Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 19:04:59 -0800
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Mobile phone in a Westy?!
In-Reply-To: <1302598743-20377798@decorah.k12.ia.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
In British Columbia there are all sorts of deals on Cellular phones. The
company that I work for sells cellular and I know a bit about them. First
there are two carriers for cellular, A and B. A in British Columbia is
Cantel/AT&T and the B carrier is BC Tel mobility [ formerly the gov't phone
comany ]. BC tell is everywhere where this is cell phone coverage in BC
and Cantel is not. This is the same for the rest of Canada, the B carrier
is everywhere where there is cell service. So, if you plan to tranvel to
Canada make sure your carrier has an agreement with the "B Carrier" in
Canada can ensure that you have total coverage without getting hosed for
air-time.
In BC there is a pay as you go system. BC Tel and Cantel both offer this.
No contracts or obligations. The catch is you have to purchase the phone.
If you want a FREE phone you must sign a 1 year contract (this ensures you
pay for the phone with the monthly fees)
Motorola has many phones that can be connected to a PCMCIA (Xercom for
example) modem for your laptop. remember 9600 baud is the max so don't
expect great surfing! My personal recommendation for cellular phones #1
Motorola Startac 6000, #2 Nokia 252
To keep the Vanagon content... make sure you get a passive repeater antenna
for the centre of your windscreen - big difference!
At 10:18 10/27/98 -0500, Jim Fritz wrote:
Volks,
We're planning our first major trip for next summer and have a vexing
problem. First we want the total freedom offered by the Westy BUT with
aging parents and the need to be reached if necessary we are toying with
the idea of a cell phone. I've always hated them but realize this might be
necessary at this point in my life. Question #1 If you use one, which
company, how much, and does it cover all of the US and Canada? Question #2
does anyone know of a system that is a "pay as you go" rather than a
monthly rate? I hate the way most companies do it with a minimum 1 year
lease at X dollars per month. I'm only going to need it for a month or two.
Question #3 other than the wireless technology posted today by John (Blue
Eyes) does anybody have a good way of connecting a laptop to a cell phone?
I'm going to need to reference you guys if the VW bad Karma thing happens
to my Westy.
Jim
91 Passat Wagon GL
89 Westy
66 Beetle
jfritz@decorah.k12.ia.us
-- David Marshall --
-- 78 1.8L VW Rabbit, 80 2.0L VW Caddy, 87 Audi 5KSQ --
-- 85 VW Cabriolet, 88 2.0L VW Syncro 16" Double Cab --
-- Volkswagen Homepage http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Volkswagen/Audi Parts http://parts.volkswagen.org --
-- mailto:david@volkswagen.org - Quesnel, BC, Canada --