Cell phones

[Andrea Griffa]

Hi Fabio :lol:

Guys this is what I've found:

GPRS Coverage Areas
Cingular's GPRS service provides the most extensive data coverage area available without additional roaming charges. All Cingular Wireless coverage areas offer GPRS service.

EDGE Coverage Area
Cingular's EDGE network provides accelerated GPRS service in select markets. Please check monthly for updates

If things go in this way the area in wich you can have connection for your laptop could be large and so many larger than Verizon. Infact you have connection for the laptop in both Edge and GPRS area. In EDGE coverage speed connection is even more. These are good news for chasing. Isn't it? Anyway my doubts are less than before! :wink:

 

[Amos Magliocco]

Andrea and Fabio, Sounds like you should have success with the PC Card. Those cards eliminate much of the confusion and complexity that we've been trying to solve on this topic with connecting our laptops and cell phones. The card is definitely the better (and faster solution). But I can't speak from firsthand experience because I haven't owned the Cingular card. I owned the Sprint card and liked it very much.

As for the Cingular-tethering drama, the chatter on Howards Forum suggests that Cingular is about to change their data plan configuration, and one of the changes will involve MEdia Works. There's all kinds of speculation about what the change will be, but most everybody agrees that it won't be as cheap for unlimited data, that they'll do away with MW entirely or redefine it. Some suggest adding MEdia Works now in case they allow existing customers to be 'grandfathered' in. Others say they'll just scrap everything and we'll have to pick from among the new choices.

 

[bill mudd]

well this would be great (the $19.95) option
i am using cingular for data downloads and they get the $79 out of me
so Ill just tell em its for my phone hahahahah - Ill let ya know if it works
p.s. Ive been real happy so far using it here on the west coast - remember to turn off audio options for quicker downloads

 

[Amos Magliocco]

It sounds as if starting in a few weeks Cingular will offer a new MEdia Works package of unlimited Wireless Internet Express for $25 and discontinue the $19.99 version. If you sign up for it now, you might get to keep it. Or not. LOL.

Either way, it appears Cingular is content to allow the small number of advanced users to tether laptops to phones and use the MEdia Works availability in a way that it wasn't actually intended. But this is not a violation of any service agreements, just a loophole, as described before. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point Cingular doesn't intitiate port-blocking or other measures to stop tethering. I guess it depends on how much of a problem they think it is and what difficulties that would create for other services.

Bottom line: if you think you might want the MEdia Works loophole for your phone and or tethering setup, get it now.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Amos,
I completely agree. In fact, I just changed from 2MB media net package to the MEdiaWorks package. I wasn't originally plannning on doing this until my mid-March (start of new billing period for me) anyways, so it's only an addition $20 ($10 more per month than I would have been paying until then)...

From what I hear (we're probably reading the same posts on HoFo anyways lol) Cingular has never (or at least very rarely) taken a feature AWAY from a customer who had it before there was a change. In other words, they most likely will allow those who have the current MEdiaWorks package to keep the plan.

 

[Andrea Griffa]

So guys, which is your advice: it's better to take cingular or to keep verizon plan? :?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I don't know anything about Verizon, Andrea. How much are you paying for data? What kind of speeds are you getting? How good is the coverage? Any contracts required? Does it use your minutes?

 

[Amos Magliocco]

Andrea, I'm afraid I'm no help on this either. I know nothing about Verizon, and only became a Cingular customer last week.

Mi dispiace!

Amos

 

[Dan Cook]

I just ordered the data kit for my phone; I'll try the loophole.

 

[Kurt Hulst]

Andrea
Im on the the verizon americas choice plan. From what i have learned. if you use a cell for data in my americas chooice plan you do use airtime minutes, but you dont get charged for MB used or what not, but right now I hardly ever talk on the cell phone, and when i do use my phone for data its at night, but it will change when i start chasing. But when you have free night and weekends in your deal the data is also free. when your out of verizon national access areas you can use Quick 2 net. Im not sure how that works on the bill yet but i think ill find out sooner or later. That's just my 2 cents about verizon i have only had it for 5 days or so now so im very limited in this area.

 

[Dan Cook]

Does anyone know the "internet dialup number" for cingular?

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Does anyone know the "internet dialup number" for cingular?

Dan, I just use *99# ... It seems that people dial into different numbers, but that one works for me.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Does anyone know the "internet dialup number" for cingular?

Dan, I just use *99# ... It seems that people dial into different numbers, but that one works for me.

That's what I use too. Here's another pretty popular one that I saw on the forums: *99***1#

 

[Skip Talbot]

I take it you guys added the MEdia Works over the phone? I tried doing it over Cingular's website, and the page is reporting some sort of system error. Guess I will try calling them...

 

[Dan Cook]

Both of those numbers are showing "unknown data" when i try to dial.