iphone

[Moot]

I have an opportunity to buy an iphone for $340 and have it upgraded by a knowledgeable geek so that it transmits a wifi signal to my laptop. I would have internet access either directly through the phone or via my laptop.

Over the past few years I have been considering buying an ipod. When I installed the cd player in my van it was ipod compatible and I added the cable to connect it.

More recently I have thought of purchasing a GPS. Probably a Garmin.

And the idea of an aircard has interested me but not the addition of an extra $50 monthly fee.

So I am trying to rationalize the purchase of an iphone by consolidating the above into one less expensive unit. I am not a fan of all-in-one devices other than the venerable Swiss Army Knife.

The iphone plan I would select through AT&T would cost $10 a month more than my current Verizon plan. But well worth it for the convenience of internet. No more lurking across from hotels. Last year I bought eight 24 hour internet deals from truck stops a $5 a pop.

I realize the mapping system with the iphone is not GPS, but rather based on triangulation with cell towers to determine one's location. And that the phone has only 8 gigs memory.

The phone itself is really cool but the fact that I could get internet from it, to my laptop is what has got my interest.

Is anyone using an iphone on the road? Any comments, ideas concerning my scheme?

 

[LDB]

I believe Lawrence camped out in a tent for 24 hours in front of the store to get the very first one sold. He can probably advise you on at least some of that.

 

[Lawrence]

I love my iPhone.

I don't think I can live without it.

I give it the following score on the core features:

(10 being the highest)

Email: 10
Web Browser: 10
mp3 Player (iPod): 10
Limited GPS/Routing: 8
Text/SMS: 10
Phone Service - AT&T: 4

I have to say - compared to my old Mototrola Razer - the razer wins for "phone quality". But beyond that I don't need my laptop when I travel.

 

[dieseldiva]

That phone service 4 thing is what bothers me. I really like our Verizon service and would hesitate to change. I've been looking at the new Ipod Touch mp3, many of the features that the Iphone has including wifi but without the phone. They come with 8,16, or 32 GB and I'm thinking that's all I'd ever need for songs and pics. The 32 holds about 70,000 songs but I'm not sure about the pics but I'm thinking any combination I would have of the two would never exceed the capacity.

 

[Moot]

That phone service 4 thing is what bothers me. I really like our Verizon service and would hesitate to change.

This bothers me also. I got back with Verizon 1 1/2 years ago and am very happy. For 2 years I had Cingular and many dropped calls and problems. I couldn't wait to switch back to Verizon.

 

[dieseldiva]

This bothers me also. I got back with Verizon 1 1/2 years ago and am very happy. For 2 years I had Cingular and many dropped calls and problems. I couldn't wait to switch back to Verizon.

But darn isn't that a great phone!!! All in all me thinks I'll stay with Verizon and go with the ipod touch, same concept without the phone.

 

[Doggie Daddy]

AT&T ? Doesn't that stand for Actually Tedious & Tempremental ? DD.

 

[Turtle]

When you connect to the Internet through a tethered cable or a Bluetooth connection to phone, the phone becomes the Aircard.

The $50 a month has got nothing to do with whether you use an Airdard or your phone to acess the Net. You still need a data plan in order to do so. At Verizon, the data plan is $50 a month. To use the Internet (data versus voice) you need either an Aircard or a data-capable phone. With Verizon, my Motorola v9m can be used via Bluetooth as an Aircard, if I wanted to pay the $50 for a data plan.

With AT&T, it's $60 a month for a data plan.

 

[Moot]

Turtle, the way it was explained to me is the iPhone would transmit a wifi signal. Like a wireless router. No Bluetooth or cable. To accomplish this the phone needs to be tinkered with. It is some kind of hacking which is not authorized by Apple or AT&T. For $60 a month the iPhone comes with X amount of minutes and internet.

 

[RLENT]

For $60 a month the iPhone comes with X amount of minutes and internet.

That is what's so cool about it - for the $60/month it INCLUDES an unlimited data plan ... along with the phone service.

Now if they would just make one that's 3G (which Steve-O has said they will) and get ATT to upgrade their network, and maybe improve the phone quality itself a bit then it would be the cat's meow.

ATT's EDGE network (the "high" speed network the iPhone uses) is probably plenty fast enough for email and basic browsing (Lawrence ..... care to confirm ?) but if you are into downloading huge files or lots of data you may be disappointed when you compare it to Verizon or Sprint's highspeed network.

 

[Lawrence]

Everyone at EO HQ has an iPhone (okay were geeks) the ones who switched to AT&T from Verizon REALLY hate the dropped calls....
It is a compromise.....great "road tool" but sucky phone.

 

[dieseldiva]

Everyone at EO HQ has an iPhone (okay were geeks) the ones who switched to AT&T from Verizon REALLY hate the dropped calls....
It is a compromise.....great "road tool" but sucky phone.

But Lawrence.......the phone IS our main "road tool"!!!

 

[Turtle]

So then the iPhone becomes the same as the built-in WiFi of your laptop.
Then you'd be able to connect to WiFi with the built-in WiFi on the laptop, or the one built into the phone. WiFi on the iPhone (or most Smartphones, Blackberry's, PDA's, etc.) enables you to check e-mail and do Web browsing without your computer, and without eating up cell airtime minutes to do it. A lot of people run around without carrying a laptop, but they have their cell phone, and a WiFi cell phone is just really, really kewl. But I'm really not sure of the advantage of using your cell phone's WiFi instead of the built-in WiFi on the laptop when surfing the net with your computer. Bottom line is, unless you have a data plan to use with the phone, you are still going to have to lurk in order to find a WiFi signal, whether you use the iPhone or the laptop's WIFi. WiFi is WiFi. In other words, you've already got built-in WiFi on the laptop, so buying an additional WiFi device isn't going to do anything different for your laptop than your laptop is already doing for itself.

The only magical shortcut to stealing cheap WiFi is to lurk at motels and steal cheap WiFi. If you're not within range of an unsecured, steal-able WiFi signal, no phone is gonna help with that. If you're out of reach of a WiFi signal, the only other option is a data plan (or satellite Internet, but now yer talking real money). If you're sitting at a Flying J you have two options, one is to pay Flying J for Internet access, and the other is to pay your cell phone company for a data plan, which is not the same as WiFi.

If you pay Flying J, you have two options with which to connect - one is to go inside and plug in a CAT-5 cable and have a wired connection to the network, the other is to have a wireless connection to the network using WiFi.

All WiFi is, is, it's a way to connect one computer to another, or to a network of computers via a network router, wirelessly, without using a cable. WiFi and the Internet are not the same thing, although getting onto the Internet via a WiFi connection is the most popular use of WiFi. Sure beats going into the building and pluging in a cable. Think of WiFi as a network cable, without the cable. Once you are connected to the network via WiFi, you then have access to whatever the network administrator allows you to have access to, being other computers on the network, networked printers, or to the Internet.

Bluetooth is like WiFi, in that it connects two devices together wirelessly. It just uses a different radio frequency than WiFi does.

An Aircard (or data capable phone) with a data plan is like making a cell phone call to get onto the network.

An Aircard (or data capable cell, like an iPhone, Treo, v9m tons of others), Bluetooth, WiFi, they are just three different ways to connect to a computer network. If the AT&T plan includes unlimited data, that's a good thing. But from everyone I've talked to that switched from Verizon to AT&T, the don't like AT&T much (as Lawrence has apparently confirmed again).


I've used my phone for both DUN and WiFi access, and for other than an emergency, I've found that it's better to use the laptop's built-in WiFi for Internet, and the phone for a phone. If I were to go with a data plan and use the cell for the Internet, I'd get an Aircard and keep the phone as a phone. The only thing I use my phone for that's anything like that is, I can connect the laptop to the phone via Bluetooth and then fax something from the laptop through the phone.

 

[RLENT]

But I'm really not sure of the advantage of using your cell phone's WiFi instead of the built-in WiFi on the laptop when surfing the net with your computer. Bottom line is, unless you have a data plan to use with the phone, you are still going to have to lurk in order to find a WiFi signal, whether you use the iPhone or the laptop's WIFi. WiFi is WiFi.

Errr .... not quite - you use the WiFi on your computer to connect to the WiFi on the iPhone .... which itself is connected to the internet via the ATT's EDGE cellular network ..... and is functioning as a internet connection server to your laptop - over a local ad-hoc 802.x network - between your iPhone and your laptop.

The "data plan" is included in the normal iPhone service plan - unlimited data for $60 per month. You don't have "steal" anything.

Google "iPhone as modem" and you will see various descriptions of how it works (SSH & SOCKS Proxy) - and the hacks needed to make it happen. Here's a link:

Use Your iPhone's Internet Connection On Your Laptop

so buying an additional WiFi device isn't going to do anything different for your laptop than your laptop is already doing for itself. ...... If you're not within range of an unsecured, steal-able WiFi signal, no phone is gonna help with that.

Not quite true - at least in the case of the iPhone - as unlimited data usage is included in the service - and the data usage it doesn't count against your cellular minutes.

If the AT&T plan includes unlimited data, that's a good thing.

It does.

But from everyone I've talked to that switched from Verizon to AT&T, the don't like AT&T much (as Lawrence has apparently confirmed again).

Well .... I actually switched from Verizon to Cingular, now ATT because of all the problems we were having with dropped calls .... so go figure.

And we both know that Verizon ain't perfect right ?

 

[Turtle]

Errr .... not quite - you use the WiFi on your computer to connect to the WiFi on the iPhone .... which itself is connected to the internet via the ATT's EDGE cellular network ..... and is functioning as a internet connection server to your laptop - over a local ad-hoc 802.x network - between your iPhone and your laptop.

Well, when I said "unless you have a data plan to use with the phone..." it covers the EDGE cellular network, since that's a data plan. Not being intimate with the iPhone or AT&T's plans, I wasn't aware that the iPhone's plans included the data plan. The iPhone becomes the Aircard. Right?

Well .... I actually switched from Verizon to Cingular, now ATT because of all the problems we were having with dropped calls .... so go figure.

Yeah, for some people T-Mobile is the best carrier. Of course, those people never leave the city.

And we both know that Verizon ain't perfect right ?

hehe very true. A lot of it is phone specific, too. One phone doesn't drop calls, another one will. I keep up with the results of JD Power and Associates and a couple of industry watch dogs and their tracking of dropped calls and coverage areas, and Verizon does have the best coverage and fewest dropped calls, but, man they do have a few really problematic spots. But, I also know that they are more problematic with my phone than with other phones. I had to force my phone off the EVDO network and to CDMA-only to get the Georgetown problem fixed. (Yeah, it's working fine now. It rang when you called earlier, and didn't want to wake up hehe)

 

[Moot]

So does my scheme have merit? For me the number one reason to go with the iPhone is that I get phone service and internet all for $60 a month. Plus the ability to access the internet with my laptop via the hacked iPhone.

In descending order would be the 8 gig iPod, and then the limited mapping capabilities.

 

[dieseldiva]

So does my scheme have merit? For me the number one reason to go with the iPhone is that I get phone service and internet all for $60 a month. Plus the ability to access the internet with my laptop via the hacked iPhone.

In descending order would be the 8 gig iPod, and then the limited mapping capabilities.

Your logic is understood but.......traveling all over the country like we do, I personally would not give up excellent phone coverage, sign on for 2 years elsewhere and take the chance of being very disappointed. JMHO

 

[greg334]

So I got to ask, who has their iphone unlocked and using it on another carrier?

Come on... anyone?

You know you can get them unlocked and you know that you can use them on other carriers.

I really feel that we should be able to follow the EU's style of phone service - free incoming calls and freedom to choose which carrier to use regardless what phone we have.

Anyone have any iphone clones?

 

[dieseldiva]

Well Greg, here comes the stoopid question. How do you take an "unlocked" phone and attach it to your carrier of choice??

I've often seen that unlocked term used on ebay and such and honestly, I never knew what it meant until now!! Yes, I AM living in the same century as you, just electronically challenged!

 

[RLENT]

Well, when I said "unless you have a data plan to use with the phone..." it covers the EDGE cellular network, since that's a data plan.

True - I wanted to ensure that it was clear that the 802.x connection was only really being used to provide a connection between the laptop and the iPhone - and that the iPhone was providing access to internet via EDGE.

Not being intimate with the iPhone or AT&T's plans, I wasn't aware that the iPhone's plans included the data plan.

Fair enough - I just wanted to make it clear that even the base plan included unlimited data usage - which is a great deal, IMNSHO. I haven't used the EDGE network myself for email or browsing the web so I have no idea whether I'd find it tolerable. We have 6Mb DSL here at the house so I'm a bit spoiled by that. On otherhand I survived 128Kb ISDN for years before the DSL was available .... so I'm probably fairly tolerant of slower speeds.

The appeal of the iPhone (besides the fact that it's a wicked kewl device) is the relatively cheap cost of the plan which includes cell phone service and unlimited data usage - and a much broader data coverage area than the parking lot of the J or one of their affiliates. Getting decent WiFi access at the J is often a crapshoot - sometimes it's where you're parked - other times it seems no matter where I go on the lot the signal isn't worth dog dookie.

The iPhone becomes the Aircard. Right?

That's functionally correct, yes.

Yeah, for some people T-Mobile is the best carrier. Of course, those people never leave the city.

LOL !!! Well, I do leave the city - and don't really have much of a problem (and it's basically the same network) - yeah, I have dropped calls - but generally speaking it only happens while I'm rolling - and the problem is of short duration. So if a call gets interrupted I have to call back in a minute or so when I'm closer to the next tower. Usually when I am stopped and not moving I have signal and have no problems making or receiving calls - at least at the places I end up at.

hehe very true. A lot of it is phone specific, too. One phone doesn't drop calls, another one will.

I have no doubt that that is true - and probably for all carriers.

I keep up with the results of JD Power and Associates and a couple of industry watch dogs and their tracking of dropped calls and coverage areas, and Verizon does have the best coverage and fewest dropped calls,

Right - could very well be true. Like I said we had numerous problems with dropped calls with Verizon which caused us to switch. It was likely due to the fact that we were spending alot of time in one of their problem areas (northern VA) - we switched and fairly shortly after that we were no longer spending as much time in that area ... and so it goes.

Another motivation for switching was that we had our local phone service thru SBC - when they all combined (SBC, ATT, Cingular) we were able to bundle all our services (local phone, long distance, internet, and cell service) thru one entity and get some decent savings as a result - so I can't say that we were solely motivated by the dropped calls issue with Verizon.

We still have dropped calls (as you well know )

but, man they do have a few really problematic spots.

As does Cingular (and probably all the others) - there's a spot on OH-21, just south of Minor Road, out around Copley, where the call will drop every time - and since the wife drives that one daily to and from work (we often talk when she's on the way home) it's PITA.

But, I also know that they are more problematic with my phone than with other phones. I had to force my phone off the EVDO network and to CDMA-only to get the Georgetown problem fixed. (Yeah, it's working fine now. It rang when you called earlier, and didn't want to wake up hehe)

Heheheh - sorry about that.