Using Mobile internet

[Cervante]

Ok so now we know that vodafone , huwei , e220 whatever should work since its already compiled and supported into the kernel , my next question is ( if it were to work ) how do I get service onto the pandora . Ive never gotten wireless service in my life & I dont know much about edge , wimax, gsm ect. All I know is that t-mobile has the cheapest data plan for laptops . I live in the USA btw.

 

[ma10]

@cervante, unfortunately i'm not too clued up on the US mobile data plans as I'm from the UK.

I believe in the US that 2G (GPRS/EDGE) are most common (please correct me if I'm wrong!) with some places with 3G (UMTS/HSDPA). So, you really have to check with your mobile operator as to what is available in your area. Also, to check round the various mobile specific forums as to which modems (preferably USB) are compatible with US mobile operators.

The Huawei E220, in the UK at least, is the most common 3G capable usb modem for quite a few years now and is slowly being phased out with usb "sticks". The Huawei E220 officially supports 3.6mb/s and is usually locked like mobile phones you get with mobile operators so you either have to buy independant of operator to make sure it is unlocked. Unlocking existing operator branded E220 modems is possible but I will not discuss these type of things for obvious reasons. If you buy another modem then please check it is supported by the Linux kernel or the linux drivers is available!

The last thing I would suggest is that you buy the data plan + modem only after you have gotten your Pandora (unless you are prepared to use it on another device like a laptop) or probably more importantly only after you have gotten confirmation from someone/forums that it will work on the Pandora.....!!

 

[Eniko]

Well Vodafone here (in the Netherlands) let's you try before you buy for one month. After I get my Pandora I'm gonna try and see if I can get that working, and if I can I'll probably get the prepaid plan. With just IRC and IMs occasionally while out and about that could last me for years.