Sony Ericsson S710a

you don't need a laptop plan to use edge on your phone.. although if you think your going to be spending countless hours hooked up to a laptop the think it would be wise to get the laptop plan.. but im sure it can be avoided..
i think this phone at one point in time might have bene the first discusssed edge phone but as we all know it is surlly not the first released.. the v551 for exsample has edge..

you can bluetooth your edge connection to a laptop if you'd like, it is being dishonest kinda, but you can do it.

If you do that you will be charged for data. I know for a fact.

but with the 20 a month plan you can get away with it.

Exctly, so who in their right mind would pay $80 for the unlimited laptop connect? Just curious, why do you consider it cheating? It's not like you're doing anything the phone's not intended to do.

it's loopholing and i wont feel bad, but rumor has it they're stopping unlimited data for 20 bucks on feb 1st, so i am starting a contract with like a v551 as a temp on the 24th when my sprint month starts over

This topic has come up numerous times and I can assure you that you will NOT get EDGE data rates if you are using a MediaNet plan. Cingular is not stupid, they realize that customers could purchase the MediaNet plan for a fraction of the cost of a Data Connect Plan. I have spoken with a Cingular Technician on this matter and he informed me that MediaNet is similar to a 14.4 kbps dial-up connection whereas a Data Connect plan is like a broadband connection. I have used my brother's V551 EDGE phone with a data plan and data transfer rates are night and day compared to the slower connection I get with my RAZR MediaNet plan.

Check out this website:
http://navasgrp.home.att.net/tech/cingular/media.htm ... »

That sucks. Had to figure that though, that would be on big loophole. So basically the EDGE capability is useless without a data connect plan. And correct me if I'm wrong, in order to use the data connect plan you need Cingular's software, which doesn't support a BT connection. That's just retarded.

You are correct in that you can not take advantage of EDGE unless you purchase a Data Connect Plan.

However, you do not need any special software to link your laptop/PDA to you cell phone with a Data Connect Plan. I have connected my PDA via Bluetooth to a Motorola V551 with a Data Connect Plan and noticed very fast data transfer rates with the EDGE enhanced GPRS. Also, keep in mind that Bluetooth is a bottleneck when using an EDGE connection. Bluetooth transfer rates are slower than the transfer rates of EDGE. Until devices start implementing Bluetooth v2.0, I'd recommend connecting via cable if fatest transfer rates are desired. However, in my case, using BT with a PDA was good enough.

Well did you have to set your connection on your laptop to dial a specific number to get into the EDGE/GPRS connection?

This is 100% correct

Here is the Kicker. If you hook up to a laptop you will be charged for data. Hooking up to a Laptop is not included in the Media Works Package.

But can't you hook the phone up to the laptop via bluetooth or IrDa?

i dont know about IR'ing it, but you can usb or bluetooth it, yah. (check the other posts in this thread.

Can't bluetooth it..you have to have the Cingular connection manager program installed, and it doesnt support bluetooth..

So you can't use the phone as a bluetooth modem? Right now I have the T637 and I can bluetooth the GPRS connection to my laptop using SE's Networking Wizard, which comes on the CD with the phone. I also have AT&T. So you're saying that with Cingular, I need their software to use the phone as a modem? I can't BT the EDGE connection to the laptop with SE's Networking Wizard?

Won't swear to it..maybe SE's software has some way to let you do it..

dude, it is so easy. it is a windows feature, not a SE thing. unless it is disabled (such as verizon's raping of rhte V710), you can use windows and use the bluetooth phone as a modem. simple. you can do it on AT&T, you can do it on cingular.

I stand corrected..I have connected laptop to phone via bluetooth, however, I meant to say, I can only connect at dialup speeds..not GPRS speeds..someone said dial *99# and I have never been able to get it to connect that way..

dialup is gprs speed (unbless you have EDGE).

Well its slow as crap..and I have EDGE..and it is where I live..only connects at like 9.6kbps

your area must not have edge available, cause something is very wrong with that. basic GPRS gets 30-48kbs, EDGE gets 177kbs

Yes it is in my area..I am almost positive it has something to do with me not having the data connect plan..and I obviously have GPRS..which should be faster than 9.6

if you have MEdia works, you should have it available.

i bookmarked this a while back, it may or may not help you:
http://navasgrp.home.att.net/tech/cingular/media.htm ... »

Well I dont have a laptop, was trying to do it with my desktop, and it worked, but at the slow speeds I mentioned..my cable internet is really hard to beat by anything lol..I guess I could do it in an emergency situation..however, with Netfront installed on my 6620, I can do just about anything on the real internet via my phone..

i know someone who is getting dialup speeds off his gprs (non EDGE) phone via bluetooth, i dont know what's wrong with yours.

maybe the daghter of cingular hates you?

NotJoelShapiro, you are incorrect in thinking that you will get faster than dial-up speeds using MediaNet. Like I said before in my previous post, MediaNet has limited bandwidth and is designed around WAP applications which are small in size and do not require a fast connection. Although, it is possible to access HTML sites over MediaNet, it is at a very slow rate. In order to take advantage of EDGE enhanced GPRS, you need to purchase a Data Connect Plan. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY! I am not a Cingular rep, I am a customer that has looked into this matter in great depths. If I could get the same performance out of a $20 unlimited MediaNet, I would not spend the $70 for the Data Connect Plan. I have tried the two plans side-by-side and I can...
(continues)

Why did you have both plans side by side? Personally just 1 plan for me is more than enough! 😁

I believe you're correct though, that to utilize a high-speed connection with a laptop you have to get the data plan.

I have to say I agree...I only get the slow dial up speeds when using the media net..Cingular knew people would do that so I think its virtually impossible to get the EDGE speed without using the data connect plan..

all i can say is that we'll see when the s710a comes out. to me it seems as though cingular cant tell what is going on, only that data is going to the phone, and dont expect dsl speeds, it is a max of 3 times faster than dial up, so expect 10-15kbytes per second. not fast! i know someone who using standard gprs gets his 30-40kbs, comparable to dial up, so it makes sense to me that edge will be the same.