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I use Vodafone UK's GPRS service from my
Sony Ericsson T68i. This is some stuff
that I needed to know to make it work.
Configuring the phone
The only real issue with sorting this out was that Vodafone provided
almost no information about GPRS.
It turns out that WAP access and Internet access are separate services,
and so you can't use the WAP profile that Vodafone can SMS to you for
Internet access. It has also been rumoured that a paid GPRS subscription
is required for Internet access to be available.
The important information is:
- Set the APN to 'internet'
- Username and password can be blank or 'web'
Everything else is automatic. You can now specify that an email profile uses
this connection.
Using the phone as a modem
Whilst being able to check a POP account on the T68i is kind of useful, the
great benefit of GPRS is getting sensible data rates to your laptop or handheld
when you're travelling.
The T68i can work as a modem using a cable connection, infrared, or Bluetooth. I
have sucessfully used IR and Bluetooth. This is really pretty straightforward, except
that you need to know one obscure piece of information. Providing that you have
enabled either IR or Bluetooth on the phone and the PC, and your PC is configured to
treat the connection as a virtual COM/ttyS port, using the phone is just like using a
dialup modem.
- The number you need to dial is *98*N# where N is the CID of the GPRS
account on the phone.
The CID can be found on the T68i by going to Connect->6.Data comm.->1.Data Accounts
and selecting the GPRS/Internet account. The CID is shown as option 3.
Use web/web for the dialup username/password. Blank user/pass should be OK, but
your dialler might not like it.