Laptop and 6230 - Is this possible?

_Kaiser_

Righty.. I have my new laptop and a new Nokia 6230 to go with it (it's doing it's first charge as I type this).

Now... what I'm looking to do is use this laptop online at work but without going thru the company network/firewall. Not because I'm tryin to do anything dodgy, but because the firewall blocks such "essentials" as MSN and even Boards and it's really annoying me!!!!

Is it at all feasable to use the phone as a GPRS modem WITHOUT costing myself a fortune... I know O2 & Vodafone do GPRS/3G PCMCIA cards but the initial outlay on these is €120 (for an O2 GPRS only card) to nearly €400 (for the Vodafone 3G card they keep pushing on the TV) - and all these prices are ex-vat of course!

So, can it be done, or has anyone any other ideas, or am I just experiencing wishful thinking here?

Ta in advance folks............

flywheel

Kaiser2000 wrote:

can it be done, or has anyone any other ideas, or am I just experiencing wishful thinking here?

it certainly can, but a bit more background would be helpful (re operator, account type, connection laptop/phone method etc..) check this sticky located at the top of the Mobiles/PDAs forum:
About to ask how to get connected for Web/WAP/Email/MMS/Bluetooth etc.

_Kaiser_

Hi again,

I had a look through the sticky as advised but from what I can see, that seems to mostly refer to problems using these services on the phone itself?

I can probably get the phone running ok (although I've run into a hitch with dead pixels on the screen on first powerup so it's had to go back for a swap) but will I need to subscribe to a different GPRS service if I want to use it with a laptop (ideally one along the lines of a fixed fee for a fixed MB allowance) rather than the default pay-as-you-use ones intended for mobiles?

Btw, I'm with O2 on a Pay Monthly package.... IBM T41 laptop via IR/Bluetooth and would be using it with a Nokia 6230 as I mentioned before)

[EDIT: I found the link to all the Operator settings.. should I just find the one for O2 prepay then and use that, or can I - as I mention above - get a "package"?.... sorry to be a pain but thanks for any help ]

theothernt

Hi,

I'm a Pay-Monthly customer with O2 and for my free "Add-On" I chose "Mobile Web" which gives me 1MB per month. The only practical thing I use this for is instant messaging (AIM and MSN mostly) on my Nokia 6600 via Agile Messenger. Even though I use Agile Messenger most days, 1MB per month is just enough so you should be fine using MSN Messenger via your PC.

In regards to web browsing, unless you can afford one of O2's very expensive GPRS packages - I'd forget about it as web pages (and this is without images now!) can be anywhere from 30k to 100k. In other words, 1MB would only allow you to view several page on this message board before it's used up.

So unless GPRS prices fall dramatically or O2 introduce an "unlimited GPRS" plan - browsing the web via GPRS is just too expensive for an ordinary person.

- Neil

_Kaiser_

well I managed to get Boards workin but MSN is still no go so the mobile web option might be doable... must ring them and see what I have and dont have on the account as extras at this stage... the fact that they keep changin packages don't help matters!

_Kaiser_

okay.....

I called O2 and added the Surf 1 option for the month to give this a try.

I've also downloaded the drivers for the phone and installed it on a laptop as a modem.....

But that's where I'm getting lost... how do I setup a connection for GPRS over the phone on the laptop - I gather it's more or less like a regular dial-up connection, but what settings should I use?

Any info/links appreciated

This works for the Motorola V600 and V300 but might work with the Nokia.

Go to Control Panel > Phone and Modem Options, click the Modems tab and then click your Nokia and the Properties button.
Now go to the Advanced tab, and paste this into the Extra settings box:

at+cgdcont=1,"IP","internet"

Create a dial-up connection using *99# as the number to dial. Use "user" as the username and "user123" as the password. Make sure that you set the connection to dial using the Nokia rather than your 56k modem.

_Kaiser_

it worked!! Cheers!

flywheel

Kaiser2000 wrote:

had a look through the sticky as advised but from what I can see, that seems to mostly refer to problems using these services on the phone itself?

hi, well the sticky it's aimed to make sure you (already) have the relevant services set up by the operator for you account - it also tries to ascertain the relevant info needed to get a connection up an running; which operator, type of account (post/pre pay), equipment being used / connected (for drivers or known issues)...

but looks like you're all set up now

as theothernt points out, make sure you use a package that fits your usage - keep an eye on you handsets GPRS counter and also your 'current' account info on-line at O2.ie (p.s. once you have registered) - it is quite common for someone beginning to use mobile data services to get a shock/surprise on their first bill...

_Kaiser_

will do... I'll be happy getting MSN running again I think - oh and I wasn't critcizing your earlier post btw - thanks again for all your help folks!