Get Connected!

Internet Access from Your Remote Home

In the movies, all they need to do is whip out an aluminum briefcase and plonk down a miniature pie plate on a stand to get instant audio and visual communication. Too bad it's not that easy. Unless you live in a big city, you're going to have to work a bit harder to get a reliable connection at a decent price. There's a growing community of folks with desktops, or laptops, living far from the phone grid who would like to connect. Like off grid power installations, the solutions can be very site/user specific.

Radio Telephone? Analog or digital? CDPD? CDMA? GSM? Iridium? Satellite? Spread Spectrum Transceivers? And where's Dick Tracy when we need to ask him where he got that nifty watch. Just because people in downtown Tokyo can combine GPS positioning with maps with real time reports to avoid traffic jams doesn't mean you'll be able to do it now, soon or ever. The options are bewildering, and the people you'll be dealing with over the phone and in person may be more confused than you. You will have to sort through misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies.

What Part of "No" Don't You Understand?

Ironically, the best way to find out how to get online is to be online. If you have no access to the Internet via friend or public library, and want to do this yourself, plan to spend hours on the phone, and be prepared for copious notes, referrals and transfers. For that matter, if you can get online, plan on spending hours on the computer sorting through the maze of options. Keep in mind that "no" does not necessarily mean "no," or "yes" "yes." Do not be surprised to talk to someone at the "CDPD desk" who hasn't got a clue what CDPD is. Or someone from Bell Atlantic who, less than sweetly, wonders why you're asking about a service in New Mexico (which they provide). Or someone willing to sell you a CDMA modem card for your laptop, even though CDMA is not available in your area. The rapid pace of technology, multinational corporations, buying and selling of companies, all this makes everything much muddier than it need be. For example, Nokia Data Suite 3.0, software that allows digital cell phones in Europe to connect to the Internet at 14.4 Kbps (slow, but 50% faster than what's widely available via Nokia Data Suite 1.2 in the USA), still needs the infrastructure changes here to make it work. I repeat, just because you can buy a modem or particular piece of software is no guarantee it will work. Much of the technology relies on hardware installed on cellular towers, or even satellites. If the hardware you're trying to connect to does not exist, nothing will work. And if you don't have a clear line of sight, or are too far away from the tower, even a correct match up of equipment just won't work. In some cases you may be able to use an antenna or signal amplifier, but data transmission is very touchy and technical solutions can get pricey fast. .

Like a chain, your Internet connection is only as strong as the weakest link. This includes the computers at your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that allow you to access the Internet, the computers that transfer data along the Internet, and the computers that store the information you will be asking for. No matter how fast your hardware/software solutions, it makes no sense to spend money on a system that will transfer data at 1 gigabyte/sec to a hardwired phone line that can only handle 2.4 Kbps.

The Best Connection at the Best Price

Radio Telephone

If you have a radio telephone system (Optaphone, Telemobile, etc.), you may be able to connect using it and the modem that came with your computer. Optaphone advertises a 9.6 Kbps data transmission rate, Telemobile doesn't advertise a rate, and the tech department won't really say. Our installation, with a 25 mile line of sight connection, can do only 4.8 Kbps on a good day. This is good enough to send and receive faxes. Again, if you're operating at the limits of the equipment's capabilities, or under less than ideal conditions, expect less than rated performance. Rain, clouds, trees, heat waves, even flying cows can affect your signal. Don't commit to any long term ISP contracts before you know you can connect (and don't sign up with AOL or Compuserve – the proprietary interface takes forever to download at slow speeds.) There are plenty of trial offers out there to experiment with. If you can't connect with your radio telephone, contact the manufacturer to see if they sell a modem that will work with your phone. They probably don't, or they probably want a small fortune for it. Your best bet may be two-way satellite or a digital cell phone. You will be able to make and get phone calls on your radio telephone even when you're surfing the Internet, and you can use the cell phone as a back up in emergencies.

Two-way Satellite

People way smarter than me have been using US Military satellites for years to make free long distance phone calls, extend the range of their radio station broadcasts, perhaps even access the Internet Now there's hope for us "hardware challenged" types. Starband offers two-way satellite with promises of wireless, always-on Internet access at download speeds of 400Kbps and up. Equipment costs about $500, installation $200, unlimited monthly access (incluedes ISP) $70. You can even defray your telephone bill by making long distance calls over the Internet -- if you're willing to talk to your computer. Or buy an overpriced $1200 satellite ready computer from Radio shack and get free install.

DirecPC is long overdue on their 2way version. And if you actually use it, you may get fapped back to the stone age. Seriously, they should have something out there this year.

The Best Connection at Any Price

Spread Spectrum Transceivers

Also known as "wireless Internet" in some areas. These operate much like a radio telephone, but transfer data only across a wide range of frequencies. They can operate at speeds up to 115 Kbps at 20 miles, maybe more under ideal conditions. To obtain these speeds your link to the phone lines and ISP must be comparable. If you live near enough to a city, a local ISP may offer this service as an option. These services could easily add up to hundreds of dollars a month. If your location is really, really remote, the installation and maintenance of repeaters makes this option less attractive.

Any Old Connection at Any Price

Analog versus Digital

To enjoy all aspects of the Internet, you will want to connect digitally at a minimum of 9.6 Kbps. If all you are interested in is fax and email capabilities, then analog should work just fine at speeds as low as 2.4 Kbps.

Why 9.6 Kbps? This is the minimum connection speed for ISPs. Fax is ancient technology, and the quality is marginal. Email is text only, usually. Text is simple to send, so slow speeds are acceptable. If some one attaches a photo or something else to your email you will have to guess what it may look like because below 9.6 Kbps your connection will likely be text only.

Why digital? Digital is the clean, simple language your computer already speaks. Analog is messy, error prone and anything you send out over the airwaves must be translated from digital to analog and then back to digital again. Even on a hard wired copper line digital is far superior to analog. Even if the initial equipment and software are cheaper in your particular installation, and they probably aren't, you will most likely pay more for the analog service because of slower speeds and dropped connections.

Analog cellular

If you presently have an analog cell phone, give up trying to use it to get on the Internet. It can be done, but the connections are tenuous, frequently dropped, and you usually pay by the minute. Analog is barely adequate to do fax and email. US West offers such a service in our area, and agrees to credit you for any dropped calls. They do, but who wants to repeatedly reconnect to complete a long, slow download (you often have to start from the very beginning), and then spend hours each month figuring out which calls were dropped and phoning in to get a credit? It will be far cheaper to switch to digital cellular. You may even be able to trade your phone in at a local dealer. If you can't get digital service in your area, consider purchasing a radio telephone that can connect at 9.6 Kbps, use it for voice and Internet access, and scrap your cellular bill. Depending on your phone usage, it should pay for itself in one to three years. And friends can call you again, if you have any left.

Digital Cellular

If you don't have a digital phone yet (and don't know if it works at your house), first find out if you can even get a signal. Borrow a phone from a friend or local dealer, go home and see if it works. Stand on the roof if you have to, climb a hill, a tree, and give it a few seconds to acquire a signal. Try dialing out even if there is no signal. Wander around, always seeking higher ground until you get something. If you've traveled very far from where your computer sits, try to get a good estimate of the distance your signal will have to travel. You will need this information to find out just how much it will cost to install an antenna or repeater to get that signal to your computer. Realize that one digital service may not reach your area, but another may. You might have to run this test with different services.

If none of your neighbors has service, and you can't find out from a local dealer, try to find out what may be available by searching the Internet. Rather than going to the site of a maker of digital cell phones like Nokia, go to a search engine (Google or Hotbot are good choices) and type in GSM, CDPD, or CDMA. You should be able to find a listing for a site that will have maps of coverage areas and companies that use their technology. This can take a lot of time, so focus on finding a site with maps and companies that provide the service. If something looks interesting for any other reason (cheap phone accessories, cellular secrets, whatever), jot down the address and visit it later when you're finally online at home. If you can't get online, then try the phone, check the nearest towns, pound the streets, accost strangers with cell phones. If you absolutely cannot get a signal, and are sure that no one in your area provides digital service, your options have now grown fewer and more expensive. Maybe it would be good to reevaluate how soon you need to connect.

If you already use a digital cell phone, or have borrowed one that worked, this will likely be your best choice. First, check the company's web site, if you can, and look for something about "wireless Internet," or any of the terms CDPD, CDMA, GSM. Most sites will have a handy "search this site" button, or a site map, but don't rely on these exclusively. If you can't check their site, or find nothing helpful, brace yourself for a long day or two on the phone. Remember, "no" does not necessarily mean "no."

Next, determine the cost of the service. You will want a plan with unlimited Internet access for a flat monthly fee. Expect this service to cost anywhere from 30 to 40 dollars. If they charge more than this, or by the minute, or by the K of download you'd best explore other companies. Many of these services overlap in coverage, so check the local competition. It's possible that no one's offering Internet access at any of the digital companies, but not likely. Persist. At the very least a due date in the not too distant future should be available.

Once you've found the digital phone service, and bullied them into admitting that you can connect to the Internet, you're almost done. Now you need the correct phone to connect to the correct hardware to connect to the correct port on your computer. You may also need specific software. At this point, you should have found someone who can tell you exactly what hardware/software you will need, how much it will cost, and, yes, is it available? Be wary of "It's on the truck that's coming Tuesday." For a desk top this may be an easy matter of hooking up to a free serial port, USB, or something requiring opening up the computer. Determine what slots your computer has available before you buy, and be willing to free up or add the necessary connection to your computer. You may even need a new, or different, computer to connect to the phone. Many of these connections and applications work on PCs only (even Windows95 or 98 only) and will not work with Macs or Linux, etc., unless you're prepared to hack your own programs. Okay, so your cousin in Europe uses his Mac to surf via cell phone, etc. Even if he sent you a phone, and cable, and software, it still may not work here. Spend your money on a used PC – it doesn't need to be superfast to access the Internet at 9.6 Kbps. Verify that the equipment is compatible, contract for the necessary services (data will be a different service, and an extra monthly fee, from voice), and install. I recommend using one of the national ISPs (but not AOL or CompuServe) to test your connection. The CDs are ubiquitous, usually easy to install, and most offer a free month or two to try them out. Once you're up and running you can change ISPs whenever you want til you find one that suits you.

To summarize, if you do all the work yourself, you should expect to pay $150-$200 for a digital cellular phone, $100-$150 for a cable and software, $30-$40 a month for access via cell phone, and $0-$20 a month for an ISP. The free ISPs will fill part of your screen with ads that can take quite a while to download.

CDPD, CDMA, GSM

CDPD, CDMA, and GSM use cellular towers and frequencies, but not cell phones. All use a completely separate modem that runs from 9.6 Kbps to 28.8Kbps, faster with software compression programs. Since it requires new hardware to be installed on the cell towers, it's primarily found in densely populated areas. If your line of sight is good enough, or your antenna, you may be able to use this technology. AT&T provides information on service providers in your area at 1-800-552-3373. Just tell them the zipcode nearest to where you live (by line of sight, of course). Then prepare to spend an inordinate amount of time getting someone to admit the service is available and how much it costs. Any connection that charges by the KB of download or by the minute can get very expensive very fast, and many CDPD and CDMA providers do just that.

Internet Ready Phones, Handheld Devices,
and Satellite Phones

It's almost impossible to get through an entire day without hearing another story about "Internet ready" phones. Invariably, the makers of these phones use the term quite loosely. If the service is even available in your area, you will get a stripped down version of the web (monochrome, text only, or minute graphics at best) and possibly only a select few web sites to choose from (stock quotes, sports scores). Other devices will only download web pages that are written in a new code (WAP) specifically scripted for their tiny screens – few site designers will bother.

Satellite phones are expensive, cost 3 dollars a minute to use, and connect at 2.4 Kbps. But you can connect "from anywhere," and it comes with a carrying case that has a built-in compass.

Iridium, a cell phone pastiche of land based towers and satellites, that allowed you to use your Iridium phone anywhere, could only connect at 2.4 Kbps. No surprise they declared bankruptcy in March, 2000. Those 84 satellites they launched may just wind up in the Indian Ocean. Still, I keep hearing about someone on the verge of buying them out any day now.

Antivirus and Security

When you finally get online, you can cruise the Internet, send and receive email, and download freeware, shareware and all sorts of stuff without taking any precautions. However, I assume two things: 1. Like me, you hope to use your computer and Internet connection to free up some gray matter for more important things.2. You don't really want to start over from scratch by returning your computer to the pristine state before a virus, or bad guy, mucked with it.

Antivirus

First off, you're not held hostage if you don't have some kind of antivirus software. But if you do want to open email attachments (even from your trusted and well meaning 80 year old grandpa), or explore a bit beyond the fringes of well known and respected sites, you should install some sort of antivirus program. Surprisingly, the "free for personal use" ones range from adequate to excellent. Pay for programs typically have 30 day trial periods, although a one year trial would be more useful. It comes down to how hands on, computer literate do you want to be? Or feel comfortable with? And yes, I have neglected many wonderful products out there (that I've not tried), and discreetly not mentioned others (that I have). Like all software, they may or may not run well on your particular computer. No matter what else you've read, only install and run one antivirus program at a time – more is not better.

Hands off and free (for personal use): I suggest InnoculateIt. If you're diligent about downloading the updates once a month (or when you hear of a new virus), you should fare well.

Hands on and free (for personal use): I suggest eSafe. This highly customizable program combines antivirus and a firewall. If you explore, learn, configure this program, it has the potential to outperform anything I've tested to date; it could give you a false sense of security; if you merely download it and forget it.

Hands off and pay (reputed to be the hacker's choice): AVP, provides a straightforward solution. Pretty much install and forget, update once a month. If you hear of a new virus, they likely have the update ready to download.

Hands off and pay (a popular and effective choice): Norton Antivirus. One button, so to speak, updates, good reputation. Rather than buy it alone, consider getting Norton System works, a suite of utilities that can help keep everything working a bit better.

I plan expanded coverage and a seperate antivirus discussion. Ask me specific questions for now.

Security

The more you access the Internet, the more concerned you need to be about security. Any time you are connected, someone else can discover you among the millions of other computers, probe for a weakness, and access your system. Before you cancel your ISP account, head to Gibson Research's SheildsUp and run the free tests. No matter what the results, don't panic. The site's predilection toward boldface warnings may be warranted in some instances, but not borne out in others. My computer generated a huge blue "The phrase you must remember is: ‘My port 139 is wide OPEN!'" Yes, my computer did allow the test computer to connect – but it couldn't do anything once it connected as confirmed by the next test result. Still, I plan to unbind my protocols from my network adapters (whatever that means) by following the explicit directions. Much of the information is necessarily technical, but with perseverance you should succeed. At the very least, check your Network settings (click on the Start button, Settings, Control Panel, Network, File and Print Sharing) and make sure the check boxes that allow others to access your files or printer are cleared.

Still, paranoid? The next step is to install and configure a firewall – something you likely don't need unless you have an always on connection to the Internet Effective free versions include eSafe, mentioned above, and ZoneAlarm. Pricier, but deals can be found, more user friendly, check out Norton Internet Security 2000.

Email is about as secure as regular mail, long distance calls, or cell phone calls. You can use encryption to foil the average person, even above average person, but it can be cumbersome (the recipient needs a key and the encryption program, too). And truthfully, the NSA and anyone else who really, really wants to read your email could still do so. The freeware PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) does the best job of garbling your secret. You can even encrypt all the files on your computer – just don't forget your password!

I plan expanded coverage and a seperate security discussion. Ask me specific questions for now.

What Does the Future Hold?

Radio Telephones: No big changes expected. None of the manufacturers that I'm aware of see data transmission as all that important.

Analog Cellular should quietly disappear. Cellular companies are pushing customers to change to digital.

Digital Cellular will continue to expand its coverage. Technological advances in connection speed will likely top out at 19.2 Kbps, but not much is being done in the US to push beyond the current 9.6 Kbps. New satellites, mergers, developments will replace towers and slower connection speeds. Dick Tracy type stuff, but many years away if quality and price are any concern.

CDPD and CDMA will likely disappear. Any expansion of existing networks seems to be on hold. New technologies, like using radio or TV transmitters and bandwidth to provide faster access and better coverage are in the works.

Spread Spectrum Transceivers are already a pricey niche solution. However, big consortiums are forming that may offer more coverage, and the price could drop after the initial gouging. Sprint Broadband Direct has begun offering a fast, wireless service in Phoenix at a reasonable price – if you have line of site to their towers,.

Satellite phones. In order to hang on, the connection speeds must rise and the prices must drop. So many satellite ventures have declared bankruptcy you have to wonder where all the money has gone.

Two-way Satellite has finally arrived, prices should drop in a year or two as more players enter the game.

Definitions for some of the terms and abbreviations used in this article.

bit: Represented by a small b, it is the smallest unit of information. It can be only one of two values: 0 or 1.

bps: Bits per second. Kbps is the usual measure of speed when discussing a modem's data transmission rates.

Byte: Represented by a capital B, a unit of information that holds a single character. Usually, 1 byte equals 8 bits. Bytes are used to describe the size of files, program, memory storage capacity.

CDMA: Code-Division Multiple Access, a digital cellular data transmission that uses spread-spectrum technology. It connects anywhere from ".3Kbps to 33.6Kbps."

CDPD: Cellular Digital Packet Data uses unused cellular frequencies to transfer data at up to 28 Kbps.

GSM: Global System for Mobil Communications, uses time-division multiplexing which allows 8 calls on the same radio frequency. Widely available throughout Europe and Asia, growing in the USA.

ISP: Internet Service Provider, the way most of us connect to the Internet For a monthly fee of ten to twenty dollars, your computer can talk to other computers around the world. Some ISPs offer free service, but will fill your screen with ads. If you have a slow connection, avoid AOL and CompuServe

KB: Kilobyte. Strangely enough, in computer land a kilo=1,024. Thus one kilobyte=1,024 bytes or 8,192 bits. Most references to the speed of the transmission will be in kilobits. Most references to the size of a file transferred will be in kilobytes. A 9.6 KB file should take 8 seconds to transmit at 9.6 Kbps.

Kbps: Kilobits per second. Be careful not to confuse this with KBps.

MB: Megabyte. 1,024 kilobytes, or 1,048,576 bytes. When measuring data transfer rates, MB refers to 1,000 kilobytes, or 1,000,000 bytes.(?)

Modem: Converts digital to analog and back again. This is what most town folk use. Digital "modems" allow the computer to send and receive information without the conversion process.

Links

Some useful web sites, feel free to suggest a site:
www.wirelessdata.org
www.modemhelp.com

InfoStream (The true Internet version is now called DataStream)
1-800-937-3666

Nokia
1-888-NOKIA2U
Fax: 813-287-6612

Starband

© Robert Hayes 2000

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