A recent posting by Craig, (sitdown@hotbot.com) queried using the Nokia 6160 to connect to the internet. Is anyone using this handset now in this way? What cables & etc. are you using? In what areas of the US have you been successful?
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A recent posting by Craig, (sitdown@hotbot.com) queried using the Nokia 6160 to connect to the internet. Is anyone using this handset now in this way? What cables & etc. are you using? In what areas of the US have you been successful?
I am using the 6160 with a 3COM modem (#3CMX556) and Nokia 3CNOKA6 cable. I use it with AT&T's One-Rate Plan. The setup is a no-brainer and the system works great.
Jerry
Road Greetings Jerry,
Thanks for your report of success with the Nokia 6160.
>I am using the 6160 with a 3COM modem (#3CMX556) and Nokia 3CNOKA6
cable. I use it with AT&T's One-Rate Plan. The setup is a no-brainer and
the system works great.
I have begun field testing a Nokia 6162 using the Digital One Rate Plan service in the desert areas of southern Nevada and although I really like the phone, the coverage has been about what I guessed -- OK in the cities and along the narrow bands of the interstate hwy corridors -- but non-existent elsewhere. I am especially interested in viewing the billings for the "unexpected" roaming charges encountered in the non-AT&T areas.
RW
There will be no roaming charges per AT&T. They absorb them in areas they do not cover under the One Rate Plan.
I have used it in many areas. We were in 20 states last year and did not pay a single roaming charge!
Jerry,
I've been testing the same setup (3Com modem, cable, and Nokia 6100) The best speed I could achieve was 4800bps. Worse, the cable forces the phone into analog mode which consumes the battery at about five times the usual rate.
Have your results been better?
BR
Author: Brandt Redd (bredd@nospam.MyFamilyInc.com)
Subject: Slow speeds and short batteries
Greetings Brandt,
RW: Long time no hear!
BR: I've been testing the same setup (3Com modem, cable, and Nokia 6100) The
best speed I could achieve was 4800bps. Worse, the cable forces the
phone into analog mode which consumes the battery at about five times
the usual rate.
RW: This is the first time I have heard about the battery consuming problem when in analog mode. Is CDPD an option for you in Utah?
I do not see where the 6160 uses any more battery life than normal transmitting & receiving. Any T&R is going to use more battery life than in standby mode. As far as 4800 baud, this is as good as it will be until we get digital service for this application.
Jerry
I wonder if Brandt fully discharged his Nokia's batteries the recommended three times? I haven't noticed much change in battery usage periods in the different modes.
Plus, in regards to Jerry's last posting: Are you strictly operating in analog at the 4.8K rates or in digital?
Mark
All my email downloading is in analog mode. Each time you dial up, the phone automatically goes into analog mode.
Jerry
All email downloads are in analog mode as the phone automatically goes to analog when the cable is connected.
Jerry
Jerry,
Let me get this straight, You have never had the digital network handle any of the e-mail functions with the Nokia cable?
That is very interesting and runs counter to a recent conversation I had with the Nokia-US chief on internet connectivity issues. Please confirm your experience.
To be clear, when you are in digital mode and you connect the cable -- it always goes to analog?
RW
Mark,
You are correct. Every time I dial up, the phone goes into analog mode. I contacted AT&T (Dallas office)regarding this and they told me they are not presently equipped to handle e-mail with their digital service.
Jerry
> Mark,<BR>
> <BR>
> You are correct. Every time I dial up, <BR>
> the phone goes into analog mode. I contacted <BR>
> AT&T (Dallas office)regarding this and they told <BR>
> me they are not presently equipped to handle <BR>
> e-mail with their digital service.<BR>
> <BR>
> Jerry <BR>
<BR>
while using a cellular phone to get online, you have to run off of analog towers. This is why the cable for the nokia phones automatically switches to analog.
Also, cellular phone batteries will drain faster when in analog mode. Digital service runs at a lower wattage and therefore drains less from the phones battery. The differance between battery life in digital and analog modes is that in digital the battery charge will last about twice as long.
Just bought a Nokia 6160 and 3com 3cxm556 and NOK6 cable. Trying to get a connection through earthlink, but can't send or receive, tho the remote access says I'm connected at 9600 bps.
I am using an Apple Powerbook g3 and system 9.
My signal seems to be at a 4 or 5 bar, yet still no ability to send or receive. I'd sure appreciate any tips, as I've been through Nokia, 3com, and Earthlink tech support with no happy results ;-(
Thanks. I'm on a long road trip and get land lines as often as possible, but would love to get email at least 1-2x/week with wireless.
Camille Stupar
Camille,
I am having my own connection problems with the Earthlink pop at present --but, where in the country are you now? Is your phone making the transition to analog when the cable is installed? (e-mail through the 6160 is accomplished on the analog network). Do you have a consistent voice connection at your current location?
I will flash a message to Chris, Jerry & Brandt(who all have done a fair amount of testing with a similar set-up) and see what he recommends.
RW
Hi. I'm in Tampa FL for another few days. I have a killer digital signal here, and yes, when connection with earthlink is established, it switches to analog, still strong, 4-5 bars. Thanks for the help. I'm still working on it and will persist... Camille
Camille has joined the ranks of the "Eureka Club" those dashboaders who have experienced first-hand the all-too-infrequent happy day of receiving e-mail wirelessly on their handhelp cellular devices. After I suggested that she slow down the speed at which her Nokia 6160 was attempting to connect I received the following message:
--------------------
(CS): Hi Mark,
I GOT IT! Was able to send and receive brief text email via Nokia 6160!
Thanks for your help; in my modem preferences I used 3com 14.4 analog modem
setting (the slowest to choose from), and connected at 9600 and 14000.
(RW): It is unlikely that your 6160 connected at any speed in excess of 9.6K but in any case -- Glad you are now a member of the Eureka Club!
(CS): We usually hook up with land lines but it's nice to know this is an option
for those times when we're boondocked for a week or two at a time.
I had "Eureka" days so infrequently using my 3com modem/Nokia phone combination that I stopped trying in favor of researching fully digital methods.
Still, I have a few suggestions. Details on many of these are in the booklet that comes with the 3Com NOK6 cable:
1. Speeds higher than 4800bps tend to be unreliable. However, you should note that this is the modem speed, not the COM port speed. All modern modems do speed conversion and you should leave your COM port speed at maximum. To limit the modem to 4800bps you need to add "AT&N4" to your modem setup string. Let us know if you have trouble finding where to set that. A number of people should be able to help.
7200bps and 9600bps sometimes work. To set them, use "AT&N5" or AT&N6" respectively.
2. Cellular modems work best if the modem at the other end of the connection is cellular aware. These modems support the "ETC" modem protocol enhancements. Most modems offered by ISPs don't have these provisions. And many are configured not to connect at speeds lower than 9600 or 19.2Kbps. In the latter case you will have little or no success connecting. I believe that this was my problem before I gave up.
The best thing is if you can find an ISP that has an access number with modems specifically intended for cellular connections. I am not personally aware of any but I'm sure they exist. Perhaps others on this forum can make suggestions.
I hope this helps!
BR
had given up on the 6162 for modem connections, was using "apex cellular modem" and nokia cable with little success. Puchased a car kit for motor home. Noticed it has a data port (rj11) on the "black box". No mention of it in manual that I could find. Dealer said just plug in you laptop cell modem and it will work fine. Wrong....
Any thoughts on connecting through the car adapter port?
Road Greetings Mike,
Sorry for the delay in response. What is the manufactuer of the car kit? What did you set your modem speed at? What is the nature of the problems you are having?
Ya gotta love the ignorance level of many dealers out here.
The "car adapter port" you mention -- is this made by Apex?
If you read the earlier comments posted by others in this chain -- you will see a range of success with the 6162. Let us know what you have already tried and perhaps we have a solution for you.
RW
I have great success with Nokia 6160, IBM (XJACK OEM) pcmcia
card (33.6) and nokia/3com cables.
Yes it runs in analog mode, yes it runs down the battery
pretty fast. But I only use it in an emergency when a land
line is not available. I set it to 9600 baud. Hook up the rapid charger to help me fight the battery drain.
I am only dialing directly into my AIX box and using a nice dumb vt100/dos setup. Like I said for emergencies its OK.
Here's my question:
I've tried switching to a 3Com xjack
3xcm756 (56k) and can't connect. I'm still using dumb vt100
and 9600 baud but the change to 3com-56k has caused the modems to fail the negotiation.
The other modem on the AIX is micom delporte (?).
Any suggestions??
Up to now I've relied on the modem setting up by itself. The docs say inserting the nokia cable tells the modem to switch to cellular settings.
thanks ... joe.f.
P.S. I prefer that its analog. It appear like just another voice call and I don't get charged for data mode.
Joe, I haven't used the 3-com product, but I know other Nokia users who have. I will get back to you.
In other news, have you heard about the V.34 PCMCIA type III card that has been developed by GlobeWave? This wireless modem uses the AMPS network exclusively and is reputed to obtain 20+ K connection and transfer speeds, plus it can be used as normal wireline connection, (doesn't require an additional cell transceiver since it uses an embedded 0.6 watt unit. (www.globewave.com/Product_Information/product_information.html)
RW
I assume that you are trying to use the modem with a cellular phone such as
a Nokia:
As Mark knows, after some moderately successful tests I gave up on using my
modem with a conventional cellular phone because of difficult making
connections and low performance. Still, I think I have some suggestions from
my experience that may help. And if you are just using vt100 terminal
emulation you won't have as much trouble with performance as I did sending
TCP/IP over the link.
1. All current modems do baud-rate conversions so setting your terminal
emulator or serial port to 9600 won't make any difference. Instead, you have
to send an "AT" command to the modem to limit its speed. This command must
be sent before dialing the connection. Most terminal emulators have a place
where you can specify a setup screen or you can simply type it by hand
within the terminal emulator before dialing. You'll have to consult your
modem documentation to find the right code. With a cellular connection I
recommend starting with 4800 bps and then trying 9600 later.
2. Check on the configuation of the modem you are dialing into. Ideally, it
should be "cellular compatible" even though it is connected to a
conventional POTS line. Cellular compatible modems use special protocols to
improve reliability and tolerate momentary interruptions as your cellular
phone crosses between cells.
3. A problem I had when dialing into Internet Service Providers is that
their modems were often configured not to accept connections at lower
speeds. This configuration was inconsistent depending on which modem in the
pool I happened to get when dialing in. So this is another issue to check on
the receiving end.
Finally, just a warning: Using a modem cable with a cellular phone such as
the Nokia models forces the phone into analog mode. Apparently the modem
doesn't work well if its tones have to be digitized by the phone. Analog
cellular uses the battery much faster than digital so you'll need to watch
your battery and maybe keep a spare around.
Good luck!
BR