DPC is the answer I've been searching for
Written: Apr 27 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: same product frees both my laptop and my Ipaq to surf WIRELESSLY!
Cons: the cord does NOT disconnect from the CF card
The Bottom Line: You must realize what surfing the web is like at 19.2kbps. This is not your optimum surfing or emailing speed but in a pinch it works like a champ.
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| mattquinlan's Full Review: Socket Communications Hi-speed DPC for Pocket Pc's... |
I have a laptop and an Ipaq but because Atlanta does not currently have an active CDPD network I am unable to get wireless internet access on either unit. Until NOW!
I currently have a Motorola StarTAC ST7867W CDMA dual-band/dual-mode phone using SprintPCS as my service provider. For this digital phone card (DPC) to work you must enable the "Wireless Web" with your wireless carrier ($10/month for sprintPCS). Now you are just using "minutes" from your plan; Sprint doesn't really care whether I'm using them for data or voice. I can divvy them up any way I like.
One end of the cord connects to the bottom of my phone. The other end of the cord has as compact flash card. In order to connect it to my laptop I simply insert the compact flash card into the PCMCIA converter sleeve (included in the DPC package) and insert the PCMCIA converter into my laptop....and VOILA! The process is just as simple for my Ipaq, although you must purchase the compact flash sleeve for the Ipaq first (about $60). Either way (handheld or laptop) the maximum speed supported by Sprint's network is 19.2 kbps. I recommend using IMAP4 instead of Pop3 for your email protocol so you don't waste time trying to download large email attachments. Or better yet, use a webmail account such as mail.yahoo.com or hotmail.
For those of you who want to understand HOW this works:
The DPC is NOT actually a modem. The word "modem" comes from the words "modulator" and "demodulator". A modem takes digital information and converts it into an analog sound which is then transmitted over the telephone wire to the receiving computer which then takes that analog sound and converts it back into the digital information. The improvement in encoding schemes and sound quality have greatly increased the capacity of our POTS (plain old telephone system) to carry data (from 300 bps to 56000 bps). Now, the SprintPCS network is a digital network. The phone takes our analog voice and digitizes it, then the SprintPCS network sends that digital data to it's call center where the digital form of your voice is converted back to an analog sound before it is sent to the recipient (because your grandma is likely to be listening to you on an old fashioned analog pulse-dial phone). Notice, this is the exact opposit of what a modem does!
Now, if I'm trying to hook up my laptop or PDA to my cellphone THERE'S NO NEED TO CONVERT MY DIGITAL INFORMATION FROM MY LAPTOP INTO AN ANALOG SOUND! That's right. The information is sent "as-is" from my laptop through the DPC through the StarTAC through the SprintPCS network to their call center (don't know the correct term for this place) all digitally. Then, only at the call center do they convert that digital data into the analog sound equivalent so that it can forward the call to my internet service provider just like I was dialing from home (my ISP doesn't even realize I'm dialing in from my cellphone). So the modem is at Sprint's site rather than attached to my laptop or PDA. Pretty slick I thought!
My only wish is that the card and cord could be disconnected from one another allowing me to leave the DPC in my Ipaq's CF sleeve without having the cord dangling about. Other than that.... it's wonderful!
You must realize what surfing the web is like at 19.2kbps. This is not your optimum surfing or emailing speed but in a pinch it works like a champ.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mattquinlan
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Member: Matthew Quinlan
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I code, therefore I am.
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