The Experiment - A Netbook Phone

I've decided to explore the possibility of using a netbook/MID as a phone while eschewing the services of a cellphone provider. Now that Atlanta (where I live) has WiMAX from Clear, I ought to be connected everywhere, 24x7 to the internet (once I sign up). Theoretically, this should mean that I will be able to use my netbook as a cell phone. Of course, there are some very real issues to overcome and I am simply putting this experiment together to see if it is something that is realistically possible. And I will blog about it.

There are some significant issues that need to be resolved before I can get connected. Once I am reliably connected, I will move on to other issues like usability, feasibility and other associated issues.

The different questions I want to answer in the coming months would be:

• Can I use the internet to provide me with reliable mobile telephony?
• Is it cost effective?
• What hardware is needed to use a WiMAX service to provide internet telephony?
• What stands in the way of this being indistinguishable from a traditional cell-phone service?

I am a student and am almost always broke. I do not intend to buy expensive hardware for the experiment unless absolutely necessary. Which means I will be using somewhat sub-optimal hardware. Hopefully, what I have on hand is sufficient for the experiment.

Fujitsu P1510D
OK. So I don't really have a netbook or a MID. The P1510D is close enough and is essentially the same as a netbook in terms of its form factor and performance. I have two extended batteries for this machine each of which should give me 6+ hours of juice with always on bluetooth and WiMAX connection while the screen is sparingly used. To emulate the typical netbook, I will attempt to minimize the use of the second battery and the car charger.

Bluetooth headset
I have a Motorola S9 lying around here somewhere that I'll use since the P1510D has Bluetooth.

Grandcentral/Google Voice
This gives me an unchanging number that people can call me on. Google Voice seems like it will allow me to make calls as well.

Clear WiMAX
Clear has now deployed its 4G WiMAX network in Atlanta (where I live) and I will be able to use it to stay connected to the internet.

The biggest concerns I have are related to the switch are how my contacts will respond to this switch on my part and if I will be able to stay on top of my phone call/voicemail volume due to teething issues I will undoubtedly face and the time overhead associated with returning and handling calls. When I cancel my phone connection after about a month of transition, I will probably get myself a prepaid phone to make and receive calls with when I leave town for any reason.