> From: Andrew Kershaw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Some friends of mine plan on travelling around the US in a motor home > in the not too distant future (they're in the process of selling their > house). They've asked me how they can get online while travelling. > Particularly, they want to know about Ositech's > <http://www.ositech.com/> line of cell phone -> PC adapters for data > over cell networks. They have something like the King of Heart's in > mind: <http://www.ositech.com/Products/koh.htm> I'm afraid I just > don't know enough about mobile data connections to help them out... > > I have a few q's I guess: > * Does this system require a data plan from your phone service > provider? > * What kind of connections can they expect (is 56k really possible > over cells?)
A few people in the boating world are using a Sharp TM20 PocketMail service. It gives you email through a dial-up connection from any phone, even a pay phone, using an acoustic coupler. I think this would be good backup system if you were going to be close to a telephone but not sure if you are in a cell service area. > > * What do you folks recommend for mobile data access? (Actually, I > want to know this for myself too - I've got a Wallstreet and a 5300cs > that I'd like to get online when I'm literally "out in the field") ;-) > I currently use FIDO's GPRS service and it's excellent for the US and Canada, but only in areas that have digital service. I use it with the Wallstreet. It gives me speeds of up to 53-54K, almost as good as a 56K dial-up connection. It's a bit tricky finding the right modem script for the Mac but your friends will have no problem with their wintel setup. > I'm sure they would love broadband... Is there a good solution for > that? > There are solutios I've heard that there is a satellite service specifically > tailored for mobile home users that has the dish actively tracking the > satellite so that users don't have to re-point the dish each time they > want to talk to the satellite... Truckers and motor home users have their own hardware for TV. There is device used in the boating world called Follow-Me-TV that is relatively inexpensive and allows boaters to track satellite TV signals while at anchor. I'm not sure how it would work for a fixed satellite set up each evening by a motor home user. Here's what they have to say about tracking the satellite internet signal: > While Follow Me TV� can physically handle the 36" x 24" dishes for Starband (DishNET) and DirecPC (Hughes) for TV and internet service, even very accurate tracking within 1� in azimuth (elevation set manually) is not good enough to handle 2-way internet traffic at anchor� (TV tracking with these dishes will work). No manufacturer has been able to track with these 2-way internet systems. Professional installers tell us that absolutely NO movement can be tolerated and electronic tuning for each location is required as well for these systems to work on land. Several customers have tried and failed with both of these systems for 2-way internet tracking on boats. So, the sentence "electronic tuning for each location is required...for these systems to work on land" tells me this might not be an option yet. On the other hand, several providers advertise their products as being available for motor homes. EG: http://www.surfthenetfaster.com/ Hope this helps. -- Jodine -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
