Alto cloud had gone by yesterday morning leaving SCT SC around, some still
covering the hill tops. During the day the skies gradually cleared leaving
SKC conditions at dusk. Max 31C but 28C on coast.
This morning is SKC as well.

Phil
Javea, Spain

Phil Layton wrote:
Alto cloud had gone by yesterday morning leaving SCT SC around, some still
covering the hill tops. During the day the skies gradually cleared leaving
SKC conditions at dusk. Max 31C but 28C on coast.
This morning is SKC as well.

Phil
Javea, Spain



Phil, do you have an Internet link there, or are using the Cafe's?

--
Keith (Southend)

'Weather Home & Abroad'
http://www.southendweather.net

"Keith (Southend)" wrote in message
Phil, do you have an Internet link there, or are using the Cafe's?

--
Keith (Southend)


Keith,

I am using a mobile phone connection. Its obviously slow, but in a 5-6min
call, I can check email, download headers from usw and a few interesting
articles (usually Darren and Colins daily posting so special thanks to
them!) the BBC PDA News plus any interesting articles), the LFV Metars/TAFs,
The spanish Meteosat (about 30kb) and the MetO Progs from the RNLI - all 4
progs to 72hr for less than 60kb.
I then put the Metars in to Digital Atmosphere that I have on the laptop.

With the International option on 02, its less than 50p /min so its probably
£3-4 a call but compared to everything else on the holiday it goes into the
noise...

Phil

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 08:15:57 +0200, Phil Layton wrote in


I am using a mobile phone connection. Its obviously slow, but in a 5-6min
call, I can check email, download headers from usw and a few interesting
articles (usually Darren and Colins daily posting so special thanks to
them!) the BBC PDA News plus any interesting articles), the LFV Metars/TAFs,
The spanish Meteosat (about 30kb) and the MetO Progs from the RNLI - all 4
progs to 72hr for less than 60kb.
I then put the Metars in to Digital Atmosphere that I have on the laptop.

With the International option on 02, its less than 50p /min so its probably
£3-4 a call but compared to everything else on the holiday it goes into the
noise...

For those familiar with using a mobile phone to access the Internet, as I
do particularly when away from home, it is worth noting an O2 Pay as you go
SIM allows free access via GPRS (not dial up). I use it all the time
whilst across the border in the Republic of Ireland with my laptop.

The phone can be connected virtually continuously and be checking on a
regular basis for the likes of email. There seems no restriction on web
access, but mail is confined to the O2 mail system (so I redirect from my
other account to there). The port needed for NNTP, news, access is
blocked. so I have to resort to Google, or bung in a Virgin SIM (at about
£5 a MB) to get that.

A few weekends ago I must have transferred over 40 megabytes in one day and
it was free:-) There is another member of this ng who uses his phone in
the same way, IIRC.


--
Mike 55.13°N 6.69°W Coleraine posted to uk.sci.weather 14/07/2005 07:15:33 UTC

"Mike Tullett" wrote in message
...

A few weekends ago I must have transferred over 40 megabytes in one day
and
it was free:-) There is another member of this ng who uses his phone in
the same way, IIRC.


There is indeed, Mike. I wouldn't be without my O2 GPRS phone connected to
my laptop. It is ideal when on a train or in the car and something needs to
be checked quickly. It was good recently for keeping up to date with the
train bombing news as I was travelling from Nottingham to Manchester on a
train and there was a lot of hearsay floating about.

The only downfalls are that, as you say, you can only check O2 mail, not my
individual accounts with university or any other ISP. However it is possible
to use Windows Messenger, but not MSN Messenger. The biggest bonus is that
it is free, whatever you download, both here in the UK and abroad. Change
your SIM, Phil !! E-mail me if you want one as I have a few spare.

Joe

My ears have pricked up on this one :-)

As yet I have resisted getting a mobile phone fearing I may find I get
one that can not be used for connecting a Laptop to the Internet when
abroad. My daughter has a Laptop, which at home I have a card that
plugs in to the wireless network I have running off my adsl router.

This is probably at bit off topic I know, but what exactly would I need
to buy to be able to connect her laptop while in Spain for example,
like Phil, to the internet?

Has the Laptop got to have something particular for this facility? How
do the two physically connect? Cable? IR?

Also you say 02 is 'free', I assume this isn't the call time though,
just the access, so the £5 for 5 minutes would still apply?

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm wondering whether this is
worth doing.

Many thanks

Keith (Southend)
http://www.southendweather.net

Joe Hunt wrote:
"Mike Tullett" wrote in message
...

A few weekends ago I must have transferred over 40 megabytes in one day
and
it was free:-) There is another member of this ng who uses his phone in
the same way, IIRC.


There is indeed, Mike. I wouldn't be without my O2 GPRS phone connected to
my laptop. It is ideal when on a train or in the car and something needs to
be checked quickly. It was good recently for keeping up to date with the
train bombing news as I was travelling from Nottingham to Manchester on a
train and there was a lot of hearsay floating about.

The only downfalls are that, as you say, you can only check O2 mail, not my
individual accounts with university or any other ISP. However it is possible
to use Windows Messenger, but not MSN Messenger. The biggest bonus is that
it is free, whatever you download, both here in the UK and abroad. Change
your SIM, Phil !! E-mail me if you want one as I have a few spare.

Joe

On 14 Jul 2005 02:02:57 -0700, Keith (Southend)G wrote in
roups.com


This is probably at bit off topic I know, but what exactly would I need
to buy to be able to connect her laptop while in Spain for example,
like Phil, to the internet?

Has the Laptop got to have something particular for this facility? How
do the two physically connect? Cable? IR?

Hi Keith - I have a couple of phones. They are set up as modems for the
laptop. One works by IR but that can be fiddly, as line of sight is needed
all the time. The other, a Nokia, works by a data cable connection.
Setting up the phone is the hardest part as, once working, it is plain
sailing

Also you say 02 is 'free', I assume this isn't the call time though,
just the access, so the £5 for 5 minutes would still apply?

GPRS is a bit like broadband here - on all the time - so no phone call is
actually made. It is simply a connection to the Internet. Cost is
therefore zero if on O2 Pay as You Go.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm wondering whether this is
worth doing.

There are several websites devoted to this setup. If you wish to pursue
it, I'll look some out and email you. The make/model of phone is crucial
if it is to be a cable connection. IR is less of a problem. I have also
used Bluetooth but with varying degrees of success


--
Mike 55.13°N 6.69°W Coleraine posted to uk.sci.weather 14/07/2005 09:21:21 UTC

"Keith (Southend)G" wrote in message
oups.com...

one that can not be used for connecting a Laptop to the Internet when
abroad. My daughter has a Laptop, which at home I have a card that
plugs in to the wireless network I have running off my adsl router.

This is probably at bit off topic I know, but what exactly would I need
to buy to be able to connect her laptop while in Spain for example,
like Phil, to the internet?

Has the Laptop got to have something particular for this facility? How
do the two physically connect? Cable? IR?

Also you say 02 is 'free', I assume this isn't the call time though,
just the access, so the £5 for 5 minutes would still apply?

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm wondering whether this is
worth doing.


Hi Keith,

I'd reply via e-mail but I am sure a few will find it interesting on the
newsgroup, so I will write here.

I assume the laptop has a spare USB port, into which you will need to place
a USB Data Cable from the port to the mobile phone. This is dependent on
mobile phone make and model but I picked mine up on EBay for less than £5
delivered - http://search.ebay.co.uk/usb-data-ca...fkrZ1QQfromZR8 You
can connect the mobile phone and the laptop via Bluetooth, if both are
enabled, but IIRC Mike T had problems with this as the connection kept
dropping.

I use my old Samsung S300 but any phone will work which has GPRS. Does
anyone in your family own a phone with this feature ?

The O2 SIM card was free, a promotion at the time which has currently ended
but will start up again no doubt. I have a spare SIM pack if needs be as I
ordered 6. No registering is required, nor any credit needed on the phone.
As an aside, I would not recommend O2 as a network for making calls, I had a
murderous time with them.

A dial-up account needs to be created on your computer, following the steps
on here -
http://www.o2.co.uk/business/product...leweb/setup_xp
A few tweaks are then made to your proxy settings and then all should work.
I can download between 6-10Kb/s which is faster than a 56K modem connection,
but all is dependent on network coverage. GPRS pricing depends on how much
is downloaded and uploaded, but with O2 PAYG everything is free ! I have
never had credit on my GPRS mobile and have downloaded huge amounts of data.

If you want any photos of my setup, or help with setting up, feel free to
email me. Mike T helped me hugely in setting mine up.

HTH, Joe

Thanks Mike and Joe,

If you could e-mail some links, I can do some reading into it as I have
over 4 weeks before I go. The GPRS certainly sounds like this may be a
feasible thought. The trouble with the Internet Cafe's is a). getting a
seat, and b). You can only browse.

Originally I was thinking of ...
http://www.gonuts4free.com/finall/home.php
Which is a dial-up local spanish call number, but I don't think this is
a good as what you are suggesting.

What's the catch I ask?

Many thanks

Keith (Southend)

Mike Tullett wrote:
On 14 Jul 2005 02:02:57 -0700, Keith (Southend)G wrote in
roups.com


This is probably at bit off topic I know, but what exactly would I need
to buy to be able to connect her laptop while in Spain for example,
like Phil, to the internet?

Has the Laptop got to have something particular for this facility? How
do the two physically connect? Cable? IR?

Hi Keith - I have a couple of phones. They are set up as modems for the
laptop. One works by IR but that can be fiddly, as line of sight is needed
all the time. The other, a Nokia, works by a data cable connection.
Setting up the phone is the hardest part as, once working, it is plain
sailing

Also you say 02 is 'free', I assume this isn't the call time though,
just the access, so the £5 for 5 minutes would still apply?

GPRS is a bit like broadband here - on all the time - so no phone call is
actually made. It is simply a connection to the Internet. Cost is
therefore zero if on O2 Pay as You Go.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm wondering whether this is
worth doing.

There are several websites devoted to this setup. If you wish to pursue
it, I'll look some out and email you. The make/model of phone is crucial
if it is to be a cable connection. IR is less of a problem. I have also
used Bluetooth but with varying degrees of success


--
Mike 55.13°N 6.69°W Coleraine posted to uk.sci.weather 14/07/2005 09:21:21 UTC

On 14 Jul 2005 05:06:27 -0700, Keith (Southend)G wrote in
roups.com

What's the catch I ask?

I kept asking that at first - and 11 months later still am:-) There really
isn't one, except to ask when it may finish. The beauty of a PAYG phone is
you can check the balance immediately by dialling *#10#, and not have to
wait for the monthly bill, as with a contract phone. O2 do in fact charge
quite a lot if you access via such a phone.

--
Mike 55.13°N 6.69°W Coleraine posted to uk.sci.weather 14/07/2005 12:30:45 UTC