Mobile Phone To Connect to Internet

Hi. Let me tell you my frustrating story. I was in Bangalore about a motnh ago and decided that instead of going daily to cyber cafes I would just buy a phone that can connect to my laptop and get on the net. A couple of problems. It has to be prepay because I am traveling around India. I bought a Motorola. Don't do that. This one cast about $200 equivalent. The guys in stroe didn't really know how to work it, and the manual was inadequate when it came to internet connection altho the cables were provided. Fortunately in Blore they had an office (Motorola) and I found a tech, and he enabled the phone. It turns out there is a problem with Visa, and the phone is actually set for XP98. The next step was to get another number to be used solely for internet. I chose Airtel because they seem to work all over India and accept prepay for internet connection. i spent entire three days at their technical offices for the tech to figure out how to configure my laptop and my mobile and for me to get access. You have to phone a number to get access for a 24 hr. period. It costs only 20 rupees, whcih is pretty cheap when you think of it. It worked in Bangalore. The next week I traveled to Goa. In fact I asked at the time if I would need to have another prefix when I was in another state, but was told, that no, the customer service and internet no. would work anywhere in India. The four digit number to get you on daily does work actually. the customer serice number does not work. My laptop does nto seem to be configured right and I can not get on the internet in Goa. I am going to try to find a tech person tomorrow in Panjim and hope that I can get on the internet with my mobile phone account. the other companies will not accept prepay to get on the net but would be better if you can have a permanent address and monthly billing. Hope this information helps. I am about ready to tear out my hair, and I'm still using the cyper cafes.

eleg. - this is very frustrating for you but also it would be good if Mods could put this into a GPRS connection for laptop type of thread- there is one presently running and have been some others. Or else start it as a new thread...
In this way you will get more help I think because your topic is so different from the original one re ATM card problem.
I'm using Airtel GPRS with a Bleu phone - the Airtel office put the correct settings into my phone, then to connect it to the computer I had a CD supplied with the phone, downloaded this and followed all steps so it all got synchronized etc. and I could connect. So far I have only taken this to Jodhpur and it is working there perfectly as well. I know in the end if you persevere with Airtel office people you will get it going.
If your question was in electronics section, I'm sure more help will come to you via IM

thank you. somehow my response was posted to the wrong thread. thank you for being so understanding and giving some advice. appreciated. barbara

New Thread created!

so sounds like the original problem was a driver update for your phone (presumably the phone came with a driver for windows XP or 98 , and you're running vista)?

So presumably there is something else wrong since if the internet dial up number was working (instead of just the service number being unreachable) then you would be able to connect to the internet.

Tell me - when you go to connect to the internet - does a little message box or something similar pop up telling you the steps its going through (like "dialling number xxxx - initiating PPP, etc) - or something similar)? Or does the phone attempt to connect - get a busy tone or no tone at all - and then disconnects?

Just trying to establish whether or not its the dial up software (i.e - the phone dials the number successfully but can't establish a session) - or the phone is simply not getting to the network at all.

I spent several months in Goa earlier this year and discovered airtel's internet service only two weeks before we left. At the beginning of October we arrived in Kerala confident that we had the answer to internet access. Two days ago after many visits to the phione suppliers, airtel and much frustrating misinformation I achieved access. Airtel may well offer the service all over India but each state has its own Airtel company and they all appear to operate independantly. We found a second ahnd Nokia 9300 communicator from a "pirate" dealer and it works a treat, internet on the move and no need for a laptop but getting to that point cost a few thousand in taxi fares and several new grey hairs. Persevere, it's worthwhile in the end.

PS. Can't wait to find out what happens when we reach Tamil Nadu.

hehe....sounds like a motto for internet service the world over! Same for us and our tata indicom service. We wouldn't bother persevering with them as a company if it wasn't for the fact the mobile internet service works really well.