h a l f b a k e r yIdea vs. Ego
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WireFi
Wireline internet for smartphones, tablets, netbooks and laptops (all of which, for the purposes of this idea, shall collectively be referred to as "mobile devices") | |
I don't really know about laptops, netbooks, and tablets
because I've never owned any of them, but I'm assuming
that if smartphones (and, in fact, many non-
smartphones)
have built-in modems for tethering, then so do at least
most of their larger, generally more-capable
technological
relatives.
The
idea is to be able take a mobile device which has no
access to a wireless signal (such as GSM, CDMA, or WiFi)
and plug it into a phone jack in a wall to provide cable
internet service to it.
Yes, it still requires having a (probably paid) internet
service running to the jack, but it does away with the
need
for a modem and/or wireless router by taking direct
advantage of the mobile device's built-in modem.
I guess the invention here is a mobile device feature
that
allows it's own internet browser and other features that
require data connectivity to utilize its own tethering
modem via wall jack, using an ethernet - microUSB*
adapter (also part of the invention, hehehe).
I'm not sure if a software modification would be
sufficient
for this purpose, but my experience with unlocking
hidden
capabilities in an Android device (including but not
limited
to Bluetooth and USB tethering, multitouch, 360-degree
screen rotation, and flash) by rooting it and installing a
custom ROM leads me to believe it is highly possible to
achieve this, at least on certain devices, without a
hardware modification.
Devices which lack a tethering modem would have to
plug
into a regular cable modem, but would still be able to do
away with a computer.
This is similar to ideas I've seen for reverse tethering,
but
they all seem to involve plugging into a computer's USB
port. My idea is to do away with the need for a
computer.
*Or miniUSB, or whatever kind of port your mobile
device
happens to have if it lacks any sort of USB.
(note: if it turns out that laptops can do this already,
then please just focus on the other devices.
Smartphones are my main focus here.)
[link]
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1. The only internet connectivity that all phone lines support is dial-up internet, some also support DSL but you can't count on it. You can't get cable internet through a phone jack (or are do you mean a ethernet jack, they do look similar.)
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2. Smartphones do not contain any conventional modem hardware and will not support DSL, cable or telephone dial-up without additional hardware and drivers.
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3. In the US at least, what you can do with your cell phone is tightly controlled by the service providers. Their sanctioned method for this sort of thing is either USB tethering, or a device called a femtocell. A femtocell is basically a miniature cell phone tower that uses your internet connection (it connects to your router via ethernet) for the data transport. They like this method because they can charge you again for, effectively, using your own internet service. |
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as spacecoyote points out, you won't get anywhere with a cable/dsl modem unless you make previous mind-numbing arrangements with a high-speed provider that serves that particular connection (if available).
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For dialup though, there's plenty of adapters or adapter/modem combinations to plug a mobile device into the wall from its headset or usb port. That's the hardware taken care of. |
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Dial-up internet is better than no internet, and I think you
misunderstand what femtocell is. Femtocell lets you make voice
calls AND access data over your landline internet connection. For
data only all you need is wifi, and carriers have no control over
that. |
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//Smartphones do not contain any conventional
modem hardware and will not support DSL, cable
or
telephone dial-up without additional hardware and
drivers.//
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Do you have any technical specifications to
support
that claim? The post included an adapter, and
drivers can be downloaded to the memory card via
USB and installed with a ROM manager application
(there's actually an app on the Android market
called ROM Manager, used for installing custom
ROMs, SPLs, and radio updates).
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What hardware mods would be needed that a line
adapter wouldn't suffice for? Can you outline the
differences between a standard DSL modem and a
cellphone tethering modem that make my idea
unworkable? |
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I'm sorry [21Q], I don't quite understand. (please bear with me)
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//The idea is to be able take a mobile device which has no access to a wireless signal (such as GSM, CDMA, or WiFi) and plug it into a phone jack in a wall to provide cable internet service to it.//
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Ok - so I have a smartphone that can do Internet related stuff - but I'd rather not use the GSM/CDMA/WiFi interface for some reason (high data tariff? or poor reception/data rate). If only I could plug it in to the 'standard' phone socket (to use dial-up or ADSL...)
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Is that the gist of the idea? |
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Add lack of a computer to the list of reasons and yes,
yes it is, Jinbish. |
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So it's a request for a PSTN modem for smartphones. Fair play. My old laptop has a modem (as well as an ethernet port) - so the idea is a bit old hat for laptops... but then again that just means that my new laptop is no use if their isn't a WiFi router or ethernet port to connect to...
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I don't think that a PSTN socket on a smartphone is a super-difficult thing to include - it's just not politically likely (because it's a cell phone, the provider wants you to use the cell connection), nor does it have a good hard-effort/reward ratio. |
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As far as the carrier is concerned, it would be no
different than WiFi. |
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Hmmm... ok, maybe, but dial-up bit rates will be at 56K, and charged per minute, whereas a GSM cell connection running GPRS/EDGE will give you 60K/200K and charged per Mb.
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I guess that then comes down to contract types. |
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not having a cellphone I've no idea what all those things are: "cellphone tethering modem" sounds like it's what you want, but what's it tethered to ? and which way does the connection run: is that to use your cellphone radio as the connection media ? |
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Tethering is using your phone as a modem to provide
internet access to your computer, using your
wireless data service. |
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So, you're too cheap to pay for internet service and you want to steal it if that's at all possible? Doesn't surprise me. |
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//so, you're too cheap to pay for internet service
and you want to steal it if that's at all possible?
Doesn't surprise me.//
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You really are an idiot. Did you even read the post,
infidel? Who said anything about stealing? Read
the
second paragraph, which states:
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//Yes, it still requires having a (probably paid)
internet service running to the jack, but it does
away with the need for a modem and/or wireless
router by taking direct advantage of the mobile
device's built-in modem.// |
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So you want to use your cellphone and its features on a physical line instead of the radio. Any reason you couldn't have just said so ?
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You've a USB port on yours so from a physical point of view you should be able to just plug it into an external (powered) modem: either dialup or DSL; phone handset operation might be available also.
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Good luck finding software though: I doubt smartphones have been around long enough to have evolved out of the strictly fanbois stage and there's a possibility the manufacturer has gone out of their way to make it impossible to do. |
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The difference is that wifi functionality was for the most part popularized by the iPhone, creating demand for the feature on other phones and networks. If a certain carrier refused to allow phones that support wifi, there would be protest. Had the feature not been popularized by Apple, it would have never been introduced as it goes against the carrier's business models (which are, basically, charge as much for every thing you can possibly charge for, like how they often charge 10 cents or more for each text message even though it costs them basically nothing to carry the message.) If Apple and AT&T had designed the iPhone to use unsigned software (like a PC does) rather than a "walled-garden" app store, you bet your ass the other networks would have eventually followed suit.
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Eventually as technology progresses and consumers wise up, cell phone companies will have to face the music and become what they truly already are under the current facade: nothing more than mobile ISPs and transition to technologies like VOIP
(phone numbers WILL become a silly artifact of a past age, like they should be already), removing their tenuous connection to Ma Bell and putting the nail in the coffin for their former business model of a "mobile phone service provider." Or, at least, one can hope. |
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well it's all a matter of physical "bundling" in't it: you've got a digital gizmo, easily subbable as a personal computer and of course the manufacturer wants to dedicate its comm aspects to something they can make more money on even though using it on a landline connection, or allowing it to operate on a wireless LAN, or even as a CB radio(/walkie-talkie) is pretty well a no-brainer.
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21q, since you asked so nicely, there's mucho difference between dialup, DSL and cellphone modems: the cellphone stuff isn't even a modem per se, dialup can run on any pair of wires, and DSL requires a shitload of equipment on the telephone company's side which is why you can't just plug any DSL modem into any phone jack. And of course they're all totally different electrically. |
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