Connect Directly To The Internet

[DaveL]

Hi

I have a SL-C3100 (Sharp ROM, Tetsu kernel).

Does anyone know of a way of connecting directly to the Internet - like a mobile phone without the voice part? Maybe a special CF card?

Thanks, DaveL

[Capn_Fish]

You probably could get a phone with no voice service. I don't know for sure.

I think that there was a discussion a while back about cellular network cards for the Z, but that they worked only in Japan or something.

[jfv]

Hi

I have a SL-C3100 (Sharp ROM, Tetsu kernel).

Does anyone know of a way of connecting directly to the Internet - like a mobile phone without the voice part? Maybe a special CF card?

Thanks, DaveL

Could you clarify your question? You can get a CF modem card and use that to connect to an ISP. I remember seeing an entry in the old Zaurus Software Index to a program that allowed the Zaurus to connect directly to the internet through  DSL (without a router) but it seems to have disappeared.

[InSearchOf]

I know there is a Audiovox GSM/GPRS card that is out... they are pretty old though and GSM/GPRS is SLOW!

Late

[DaveL]

Hi

I have a SL-C3100 (Sharp ROM, Tetsu kernel).

Does anyone know of a way of connecting directly to the Internet - like a mobile phone without the voice part? Maybe a special CF card?

Thanks, DaveL

Could you clarify your question? You can get a CF modem card and use that to connect to an ISP. I remember seeing an entry in the old Zaurus Software Index to a program that allowed the Zaurus to connect directly to the internet through  DSL (without a router) but it seems to have disappeared.

Thanks for your reply. I want to be able to access the internet occasionally when "out and about". I'm afraid I know very little about the various CF/SD cards available and nothing about mobile communications. Am I correct in assuming a CF modem card connects to an ordinary telephone line? If so, this is not what I want - I have a PC at home for that. From the reply by InSearchOf, it sounds like I would require a GSM/GPRS card, so I am looking into that.

[DaveL]

I know there is a Audiovox GSM/GPRS card that is out... they are pretty old though and GSM/GPRS is SLOW!

Late

Thanks for your reply. I'm afraid I know very little about the various CF/SD cards available and nothing about mobile communications. I found some articles about an Audiovox card RTM-8000 and I am still digesting them, but from what I have seen so far, they are not cheap and no confirmed report that they work on a Zaurus. I only want to be able to access the internet occasionally when "out and about", so speed is not really an issue. I also found an article on Holux GM-270 with some references to the Zaurus so I am looking at that also.
I have now found a long thread about the RTM-8000 on this forum (https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1382&mode=threaded) with success stories for some models but failure on C3000 (interstate80). I'm becoming convinced this is the solution I need but would like to find a success story for the C3?00 models.
Since I added the above comments I have found a couple of these cards on eBay for ~£30 (I'm in the UK) so I might bid for one and give it a try. The next problem is getting a "data only" SIM card (I know nothing about them either!).

[DaveL]

You probably could get a phone with no voice service. I don't know for sure.

I think that there was a discussion a while back about cellular network cards for the Z, but that they worked only in Japan or something.

Thanks for your response. I really want a solution not involving a mobile phone (I don't have one). I think the cellular network cards idea is what I'm looking for (but I know nothing about mobile communications) and things may have progressed (see my comments to InSearchOf's response).

[zmiq2]

Hi Dave,

your options are:

1) buy a CF modem to connect the zaurus to a fixed phone line

2) buy a CF Bluetooth card and a mobile phone with bluetooth tethering, and use the mobile phone as a modem to connect to the internet

3) buy a CF GSM/GPRS card to directly insert into the card your SIM card, and connect directly (but low speed) to the internet. Currently there are no 3G or 3.5G CF cards available; there was some talk about one being sold in Japan only, but it's very difficult to get and noones knows if it works wit a Zaurus.

4) buy a CF lan card to connect a rj45 wired ethernet cable and, through a proper router, connect to the internet

5) buy a CF wifi card and find am access point to connect to the internet


Some comments:
1) I understand you are looking for option 3. That is the most expensive option; one card is the most common: audiovox rtm-8000.
2) there is a lot of experience with having a bluetooth enabled phone; the phone can be a 3G or 3.5G phone, and you can easily get decent browsing speeds. I really think it's cheaper to get a cf-bluetooth card and a second-hand bluetooth enabled phone rather than a gsm-gprs cf card.
3) feel free to ask any further questions; many people in this forum have tried all different options. Connecting the Zaurus to the internet is the most wanted feature always

HTH

[DaveL]

Hi Dave,

your options are:

1) buy a CF modem to connect the zaurus to a fixed phone line

2) buy a CF Bluetooth card and a mobile phone with bluetooth tethering, and use the mobile phone as a modem to connect to the internet

3) buy a CF GSM/GPRS card to directly insert into the card your SIM card, and connect directly (but low speed) to the internet. Currently there are no 3G or 3.5G CF cards available; there was some talk about one being sold in Japan only, but it's very difficult to get and noones knows if it works wit a Zaurus.

4) buy a CF lan card to connect a rj45 wired ethernet cable and, through a proper router, connect to the internet

5) buy a CF wifi card and find am access point to connect to the internet


Some comments:
1) I understand you are looking for option 3. That is the most expensive option; one card is the most common: audiovox rtm-8000.
2) there is a lot of experience with having a bluetooth enabled phone; the phone can be a 3G or 3.5G phone, and you can easily get decent browsing speeds. I really think it's cheaper to get a cf-bluetooth card and a second-hand bluetooth enabled phone rather than a gsm-gprs cf card.
3) feel free to ask any further questions; many people in this forum have tried all different options. Connecting the Zaurus to the internet is the most wanted feature always

HTH

Thanks very much for the useful comments.

From having no options, I now seem to have too much choice (with too little knowledge), but I'm sure option 3 is what I need.

If I could get an Audiovox RTM-8000 for ~£30-40, why would the bluetooth solution be cheaper - are you saying the charges for browsing will be higher with GSM/GPRS? I am a real novice in this area. I notice you list the Audiovox card so do you use it on your Z? I do not require voice, SMS, etc. - I just want to occasionally check something online while out-and-about.

Thanks again for the time and help.

Dave

[zmiq2]

Hi Dave,

charges for browsing will be the same either with option 2) and 3). But for today standards, GPRS data speed is very slow, so it will take you more time, even price is the same. Check before buying how large are pages or emails you expect to look at, and calculate, at gprs speed, how long it will take to the Zaurus to download, so you don't get disappointed.


When I say that option 2) is cheaper is because the cost of a cf-bluetooth card is cheaper than the audiovox, and in some countries you can get a mobile phone for very cheap prices; considering people usually changes phones on a yearly basis, you should consider asking someone in your family for an unused phone, of course with bluetooth and 3G at least. Also, those phones, unlocked, can easily be found in ebay.

Some more info: with the audiovox you can also do sms and voice calls; it has a headphones with micro accessory that works for voice calls, and with some audiovox it comes bundled; but I do not know of any software for doing that functionality work on the Zaurus; you'll have to know the AT-commands to send to the card to perform dialing, answering and hangup.

[DaveL]

zmiq2

Once again, thanks a lot for the information.

I have found an article on "GPRS in the UK", and I think I understand a little better now.

A couple of points.

It says that with GPRS, you pay for the amount of data transferred - not the time - so am I correct in thinking that a given file would take longer than the 3G option but cost the same?

I still use dial-up (56K) at home on my PC (not Broadband) and it suggests average GPRS speeds ~25-40kbps so it should only seem maybe half as slow as I'm used to - does that sound right?

I'm sure your suggestion that the Bluetooth option would be better overall is correct, but I think I'll have a go at getting the RTM-8000 working anyway.
I'll post the result - success or failure (but it might take me a while!)

Dave

[zmiq2]

Hi Dave,

as you pointed, the cost is proportional to the amount of data, not the time; but the cost you should consider is your time: are you willing to wait 5min to download a webpage just to see the football results?

Also just note that theoretical speeds are what you mentions; but cell companies tend to allocate more 'waves' to voice than to data, thus my experience real speed usually is around 1-2kbps, much lower than modem, and very long periods with 'connecting to...'. Very unreliable.

Real gprs speed is sloooow, even theoretically could be acceptable. I'd suggest you talk to someone in your area who has a gprs pc card or so, and check real speeds; they are very sloow to today standards.

HTH

[DaveL]

Progress report as promised.

Success! I can connect to the internet directly from my SL-C3100 using the Audiovox RTM-8000 GSM/GPRS CF card. I am using a Vodafone (UK) "Pay As You Talk" SIM card.

I downloaded a file using ftp: 476980 bytes received in 88.6 secs (5.3 Kbytes/sec) which by my reckoning is ~42kbps. I understand that's slow by today's standards but I'm happy with it.

I can post details if anyone wants them, but most of it was following the How-To by tamarian referred to above.

I haven't got email working yet but that seems to be applications. I am not alone - see https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?&showtopic=14076. Any suggestions welcome.

Dave

[zmiq2]

Hi Dave,

congrats for your success!!! Now you are an expert to show us the way!