Wireless data links for telemetry, south-eastern US?

[JosephKK]

Martin Riddle wrote:

[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area you plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.

That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.

They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.

I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.

 

[JosephKK]

Do you know who the carrier would be in the SE?

Same as the cell phone services and maybe a few small players
piggybacking / reselling bandwidth on the main nets.

That would mean our own RF links. It's what we are doing right now and
it requires a link through local premises. However, the goal is to have
the units send their data straight to a headquarters or a service location.

That could be difficult with ISM without running concentrators. Still
limited by line of sight. GPRS is nearly global in coverage, the
modems seem to be about US$ 1000 each or less.

 

[Joerg]

Martin Riddle wrote: [...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area you plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.

They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.

I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.

No min usage either? Which service is that?

 

[Joerg]

Same as the cell phone services and maybe a few small players
piggybacking / reselling bandwidth on the main nets.

Ok, yeah, we were planning on contacting those first. According to one
poster in this thread Verizon seems to be the prevalent carrier down there.

That could be difficult with ISM without running concentrators. Still
limited by line of sight. GPRS is nearly global in coverage, the
modems seem to be about US$ 1000 each or less.

How can GPRS be global if it uses a cell network? Cell networks have
plenty of holes in their coverage. But anyhow, $1000 modem cost is
outrageous, that would blow the method straight out of the water. It
needs to be well under $50, which GSM and CDMA would be.

 

[JosephKK]

JosephKK wrote:
Martin Riddle wrote:
[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area youplan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.

They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.

I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.

No min usage either? Which service is that?

AT&T GoPhone. Inexpensive, low feature phones are common with it as
well. It is kind of a variation of pre-paid.

 

[JosephKK]

Ok, yeah, we were planning on contacting those first. According to one
poster in this thread Verizon seems to be the prevalent carrier down there.




How can GPRS be global if it uses a cell network? Cell networks have
plenty of holes in their coverage. But anyhow, $1000 modem cost is
outrageous, that would blow the method straight out of the water. It
needs to be well under $50, which GSM and CDMA would be.

Global in the sense that GPRS is available anywhere GSM cell service
is available. Thus it would include Moscow, Kampala, Beijing,
Canberra, Marseille, etc.

 

[Joerg]

JosephKK wrote:
Martin Riddle wrote:
[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area you plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.
They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.
I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.

No min usage either? Which service is that?

AT&T GoPhone. Inexpensive, low feature phones are common with it as
well. It is kind of a variation of pre-paid.

This one?
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...nes.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-002A0A-0-1&WT.svl=title

Now for the pesky fine print:
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms-prepaid.jsp#pyg

Quote: "Amounts deposited into your account expire as follows: cards
less than $25, 30 days; cards $25 to $75, 90 days; $100 cards, 365 days.
Unused account balance is forfeited upon expiration."

IMHO that is not a good deal at all. Sorry, but there I've got the
better deal, much better (with VirginMobile).

 

[Joerg]

Global in the sense that GPRS is available anywhere GSM cell service
is available. Thus it would include Moscow, Kampala, Beijing,
Canberra, Marseille, etc.

But leaves out much of America. A neighbor fell for the GSM deal, signed
on the dotted line, for two years. That was before the 30-day cool-off
was signed into law. Had to put a yagi on the roof and his cell phone
was, ahem, not quite wireless anymore.

 

[Joerg]

( I hope I credited the right names )



Has anyone really used one of these phones serial/data port to send SMS ?

No, didn't need that function yet. But the phones aren't that different
from the ones used for regular (expensive) service. Nowadays a true
serial link is unusual, it all goes towards USB.

If so, how ?

For mine, this way:

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Data-Cable+...temQQimsxZ20090913?IMSfp=TL090913131005r14102

 

[Joerg]

OK, how about the user interface docs ?

Is it AT command set or another ?

I have no idea. Nokia offers software for it but I never tried it
because I didn't need this function. There is also other software but
WRT the Nokia PC Suite you can read up on it here:

http://nds1.nokia.com/files/support/global/phones/software/Nokia_PC_Suite_UG_eng.pdf

I have heard of people getting micro controllers to talk to it so I
assume it's possible.

 

[JosephKK]

JosephKK wrote:
JosephKK wrote:
Martin Riddle wrote:
[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area you plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.
They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.
I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.

No min usage either? Which service is that?

AT&T GoPhone. Inexpensive, low feature phones are common with it as
well. It is kind of a variation of pre-paid.

This one?
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...nes.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-002A0A-0-1&WT.svl=title

Nothing there to see without digging.

Now for the pesky fine print:
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms-prepaid.jsp#pyg

That seems to be pretty much what my deal is. One difference is
expiration with account balances maintained over $100, mine doesn't
(yet).

 

[JosephKK]

( I hope I credited the right names )


Has anyone really used one of these phones serial/data port to send SMS ?

If so, how ?

don

No data port of any kind on my phone. No camera either.

 

[JosephKK]

OK, how about the user interface docs ?

Is it AT command set or another ?

Thanks

don

Slightly modified/extended AT command set. Required by PCCA Std. 100.
(Dates from the CDPD days.) Also required for ITU V.90 and V.92.

 

[JosephKK]

But leaves out much of America. A neighbor fell for the GSM deal, signed
on the dotted line, for two years. That was before the 30-day cool-off
was signed into law. Had to put a yagi on the roof and his cell phone
was, ahem, not quite wireless anymore.

And just when was this? Say about 4-5 years ago?

 

[Joerg]

No data port of any kind on my phone. No camera either.

Are you sure about the data port? It doesn't have one of those wide
connectors on the bottom? Even my cheap Nokia has that and this 2115i
ought to be the true no-frills economy model here.

 

[Joerg]

JosephKK wrote:
JosephKK wrote:
Martin Riddle wrote:
[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the area you plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.
They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep the same
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.
I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.
No min usage either? Which service is that?
AT&T GoPhone. Inexpensive, low feature phones are common with it as
well. It is kind of a variation of pre-paid.

This one?
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...nes.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-002A0A-0-1&WT.svl=title

Nothing there to see without digging.

Well, that's how those web sites usually are. For whatever reason. Maybe
some script kiddies have reached the suit and tie phase by now,
mortgage, kids, the whole nine yards ;-)

That seems to be pretty much what my deal is. One difference is
expiration with account balances maintained over $100, mine doesn't
(yet).

Sorry, but then my deal is indeed better. No expiration, regardless of
balance

 

[Joerg]

And just when was this? Say about 4-5 years ago?

Not that long. I met a guy while walking the dogs and asked him about
this strange antenna, thinking he might have found the golden trick to
make this %#*@!! digital TV work. Then he explained it all. Even
switching later ain't that easy if you bought some integrated deal for
your business (he runs an engineering firm). Not easy to unravel.

 

[JosephKK]

Are you sure about the data port? It doesn't have one of those wide
connectors on the bottom? Even my cheap Nokia has that and this 2115i
ought to be the true no-frills economy model here.

It only has a charging jack.

 

[JosephKK]

JosephKK wrote:
JosephKK wrote:
JosephKK wrote:
Martin Riddle wrote:
[...]

You'd need a nation wide plan, or set the phone up in the areayou plan
to place it to avoid roaming charges.

Roaming charges are unacceptable and could be negotiated away. After
all, I don't pay any on my own cell. It's always 18c/minute no matter
what or where.
That is an expensive phone, unless all the minutes rollover forever.
They do roll over. By now I have a bazillion minutes. I don't think
there is any cheaper way to have a cell phone and always keep thesame
cell number. All those other deals I looked at required prepaid cards
that would expire in rather short time frames, between one and three months.

I pay around five bucks a month. That's it.
I pay $0.25/min and $0.05/sms, no monthly. As long as i maintain $100
in the account it rolls over forever.
No min usage either? Which service is that?
AT&T GoPhone. Inexpensive, low feature phones are common with it as
well. It is kind of a variation of pre-paid.
This one?
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...es..jsp?wtSlotClick=1-002A0A-0-1&WT.svl=title

Nothing there to see without digging.

Well, that's how those web sites usually are. For whatever reason. Maybe
some script kiddies have reached the suit and tie phase by now,
mortgage, kids, the whole nine yards ;-)

That seems to be pretty much what my deal is. One difference is
expiration with account balances maintained over $100, mine doesn't
(yet).

Sorry, but then my deal is indeed better. No expiration, regardless of
balance

Maybe, maybe not, yours has a $10 monthly i believe you said. Mine
has none. Better depends on your usage pattern as well.

 

[Joerg]

It only has a charging jack.

Now that is truly low end. The Yugo of cell phones