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Wireless operator

Posted on 26 Oct 2006 at 11:22

Paul Ockenden tries to make some sense of the confused world of Wi-Fi, and configures his new nokia e61 to run voip

What isn't immediately obvious is that there's another password required for SIP access. To find it, you need to log onto the VoIPtalk website, then on the initial status page hover your mouse over the VoIPtalk ID and you'll see the password appear as a tool tip. Once you've entered the correct password into your phone, you should see it register properly.

To test it, go to the Active Standby screen and dial 902, but instead of pressing the normal green button click the joystick and select Call | Internet call. You should hear a cheesy "congratulations" message.

I'm very impressed with VoIPtalk - it's good someone has at last set up a service that gets round the horrors of getting SIP through a NATed router, and its call rates and price plans are quite competitive (for example, £20 per month for unlimited calls to the UK, Europe and the US - try getting that from your mobile provider).

Spoke too soon...

Three issues back, I mentioned I was a fan of the K-JAM and its various network-branded brethren like T-Mobile's MDA Vario, but noted that T-Mobile hadn't released an AKU 2 (proper push email) upgrade for its version. I was worried this would get overlooked with the imminent release of Vario II, but with timing worthy of Murray Walker, about a week after I handed in my copy guess what appeared on one of T-Mobile's support websites? You guessed.

If you're a Vario owner, fire up your browser and head over to www.tm-phonedownloads.com - follow the MDA link from the front page, then select MDA Vario, which will lead you to a 55MB download that's the update. You can't upgrade the phone directly; you need to perform the update via a USB-connected PC and our old "friend" ActiveSync. Set aside around 40 minutes to update each phone, and you'll have to reinstall any applications after the update, as the phone will be left in "factory settings" condition once you've flashed it. If you operate a fleet of Varios, don't be tempted to update more than one at a time via a single PC, even using virtual machines. I tried that and fried a friend's phone!

The www.tm-phonedownloads.com website is an important and useful resource for anyone running a Windows Mobile based T-Mobile smartphone, since you won't find stuff like the Vario AKU 2 update on the main T-Mobile site.

And again...

Remember how a couple of months ago I wrote that no current handheld offers HSDPA data speeds? Well, almost as soon as I sent that copy in I got an invite to T-Mobile's product launch for the aforementioned Vario II. You can probably guess its headline specification...