Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Greenville, NC
Posts: 29

Connectivity with wired modems

I was looking at getting one of the wired modems for travel use (and pure cool-factor). I have a OmniSky on the way, but I don't think I'll ever use it, being I can't afford service.

I was wondering how you could connect to your ISP away from home. Is it as simple as hooking into a phone line and dialing your ISP? And the question I was most wondering about, has anyone dialed in using a public phone. That is what I wonder about the most. Thanks.

Also, is there any way to use a wireless modem to connect to anything without a provider (almost like walkie-talkie). And, a wired LAN connection so I can d/l movietimes, email, etc without booting up my PC.

Ideas?

Last edited by Cochese on 09-01-2003 at 06:05 AM

Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Vermont
Posts: 148

If your ISP is a simple one, requiring nothing more than a PPP connection (aka no proprietary software) the modem should work great.

For connecting to your home network, you could get a Xircom Wi-Fi card and a wireless router in your house. This would let you check your e-mail and surf the web (IF you have a broadband connection. If all you have is dial-up, that is no good. Just use the modem).

Feel free to ask more questions.

Registered: Jan 2003
Location: B.C.
Posts: 24

I use the Xircom 56k modem when travelling. My ISP has 800 number service throughout North America. I have tried it from a payphone once at tyhe Seattle airport. The connection didn't want to stay up very long at all, gave up after a while If you use AOL to dial up you may be out of luck. Check with your ISP as to whether you can access them from outside your local calling area. they may have agreements with other ISP's which would allow you to download mail from your POP server BUT you MAY have to change your outgoing mail server name to be able to send. You can generally set up different accounts depending on whether you are calling locally or from some other area. I find dial-up email downloading seems faster than using my Xircom WiFi card!
The nice thing about the Handspring is that you can use a modem and fold out keyboard at the same time.