On Wed, Mar 26, 2003 at 02:34:26PM +0000, Andy Swallow wrote: > > Quick question: > > Does anybody know much about using a mobile phone as a modem for a laptop? I occasionally use my mobile (Nokia 7110) to fetch my mail; it has an infrared interface and built-in modem. Works fine. > Is the whole subject something of a minefield? Depends on your phone. Not all phones have built-in modems. Phones without I/R (and without bluetooth) need cables to connect to a serial port - if they can do so at all. Depending on your phone make/model, you may want to look into gnokii. And : http://www.tuxmobil.org/phones_linux.html should prove interesting to you too. > Is it only realistically possible with Windows? See above. I wouldn't be surprised if 'phone support' is less extensive for linux as it relies on volunteer help - and the manufacturer publishing the specs without nasty non-disclosure clauses. > Any pros/cons that I should be aware of? Pro: It's cool. When you're on a train that's going absolutely nowhere, you can still email the office saying that you're going to be late, check the news headlines etc. Con: speed. AFAIK the GSM speed tops out at 9.2Kbs, which is agonisingly slow compared to modem speeds nowadays. Being slow, it makes for longer phonecalls, which can easily end up being expensive... HTH -- Karl E. Jørgensen karl@jorgensen.com http://karl.jorgensen.com ==== Today's fortune: All great discoveries are made by mistake. -- Young
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