Can I prevent unwanted internet access???

[quierosalsa]

I have an old palm and an old LG phone. The time has come to upgrade both, and what better way than to get the treo 700w smartphone. Kills two birds with one stone, right? Well, apparently there's a catch...

My friendly, neighborhood Verizon Rep tells me that the device is designed to "ping" the internet every 2-5 minutes for new emails. Furthermore, he claims that there is no setting or configuration that can disable this unwanted internet access even if no email account has been configured on the device (what?!?!). He even contacted the "Technical Dept" to confirm his assertions, and put me on the line with a "technician" who repeated the same bad news.

The solution they proposed is purchasing the unlimited data pkg for a mere $50/month. Otherwise, these "pings" to the internet will eat away at my minutes and result in huge overages to the tune of up to $500...

Well, I am in no mood to fork over an additional $50/month, and besides I'm having a really hard time believing them. My better judgment tells me that there has to be a viable, non-hack method of preventing this unwanted internet "pinging" and thus preventing these potential overages.

Here's my ideal scenario:
1) I use the device as my wireless phone w/ a bluetooth headset.
2) I use the device as a personal organizer, sync-ing with my PC when necessary by using bluetooth or a direct connection.
3) I use the device to connect to the internet, but ONLY thru my home wireless network setup, either thru a bluetooth configuration or thru a 3rd-party SD Wi-Fi card.
4) I do not pay the additional $50/month for the unlimited data pkg, and I do not get hassled by unwanted/automatic internet "pings" and huge overages.

Is this scenario possible? Do points 3 and 4 conflict in any way or are they be mutually exclusive from one another (ie. can I avoid unwanted access to the internet outside of my home network setup)? Should I just suck it up and pay the extra $50/month ($600/yr) for the data pkg, even though I don't want it and hate the idea of being forced to pay for it?

I look forward to reading your replies. Thanks in advance.

[TheHeffNerr]

this "ping" he was talking about is the wireless sync client, and it does it every 15 minutes. u cant change the 15 minutes (that i remember offhand for the push) u can change at what time it will check, like everyday between 5pm and 10pm or what ever.


in the wireless sync program before you sync, go down to the menu and it's push / ready sync options i bleave where u can change it. also might beable to go in the same options, and just uncheck enable push, might stop it, havnt tested that.

[quierosalsa]

Originally Posted by TheHeffNerr

this "ping" he was talking about is the wireless sync client...u can change at what time it will check, like everyday between 5pm and 10pm or what ever.

in the wireless sync program before you sync, go down to the menu and it's push / ready sync options i bleave where u can change it. also might beable to go in the same options, and just uncheck enable push, might stop it, havnt tested that.

Thx for the response.

Well, I don't actually have the phone yet. I'm trying to determine whether or not I should get it, and this unwanted internet "pinging" is a problem.

Assuming that the source of the problem is the wireless sync client, can changing the time range of the sync-ing to 9:01pm - 6:59am (free nights...lol) eliminate the automatic internet checking throughout the rest of the day? Or changing the time range to 1:00am to 1:01am pretty much eliminate the automatic sync-ing? Also, can the wireless sync client be eliminated all together?

[TheHeffNerr]

Originally Posted by quierosalsa

Thx for the response.

Well, I don't actually have the phone yet. I'm trying to determine whether or not I should get it, and this unwanted internet "pinging" is a problem.

Assuming that the source of the problem is the wireless sync client, can changing the time range of the sync-ing to 9:01pm - 6:59am (free nights...lol) eliminate the automatic internet checking throughout the rest of the day? Or changing the time range to 1:00am to 1:01am pretty much eliminate the automatic sync-ing? Also, can the wireless sync client be eliminated all together?

yea u can just remove it from the phone, cant remember how, would check when i go to work 2morro but u dont even have the phone yet :P i should know but i really dont right now heh. if u set it to 1am to 1:01am it might do it, just durning the min it has heh.

[newrider]

Originally Posted by quierosalsa

Here's my ideal scenario:
1) I use the device as my wireless phone w/ a bluetooth headset.
2) I use the device as a personal organizer, sync-ing with my PC when necessary by using bluetooth or a direct connection.
3) I use the device to connect to the internet, but ONLY thru my home wireless network setup, either thru a bluetooth configuration or thru a 3rd-party SD Wi-Fi card.
4) I do not pay the additional $50/month for the unlimited data pkg, and I do not get hassled by unwanted/automatic internet "pings" and huge overages.

Is this scenario possible? Do points 3 and 4 conflict in any way or are they be mutually exclusive from one another (ie. can I avoid unwanted access to the internet outside of my home network setup)? Should I just suck it up and pay the extra $50/month ($600/yr) for the data pkg, even though I don't want it and hate the idea of being forced to pay for it?

I look forward to reading your replies. Thanks in advance.

This is what I want the phone too exactly. Does anyone know if this is possible?

[TreoDan]

I use the wireless Verizsion unlimited data plan due to my travels.
However, the Internet setup wizard (and help file) describe clearly the ability to establish a Bluetooth connection (or to dial an ISP modem directly). And any of the connections (inlcuding my Verizon wireless connection can be deleted or set not to connect.

But if you are sitting at your PC syncing (or within range of your home wireless network / bluetooth modem), why would you ever use the Treo for internet browsing

[quierosalsa]

I dedicated part of my day to investigating this mysterious "pinging" and the various intricacies surrounding Verizon's data services. It took me about an hour and a half and three separate phone calls to receive satisfactory answers. Here's what I've learned.

By default, the treo 700w from Verizon is configured with one default connection which points to Verizon's EvDO network. The device is configured to wirelessly sync about every five minutes using this default connection. This appears to be the mysterious "pinging" that the original Verizon rep I spoke to mentioned. I'm still unclear on whether or not this automatic sync feature can be disabled or otherwise configured, but this is a moot point as you will see.

If you were to sign-up with Verizon and purchase a treo as your phone, but you chose not to pay for a data plan, then you would be placed on the "Pay Per KB" plan. This plan is $0/month, HOWEVER it costs $15/MB of data you transfer to/from your device. Since the device is configured by default to connect automatically to Verizon's EvDO network for a sync every five minutes or so, then this would result in huge overages.

There is a solution to these issues, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that Verizon's reps are not well-schooled on these alternatives.

Originally Posted by TreoDan

...any of the connections (inlcuding my Verizon wireless connection can be deleted or set not to connect.

As TreoDan has kindly pointed out above, this default connection can be deleted or altered so that a connection to Verizon's EvDO network cannot be established, period. A palm tech support rep and a verizon tech support rep both confirmed this assertion over the phone earlier today. What this means is that you can buy the palm treo, use it as a phone and as an organizer and you don't have to buy a data pkg and you don't have to worry about huge overages .

Furthermore, puchasing Palm's SD Wi-Fi card allows you the ability to connect to your home or company Wi-Fi network. I would assume that one could also connect to other available Wi-Fi networks, like a Verizon DSL hotspot in NYC for example (if anyone can test this, please let me know).

Doesn't this mean that instead of connecting to Verizon's EvDO network to perform wireless syncs, you can instead use an available Wi-Fi network connection for the same? It seems to me that it does, but again confirmation of this point would be nice.

Finally, the Verizon tech support rep suggested that when choosing the "Pay Per KB" data plan to also ask for "no national coverage". This supposedly assures that connections to the EvDO network aren't accepted on the device, but this point is still unclear. Deleting the connection altogether seems like the way to go.

I hope this helps anyone who like me is looking to use the Treo, but not the xtra data pkg from Verizon.