Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

Visor Phone Web Access

Does anyone happen to know:
~If Voicestream GSM service on a visor phone will allow you to dial up to an ISP, rather than buy their "DataStream" package? I refuse to pay $30 a month for datastream, plus a phone service package for around $40! I'd rather just use my included minutes to dial up to an ISP, since all I use it for is email (at least for the most part).

~If there is any word on when ricochet modules will hit the market?

Dan

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 44

There are a couple of other threads floating around where some folks claim to be doing wireless data on Voicestream without the Datastream service. Based on that, I dropped my Datastream service two days ago, and since then, every time I try to dial into my ISP or my corporate dial-in facility, I get a no carrier message. I'm still trying to find out what the real story is.

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Talldog

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 40

Re: Visor Phone Web Access

quote:

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Originally posted by dombey
[B]Does anyone happen to know:
~If Voicestream GSM service on a visor phone will allow you to dial up to an ISP, rather than buy their "DataStream" package

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 40

quote:

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Originally posted by Talldog
There are a couple of other threads floating around where some folks claim to be doing wireless data on Voicestream without the Datastream service. Based on that, I dropped my Datastream service two days ago, and since then, every time I try to dial into my ISP or my corporate dial-in facility, I get a no carrier message. I'm still trying to find out what the real story is.

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307

quote:

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Originally posted by Dafydd
When you get it figured out don't forget to tell us what the problem was. I'm sure others will be having the same problem.

Dafydd

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 49

Update of sorts

Hello,

I've spoken to 3 people at Voicestream and so far they all agree that you can access web content and email without using the datastream service. Datastream was designed for use on laptops attached to a cell phone. However they said if I have a problem connecting or usint the web i need to call handspring =P

I also saw this on another forum it makes things cloudy again...

*** CORRECTION ***

My recent posts suggested that Voicestream's DATASTREAM service ($30/3000 Net minutes) is not required for Internet access ... I was wrong!!

After reading Milleanni's posts I called Voicestream again (several times, til I found someone who knew what INFO- and DATASTREAM were). They finally confirmed that an unannounced promotion in February included their DATASTREAM service ... this explains my Internet access last month.

When I started service with Voicestream I read the Handspring site carefully, spoke with Voicestream repeatedly, and concluded that DATASTREAM was not necessary for Net connecting (unless you need 3000 minutes), but INFOSTREAM (SMS-based msgs and e-mail) was useful at $5/month.

My experience in February confirmed this ... I was connecting to the Net as my posts here suggested, without paying for DATASTREAM. I thought the access time was coming out of my voice minutes (some Voicestream reps agreed). What I didn't realize was Voicestream added DATASTREAM to my new account without mentioning it, and then removed it recently after my first 30 days of service, again without saying a word.

I want to apologize to anyone I confused with my unintended misinformation. It's now clear that without DATASTREAM I can authenticate with my ISP, but cannot reach any websites. My guess is that DATASTREAM provides DNS access, i.e., you can connect to the Net without it but cannot go anywhere without the service.

Good News: whats also clear now is that the INFOSTREAM (SMS/email) service, advertised on the Web at $5/month, is now free ... but then maybe I'll wait til next month to see what other billing surprises Voicestream has in store. My first bill had no charge for either service (despite signing up for INFOSTREAM), and Voicestream confirmed today that there's no charge for INFOSTREAM.

If you cancelled DATASTREAM on my advice, I'm sorry ... call Voicestream back and turn it on again. If its your first month of service, your net access will disappear after 3 days otherwise! If they try and charge you for the switch (unlikely), blame my messages!

Marketing wireless web access, especially with a new Visorphone device, is in its infancy, and I got caught up in Voicestream's confusion, lack of training and mis-information. Sorry for passing it along ..... I hope this clears it up.

cheers,
dg

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

Arrrrgggh!

quote:

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Originally posted by artemis125
My recent posts suggested that Voicestream's DATASTREAM service ($30/3000 Net minutes) is not required for Internet access ... I was wrong!!

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Jeff

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307

Re: Update of sorts

quote:

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Originally posted by artemis125


*** CORRECTION ***

My recent posts suggested that Voicestream's DATASTREAM service ($30/3000 Net minutes) is not required for Internet access ... I was wrong!!

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 60

No problem with data access without datastream

Boy has this been confusing. I jumped at the VisorPhone as soon as the price dropped to $49 on Monday. I concluded after reading as many posts as I could find that I would be able to access the web with regular minutes from Voicestream without purchasing Datastream. I have been up and running for one day now and so far this appears to be correct.

I live in NYC and coverage in Manhattan and Queens has been pretty good. I've had a few poor quality calls, but just hung up and redialled and got an excellent connection. Once I figured out my AT&T username and password (this is different from my email name and password) I've been able to connect to data services without a problem. Blazer and Avantgo work surprizingly well at 9600bps.

I checked the myvoicestream.com web site and looked at the services listed in my Get More rate plan ($39.99/600 anytime/ 2000 weekend with promo) and I found the following:

Service Description Recurring Charge Effective Date Expire Date
Rate Plan Get More $39.99 07/18/2001

Conference Calling

Itemized Bill

Call Forward Conditional

Caller ID Presentation

Caller ID Restriction

Call Hold

Call Forward Unconditional

Call Waiting

Free Minutes

Data

Enhanced VoiceMail

Paging

TextStream Messaging

Nationwide Roaming

Mobile To Mobile

Note that DATA is listed!!!

The promotions followed.

Also, I cannot find DataStream in their online store. My guess is that it is being discontinued, perhaps to be replaced by WebStream (listed as coming soon on the site).

Talldog, my guess is that they accidently turned off your Data service when you cancelled Datastream. I would call their Customer Service Line and ask for Data services to be turned back on and explain that this is part of the Get More Plan (if you have this one).

Anyway, I hope that my Web access continues without a hitch. I'll post back if I encounter any problems.

I am really thrilled with this phone!! Pretty fancy stuff!! Now all I need is for my Vaja case to arrive!!

Joel

Registered: Jun 2001
Location:
Posts: 5

I just went through this same issue and got web access working
without DataStream (and yes it's confusing -- there are statements
on Handspring's website indicating that you need DataStream).
Here's what I found out:

"Data" service allows you to make data calls to analog modems --
essentially it gives you access to VoiceStream's outbound
modem pool, so you can callup other analog modems. It is
supposed to be available for free, automatically, on everyone's
account. If you get "no carrier" or something like that
(no connection at all), then you should ask VoiceStream to
add "Data" (not DataStream) to your account. They should be
able to confirm for you that it comes at no cost other than
airtime used. If you already had "Data" and have no carrier,
you might try asking them to remove and then re-add it to
reset the system.

DataStream, on the other hand is a reduced-price bundle of
data minutes. It also includes fax capability, and may
include distinct phone numbers for data and fax receive.
I think fax capability is not free on it's own, but never
checked.

You only need DataStream if you want to take advantage of
the bundled data minutes at a much lower cost (assuming you
use enough of those minutes each month to warrant).

I was able to get carrier, but had trouble with communications
after authenticating to my ISP. Turns out I was using a phone
number for the ISP that was incompatible with the standard
login negotiation protocol -- though I might have been able
to work around it with a script. My ISP has multiple dialin
numbers with different authentication negotiations, and I
found one that worked with the standard Palm login sequence
(no script).

John

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 40

Re: Arrrrgggh!

quote:

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Originally posted by PDAENVY

Nuts! I should have confirmed this more carefully! I might have ordered a phone & cable from another carrier that would let me use voice minutes if I had known that I'd have to pay more than my basic minutes package ($19.99) to make the wireless modem work.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 44

I'm really confused now. In response to Dafydd, everything was working fine before I dropped Datastream. I haven't tried using my Xircom wireline modem yet, but I use the same modem and service settings for both the Xircom and the VPhone, so I'll try that tonight. One thing that I did try to get my Prism out of the picture was a hard reset. After the reset, I didn't restore anything to the device. I re-did my modem and service settings manually, and got the same results. Like LarryN, I don't hear anything after tapping Connect, although now that I think of it, I never notice whether you hear the dialing or not. In any event, once I tap connect, nothing happens for about a minute or so. Then I get a Retrying message followed by another minute of silence, then the No Carrier message.

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Talldog

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

Re: Re: Arrrrgggh!

quote:

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Originally posted by SassKwatch


Well, I'll say it again......

You definitely do *NOT* need Datastream to access the 'Net w/ a Visorphone. I am logged in to my ISP as I write this (on the desktop), have checked email and am currently syncing AvantGo, and all is working fine.

And *NO* Datastream service here.

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Jeff

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 49

Voicestream and Visorphone...

I just got off the phone with Voicestream and their basic answer was "it should be working" but alas it isn't. They did give me the # to data services so hopefully they will have an answer for me (I left a Message). All in all it took 45min-1hr to get that answer too...

To all the people getting online what ISP are you using and exactly what are you doing to get on? I'm trying w/ AOL first (since i still have an account) before i get an ISP that i can't use. It keeps not logging on to the network.
As soon as I hear back from data services i'll post and let everyone know what they say.

Joshua

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

I think AOL may be your problem. They use some special login. Maybe someone can point you to a thread about it.

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Jeff

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 60

AOL, MSN, and Prodigy apparently do not provide PPP access and therefor DO NOT WORK with the VisorPhone. See the following FAQ on the Handspring site:

http://support.handspring.com/esupp...esType=RESEARCH

I use AT&T Worldnet. The only trick was getting my username and password from a text file on my home PC. The Username is a string of numbers @worldnet.att.net and the password is a hyphenated string of letters. These are different from my email Username and password. Once I got this right I have had no problem connecting, although data calls seem more prone to disconnects, particularly in buildings.

Joel

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 44

I just got off the phone with Voicestream Customer Care (CC) after an hour or more. They initially directed me to the "Data Services" number, where a rep confirmed that you only need normal data service, NOT Datastream. He said that when they turned off Datastream they must have turned off data also. He told me to call CC back and tell them to turn data back on. I called them, and they said it was already on. Then they transferred me back to Data Services where a different rep confirmed again that if I hadn't changed anything on my Prism that data was not enabled. He told me to call CC back and tell them to turn it off and back on. I called CC back, and this time the rep turned Datastream back on and I was able to connect. He then turned it back off and started trying some other stuff, and I wasn't able to connect again.

Right now, they've logged a trouble ticket to look into whether there are problems with the data service in Connecticut. The one positive thing is that I've spoken to several people at Voicestream today who actually know what a VisorPhone is (that never happens), and they were all in agreement that Datastream is not needed. Now if they can only figure out what the problem is.

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Talldog

Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

AOL Problems

I agree that AOL is probably your problem. I couldn't find any software that allowed me to access Worldnet (AT&T) through POP accounts (instead, I had to use web-based email). I have found that the easiest solution is to use a shell program on your palm (I personally like the freeware called MsgAgent), and forward all of your ISP email to a Yahoo! account. You can then access that mail on MsgAgent. You can also tell it to make your reply-to address different, so it doesn't look like you are using a different email from your AOL account.
Dan

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: El Segundo,CA
Posts: 374

While it is true you cannot dial AOL directly from the browser, AOL Palm Beta 3.0 does let you dial in via the AOL SW, then use the browser.

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