Overview

Mobile phones can be employed as data modem to form a wireless access point connecting a personal computer to The Internet (or some proprietary network). In this use the mobile phone is providing a Gateway (telecommunications) between the cellular service provider's data network technology and Point-to-Point Protocol spoken by PC's.

Wireless data modems are also used in the WiFi and WiMax standards, operating at microwave frequencies, to give a laptop, PDA or desktop computer an access point to a network. If combined with VoIP technology, these computing devices can achieve telephony capability to make and receive telephone calls.

Service Providers

There are competing common carriers broadcasting signal in most nations of the earth. Some of these Cellular networks and the carrier's service plans are:

• United States providers
  • T-mobile
  • Cingular Wireless
  • Verizon Wireless
  • Sprint Nextel Corporation

• United Kingdom providers
  • T-mobile
  • Vodafone
  • O2 plc
  • Orange SA
  • 3 (telecommunications)

• Canada providers
  • List of Canadian mobile phone companies

Device Manufacturers

• Motorola
• Nokia
• Danger
• Samsung Electronics
• Qualcomm
• Huawei

Technologies

• GPRS
• CDMA
• EDGE
• UMTS
• GPRS Core Network
• IP Multimedia Subsystem
• HSDPA

See also

• Smartphones
• Access Point Name (APN)

External links

• By John R Chang
  • How To Use Your GSM Cell Phone as a Bluetooth Modem on Mac OS X
  • How To Use Your CDMA Cell Phone as a USB Modem on Mac OS X
  • Support Group for Chang's pages
• By Ross Barkman
  • Table of settings by nation & network for APN, UserName, Password, DNS, SMTP, etc
  • Modem scripts (drivers) for Mac OS X
• Software
  • FreeBSD and Linux OS
    • | GPRS Easy Connect is a free program which supports over 700 phones and over 270 service providers
  • Windows XP OS
    • Motorola Phone Tools - motorola.com