I do this with my Sprint phone, which is EVDO capable. Um, that is, I use it as a bluetooth modem, not take stupid bathroom pictures with it. But it has a camera, so I guess I could do that, too.
Sprint charges something like $40 or $50 a month for a phone-as-modem plan, but if you happen to be smart enough to have bought a Samsung A900 or A900M (a.k.a. Blade, a.k.a. RAZR KILR) and know how to get into the debug menu, you can turn off modem NAI and it will allow you to use your unlimited data PowerVision plan to dial-up (because with modem NAI turned off, Sprint doesn’t know you’re dialing up and not just using the phone’s built-in browser). I get DSL-like speeds with this setup.
And yeah, clearly it’s against the rules, I know. But I have it on good authority that Sprint willingly looks the other way as long as you don’t overdo it (and if you do overdo it, you get a polite letter from Sprint reminding you that you can purchase an unlimited phone-as-modem plan).
Personally, I use this only once in a great great while for very short periods when I really need it. I just can’t justify the cost of a plan for that. Maybe if they offered a low-cost low-usage plan I’d go for it, but unfortunately they don’t. So instead I break the rules now and then.
I’m not proud.
-Bill