[plug] GPRS+IrDA Phones & Linux

[Kirk Turner]

On Tue, Nov 02, 2004 at 02:24:38PM +0800, Trevor Phillips wrote:
> Does anyone have much experience with getting mobile internet access
> via a Mobile with GPRS + IrDA? ie; Using a PDA or Laptop with IrDA as
> the console witht he Mobile as the internet connection. While it's
> expensive, at least GPRS isn't time-charged, so it's a more feasible
> solution for remote administration.
> 
> Anyone use this setup much?
I'll weigh in here, although I'll be the first to admit my ignorance
(mobile acronyms are foreign words to me).

One alternative to this that I have seen is provided by 3. They have a
device which plugs into your pcmcia port and is basically a replacement
for the mobile + connection mechanism. It allows you to connect to the
three towers from your laptop the same as if you were using your phone's
access. Their rates were pretty competitive - as long as your not a big
time user, but like their phones they also have a 'call cap' situation.

As to linux support - the guy that came into our office to show us this
didn't know if it was possible (and was supposed to send me more info,
but that hasn't come). But they have a workaround for OSX so it might be
possible to get a linux solution. I think basically as long as there is
a modem driver for the mobile phone that this technology is based upon
then it would be possible.

Kirk