indygt
67-year-old Teenager
I recently bought a new Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook to carry on motorcycle trips for blogging, email and - well, just to get my Internet fix at the end of the day.
It frees me from typing with my thumbs on my Sprint Palm Treo 700p.
The Mini 9 is perfect for my needs, except for one thing. It depends on Wifi or a LAN connection to access the Internet. Bad news if I end up in a motel or campground without an Internet connection.
Sprint is offering a free Compass 597 wireless dongle, but the catch is you have to sign a two-year contract and pay and additional $59.99 a month.
But if you have a Sprint Internet-enabled smartphone for which you're already buying unlimited Internet connectivity, you can use it as a modem for your laptop.
The software you need is a free download from sprint.com.
Here's the path: Support>Helpful Links>Smartphones (click on your model)>Sprint Connection Manager for Phones as a Modem for Windows.
There are two versions - one for Windows XP and Windows 2000, and one for Vista.
I tried it yesterday and it works like a champ, so anywhere I can get a Sprint Internet signal, I can be online by connecting my Treo 700p to my laptop with the synch cord that came with the phone. And, if the laptop is running on AC, I get the added benefit of charging my phone battery.
It frees me from typing with my thumbs on my Sprint Palm Treo 700p.
The Mini 9 is perfect for my needs, except for one thing. It depends on Wifi or a LAN connection to access the Internet. Bad news if I end up in a motel or campground without an Internet connection.
Sprint is offering a free Compass 597 wireless dongle, but the catch is you have to sign a two-year contract and pay and additional $59.99 a month.
But if you have a Sprint Internet-enabled smartphone for which you're already buying unlimited Internet connectivity, you can use it as a modem for your laptop.
The software you need is a free download from sprint.com.
Here's the path: Support>Helpful Links>Smartphones (click on your model)>Sprint Connection Manager for Phones as a Modem for Windows.
There are two versions - one for Windows XP and Windows 2000, and one for Vista.
I tried it yesterday and it works like a champ, so anywhere I can get a Sprint Internet signal, I can be online by connecting my Treo 700p to my laptop with the synch cord that came with the phone. And, if the laptop is running on AC, I get the added benefit of charging my phone battery.