Re: Mobile broadband
- From: Theo Markettos <theom+news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 04 May 2008 20:42:43 +0100 (BST)
Paul Vigay <invalid-email-address@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It depends on what kind of card you have. Most mobile DSL cards I've seen
are either PCMCIA or USB, which means they won't work by directly plugging
into a RISC OS machine.
Someone wrote a USB-serial driver which might work - I can't remember
whether phones' USB interfaces implement an RS232-over-USB protocol or
whether the data interface is tied up with all the other features (like
editing the contacts book and taking photos).
There's nothing per se to stop you using mobile broadband on RISC OS, IF
you can connect the RISC OS machine to the mobile device. I've got a mobile
phone here which works as a mobile modem, and does work on RISC OS (via a
suitable serial lead), but that's a but cludgy and is an old phone I don't
really use anymore.
If you can find a non-USB phone you should be able to get mobile broadband
working over a serial cable. You might find it a bit tricky to find a 3G
phone with a serial connection though. It might help to use a third-party
serial card so you can get 460kbps on the serial cable (this is enough for
3G non-HSDPA at max 384kbps download - I've achieved 40KB/s over this
non-HSDPA connection so it is possible. More common download speed is
6-10KB/s in this area).
A Nokia 7600 is a good cheap phone to use as a data modem only - I think it
should be usable with a serial cable.
I /think/ you can get mobile routers, which basically comprise a mini
ethernet router with built-in GSM modem so you can simply take the SIM card
out of your phone and plug into the mobile router, then connect the
computer via ethernet, as you would to a normal router - but after a brief
search around I can't find any examples.
There are a few in the Draytek 2800/2900 series, and some from Billion:
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/Search/SearchResults.asp?SearchColumn=&QSearch=3g%20router
They usually take a 3G connection using the USB modem supplied by your
network, though. Presumably they'd work with a USB cable to a phone too.
One other thing to think about is signal quality - I'm posting this through
an Ubuntu+Bluetooth+Nokia N70+Three Mobile Broadband connection. I know
there's exactly one Three base station on the other site of the village. If
the phone is downstairs it rapidly drops back to 2G and even then has
trouble pulling any data at all. If I mount it in an upstairs window
looking towards the transmitter I have 100% 3G signal. This may be the
fault of Three's network, but I suspect it might apply to others if you're
in anything like a marginal site. In this case a wireless router might come
in handy because you can mount the phone/USB adaptor somewhere with good
signal - but you will need occasional access to the phone for topups,
balance checking etc.
A tip: try your chosen network on PAYG before signing any contracts so you
know what coverage is like. Borrow an unlocked 3G phone if you need to, or
buy a cheap 7600 (about 10-20 quid on eBay and free-ish unlock codes).
Theo
.
- References:
- Mobile broadband
- From: Colin Matthews
- Mobile broadband
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