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timmillwood

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 7, 2006
955
1
One thing i like about my Sony phone is i can use it as a modem on my Macbook Pro, i hope the iPhone will be able to do the same?
 
I agree, I use by Blackberry for a modem. Could it be possible for them to allow the iphone to be a modem through the Cingular network and re-transmit using the WiFi?
 
According to David Pogue:

"If the answer were yes, Apple surely would have touted that feature."
 
According to David Pogue:

"If the answer were yes, Apple surely would have touted that feature."

Also depends on Cingular and if they'll allow it. They may not have mentioned it because of that issue. And it's not really necessary as the iPhone can do almost everything that you need to do on a computer through it's wi-fi.
 
I've been under the impression that basically any bluetooth equipped cell phone can be used as a modem.
 
The technology is definitely there. It's likely that it would create a closed network with your mac over WiFi (or Bluetooth) and then use EDGE to access the net.
The question is will apple do it or will it be a hack made by some random?
 
Any new word on this subject - will we be able to use the iPhone as a modem to get broadband on laptop paired to the phone?
 
I can't imagine that AT&T would not allow it to be used, but I can tell you they will probably charge you a teathering fee like they do now.
 
i'm fuzzy on the whole 3g thing.... splain

3g can bring "broadband" like speeds to cell phones...for GSM it would be HSDPA and that can deliver up to 600kbs at any given moment. Since the iPhone only has EDGE and WiFi there is no point in using the iPhone as a modem for a laptop because EDGE is too slow to browse the internet and if you can get WiFi on your iPhone you can get it on your lappy.

Thats why I'm not buying a smartphone without 3g.
 
3g can bring "broadband" like speeds to cell phones...for GSM it would be HSDPA and that can deliver up to 600kbs at any given moment. Since the iPhone only has EDGE and WiFi there is no point in using the iPhone as a modem for a laptop because EDGE is too slow to browse the internet and if you can get WiFi on your iPhone you can get it on your lappy.

Thats why I'm not buying a smartphone without 3g.

Me too.

I can't see the iphone selling over here and in asia without HSDPA. I might be wrong though.
 
EDGE is usable for doing web surfing. You can get connections of around 30 - 170kbps (so up to 20 - 25KB/s), so nothing too fancy but better than the GPRS connections (a little faster than a modem). If you want real broadband over cellular, then you need to get a device that is EVDO / UTMS or HSDPA. These technologies can provide speeds up to 7.2mbps. I am using a vodafone E220 HSDPA adapter and get 2000mbps down 384kbps up connections here in Italy (download speeds around 200 - 250 KB/s).

Cingular is upgrading their networks to newer UTMS and HSDPA technologies, but as usual they are pretty slow at doing it :( Not to mention their data plans are pretty expensive. They change 60 bucks for unlimited data if you have a calling plan, 80 if you don't.

Kimo
 
not only as a modem...

I also hope that it can be used as a modem, but still I'm more interested in its other posible capabilities: Since it has bluetooth, I think Apple would enable it, so you can use it as a keynote controller, iTunes, Frontrow, and anything else you would like to control remotely on your computer. Don't you think?
I hope they do
 
No 3G=no point in using iPhone as modem.

In fact, I am not buying it without 3G here in Europe. I am too used to fast internet and great features from other phone like the SE P990i which is really cheap now (compared to how it was).
 
What will you be doing on a laptop that requires a connection faster than a modem, that the iPhone can't do?
 
What will you be doing on a laptop that requires a connection faster than a modem, that the iPhone can't do?

Video calls? The iPhone, incredibly, doesn't have a camera pointing at the user.

As the iPhone is also a closed platform (as far as we know) there are loads of network aware applications that the user could use from a laptop that wouldn't be available on the iPhone.
 
3g can bring "broadband" like speeds to cell phones...for GSM it would be HSDPA and that can deliver up to 600kbs at any given moment.
In the UK we have 'UMTS/WCDMA', known as 3G. 'HSDPA' is also known as 3.5G and currently provides anywhere up to 1.8Mbps here.

We don't have EDGE, not in any meaningful sense at least, because we've already got around 90% basic 3G coverage on some networks.

GSM with GPRS only gives us around 50Kbps and that's really not enough to get excited about or want to use on a laptop. I guess in the USA there'd be more of a demand for modem use on a '2.75G' EDGE device.

Still, I'd imagine the iPhone's bluetooth profile will support using the handset as a modem - almost every mobile I've ever owned, certainly every one with Bluetooth, has been able to be used as a modem.
 
In fact, I am not buying it without 3G here in Europe. I am too used to fast internet and great features from other phone like the SE P990i which is really cheap now (compared to how it was).

It's highly unlikely that the iPhone will launch in Europe without 3G, honestly. It's been made as much as clear that the iPhone can and will be re-tooled for its international launches depending on the needs of the target market. Obviously in Europe where 3G coverage is actually decent, the iPhone will probably support it. Here in the US, 3G coverage is still very spotty, to say nothing of 3.5G or WiMax.
 
Video calls? The iPhone, incredibly, doesn't have a camera pointing at the user.

As the iPhone is also a closed platform (as far as we know) there are loads of network aware applications that the user could use from a laptop that wouldn't be available on the iPhone.

Oh wow! You can do video calls over 3G? I can barely stream a good looking slingbox picture over it.
 
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