haklesup wrote:
{SNIP}
What I was talking about is is called VZAccess which uses what they call NationalAccess. This is included in your plan assuming you have a compatible phone (click the support link to your model to find out or call 611). In fact, skip the store, the tech support guy at 611 will confirm compatibility and sell/ship it to you. Its like $15 (cheaper on ebay) one time for the cable and CDROM and uses normal minutes like a voice call under the same rules. If you can make a phone call, you can use this. In practice it works slower then the data rates would imply but its still much faster than dialup.
{SNIP}
haklesup,
Quite some time ago I saw a posting stating almost exactly what you stated. (They didn't give names of services, just that it existed for Verizon customers.) I though this was some sort of "joke" posting (like the cell phone mod, the generator video, the floating quarter, etc. that we're all posting). That was until I saw some guys sitting in a restaurant with USB cables going to their phones and they were surfing the 'net. So I looked into it further.
I am a Verizon cell customer so I called them up and asked about their service. I suggested the "modem" and "high speed". The woman was very knowledgable about this (as opposed to someone reading things off the screen) and explained everything better than the guys in the stores. Specifically here is what I found out:
There are two types of MODEM services. One is a "universal" modem that plugs into the ear piece jack. You must MANUALLY dial the phone then MANUALLY dial the DUN in Windows. The little USB modem device uses the analog jack as a crude "accoustic coupler". For my phone there is a specific setting for FAX machine. This service is at 14.4KBs. I have not seen these in years. I DO see the setting for this in my phone and have seen this in other phones. You must have a dialup service you subscribe to (Earthlink etc.).
Then there is a USB modem that plugs into the phone "accessory" jack and will even dial the cell phone for you. These are EXTREMELY rare and difficult to find. Again expect 14.4KBs but you don't have to dial the phone then initiate the DUN; the computer does it for you. (Again normal dialup account is required.)
Then there is the one that surprised me when I asked about it. This is the one you wrote about. This had TWO levels of service. The "normal" one that is/was "Everywhere" and then the "high speed" version, which is/was in big cities. Both of these require a USB cable with a "fat part" in the middle (real circuitry) as opposed to a "Data Transfer Cable" which is used only for moving things like address books, e-mail, photos, etc to and from the phone. The cable has some special circuitry and is not just a USB cable.
The "Everywhere" version works as follows: You connect this "pregnant" USB cable to the phone and computer. You install software and drivers (you need both!) to perform the communications. The drivers are phone specific. The software is "network" (i.e. Verizon) specific. Under the "Everywhere" service you get a maximum of 128K or ISDN speed Internet service. The phone acts as an ACCESS POINT in a wireless network where the cell system is the wireless medium as opposed to something like 802.11? wireless. With this you used minutes off your service during the transfer. If you streamed something, you'd use up a lot of minutes. So my next question was "My account has free nights and weekends. What does this do to my minutes?" She tells me that all Internet connectivity follows my plan, thus I could surf during all my night minutes and from basically 9:01PM Friday to 5:59AM Monday and it would not cost me ONE MINUTE off my plan! She says this works anywhere you can make a call on Verizon's network. (It won't work on roaming networks.) Verizon IS the ISP.
So I ask about the "HIGH SPEED" version. This works exactly the same way but only in select cities and areas. The speed was better than most DSL but not nearly as good as high end cable or many of the fixed wireless services. Much better than satellite as the lag was low.
So my quest was on to find one of these cables. I checked many eBay auctions but the BIG problem was getting a cable, drivers, and software in ONE auction. Several months go by. A Verizon store opens up along my journey to and from work. I stop in. They guy knows EXACTLY what software I need and EXACTLY what cable (with drivers) I need. He has both ($30 EACH). But he also has bad news. The Verizon system USED to work the way I expected. But so many people started doing this that they decided to sell this as a separate service. Apparently the high speed signal IS now in my area BUT it is now a separate billed service.
Back to square one. About this time an on-line game, World of Warcraft, hits. A number of my coworkers start playing this. One has a cousin that wants to play as well. In his area there is no cable modems, DSL, or fixed wireless. Satellite is out as there is too much lag. This cousin works for Radio Shack. He gets a Sprint phone and they have the same thing Verizon supposedly has (or had???) for high speed. His phone DOES work on the Internet and he has the same "problem" minute wise. Thus he could only play nights and weekends. His big problem was one hour battery life and only two batteries. The phone could only be charged through the same port as the USB cable. And the USB cable would not charge or power the phone. OOPS!
Fast forward to last spring. The Emergency Response Team at work got a deal with Sprint/NexTel (after the merger). They got PCMCIA cards for their laptops. (The Sprint guys also sell a similar device that works on USB cables for desktops.) The "digital" card is its own cell phone. The service is $50 a month REGARDLESS OF AIR TIME! They got a "special deal" that the cards were "Free" instead of $150. (This year they are giving away the cards for free to anyone, so I'm told.)
I got to test one of these cards. It works. It beats dial up no problem. I can watch certain videos without too much trouble. It does NOT beat my fixed wireless or the multiple T1s at work. I put this card in an employee's computer for testing at his home. (There is not even cable TV where he is at.) He gets full scale Sprint service (only a quater mile from a major highway) and absolutely no drops. Again MUCH better than his dialup. Now he has to decide if he will go with the USB version, so he can put it on his desktop and "share" the Internet with the laptop, or just get it for his laptop. His daughter is begging for the former.