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View Full Version : Hasta la Vista EDGE


ndebord
July 22nd, 2008, 08:06 PM
Free at last...

<VBG>

I've had EDGE from T-Mobile for ages now... little pcmcia radio modem cards (Sony-Ericsson GC83 and GC89). Little better than ISDN at best and often slower than dialup, they worked reasonably well, if eccentrically, with occasional failures where I literally had to reinstall the entire app and the firmware.

On May31st, T-Mobile unveiled its new UMTS/HSDPA, high-speed 3G service in NYC. From that moment, my EDGE service went down the tubes and as T-Mobile (in its infiinite wisdom) did not have any new devices for sale to handle the new spectrum, I was forced to troll the fanboy forums to see how and where I could a device to get the higher speeds.

Today, thanks to those very fanboys, I have succeeded. I have the interim solution to my dilemna; a Nokia 3555 phone with a mini-usb cable to connect to my aging T40's USB 2.0 port. Tethering they call it and I use Nokia's PC Suite software and this phone to get UMTS speed. Kind of like 384 DSL. Nice enough for a duffer like myself and much better than my life before today in which I never knew if I could get online at all using EDGE or if I could troll onto someone else's wifi connection. Usually very low and often disconnected. No landlines meant no other alternatives.

I'm in HEAVEN!

:-)

P.S. The reason I've stuck with T-Mobile through thick and thin is a grandfathered data plan: 20 bucks for 24/7 connectivity. Not thin client stuff, but the real internet and all its apps with a couple of small exceptions. (They block newsreaders.)

Judy G. Russell
July 23rd, 2008, 12:30 AM
No landlines meant no other alternatives.Ouch... that does limit your options. But congrats on the new stuff!

Mike
July 23rd, 2008, 03:11 AM
I'm in HEAVEN!
That's great to hear, Nick--especially the part about the grandfathered plan!

ndebord
July 23rd, 2008, 08:21 AM
Ouch... that does limit your options. But congrats on the new stuff!

Judy,

The last 2 months have been rough. EDGE service has literally gone down the sewer. I had to ask CSR to reset the connection to the tower so I could use my GC83 card (less problematic than the GC89) every single day!

This thing, however, is working like a champ. I'm getting 460kbps right now and the Nokia 3555 is a nice little phone which I'm still trying to learn how to use as my old cell phone is a Nokia 3390 Gold, positively dinosaur age, so I have to learn how to do the basic things like go back and forwards with the new keystrokes.

ndebord
July 23rd, 2008, 08:23 AM
That's great to hear, Nick--especially the part about the grandfathered plan!


Mike,

Living here in metro NYC meant I could afford to stick with T-Mobile even when it was crappy. My patience has been rewarded and it looks like this fall, perhaps winter I can move on to the HSDPA and get real speed, although this 460kbps runs streaming video just fine.

(And as you noted, the price is right!)

Judy G. Russell
July 24th, 2008, 11:51 AM
This thing, however, is working like a champ. I'm getting 460kbps right nowCan't argue with that!

ndebord
July 24th, 2008, 09:40 PM
Can't argue with that!

Judy,

However, after today's fear mongering on the network news, I think I'm going to get a headset for all my cell phones.

<weak grin>

Judy G. Russell
July 29th, 2008, 05:46 PM
However, after today's fear mongering on the network news, I think I'm going to get a headset for all my cell phones.I generally use my cellphone very little except in the car where it runs via Bluetooth. So I can't blame it for any of the cancers I've had! (Darn... nobody to sue...)

ndebord
July 30th, 2008, 02:01 PM
I generally use my cellphone very little except in the car where it runs via Bluetooth. So I can't blame it for any of the cancers I've had! (Darn... nobody to sue...)

Judy,

Nah. That ain't exactly so. I heard you held your phone close to your vest!

<g,d&r>

Judy G. Russell
July 30th, 2008, 02:47 PM
That ain't exactly so. I heard you held your phone close to your vest! <g,d&r>That wouldn't exactly explain the melanoma in situ on my shin...

ndebord
July 30th, 2008, 03:08 PM
That wouldn't exactly explain the melanoma in situ on my shin...

Judy,

Ah? So... let's see, drunk at the beach with your cell phone in your hand and it slipped down next to your shin?

<really ducking and running now>

(I think I'm going to change the topic!)

Judy G. Russell
July 30th, 2008, 07:54 PM
Ah? So... let's see, drunk at the beachI'd go for the drunk at the beach part! I really miss the beach... but the @$#% dermatologist said I'd end up losing more chunks of my person if I kept going...

ndebord
July 31st, 2008, 10:42 AM
I'd go for the drunk at the beach part! I really miss the beach... but the @$#% dermatologist said I'd end up losing more chunks of my person if I kept going...

Judy,

One of my best friends growing up went on to become a sailboat (and iceboat) designer. He has to wear a hat with flaps on if he wishes to sail these days. Melanoma of course.

Judy G. Russell
July 31st, 2008, 11:01 AM
He has to wear a hat with flaps on if he wishes to sail these days. Melanoma of course.At least mine was (is?) melanoma in situ -- a much less aggressive and dangerous form/stage.

ndebord
August 4th, 2008, 09:07 PM
At least mine was (is?) melanoma in situ -- a much less aggressive and dangerous form/stage.

Judy,

I've been lucky. Got some Agent Orange in my liver, but so far, no problems. As a doctor said in the mid 70s, if you ain't dyin' now, you're not going to... until later in life perhaps. (Lost a few friends and others at that time.)

But then after spending time high up in 1 corp, I moved down to a base next to 1st Log. and there was the storage facility for Operation Ranchhand. <sigh>

Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 10:36 PM
...and there was the storage facility for Operation Ranchhand. <sigh>Oh wasn't that just dandy...

ndebord
August 6th, 2008, 10:33 AM
Oh wasn't that just dandy...

Judy,

Ya takes yr chances... better to be next to it, than having it sprayed on your head!

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 01:24 PM
better to be next to it, than having it sprayed on your head!Now THAT is a True Fact.