[Ti] Wireless internet for Titanium PB

[Mark O'Brien]

On Monday, March 3, 2003, at 06:58  PM, Tom Fortis wrote:

> Has anyone found a solution for Wireless internet via PCMCIA card for 
> the Tibook?
> I thought Sierra Wireless was supposed to be coming out with 
> something, but I
> haven't seen any developments in that area. Any info would be much 
> appreciated!
>

I don't know about Sierra Wireless, but there's been a thread on the 
PowerList over the past week about the Novatel Merlin C201 card and 
SprintPCS on TiBooks. That thread referenced a link on powerpage.org 
from November, and a more recent one from the past couple of weeks.

I bought the Merlin card on Saturday, for $179. I selected the PCS 
Vision (1XRTT) unlimited data plan for $100/month, and they instantly 
rebated me the cost of the card. I only had to pay about $10 in sales 
tax. Other plans are $40 for 20MB, $60 for 40MB, and $80 for 70MB. I 
downloaded ~35MB and uploaded ~5MB today, using a custom business app 
while testing reception and performance at my job site.

You have to "provision" the card in a Windows 98 (or newer) laptop - 
VPC doesn't support the PC card slot. "Provisioning" entails loading 
some of your account settings into the card itself, and you have to 
connect successfully at least once from the Windows laptop. I did this 
on a display laptop yesterday at Circuit City (with permission).

After that, there's a Novatel modem script you can install on the 
TiBook (10.2 and up) and then use Internet Connect to log on. I spent 
most of the day at work today connected via SprintPCS, using the 
connection as described above.

Unlike the Aircard's pictured at the Sierra Wireless site, the Merlin 
doesn't have a little folding antenna. It looks just like some of the 
802.11b PC cards, with just a little black stub sticking out the side 
of PC card slot.

Email me if you want any of the links.

Mark