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Wireless Networking Hardware

Life on the Road with 3G 188

Posted by michael from the slightly-ahead-of-his-time dept.
david_adams writes "Since I first evaluated Sprint's new Vision "3G" high speed wireless data service in September of last year, I've had the opportunity to travel around the country, using the service to keep in touch with the world, receive all my spam, er, email, and do my work. I've used the service in hotels, restaurants, parked cars, moving cars, picnic tables, and airports, in huge cities, and in desolate stretches of interstate highway. Here are my impressions after this long term test."
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Life on the Road with 3G More

Life on the Road with 3G

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  • What we really want to know is... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bingo Foo ( 179380 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @11:50AM (#5597781)
    ...Can you hear me now?

  • SMS (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SuperQ ( 431 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @11:54AM (#5597796) Homepage
    From talking to people I know in europe, the reason SMS is so popular is that SMS messages cost a ton less than talking on the phone. I don't belive "continent wide free long distance" exists over there. Some places still charge by the min for land -line phone calls.

    • Re:SMS (Score:3, Insightful)

      by pork_spies ( 659663 )
      SMS messages aren't cheaper. As they are unregulated they are cash cows for the telcos and a lot more expensive. They are popular because they are convenient and fun. Watching a football (soccer) game you can send a message without having to go into the whole how's the wife/kids/job/mortgage guff.

    • Re:SMS (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ojQj ( 657924 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:30PM (#5597978)
      I have to say, I personally hate SMS's, and they aren't cheap, but I can see why some people do like them:
      1. You can communicate from a loud disco
      2. You can communicate without interrupting someone in case they are doing something important (similar to e-mail)
      3. You can communicate with someone in a language they don't feel terribly comfortable in since they don't have to respond in real time

      This is all aside from the wierd fashion it has become among some teens here in Germany.


      That said, I don't think SMS will be terribly popular once real e-mail is more mobily accessible.

    • Re:SMS (Score:2, Interesting)

      by slhack3r ( 324207 )
      Here in the US of A, the big advantage of SMS is not cost-based, but the ability to use it when a vocal conversation is just not possible. ex::

      - big lecture classes with attendance policies. everyone has had at least one of these, one where you knew the subject material inside and out but were still required to come. sleeping is *much* more noticable than sending an sms :-)

      - communication with your friends and such at concerts/bars/clubs where there's no way you could hear what was coming out the speaker.
      • I had AT&T PocketNet service for a while. It was discontinued, unfortunately, because I loved it. Unlimited data, WAP browser, etc. It was also free. Free and unlimited - can't beat that.

        I set up my media player (It's a SQL based music database/player that I've been working on for quite some time) to serve WAP pages to my phone. It was great - I could search, browse, etc.

        I could also get whatever info I wanted by surfing around on the WAP web.

        Now the service has been replaced with a charged-by-the-ki

  • 3G in Japan (Score:3, Informative)

    by Mossfoot ( 310128 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @11:54AM (#5597798) Homepage
    I've seen video phones being used here all the time... of course, cell phones have been big in Japan since... well the turn of the 18th century I think.... they all had mobile tin cans and very long lengths of string. Seriously, you'd wonder how they lived without it.

    Anyways, advertising here is heavily promoting the use of 3G phones, the fear is despite the techno-addiction of most people here, there might not be enough people using it to be commercially viable. Some people ("gasp") get buy with JUST email on their phone and don't need to see crotch shots of their friend's pet dog sleeping!

  • 3G vs. Wi-Fi (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Vollernurd ( 232458 )
    In Europe at least the 3G vendors like Hutchison and Vodafone will be sweating a little over whether Wi-Fi hotspots will steal potential market share away from their target markets.

    Wi-Fi = cheaper, more widely supported. Also 3G handsets are going to be too expesive for most users, for a few years anyway.

    Could be interesting to see how the technologies mature and maybe merge (3G PCMCIA cards?)
    • WANDA is the tech you're looking for... Texas Instruments. it's the Wireless Any Network Digital Assistant and it works on 802.11b, Bluetooth and GSM (presumably GPRS as well as a subset of GSM).

      http://pcworld.co.nz/webhome.nsf/nl/EB6324922049 65 E8CC256CEE0006F27B

      Apologies for the evil URL - damned Notes.

  • SMS (Score:5, Informative)

    by onthefenceman ( 640213 ) <szoepf@hotmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @11:56AM (#5597810)
    The author seems puzzled by the popularity of SMS in Europe, but it's just simple economics. With most plans I've come across in England in France, it's cheaper to send an SMS than to make a 1-minute call. Rates overall are also more expensive, so getting in the habit of sending an SMS rather than making a call lowers your bills.

    The other advantage is that in noisy environments like buses, subways, crowded hallways, etc. you don't have to shout over the crowd to get the message across. This keeps your neighbors from strangling you and lets you say your message once rather than repeating it 3 times.
    • I never get this. Sure an sms may be cheaper than a one minute call, but you need to send half a dozen in order to say the same amount as you can in a one minute call, especially if you're trying to organise something with the party at the other end.

      Goblin

      • Re:SMS (Score:1)

        by lga ( 172042 )
        but you need to send half a dozen in order to say the same amount as you can in a one minute call

        Ah, but no one ever thinks about that. A simple message like "meet you at the train station" can lead to dozens of messages discussing the exact details. People always underestimate how much information you can get into a one minute call and assume that the first message is all they need.

        • "See you at the train station" can often mean just that - if they know what train you're on. Nothing more needs to be said. I'm calling all the time with messages like "There in 15min", where the definaition of "There" changes but is understood by the receiving party.

          In fact, I could probably live with a small set of predefined messages that I could send with the press of a button. I'm not sure I'd really make more than a few calls a month on my cell phone if I had that, and the ability to receive text
      • I never get this. Sure an sms may be cheaper than a one minute call, but you need to send half a dozen in order to say the same amount as you can in a one minute call, especially if you're trying to organise something with the party at the other end.

        And you probably never will. Naturally for such circumstances people in Europe still call. But think about these redundant calls "I'm coming home now. Need anything from the store?" or "Happy new year, you old git." or "I'll be 15 minutes late." or "You awake
      • SMS is the best thing that ever happened to phones. The only thing that sucks is that not too many people in the US use it, or even know about it, but if you can get your friends to use it, its great.

        Here are some great reasons to use it:

        1a.

        - "Hey, can you give me Barney's number?"

        - "Yeah, its 555-"

        - "Why don't you text it to me?"

        - "Far out!"

        2. Communicating in loud places like bars, clubs, and concerts. (Do most /.ers ever go to these places? Maybe not.)

        3. Communicating with other people wh
    • SMS may be cheaper in Europe, but in the US it's the other way around. You pay 10 cents a message *extra* no matter what, while any voice call you make is usually with the already-paid-for minutes included with your plan.

      So in the US, SMS is mostly a zooty novelty service for gadget freaks and people with unlimited expense accounts. In reality it adds little value but much cost, so it hasn't caught on.

  • Speed (Score:5, Informative)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @11:56AM (#5597815) Homepage
    Well he says that he can get 12-18Kb/s per second on GPRS. Well thats not bad but here in the UK its just not worth doing. We are billed on a per Kb cost. To download a 1MB can pay upto US$8. Also the latency sucks so SSH over GPRS isn't the most friendly expierence in the world.

    However we have just had Three [three.co.uk] lauch which should provide real 3G services. Now that should be cool. I can't wait to have to make sure my hair is neat when I answer a video call

    Rus
  • I just bought phones for the wife and myself, and we decided to go with Verizon wireless, mostly cuz the Sprint coverage sucks around here. Does Verizon have some sort of data network so I can hook my laptop to the phone and have real ip (not dialup to my isp)?
    • Verizon does. They also supply the cables for their phones. However, like everything else from Verizon, this is pretty expensive. They have unlimited data for $99/month, and plans that aren't unlimited for less.

      They are also testing what's known as 1xEV-DO, which is a version of CDMA that is optimized for data. There is a theoritical max rate of 2.4Mbps, with the goal of most subscribers to be recieving 300-500kbps. Networks are currently up and running in San Diego and Washington. I have no idea i

    • Yes.. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Adam9 ( 93947 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:26PM (#5597944) Journal
      3 options. The free, the limited, and the expensive-but-oso-cool option.

      Free: Plug in the USB cable and make sure you have the necessary drivers and the phone set to the right setting. Typically, you're limited to 14.4k but it only uses normal airtime with NO extra charges.

      Limited: You can pick a plan with either limited airtime for data or limited usage (like 40mb a month for example).

      Expensive but oso cool: $99.99 a month gets you unlimited, any time of day, bandwidth at constant ~140kbps at peak time and ~170-180+kbps at offpeak hours. I've heard great things about this if you plan on using this a lot.

      You'll need a phone capable of doing this. Most newer phones support it. Check Ebay for a USB cable. It shouldn't cost you more than $11 especially if you check eforcity.com

      For example, my Motorola T720 is recognized as a usb modem when I plug it into my computer. Since I don't pay for any of the plans I mentioned above, I get 14.4. Still good for checking email or browsing low-graphic sites.

      The official info about this kind of stuff can be found here [verizonwireless.com] at Verizon.
      • ok, the free: do I still have to "dial up" to a modem isp, or does the data go straight through verizon?

        -sadly, i don't have the $99/month for the osocool

        • Re:Yes.. (Score:3, Informative)

          by Adam9 ( 93947 )
          Verizon gives you the ISP access, no dialing in. The signon process takes 2 seconds or less. It's pretty cool to try out. Yeah, I suspect the $99 is more for heavy business users. It's fun to use for a laptop in the car on a weekend (assuming you have unlimited nights&weekends).

          If you want to try it out, I'd recommend Googling for your model of phone and look for how to connect it to Verizon's network. For mine, I plug in the usb cable and dial #777 (I think) and user/pass is qnc/qnc.
      • How is the coverage of the broadband service? If you pay the $99, do you get a broadband connection wherever there's digital coverage? Also, does the $99 plan require a contract, or can you do it month to month like you can with their other options? Also, if I add Canada to my national (US) plan, will it work up there?

        I have Verizon but I've never gotten around to trying the regular free service. 14.4k may be slow, but it's plenty fast for email. Now that the cables are available cheap I'll have to gi
        • Assuming you're on the America's Choice plan, I think the coverage should follow similar to that plan though the extended network may not support it. (Extended network = non-Verizon towers)

          I also think the $99 would be an option that goes on top of your existing plan.

          I doubt it'll work in Canada because the single rate Canadian plan means that Verizon is dishing out money to the towers it has roaming contracts with up north. Since they aren't owned by Verizon, I wouldn't expect express coverage.

          Yeah, tha

  • Why do I read the articles first? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jonbrewer ( 11894 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:09PM (#5597860) Homepage
    First off, he's not talking about 3G. Not even close. If the Slashdot posting had said 2.5G, I'd have ignored it. I mean, I've been using GPRS in Boston on T-Mobile's network for over two years, and it's nothing to write about. He can't even read his email on his phone! Bah. I was using Outlook on my iPaq using a bluetooth connection to my GPRS enabled Nokia 6330i almost a year ago.

  • "For now, though, if you're "in the know," you can access the internet wirelessly from most urbanized areas in the United States for $10 per month, with only a threatened, unenforced restriction on usage."

    Sounds like Sprint's got another 10,000 people "in the know" on their hands...

  • It's nice on a "3G" phone (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I got a Treo 300 on Sprint, and absolutely love the Blazer browser on it. Yes, it's http, not WAP, which I agree rather sucks. The speed is a bit slow (I can confirm 12-18 kbits/sec, often half that), but always-on free (as in beer) net access is just dead cool. The screen is considerably larger and clearer than other phones, even other Palm phones.

    A number of sites from Google to the BBC have text versions which render beautifully on the little screen and seem to be served up automatically when I go to

    • Linux support (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Forgot to mention Linux now supports hot-syncing to the Treo 300, though you need Greg K-H's latest kernel patch (visor driver v2.1, on kernel.org, should get into 2.4.21, may already be in 2.5), and a patched gnome-pilot. See the gnome-pilot and/or pilot-link list archives of the last couple of months for details.

      Onward to supporting it as a USB net device!
    • Slashdot has worked fine for me - the only trick is that instead of using Slashdot's Palm interface [slashdot.org], I've created a new account and set it to always display in light mode. That way I can browse through comments and post and what not if I'm bored.

      Just some advice from another Treo 300 owner. :)
  • It was fun to fiddle around with, but it took too long to get any useful information, and the tiny monochrome screen and "walled garden" web service didn't help. It was useful for monitoring a stock price, but not much else

    I was an early adapter to AT&T's Wireless Web service, and have been using it quite successfully for about 2 years now. The problem the author mentions of the "walled garden" is real, but I found the real use of this service was as an email "article repository" for myself.

    What I d

  • What is this shlock? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ilsie ( 227381 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:14PM (#5597880)
    So first of all, the /. title and the title of the article are "Life on the road with 3G," when he's not even using 3G? What the heck? From what I understand, 2.5G is an order of magnitude slower than 3G, isn't it?

    Secondly, the whole article is pretty much a gripe/review of the specific Samsung A500 Hardware that he's using, and hardly even goes into the 2.5G service?!??! Thanks, buddy, for letting me know that the A500 has A. a crappy web browser, B. a crappy cable, and C. no bluetooth (crappy). I'm also glad to know that you think SMS is useless. That's really great to know IN YOUR SUPPOSED REVIEW OF 3G. WTF.

    I know this has been said a bajillion times before, but could the editors please stop to read the stories they post once in a while?
    • Maybe you should RTFA before laying into the editors.

      1) "Life on the Road with 3G" was the actual name of the article.

      2) RTFBQ:

      First of all, I know that despite some of the more highfalutin marketing, SprintPCS Vision is not really 3G, but is really "2.5G," or a stepping stone between the previous dog-slow wireless data services and the promised, faster 3G services that are just now starting to be rolled out in test areas. 2.5G networks, using either GPRS or CDMA-1X, have proliferated in the past year

    • Re:What is this shlock? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      2.5G is an order of magnitude slower than 3G, isn't it?

      Yes, but like many other hacks, this one has been suckered into calling the GPRS services "3G" by the mobile companies. You see it would hurt their feelings to admit that they're a generation behind the rest of the world in mobile technology, so they skipped 2.5G and managed to make it all the way to 3G. Except it isn't 3G, its 2.5G. And they have no plans to roll out "real" 3G; at least, nothing significant.

      If you want some reviews of 3G, keep
    • I concur. Additionally, the most important thing about ANY wireless service is coverage.
      I'm a former Sprint customer specifically because the service is awful. I dropped about every other call.

      You can't roll out service like this for anything important (aka your business) w/o being sure coverage is excellent. And what do we get from this review? A short blurb about the great coverage in Arizona, where you can see all the way to Las Vegas on a good day.

      Somebody please wake me for the detailed rev
      • Sprint has made some GREAT improvements in their service in the Denver area. It used to suck-suck-suck, but has gotten better.

        They still have issues with anything beyond base service though. To download anything you have to pay for it. I ddin't realize that was reoccuring every 3 months though. What a joke...

  • Now that I have 3G on the road, what should I do with my life?

  • Bluetooth Phones and Terms of Service (Score:3, Informative)

    by sh0gun ( 85858 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:22PM (#5597910) Homepage
    A little research would have showed that Sony Ericsson will be releasing the t608 for Sprint which is Bluetooth enabled. The t608 is perhaps the big brother of the t68i.

    http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?id=22 8

    Also, using a phone connected to a computer via a data cable is a violation of the Sprint Terms of Service. If you do it enough they will charge you. The Unlimited Vision plans are intended to be used via handset and not cables. Sprint has the wireless internet cards for a reason and if you use these cards you get fast speed compared to the data cable method. Right now Sprint is assumably letting data cable internet usage slide because not a lot of people do it, but if it becomes popular they will start cracking down and many people will see lots of charges on their bill from it.

    You've been warned.

  • err G3? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by kenydl ( 145388 )

    SprintPCS Vision is not really 3G, but is really "2.5G,"

    wow, that's new. My mobile is a year old and supported GPRS (ie G2.5) on Orange out of the box. Granted I'm in the UK, but this isn't really new and it is defiantly not G3.

    The huge problem with G2.5 is not bandwidth, but latency. If you try running TCPIP over GPRS, it all goes to pot due to the 2sec+ latency. TCP is just not optimised to work well with such a long delay. Hopefully G3 will perform better than this.

    Oh and try to convince any european

  • really 2.5G (Score:5, Interesting)

    by guacamolefoo ( 577448 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:24PM (#5597926) Homepage Journal
    As the article notes, it is really 2.5G service. Nevertheless, I think the author's experience mirrors mine in a lot of ways.

    1. SMS is way overrated. It has its place, but given the tariffs in the US, it will never be a big deal. Calling is just too cheap.

    2. Data interfaces suck on phones. Everyone keeps predicting the demise of PDAs, but my Handspring Visor Neo with the Sprint PCS module (available for $20) kills any "phone" out there. Go to a bigger (compared to a phone) Treo (for an arm and a leg), and the web is usable.

    3. Phones need a better way to get data in and out. At a minimum, maybe a USB cable to synch data from a desktop/laptop. Again, my Visor/PCS phone rules here. I can't believe the Samsung phone inthe review wastes all the features by lacking that simple item. I hadn't considered "how the features work" when I looked at that phone a few months ago -- gotta add that criteria to my list. I do not want to enter several hundred addresses on a fricking phone keypad.

    4. What I want in a phone/pda/service plan are the following:

    a. desktop synch
    b. a decent, usable screen/browser
    c. a smallish form factor (less than my currrent clunky rig, but super-duper small isn't a big deal to me)
    d. palm-like features (handwriting recognition, scheduler, phonebook, to-do list)
    e. lots of third party developers and apps
    f. total cost $100
    g. good coverage (very important)
    h. 1 meg/day of transfer for data
    i. under $50/mo.
    j. 250 primetime minutes, free weekends/nights

    I have compromised on some of those things, but I still haven't found everything I want in my market. Video phones don't interest me. Ditto cameras and MP3 players. I want my phone and PDA to converge for basic web/mail/phone capabilities in one usable, comfortable package for a reasonable price.

    • I've been using my Palm IIIxe with a QCP-2760. The old "Wireless Web". 14.4 connection (~1KB/sec), and it takes at least 5 seconds to initiate a data call, plus you have to connect the cables between the Palm and the phone.

      The main use I've found is surfing the web and doing some email while on a long driving trip. Coverage is usually good along major highways, and it's a nice way to while away some hours. Of course, I have to give it up when it's my turn to drive.

      But unless I'm going to have an extende

      • I've been using my Palm IIIxe with a QCP-2760. The old "Wireless Web". 14.4 connection (~1KB/sec), and it takes at least 5 seconds to initiate a data call, plus you have to connect the cables between the Palm and the phone.

        The thing I like about the sprint pcs module (besides integration with the PDA for calling) is that you get the web with no cables -- just stick the module in and *ploink* you're ready to go. There are call setup anc tear downs (not "always on") but this doesn't bug me.

        If it were buil

    • Re:really 2.5G (Score:3, Interesting)

      by catch23 ( 97972 )
      a. desktop synch

      It has to be much better than this to get consumers to buy it. Usb? no way. You're much better off with bluetooth considering bluetooth adapters run for under $50 these days.

      b. a decent, usable screen/browser

      On those tiny cell phones you're never gonna have a decent usable screen/browser.... EVER! You might as well settle for bluetooth connectivity so that you can surf the web on your ipaq with the phone in your pocket.

      c. a smallish form factor

      Isn't the P800 small enough?

      d.
    • Cell phone sales people don't use computers. They don't understand why the hell anyone would want to use a laptop. To them, it is nothing more than a Powerpoint viewer, used by the trainer.

      Cell Phone execs want to sell your eyeballs to a web site. To them, a laptop is an expensive thing that workers want so that they can screw off working at home.

      It's the same attitude that the wireline folks had in the late 70's and early 80's (why would anyone want to connect a modem to their phone?).

    • Unfortunately the headline on the article itself says 3G.

      I think the phone is likely 3G capable, my phone says it is on the back.

      I agree with the article, the downloaded ringers, games, images and animations are too expensive, what makes it worse is the limited 60 to 90 day use, and you don't get a preview or a test use. I will probably not pay for any of them, I hope there is a workaround.
    • SMS is way overrated. It has its place, but given the tariffs in the US, it will never be a big deal.

      Well, in many (most) US cities, smokers have to exit to a designated smoking area or outside the building to puff a cigarette, as a result of a social backlash. While somebody talking on the phone nearby is not really a big health risk, it is annoying, and it's possible that mobile callers will eventually be required to go to designated areas. If that happens, then the convenience of silently tapping a q

    • Try the T-Mobile Sidekick. Syncs with a web-based PIM (though I have a perl module that makes it work with Outlook, and real Outlook sync is coming), has a good web browser 240x160 gray (color this summer), smallish form factor, nice keyboard, PIM, SDK just released (though so far emulator only), $50 from Amazon after rebates, as good coverage as T-Mobile or Cingular (in California), unlimited meg/day transfer, under $40/mo, and 200 primetime/1000 weekend minutes or under $60 for 600/unlimited weekends.
  • One of his major gripes with the service is the lack of Bluetooth phones. I read on PhoneScoop [phonescoop.com] that Sprint PCS is going to start selling a Bluetooth enabled wireless phone very soon, in about May or so. The phone will be the Sony-Ericson T608, which is one hell of a phone, running the Symbian OS.

    The only difference between this phone and the T610 that was featured earlier on Slashdot is that this phone doesn't have a built in camera. Not a big deal for me. I'm looking forward to having Bluetooth wirele
    • I've been waiting on the T608, too. It looks like a great phone. How much will they cost? Is Sprint keeping the current rate plans for them? A Bluetooth, unmetered connection would be a jump forward.
      • Sorry, I don't have any details on how much the phone itself costs, but I would expect the rate plans to be identical to the current Sprint rate plans.
  • I must say if you get near a big city like boston 3G is AWESOME. Its like having a portible cable modem. But closer to where i live i get at most 8KB/sec and the connection drops sometimes (near Hartford, CT and western Massachusetts). I also tried useing on vacation in cape cod last summer to download some debian isos...did'nt work out too well i maxxed out at about 3KB/sec and lost my connect a lot.

    I have the Kyocera 2235 Phone and a USB cable, its a pretty good combo for portibility but you can't charge

  • Overrated (Score:4, Informative)

    by Alioth ( 221270 ) <no@spam> on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:27PM (#5597949) Journal
    For my uses, 3G is overpriced and overrated. OK - the transfer rates are pretty good (especially compared to GSM or 2.5G), but the latencies still suck making it unpleasant for remote administration.

    From the point of view of people who want to have fun (play games), 3G sucks because of the latency.

    There have been a few cool uses of 3G so it's not all lost - I live in the Isle of Man, and Manx Telecom's mobile arm (Pronto) are doing 3G trials. One use is a bus full of computers they drive around to various schools around the country. The bus is networked by a single 3G handset and according to the piece in the newspaper, has worked out pretty well as a mobile 'net cafe.
  • from the article :

    "Like I said, I can't understand the text messaging phenomenon, since when I want to talk to someone it's a lot easier to just call them than to poke around on my keypad to compose a message, though I must admit that I'm impressed with the magic of T9."

    erhm, T9 has been around now for how many years ? I even had it on my crappy nokia phone 4 years ago. I don't really see the point of getting all that excited about it, let alone mention it in a review about "3G (but he really means 2.5G

  • ...has shown 3G to be pretty ok for some things, but crappy for others. ssh is just impossible over 3G.

    I'd rather run X over dialup than try running ssh over 3G. I never really figured out why, but I was more interested in that it didn't work than why.

    Anyway, just adding my thoughts.
  • I got mine working about 4 months ago. The realization of the cool geek factor finally set in after a Christmas party. My girlfriend had to drive me home as I was quite drunk, and I somehow managed to hook everything up and rant to my friends on IM whilst traveling at 80MPH on the freeway.

    I decided then that it was cool.

  • OMG!!! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    OMG, jorje bush just dropped the thermel global nucular bomb on iraq!!!
  • Any submissions coming directly from the author or someone who works for the site being submitted. Obviously this guy used the term 3G to get his article posted. Frankly, between the recent 2 page fluff review of Mandrake 9.1 on Osnews and this supposed 3G review, I'm not impressed with either site. I guess their strategy is to get their half-baked articles submitted on /. to generate impressions and click-throughs. This strategy appears to be working.
    • I can't speak for the Mandrake article, but I take offense that you call my article half-baked. I called it 3G because SprintPCS calls it 3G. I put a lot of effort into the article, and I think it has a lot of good information. Sure, I'm glad that Slashdot posted my article because I'd like to let people know about my new site. If you don't like it, don't go there.
  • Is pretty good in San Diego. . .and sites like:

    3GUpload [3gupload.com]

    3GVisionCorrection [3gvisioncorrection.com]

    REALLY help you use the most of your phone with minimal spending.

    McD

  • has anyone gotten thier kyocera 2235 [google.com] to work in linux?

  • Vive PCS Vision ! (Score:5, Informative)

    by FauxPasIII ( 75900 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @12:36PM (#5598017)
    I've had the service since early November, and I will be a sad, sad little boy if they ever deactivate it or change the pricing structure unfavorably. I principally use it with my laptop, and it's absolutely magnificent.

    I have the Sanyo 4900 phone, fwiw, and it shows up to Linux as a USB modem using the standard acm.o driver. I get a pretty high latency, about 350ms ping to my gateway, but the bandwidth is around 20K/s (that's kiloBYTES) when I'm in a strong service area, averages around 12 if I'm moving around. Coverage is good, albeit not perfect. I drove from Atlanta to St Louis with a ping going the whole time, and lost less than 10 packets. There are a few dead zones in the rural area south of St Louis where my parents live, but not many (and we haven't found ANY cell phones that work in those areas, T-Mobile and Cingular all die in the same places)
  • I bought an A500 a few months ago because SprintPCS was temporarily offering unlimited Vision service. On my old phone I used WAP on it every day and relied on it to read my Yahoo mail. There were hundreds of great WAP sites (sprint even added new ones to the list every week), but now with the Vision I can't even use most of them because "WAP browser on the A500 sucks". I thought using the internet on the phone it would be just like before, but including access to nice colorful mobile sites in addition t
  • "the feature of this phone and the SprintPCS Vision service that I use most, and the one that fills me with enthusiasm and awe, is the one that SprintPCS itself wants to underplay: the ability to connect it to my laptop computer."

    i use verizon unlimited service for $99/mo. on a dedicated card. i wish the article actually mentioned tasks accomplished and coverage areas, rather than an off hand mention of arizona. for me, this is the future... i want to connect anywhere with decent bandwidth!
  • There is absolutly no better way to connect via a laptop if you are looking for widespread / cheap connection. I've been using the Hydra cable and Vision service for about 3 months. It is absolutly great. I get coverage from North Dakota to Texas. Solid.
  • Sprint does not fully support SMS. Instead, they have something they call "Short Mail" for two-way text messaging.

    The phones can receive SMS (except they call it "notifications", because that's what they use to notify you of new Short Mail and new regular mail).

    "Short Mail" is very similar to SMS, except it is web-based. To compose a Short Mail message, you have to use the browser, and the message is uploaded to the server, and then an SMS notice is sent. The recipient has to use the browser to read

    • If you log into the sprintpcs web site using a PC browser, you can send a real SMS (no browser required to receive) that is delivered well to the phone. All that is missing is the reasonable WAP interface to properly send one. Most of the other UI in the phone is browser based, anyway.
  • I was very suprised to see Sprint marketing their service using the '3G' buzzword. Here in Europe, 3G phones are only just becoming available. So unless the U.S. has suddenly made incredible progress this is very misleading since these are not 3G phones.

    GPRS, SMS, multimedia messaging, HSCSD (up to 60kbps) and WAP are NOT specific to 3G. These are all already available on the so-called 2.5G network for years.

    It seems that yet again, stupid marketing people are going to cause mass confusion.
  • Someone here is lying. This is 2.5G 3G won't be around in the States for a while. The first European 3G networks are rolling out as we speak and in the coming months. Sorry.
  • The data access rates are very nice - I can get 25 k/sec from bandwidth test sites. Almost sounds too good to be true...!

  • CDMA 2000 vs GPRS (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It took me a while to decide if I really wanted to respond to this posting or not. I've been a Slashdot regular for many years, but never signed up for a login. I only post when I know about a topic, and even as an AC, my posts have almost always risen to a +5, until recently, when they never seem to make it past 0. Oh well, here it goes...

    I am an RF Engineer working for a major wireless provider, and have worked with several of the technologies in use in the US.

    The difference between CDMA 2000 3G servi

  • my commute with PCS vision (Score:3, Informative)

    by salsa ( 4937 ) on Wednesday March 26, 2003 @01:52PM (#5598555) Homepage
    After reading about the unlimited PCS vision for only $10 over my regular plan I decided to try it. I typically spend 3-4 hours a day commuting to my job, to help that time pass faster I have already developed various techniques for getting work down such as preloading various websites, email, and code that I'm working on. Although some of the tools I develop can be run on my laptop running windows, others cannot and I hoped to be able to expand the range of stuff I can work on in transit.

    I ordered a new phone, the sanyo 4900, that supported all the typical in-phone features such as email, messaging, and web browsing. It also has a USB for connecting a laptop etc. Since I already had an existing sprint pcs service most of the rebates weren't available, so I ended up paying full price for the new phone.

    When I first got the phone I tried out some of the in-phone "3G" features, such as the built in browser, but found it very slow and clumsy. I typically would wait 30-60 seconds every time I tried loading a new page. Trying to type a url in using the keypad is extremely painful, and it seems many webpages just won't render in any usable way on such a tiny screen. I already have two email addresses, so I haven't made any real effort to use the sprint email.

    The main way I now use the vision service is by connecting via USB to my laptop. This gives me a real web browser, and makes it possible to connect to my work via VPN.

    Like the article says the latency is very high. Typically in the range of 500mS. Also the jitter (the variability in the latency) is very high as well, I often get latencies that vary from 200mS up to 1.2 S! This latency is most noticable if you try to use a terminal connection to login to a remote machine. Trying to type anything with a latency that high is downright painful. I have learned to keep an buffer in my head of what I have typed because I typically won't see it echoed back for 2-3 seconds after I type. For web browsing the latency is noticable, but usable.

    Obviously writing code with such high latency is painful, fortunately there is another way. Trying to run a filesystem such as NFS is not really doable under these conditions, but ftp works fine. I typically work by loading source via ftp, editing, saving it back, and then using a (extremely slow) terminal to compile and execute with output redirected to a log file. I then load the log file (again with ftp) debug, edit code and repeat. Fortunately vim has built in ftp support so I can just load a file by saying ftp://hostname/dirpath/filename and then from then on it gets treated as a regular file.

  • Sprint is all hype. Every person I've ever known that has had Sprint cellular service constantly complained. I had it for a few years and finally went with Cellular One (before they were bought by AT&T). The change was dramatic (no dropped calls, no dead spots in Berkeley, CA), and I haven't even talked about customer service: Sprint is among the worst.

    Consumer Reports had a big cellular service comparison recently (I'd give a link, but you need to be a subscriber to view it). Sprint was at the bot
    • This must vary widely from market to market. I've used while living in two different cities, plus lots of traveling, and have never had any issues with dropped calls.

      Plus, perhaps some issues are with your specific handset. For instance, my parents live in a low spot, and my Sprint signal there with my old handset was always poor or non-existent. With my Samsung A400, it's still low, but good enough to be used.
      • All true, however Berkeley, CA is a few miles from SF, CA, and in the middle of a VERY densely populated area. And, I was not in the hills. If they can't make their stuff work there, they suck by definition. Btw, it wasn't the phone. I had several over the years, and so did my wife.
        • Point being, perhaps Sprint's service _does_ suck there, but doesn't mean that's the case everywhere. Perhaps where I'm at, Verizon, or Cingular, or T-Mobile's service sucks, but that doesn't damn the service of the whole company.
          • First, I knew people all over the US that had sucky Sprint service. Second, customer service is not regional, and Sprint's sucks ass. Third, Consumer Reports ranked Sprint AT THE BOTTOM of all the national carriers.

            Bottom line, they suck.
  • First, some background. I previously had analog service with Southwestern Bell Wireless. After they failed to properly credit payments, they killed my service on a weekend while I was out of town. Naturally, none of their customer service numbers got me to anyone on the weekend. So, at the end of 1999, I went to Sprint.

    I got the Touchpoint phone, which worked well. I never really used the wireless web functions because of the pricing. It served me well.

    Finally, at the end of 2002, with the unlimited

    • I know that the A500 has a bit more functionality than the N400, but if there's a better browser that I can use on the N400, I'd like to hear about it.

      Have you tried Reqwireless WebViewer [reqwireless.com]? It's an HTML (not WAP) browser that works on the A500, N400, and most other Java-enabled phones. The Samsung phones don't provide the best experience due to their slow speed and lack of heap memory, but we've still had a number of A500 and N400 users buy WebViewer. (I work for Reqwireless and helped develop WebViewe

  • I have owned a t-mobile sidekick for a while. It renders HTML very well, with images. The backend I think is mozilla based. It does aol instant messenger well and email. It is truely several steps ahead of all the pathetic wap based browsers. I use it all the time, when I am in the bookstore I look up the reviews on amazon.com. When I am waiting for a bus here in San Francisco I use the take transit trip planner website to find out when the next bus is coming. I never buy a paper again I just read
  • For those, like me, who have a A500 Samsung phone, you'll be interested in this site [a500hacking.com].

    It'll give you interesting tidbits of information about the phone, and how to get around limitations set forth by phone carriers in terms of available data (images, sounds and software) that you can download to the phone.
  • My wife uses her Sanyo 5300 and SprintPCS for a cellular camera-enabled blog [carlazone.com].

    We've found the Sanyo 5300 to be worthless for general Web surfing under SprintPCS. But it makes a very handy camera, and I set up a system so she can email pictures to her blog for immediate display. The camera doesn't do well in low light, but the form-factor is just too cool. She lugged around a very small tablet computer webcam for a while, but now she just carries the cellphone.

    • We've found the Sanyo 5300 to be worthless for general Web surfing under SprintPCS.

      Have you tried Reqwireless WebViewer [reqwireless.com]? It's an HTML browser for the Sanyo 5300 and other Java-enabled phones. Our Sanyo 5300 users seem to enjoy WebViewer. (I work for Reqwireless and helped develop WebViewer.)

  • Wow, I never thought I would see someone use the word link feature of the nuke variants as advertising. I don't like it one bit. I've been testing the verizon version of 2.5G, and you are lucky to get dialup speeds out of it.
  • I shopped around a bit and chose Verizon's Express Network. Here's my experience:

    CHOOSING A SERVICE
    There are two technologies to choose from, at least in my area (forgive me for not sorting out the acronyms): Good old data over the plain old cell connection (up to 19.2 Kbps before compression, often advertised at some wishful compressed speed of ~40 Kbps) and the new high speed data networks (up to 144 Kbps).

    I tried Nextel's 19.2. It is painfully slow. I haven't experienced anything like it since I
  • i just moved to Saint Petersburg and was very curious about the wireless access here. what i've found is that cell phone use is widely supported, although it is all prepaid.
    my cell phone provider is also an ISP so i can access my cell phone from my laptop via infrared, which then accesses a GSM connection to my cell phone which dials my ISP and gets me online.

    i can only connect at 9600 baud, which compeltely stinks, but then again it costs me only 8 cents a minute.

    is there any other way?
  • I just ordered an Ericsson R520m to use with T-mobile's US GSM/GPRS network. It had all the features I wanted (GPRS, IrDA, speakerphone, even bluetooth which I didn't care for but would probably be useful someday) and none of the features I didn't want (camera, color screen, etc.). Of course, the only way to get something like this is to order the international version (900, 1800, 1900Mhz). Unfortunately T-mobile doesn't sell this device here, so I couldn't get the subsidized price, but it's only $85 (!)

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