
> interested in hearing about it!
>
> --
> Read the List FAQ/Etiquette:
> http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html
> Read the Newton FAQ:
> http://www.guns-media.com/mirrors/newton/faq/
> This is the NewtonTalk mailing list -
> http://www.newtontalk.net
>
=====
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
- Arthur C. Clarke -
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-- Read the List FAQ/Etiquette: http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html Read the Newton FAQ: http://www.guns-media.com/mirrors/newton/faq/ This is the NewtonTalk mailing list - http://www.newtontalk.net
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