PDAs and Net access

[ExGrunt]

@SyllogismCheck:

So would that enable you to call into a freephone or low rate ISP dial up service from your mobile then

Yes you can call them, but they are billed at a data rate which for me is 10p min. For example to call Demon I enter:

[phone]

I have used this successfully all over Europe and from the UAE (But the price goes up!)

I do remember making a dial up data call years ago via a mobile and the phone displaying a 'D' icon as I did so, but that was on a mobile phone which had an analogue modem in it.

That is exactly what happens on my Nokia 6310i - whether it uses GPRS or analogue depends on how you configure the PDA.

Hope this helps.

EG

[Telstar]

Seems very cheap, and I don't need the cell phone function, for about $100 to my doorstep seems like a good deal, what do you think? Bear in mind I just need to run this one piece of software!

Edit: Link won't work, toshiba 2032 selling for about $70 on ebay. Worth it?

Item number:5826381479

[Wing Commander Fowler]

....... and if you happen to be based in Shannon, screw eircom as the hot spot there is free!!! Yippeeeeee!

[Saab Dastard]

I have recently been working on a mobility project for my company.

Using a Windows Mobile phone (PDA), I can access any Wireless Network (work, home or public hotspot) then connect through a secure VPN tunnel to our Corporate LAN.

This is incredibly cheap - Public WIFI hotspots (BT Openzone & affiliates in the UK) cost 1p per minute!

In fact, it is so cheap that our Telco division wants to use the WIFI connection to run VOIP to our corporate voice network as it works out CHEAPER than making a mobile phone call!

So instead of using a mobile phone to support data transfer over a voice network, we may soon be using the mobile phone as a data device to run voice calls. This is going to confuse the hell out of the poor end-users!

Of course, the device has a GPRS-enabled SIM card, so outside WIFI coverage it is possible to make ordinary mobile calls and use GPRS for data - but as others have pointed out, this is sickeningly expensive.

The reason that GPRS / 3G is so expensive is because of the vast sums that were spent acquiring the licences in the great Government auction a few years ago.

[SyllogismCheck]

Thanks ExGrunt.

That's what I thought. Shame such calls can't use 'free' inclusive talk minutes.
At the rate I type it'd cost me more to pay by the minute (since it takes me about 10 to type a short email) than paying 'by data' on GPRS as I do now.