Verizon Mobile Office

[topcat7736]

THANKS CLIFF!!!!   :!

Went to the Verizon store tonight to find out about their Mobile Office Kit which allows access to the internet via a cell phone and a notebook computer. No problem at all!

The phone I had wasn't supported, but since I had it for over two years, they gave me a new Motorola V60 phone for free. The Mobile Office Kit had a price tag of $39.95 & I bought it. There's a cable that connects from the phone to a USB port on the computer and 2-CD rom's.

The first CD contains USB drivers and a phonebook that reads all the numbers from your phone & saves them on the computer. You can update the phone list on the computer & re-program your phone from the new list (without having to press the phone keys 100 times to enter a name).

The second CD contains the Mobile Office which allows you to connect to the internet through your phone. Once installed, there's two selections. One, the high speed version, costs additional to use. But, the Quick-2-Net version, at 14,400 baud, is FREE! The only charge is for the minutes during the time period you use the internet. So, if you have unlimited night and weekend minutes, you can use the internet then and not pay any additional fees. If you use it during say prime time, it will decrement your alloted minutes.

I tried it out and it works fine. With their compression software, the machine appears to run at a speed closer to 28,800.  

Hey, for $40 you can't beat it. If, when camping, you take your notebook computer & cell phone with you, you can have access to the internet as well!

Mobile Office Kit

Motorola V60s Phone

[Gone-Camping]

Well, you now you need to start poking around the technology section of RV.net... I got into a discussion over there with someone going by the name of Draver, who (among other people) keep saying that even though we are not paying for the higher priced "National Access" internet connection, it can be used on you plan minutes.

Now I haven't tried this yet, and I've been to three different Verizon Wireless stores asking, as well as their 611 number, and they all say the same thing, extra charges apply for the National Access. But Draver pointed out to me 2 nights ago that on the bill under "enhanced services" the National Access shows up, and so I checked my bill and he's right. So no even I'm confused. He has the same plan I'm on, the $39.99/400 anytime plan with free nights & weekends, and he uses the faster National Access connection. He cut-n-pasted a section of his online bill for me, and showed he dosn't get charged for the high speed access.

Guess I'm going to have to try that out and see what happens. The worst they can do is charge me for time or megabytes!!!

Glad I could help out!

[NightOwl]

Ahhhh, you boys and your toys:J :! I would make big fun of you except that I plan to get a mobile connection for my laptop from Verizon, too as soon as I get a bit of time to go to my Verison store. :# :#

I'll be camping for about 2-3 weeks in June-early july and it would be fun to be able to log in and harrass everyone!  (after hours, of course)

[Gone-Camping]

Well, if I get a connection this weekend down in Hatteras, I fully intend to try the National Access and see what happens. I'll know shortly after the 12th as to whether or not they will charge me extra, as that's when the new phone bill comes out!

[topcat7736]

Cliff,
I don't want to see you get burned. I noticed that the internet software menu has two selections. The one is Quick 2 Net (14,400) and the other is Express Network (1XRTT). The Express is supposed to work at data bursts up to 144k (if the phone is capable). Their website, and the program, allow us to use our own ISP through the phone (I could call AOL directly & use them as usual). That's one thing the Express does. The second is to connect to the internet via their National Access ISP. It's that which Verizon charges an additional $40/month to use. Our original phone plan WAS titled "National Access" and still appears on the bill but isn't the same as the NEW internet "National Access". Your friend on the other site probably is dialing his ISP, at no charge, and running at the higher speeds provided.

[Gone-Camping]

Nope, he's dialing #777 for access. I'm not convinced either, but willing to try it. The worst that can happen is...

A- It won't connect
or
B- They could charge me a few bucks for the megabytes
 
Guess we'll find out, I'm going to try it!

[topcat7736]

We've been camping since Friday night and will be at the cg until Tuesday night. I can truly say that being able to access the internet from wherever you go is great. Unfortunately, with the new week starting, the "unlimited" free minutes will be put on hold until Monday at 9pm. So, unless there's a withdrawal crisis and I need to use some of my prime time minutes, I'm cut off until then.

The speed is very good. When connecting, I count 1/1000 to 7/1000 and am on the internet. Much quicker than the dialup A-hole-L we have at home and none of the whining, buzzing & long connect time delays. In fact, the Verizon response is so good that when we get home we're going to get the Verizon dsl ($5 more than AOL) and be done with dialups forever.  :compumad:

[Gone-Camping]

Two things.
 
First of all, the "Free time" is extended on holiday weekends. I called the #611 to find out about roaming charges on the "extended network" (which I found out there are no extra charge for that), and while going through the menu's the had an announcement about Monday being free minutes.
 
The other thing, that National Access doesn't work, it wouldn't log-on, just gave me an "Invalid user" prompt. It did however, dial in to the Earthlink just fine, which I understand to be a 56k connection. However, it seemed faster with the quick-2-net so that's what I'm using right now. I like this, but miss my Verizon DSL!