-----Forwarded Message----- >From: Chuck Cole <cncole at earthlink.net> >Sent: Dec 31, 2005 4:32 PM >To: Haudy Kazemi <kaze0010 at umn.edu> >Subject: Re: [tcwug-list] Re: TCWUG Information (wireless internet access options) > >Don't forget that Sprint and Verizon(?) have a loophole in their 3G cell phone service that permits FREE and unaccounted internet access thru the cell phone as a modem if you are already a phone subscriber. This is only a max of 150 kilobaud, but free and almost everywhere makes it a good option sometimes. I use the Sprint thing almost daily with my smartphone acting as a modem for my laptop. Details for this connection have been discussed here before. > >Chuck > >-----Original Message----- >>From: Haudy Kazemi <kaze0010 at umn.edu> >>Sent: Dec 30, 2005 12:43 PM >>To: FRANK COMMERS <fcommers at prodigy.net>, tcwug-list at tcwug.org >>Subject: [tcwug-list] Re: TCWUG Information (wireless internet access options) >> >>At 02:07 PM 12/29/2005 -0800, you wrote: >>>>>> >>Query, is there any service or program (e.g.T-Mobile or Verizon) available >>that would allow wireless Internet access from my office in Golden Valley >>or do I need to locate a Hot Spot? My goal is to at least access E-mail via >>a wireless connection for my laptop. Not interested in devices such as the >>Blakberry product.Move to Chaska or Richfield and soon Minneapolis? Thanks >>for any suggestions or ideas you might have. Frank Commers >><<<< >> >>Hello, >> >>I'm sharing my response with the tcwug mailing list so that others with >>similar questions can benefit from it. >> >>For general wide area wireless Internet access you can look into the EDGE >>and EVDO technologies being offered by T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon. They >>cover portions of the Twin Cities area, but I don't really know the current >>extent. Search google for more info on these systems. These are >>proprietary technologies requiring special PCMCIA or USB client cards, and >>monthly subscriptions. >> >>Alternatively, if you only need to access the Internet wirelessly at your >>office, why not add a wireless router to your office's broadband >>connection? I suggest the Linksys WRT54GL, WRT54G (but not version 5 which >>has serial numbers starting with CDFB, good versions are still available at >>MicroCenter in St Louis Park), or the WRT54GS (but not version version 4 >>which has serial numbers starting with CGN60) wireless routers. This >>method would use the 802.11b/g standards, and are built into most recent >>laptops. The Chaska system is 802.11b/g, the same technology as in >>standard wireless routers, only used in a wider geographic scale. >> >>Finally, there are also wireless ISPs in town that offer broadband internet >>access to homes and businesses using a fixed-wireless connection from the >>ISP's transmitter to a client's address. These may be good alternatives to >>Comcast cable or Qwest DSL, and the only low-latency (low-lag) broadband >>alternative in areas not already served by cable or DSL. Satellite >>internet service comes in behind these other options as it is high-latency, >>often download-only (requires a modem for the uplink), and bandwidth limits >>tend to be more heavily enforced. >> >>-Haudy Kazemi >>