We cannot respond to all letters or e-mail (but we read them all). Please send us questions, suggestions for improvements in the magazine, ideas for new software, or general comments. All responses, unless otherwise indicated, are from Rich Hall, Editor of Pocket PC magazine. You can reach Rich at rich@PocketPCmag.com.
Can I use my dial-up ISP with a Phone Edition device?
I read your technology article in the June/July 2004 issue of Pocket PC magazine with interest since I have toyed with the idea of getting a Smartphone or a Pocket PC Phone Edition. It was a very informative article but I have one question.
With the Pocket PC Phone Edition device, must I use the Internet service from my provider or can I call a number on the PC Phone and log onto another service? For instance, could I call an Earthlink number and connect? If I could do this I would probably buy one of the Pocket PC Phones. But if I have to use the cell provider’s network it would not be worth the cost.
Proctor Willson
Actually you can do either. You can dial into your ISP using your Pocket PC Phone Edition or Windows Mobile Smartphone. You can even call a modem on your desktop PC or at your company. Unfortunately, most cellular providers charge you minutes for Internet access (as they do all other calls). Also, dial-up speeds using this method are generally slow—9.6 k for GSM and 14.4 k for CDMA.
You can also set up Internet access via the cellular provider. This allows you to access the Internet faster and more directly. The speed will be about 40 k for GPRS and 80-110 k for 1xRTT. You cannot call your ISP or your office directly with this configuration.
Overall these questions are separate from the decision about whether to choose the Smartphone or Pocket PC Phone Edition. Both devices support these functions. However, you need to confirm with your ISP the settings and costs for these features.
Chris De Herrera
Microsoft MVP, CEWindows.Net
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