
Ask HN: Is it be possible to drop the phone and only use a laptop? - znpy
Hi HN!<p>I really don&#x27;t like having a mobile phone with me all the time,
what I only need is a way to make and receive calls and access
the Internet while on the go.<p>So I would like to stop using a cell phone and use my laptop only.<p>I was wondering: using a modem card for in my laptop (an msata modem)
would it be possible to set up some program to make and receive calls,
send&#x2F;receive sms and access the internet ?<p>I use a ThinkPad X220 and just got a Sierra Wireless MC8355 &#x2F; Qualcomm
Gobi 3000 card, and I was wondering if anyone has experience with such
topics.<p>I run GNU&#x2F;Linux.<p>Thanks in advance!
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superkuh
If you're using the cell phone network you're using a cell phone. Even if it's
only providing network connectivity to your computer.

My personal solution for using my laptop around town is to to use the 915 MHz
ISM band for transverted wifi. Hills and valleys are a big problem but line of
sight is not needed in terms of buildings or trees. At max I get about 3km
range from my home station to my car at 50 Mb/s. At minimum a bad valley can
cause the connection to drop within 300m of my home station. But generally it
works around town.

It'll obviously never work as well, or as far ranging, as the cell network.
But it is private and it's nice not being tracked.

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arm
That sounds really interesting. Would you mind going into more details about
the hardware required? I’m currently without a cellphone and this solution
sounds promising.

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moondev
Sign up for project fi and use google hangouts web app for sms and calls

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smt88
This is the only solution that I know of for solving this problem, but it has
a big flaw: coverage. T-Mobile and Sprint have terrible coverage outside of
major metropolitan areas.

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meric
You can get mobile broadband and use Skype with a phone number.

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max_
Yes! use Bluestacks emulator or RemixOS

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lazylizard
first the internet access then you can sip/skype?

