MrWizard
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that is correct. BB's REQUIRE a BB data plan/feature be on your account
you can NOT have a BB on verizon with out a BB data plan
there are several options , the best know is the smart phone pda plan $45 month add on
but there is also a BB 'email & web' plan $30 ($29.95) per month
if your current plan is $70 FSP and NO BB, (2) regular feature/dumb phones
you can add BB 'email & web' for $30, this is the cheapest way to have a BB. this cannot be dropped or turned off, IF you have a BB active on your account, you must have a data feature/plan
for temporary tethering, you add another $30 charge per month $60 total
that charge will be pro-rated at $0.50 a day for 1 weeks usage, provided you do not exceed 7 days pro-rated data usage 7*166mb
many people do NOT know about the $30 BB 'email & web' plan... yes thats what it is called and you have to ask for it by name.
hope this helps you out.
I can explain it to you.
But I Can Not understand it for you !
....
Connected using T-Mobile Home internet and Visible Phone service
1997 F53 Bounder 36s
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StuartT
La Conner, WA
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Thanks for the added info. That puts even more clarity on the issue.
StuartT
2006 HR Imperial
42 PBQ
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Bobmaxk
Florida
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I have a Blackberry phone from T-mobile with unlimited internet and email and I connect with just a standard USB cord and use it as a modem. Surf the net and send and recieve emails. Called their tech support and they walked me through the set up procedure. It's a dial up connection but it works pretty good and does't cost anything more than my normal bill. By the way its $20 a month additional for the unlimited internet and email, so with 1500 anytime minutes and unlimited evenings and weekends and the unlimited internet and email I pay $74 per month.
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CJBill
Rockville Md.
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Well, honestly, I have done a lot of reading in this thread and a couple others about internet connections while on the road but I am still lacking in some basic understanding. So, I guess I will show my ignorance here.
I want the simplest cheapest thing. I think I only need to check email, pay some bills through the bank and probably a relative small amount of Web surfing. So I take it from these threads that means a cell phone, which I have with Verizon, and a data plan I can turn on and off as needed. I learned all that here and it seems simple enough. So I went to the local Verizon Wireless store to try and set up a data plan. A nice, pretty young lady there told me I only have to call customer service and ask them to turn it on and yes, the Motorola cell phone I have will work even though it is a couple of years old. She asked if I had a USB cable and I said I had one for my camera and she said that would do. So I left as they were a little busy and I thought I had it made, but I'm still ignorant.
So my questions, she seemed to imply I just connect my laptop to the cell phone and I would be online. Really?
Do I need a dial up service to connect with my cell phone? If not who becomes my ISP? I do have Verizon DSL at home, can I use them?
Does my computer know how to make the connection or do I need some software for this?
Please excuse my ignorance, and thanks for any help.
Bill
CJ is the better half.
05/06 Roadtrek 190 Popular
Rockville MD
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MrWizard
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1: every device ( phone camera etc..) connected to a PC needs driver software installed on the PC, the driver will be on the CD that came with your phone ( if you got one ) or you can look on line for it
2: you have to set up a 'Dial Up Internet connection' on the PC using the phone as a modem ( you have to install the driver and connect the phone via cable to the PC, before doing this step )
3: when using a verizon phone & data plan the the number to dial is #777, the ID is your 10 digit cell phone number, the password is vzw
when using a verizon data plan, verizon is your ISP.
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CJBill
Rockville Md.
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Thanks Mr. Wizard! That should do me, all the answers I needed very clearly spelled out.
Bill D
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StuartT
La Conner, WA
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I also just wanted a phone that could act as a modem to my laptop on occasion without a $45 access fee plus $15 for usage. After learning a lot on this thread, I went to a Verizon store today and upgraded to a new data ready phone (LG8360). Now I need to go to www.vzam.net to download the software and drivers for my laptop, which is the part the sales person left out for CJBill. Then, with the new USB cable I also purchased, I should have access to the web via my laptop, and can turn on and off the connect feature by calling Verizon as my needs dictate.
My only question right now is will this all work with a USB 1.0 port, which is what my laptop has. Probably know later tonight.
Edit: Posted and then saw Mr. Wizard's post, which helps me too. Thanks.
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StuartT
La Conner, WA
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Update: I have just installed the software and am now online with my new teathered cell phone, which I am actually using to post this. It is important when you download the drivers and software from vzam.net to answer the four questions carefully about your configurations and DO NOT connect the USB cable and phone to your laptop until the installation wizard instructs you to do so. Otherwise a pretty straightforward process.
Finally, access from whenever and wherever at a cost I can live with.
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CJBill
Rockville Md.
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Thanks StuartT, your post will also be helpful to me as I had not yet started my search for the needed driver. Sometimes the simplest things get left out of internet discussions which quickly get into esoteric discussions well beyond the fundamentals mostly needed.
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StuartT
La Conner, WA
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Good observation CJBill, and I agree.
Regarding the driver, "vzam" stands for Verizon Access Manager and when you go to that Verizon website, vzam.net, one of the download instructions will ask you to identify your cell phone model from a dropdown list. You will get the correct driver installed based on that answer.
You don't even need to be prepared to actually make the tethered connection at this time. You can download the software and drivers and just have it resident on your laptop, an icon on your desktop, ready to connect later whenever you choose. It's a very simple download.
Forgot to mention above, right now Verizon (at least the stores) gives you a free month and a half (depends on your billing cycle) of mobile access to let you try out the service. That will cover our coach trip to Utah and Arizona the first two weeks of March where I will really get to try this out.
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