Seeking advice for mobile connectivity

[Jacques Caron]

Hi,

I think you should get a GSM/GPRS card. You would then get GSM (CSD) 
connectivity (i.e. 9600 bps data calls billed by the minute), but also GPRS 
access (i.e. "always-on", packet-switched, up to 50 Kbps, billed by 
volume). I believe all such cards look like serial cards, but I wouldn't 
guarantee it. The alternative is to use a GSM/GPRS phone, and connect it 
via a serial cable, IRDA, or Bluetooth.

You need a subscription with a GSM provider that will give you a SIM card 
to put either in the GSM/GPRS PC card or the phone, with the GPRS option 
active. Roaming with GPRS is a lot less developed than with GSM, but it's 
growing.

You might want to have a look at http://www.psg.com/~randy/gprs-ppp.html 
which talks a bit about this.

Otherwise the good old modem also works great :-) Neither CSD nor GPRS will 
give you decent latency :-(

Hope that helps,

Jacques.

At 15:51 28/03/2003, Mikhail Teterin wrote:
>Hello!
>
>I'm specing my future laptop, which will be used primarily for travel.
>FreeBSD support, lightness and long battery time are the primary
>requirements.
>
>I'd appreciate suggestions/comments :-) My main concern is the "world
>wide" connectivity -- I live in the US, but a couple of times a year
>travel abroad -- mostly Eastern and Western Europe.
>
>Seems like I should get a GSM card... Which one? Do they look just
>like a modem to the OS, or is there some GSM-wide "always on" kind of
>connectivity (would it look like a NIC?)? I don't need much bandwidth,
>but rather reliability and low latency. Do I have to have a contract
>with one provider and pay through the nose when abroad, or can I buy
>service locally when and where I need it?
>
>Please, pardon my ignorance -- my cell phone is of a CDMA variety, which
>seems to work better around here, but I have to leave it home when
>traveling :-)
>
>Thanks in advance! Yours,
>
>         -mi
>
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-- Jacques Caron, IP Sector Technologies
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