Using a Cell Phone to Connect a Palm to the Net
Equipment I Used
Palm: Palm IIIc running PalmOS 3.5.2
Phone: Motorola StarTAC ST7867W
Phone Service Provider: Sprint PCS
Internet Service Provider: Mindspring (Earthlink)
Connecting The Palm To Your phone
The first step towards connecting your Palm to the internet is physically connecting your Palm to your cellular phone. To do this I used the cable provided as part of the Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection Kit. Using the null modem adapter included with the kit I attached the cable to a Palm III HotSync cable to complete the physical connection between the Palm and the phone.
Syncable Solutions offers a one cable alternative to this solution.
Setting Up Your Palm
Once your Palm is connected to your phone you’ll need to set up your Palm. This is a two step process. First you’ll need to setup a Connection type for your phone. Then you’ll need to create a Network setting to use your new Connection type to connect to your ISP.
Creating a Connection Type For Your Phone
Begin by launching the Prefs applet on your Palm. In the category menu in the top right corner of the screen select Connection as in figure 1.
Figure 1
In the Connection preferences screen tap the New button. Enter the name you want to call the connection in the Name field. I used the name StarTac so I’ll use that name through the rest of these instructions. For the other options on this screen use the settings displayed in figure 2.
Figure 2
Next tap the details button and enter the settings as seen in figure 3.
Figure 3
Creating A Network Setting For Your ISP
Next select Network from the category menu as seen in figure 4.
Figure 4
Tap the menu button and select New from the Service menu. Enter a name for your Network settings in the Service field. I used Mindspring since that’s my ISP. Enter your username in the User Name field. (Some ISPs require your email address in this field. Check with your ISP.) In the Password field tap the -prompt- button, enter your password and click OK. For Connection select the connection entered above (in my case StarTac). Enter the dialup number in the Phone field. You should end up with a screen that looks similar to figure 5.
Figure 5
Next tap the Details button. Generally you will not need to change any settings on this screen however some ISPs have custom settings here. Usually these settings are as follows:
Connection type: PPP
Idle timeout: Power off
Query DNS: checked
IP address Automatic: checked.
To connect to Mindspring I needed to change these settings a bit. Figure 6 shows the settings I used.
Figure 6
Connecting To The Internet
To connect to the internet all you need to do is connect your Palm to your phone, go to your new Network settings in the Prefs application and tap the Connect button. Your Palm will now use your phone as a modem and dial into your ISP.
Using the Sprint PCS QNC
Some wireless providers have a feature called Quick Network Connection (QNC). In researching my provider, Sprint PCS, I was happy to see that they support this feature. QNC lets you use your cellular phone over your service provider’s network to connect directly to the net. This means that you don’t need a local dialup number for your ISP. As long as your phone is getting service you can use QNC to connect to the net from anywhere. To use the QNC feature you will probably need to have your providers wireless web feature which will cost about $10 a month.
Setting up QNC is very similar to setting up a dialup as explained above. In the Connection section of the Prefs applet use the settings shown in figure 7. I used the name Sprint QNC but feel free to use any name you want. Tap the Details button and enter the settings as shown in figure 8.
Figure 7 Figure 8
Now go to the Network section of the Prefs applet and create a new service. The settings on this screen will vary with each provider. Figure 10 shows the settings I used to connect to connect to the Sprint QNC. The password used for Sprint is ‘web’ (without the quotes). There’s no need to go into the Details screen here as the defaults will work for this type of connection.
Figure 9
Now just tap the connect button and you’ll be on the net in seconds.
Once connected with the web you can use PQAs (as described here), browse the web (using programs like AvantGo) and check your email.
Enjoy!