PDANet: Notebook Broadband for Smartphone Users Discussion

Broadband wireless networking is more popular than ever as more and more consumers want to access the internet from any location. But what if you're already paying an expensive monthly fee for a smartphone and can't afford a notebook broadband account? PDANet comes to the rescue.

Read the full content of this Article: PDANet: Notebook Broadband for Smartphone Users

 

the feature is built in most of sonyericsson's mobile phones (smart or not) both by usb and bluetooth

 

Which is probably why they don't have UIQ or Symbian flavours available for this software, since the latest Sony Ericsson's and Nokia NSeries devices have it built right in.

Having said that though, if you buy either on contract there is a very real chance that your service provider may disable the functionality through proprietary firmware in order to capitalise still furthur through a miscellany of over priced data plans.

Sad but true.

 

Just for people's information:

#1. If you have Windows Vista and running a Windows Mobile 6 device, this is a complete rip off. You can tether via USB natively and instantly.

#2. If you have Bluetooth, you can also tether without software without much problem, even better if you have BT 2.0.

#3. If your WM6 device supports WIFI, it can act as an Access point/Router and feed multiple computers data via an Adhoc Wireless Network. Again, no need to buy software.

This program works for those running on XP I gather, but how many people are running XP these days?

 

Curious as to which phone fits that aspect. Do you own one by chance? I'm smartphone shopping and a smartphone that could function with that aspect would be ideal!

So far in my smartphone search, I find there's always some key feature missing. Either there's no qwerty keyboard ((must have for me)), no BT2.0, no camera, not touch screen, no wifi, or some other feature that was skimped out on.

 

I wouldn't pay for a program of this kind. I have a SE W950 and every time I want to connect it connects without any problems. I guess switching the phone would be a problem, right?
I also think that WM6 is a lot better in this direction...
BuleGila check GSMArena and PDAdb. There is an Eten, M800, which has a QWERTY keyboard, WM6, WLAN, HSDPA and other features. Might want to take a look at it.

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of this could be available for the Linux community on the EEE platform. I believe many of us like the EEE platform precisely because it frees us from the "joys and features" of Windows.

 

BuleGila, check out pdadb.net...

 

1. Not supported on all devices out of the box. Some providers remove the ICS from the phones software. Also some business phones which you dont have a choice on receiving still come in WM5 flavor (Q).

2. See 1

3. My friend uses this on his Mogul, and not only is it not as simple as "install software and everything is done" but it doesnt always work. Lots of tweaking, and many things the average person wont really be able to follow.

Kinda 4. Tons of people are using XP these days. Many companies are still JUST switching from win2k over to XP. Besides a tech company (NBR) all my previous jobs had win2k machines and plans to switch over to XP later this year.

Point being is you can hack most hardware/software to do things on other ways, this was a review on a program that costs very little that can do everything with a double-click install solution. The same cant be said about WMWifiRouter at the moment.

The HTC Mogul is one of those devices

 

I have tether with Q and Mogul. The Mogul seems to be better. I didnt have to do any tweaking on the Mogul with PDAnet.

Sometime when I upload something, the Q seems to hang, while Mogul always finish the upload.

There is another software out there beside PDAnet and it is "USB Modem" and it is $20. You might want to look into that.

You can go PDAnet website and see which devices are supported.

 

True, Linux is one of the reason's I was initially interested in the Eee PC in the first place. However, there are just too many applications that aren't available and/or too many things that can't be implemented easily in Linux.

If you aren't a power user and only want to use a notebook of basic WiFi web browsing and word processing then the Eee PC is perfect straight out of the box with the customized Linux distro. However, after spending a month with the Eee PC I realized there were just too many times I found myself saying, "I wish I had Windows XP right now." Finally I gave in and installed XP. Much to my surprise, XP on the EEE PC is a very enjoyable experience.

Plus, I've found a few ways to make XP a little less like XP (you might have noticed the Mac OSX theme I was running in the screen shot) and there are a few other apps I have running that make XP quite nice on the little EEE PC.

 

A majority of people actually since Vista has been out for less than a year and the typical buying cycle is 3-years for laptops, so we have 2-years worth of consumers at least and 90% of business enterprises are on XP.

Plus, if you browse the forums you'll find a number of threads pertaining to people clamoring to install XP on their brand new laptop

There's definitely a market for PDANet and though I do have Windows Vista I don't have a WM6 device (mine is 1.5 years old and I still love it) so I'll go the PDANet route.

 

Hahaha, I thought it was pushing like 5 years

 

Try eeeuser.com and see if what you're after is available there. Thanks to them, I have my Nokia N95 acting as a 3G modem on my Eee.

 

Just wondering if service providers have a way to determine if you're using data with a tethered device rather than exclusively through the phone? In Canada, all the "unlimited data" plans I've seen forbid tethering. I'm just wondering how they enforce it?

 

Man you are clueless about XP.....

Throughout 2007, according to reports by Net Applications, Mac OS increased its market share by 3.15% while Vista managed to grab 10.48% market share. Windows XP lost 8.39% of the OS market share in the same time period, quite unsurprising considering Vista is its successor, while Linux increased by 0.26%. Nothing too mind-boggling, but definitely interesting, to say the least. At the end of December 2007, the (incomplete) standings are as follows:

Windows XP - 76.91%
Windows Vista - 10.48%
Mac OS - 7.30%
Windows 2000 - 2.66%
Windows 98 - 0.70%
Linux - 0.63%



That was released last week.

Anyhow not only can you do this with Vista, but I since I got my blackjack (from work) I could tether it to my XP notebook and use it as a 3G modem to surf the internet for some time now....probably before Vista was out to the public...can remember for sure. This is using the Cingular now ATT software for XP.

This whole article is old news. Not only can I use my BlackJack as a Modem but with my blue tooth headset I can make calls while using it as a Modem.

Must be a slow news day....even for the Vista lovers

 

Nice review...

But Wait, WAIT, It doesn't even print money or feed starving babies???!!!!

well that was most useless electronics device I ever saw XD

 

Anyone with a job? The program is still worthless because even my old crappy Razr could be configured as a modem and used on the data network. My current WM6 phone is also easily setup as a tethered modem.

This program is virtually pointless. For the money the reviewer spent on the Eeepc and the extra data costs (dunno about his carrier but MOST charge you a seperate amount for using your phone as a modem, not built into phone data plans) he could have just gotten a dell D410 or D420 and swapped his cellular card back and forth.

This program is the answer to a question that has been answered a few times already.

 

A lot of people keep saying that the software is useless and that you can tether your smartphone to your computer without the software. But isn't the point of the software suppose to be that you can connect to the internet with a regular unlimited internet plan and not have to subscribe to an additional or more expensive, laptop connect / tethering data plan? If that's the case, it's not worthless because data plans to get on the internet through your phone can be as low at 20 dollars a month, whereas using your laptop as a modem data plans can be 50 dollars or more a month. Can someone please help clarify?

 

I cant speak for every cell company and product out there.

Simply put my company pays for my BlackJack for oncall stuff. It comes with a PDA data package....$34? Anyhow it allows me to get unlimited email and Exchange server syncs......surf the net.....use as a 3G modem for my XP notebook.

They could give me say a Razor and then a wireless broadband card...and pay the same I guess. Or they they could get stupid and give the BlackJack and a broadband card. The point is...for me...is that one PDA/Phone with the PDA package does it all for me with the vendors software.

 

SGT Lindy already replied, but I'll chime in as well. With default settings, PDANet usage is treated as wireless data usage, same as usage from the any network applications on your device. So, as far as your carrier is concerned, when you're browsing the web with your notebook tethered to your smartphone with PDANet it's the same as when you're browsing the web untethered directly from your smartphone.

Of course, the various carriers would prefer for you to spend one monthly fee for a data plan for your smartphone and another monthly fee for a data plan for your notebook.

 

My provider charges $45/month for unlimited, and tethering is extra ($15/mo).

I have a 700w, and been using PDAnet over a year. (works with activesync or directly over BT.. though directly over BT crashes the phone)

Currently, the 700w firmware had unlocked the DUN on the phone (works over BT too!)), but the provider blocks the network login. But PDAnet still works.

 

I know that Sprint only charges $15 for an unlimited data plan, or atleast they use to when I was with them. I used PDANet all the time, even for downloading, and I never received any complaints from them.

However, when I brought my Treo in for repair ((warranty)) they ALWAYS removed the program. No big deal really, as I had it backed up on my PC, so a simple sync and it was recovered.

 

I have used this with XP on my old laptop and my Treo 700p, worked great. New laptop has Vista 64, no good. No drivers for 64 bit vista.

 

Wow. What vitriol!

First, lots of people won't touch Vista just like they skipped Windows ME.

Second - on Sprint phones, you can tether a PPC 6600 or a PPC 6700 without this software (but it's more cumbersome to do so), but unless you want to pay a lot more money every month to do so, tethering a 6800 from time to time just isn't going to work without something like PDAnet.

Third - even if you DO pay Sprint the extra money (or spend quite a bit more for yet another card that may not work on all laptops or desktops), it is NOT as simple as this software makes it. They have locked down the availability of "Phone as Modem" - the very reason for this software to be written. I suspect other carriers will be doing the same. If you want to keep an antique phone (like an old 6600 or 6700) then fine. But when I upgraded (and when my customers get a new phone) I am glad this software exists.

Fourth - even when you pay, good luck getting tethering to work on PCs with Win98 or WinME. The Sprint software assumes you have the newest OS.

Fifth - what you call "a complete rip off" I call a fantastic piece of software and well worth the price. It's going to save me and my customers a lot of money and make life easier. Please keep in mind that not everybody in the world uses the exact same software and hardware that you are using.

 

I did 3 speed test and I avg around 1000 kbps download and avg 100 kbps upload using my Mogul and PDAnet.

I have 4 out of 5 bars. I got the Sprint SERO plan.

Nice speed!

 

Sprint SERO plan w/ unlimited data & texting: $28.96 / month after tax & student discount
Brand new Palm Centro: $49.99 after $50 rebate
PDAnet: $34.00

Broadband access for my laptop wherever I am, whenever I need it: (much more expensive than this is costing me )

 

So is it true by using a smart phone with windows mobile 6 and pdanet with an unlimited data plan that as long as I am not downloading like crazy but more of just surfing and checking email that I will not build up any additional costs with my cell carrier?