Nokia 6220 edge connection speed

[MartyMarts]

Hi
I have a Nokia 6220 and am currently connecting to my laptop via an infrared connection and then using the 6220 as a modem (using a GPRS/EGPRS connection to the internet). It says I'm connected at 115kbps which is also the maximum connection speed of the infrared/irDA port (apparently). Doesn't seem like a 115kbps connection though.
I would like to know if it's feasible to buy a USB data cable (either a CA-42 or DKU-5 cable)? i.e. would my connection speed increase considerably? Would I then be able to fully utilize the speed of a GPRS/EGPRS connection?

I'm pretty new to this, so I will appreciate any advice...

Thanks!

 

[ajax]

Hello Martymars

Welcome to the forum.
Don't trust the "115kbps" Many users have reported higher speeds than that.
If you are sure you are on EDGE, do a speed test and see what speed you get. http://www.telkom.co.za/minisites/dsl/speed.html

On my pc, I can set the port speed higher. I have made a manual connection using the Windoze new connection wizard. Instead of hitting the dial button, I press configure and there I can set the modem properties and port speed to 460 kbps for example.

 

[MartyMarts]

Hi Ajax

Thanks for the reply.
When connected, I can change the connection speed to 460kbps or even 920kbps and it even says I'm connected at that speed. Yet on the taskbar it says that I have a wireless link with a Nokia 6220 at 1152000bps.
So isn't the fact that I'm using an infared connection limiting my connection speed?

 

[MartyMarts]

Hi again...
Just did a speed test (as you suggested).
result: 69.1Kbps or 8.5kBytes

 

[ajax]

Hi Ajax
So isn't the fact that I'm using an infared connection limiting my connection speed?

You may be right. Many laptops don't give you more than 115 kbps on infrared.
But a cable can be quite expensive though. And EDGE typically gives you an average speed of around 130-150 kbps on a single thread. I only see speeds in excess of 200 kbps if I use a download manager that uses multiple threads.

I dought if you will see (or feel) a big difference with a connection cable of more than 115 kbps. But rather get a Bluetooth dongle than a cable if you really want to. It's less expensive and less schleppy.

 

[MartyMarts]

Problem is that neither my laptop or the 6220 have bluetooth... :-(
So thats extra cost implications anyway. For now I'll stick with the infrared connection for now and see how it goes...
Thanks for your help, Ajax.

 

[ajax]

My bad, I typed in the wrong model when I looked for the specs for the 6220. Yes, no Bluetooth on that one.

I see now that the 6220 can only do EDGE speeds of up to 118 kbits/sec.
So there's no use "upgrading" to a cable.

 

[repitah]

Get the USB cable. most IRs IMO use basic IR chips to keep the power consumption down. FIR (Fast IR) allows speeds a lot faster speeds, but there is an overhead to clean up the signal in order to get those speeds.

 

[MartyMarts]

thanks for the info guys. looks like i'll take out a home loan to buy the cable. enjoy!

 

[Alacrity]

There are two cable types. Serie and USB. To spend money on a serial cable ie. CA-42 or DKU-5 is not worth the small gain in speed. The 115k2 speed on IR is due to the phone and not the IR adapter.

With HSDPA bluetooth is to slow. The USB cable and WI-FI can handle HSDPA datarates.

 

[Data Angel :)]

Hi you have to be in an "EDGE covered" area to actually get this speed....

 

[MartyMarts]

Things have changed... Got a 6230i now and managed to get my service provider to throw in a USB data cable (CA-53) for free with the upgrade package. There is definitely a speed improvement as compared to my previous infrared setup. The main thing is that I can work from home A/H. Costs me R1.67 per MB and the speed is acceptable. Thanks to all of you for your advice and input.
Cheerio

 

[viceroy]

Take out a data bundle. You can get your per meg prices down below 50c per meg

 

[MartyMarts]

What do you mean by "And the ADSL application process starts once again."
Anyway, MTN offer data bundles on cell contracts? From what I see there are 10/100/350/1024 MB bundles. Currently I'm being billed R1.67 a MB and on the 350MB bundle it will cost me R0.63MB. Problem is that at R220 per month for the 350MB bundle, is it really worth it...