Use Your Cell Phone for Laptop Internet Access

Travelers berate the reality of the many costs incurred in business travel, such as for airline tickets, rental car fees, hotel expenses, dining and entertainment fees, and a host of other costs and expenses (all of which are taxable, by the way). This reality is perhaps frightening enough to make even the most seasoned traveler cringe in the closet at the very thought of venturing out the door.

On top of these perhaps more abstract realities come also the physical realities of traveling. You know... logistics problems. If you are somewhat the wannabe computer geek (as I am), having to pay for - or even locate - a decent Internet signal can be a maddening experience. I have recently solved this problem, seemingly for once and for all.

It's called a tethered modem.

But first let's talk about what led up to all this...

LUCKY GUY - ARMED WITH A WIRELESS CANTENNA

Some years back, I was fortunate enough to work for a company that pretty much didn't care where I was when I was doing my work. Lucky guy.

So, as a lover of nature I took full advantage of this scenario. Thus on any one day you would be able to find me in the great outdoors, pounding away on my laptop. But, how was I to connect to the Internet, answer e-mail, "chat" when necessary, and thus provide the (real or illusory) perception that I was successfully producing work from home?

Always the wannabe geek, I had already read up on and found a solution for access to a convenient (and free) Internet connection.

A few years back, home wireless networks were just starting to become all the craze. Along with this technology craze came a relative innocence about home network security, which left room for some well-intended "bandwidth borrowing" and no doubt some outright abuse. Essentially people could walk or drive by (thus the term "wardriving") and connect to any unsecured home network. To take advantage of this open security hole, I chose the more well-intended avenue, and crafted my own wireless cantenna (which you can read about here).

WIRELESS CANTENNA

Armed with a work-at-home policy and my freshly cantenna (made from one of my Mexican Café Casera coffee cans), on any given day you would see me sitting at a park bench or convenient tree trunk with my laptop connected by a wire to an odd looking coffee can. The coffee can served as a signal collector to capture some nice person's home wireless network signal, and I was able to "work from home" while I actually sat outside amidst any pleasant pastoral setting of my choosing.

However, in recent years the folks at home (as well as the Internet service providers) have become more technology savvy. We see fewer and fewer of these open networks available for the tapping. Sadly has came an end to a relatively short and joyous era of free Internet.

So back to the drawing board, and the original question: How to get free Internet while outdoors?

And so let's go back to our tethered modem story.

A TETHERED WHAT?

I do not have the freedom to work at home as I please any more. I travel frequently, but luckily the company I work for is realistic enough to recognize that this traveler needs to have a company-paid cell phone.

One thing that I have found relatively few laptop-carrying travelers know: some cell phones have the ability to provide a free or low-cost Internet connection - all at a pretty fast speed. These cell telephones not only serve out voice communication, but also can act as a tethered modem for one's laptop while on the go.

So what is a tethered modem?

Typically a tethered modem is a cell phone that is connected by wire (such as a synchronizing cable) or wireless (such as Bluetooth) connection to the laptop. After being configured through some software, one's laptop may send commands to the cell phone to switch to a tethered modem mode, thus allowing the laptop to access Internet at a relatively high speed. During this time, cell phones typically cannot be used for voice communication, as the phone's bandwidth is dedicated to providing a speedy connection to the Internet.

When I was offered the chance to order a cell phone, I did a little research into this. Among the big players in the tethered modem cell phone market are Cingular, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

I chose Verizon and went with a Blackberry 8000 series cell phone. I connect my cell phone to my laptop up with a USB cord, activate Verizon's proprietary software, and then connect the cell phone to the Internet. After that, I can cruise the web at a fair clip, though not as fast as at the office.

USUALLY NOT FREE

As always in a capitalist market experience, this is not a free service. On my current company plan, I'm paying an extra $15 per month for this tethered modem capability over my regular service.

What's great about this is that it doesn't matter where I am. Just as long there is a decent cell phone service signal, I am able to connect to the Internet. Another great advantage is the cost savings associated with this. At any given location that provides Internet access for a fee, one can be paying anywhere up to $25 per day. With a tethered modem, one pays a decent monthly fee for access at any time they wish, even in areas where no wireless signal can be found.

OR IS IT FREE?

Again, being the wannbe geek, I have read about ways to use one's cell phone in such a manner as to force it to connect to the Internet and thus get some free access. These methods go anywhere from reprogramming one's phone, to assembling fancy interface gizmos (too hard for me to do), and downloading or rewriting some kind of interface software that "tricks" your phone into accessing the Internet.

I see there is loads of information on the Internet on how to do this "the unofficial way" - so I won't go there.

EASY INTERNET ACCESS AT HOME - WITHOUT CABLE OR DSL SERVICE

Rest assured, there finally are ways to access the Internet on your PC using your cell phone at an increasingly reasonable price.

This access is great for travelers who wish to reduce their costs a little bit, but can also be useful for folks at home who cannot access the Internet using conventional cable or DSL services. This applies in rural areas, such as the vast farmlands of the great Midwest to cozy mountaintop cabins - wherever a cell signal may travel.

So, now you know...

- John

*****

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