Dell notebooks go wireless

NEWS

From mid-March, buyers of Dell notebooks will be able to order a GPRS-based PC Card, tailored for enterprises or small businesses, which provides always-on, wireless access to the company network or the Internet. The key benefits will be the ability to send and receive email, browse the Web and access corporate databases from almost anywhere in the UK. Later, as roaming agreements fall into place, the service will be available in other European countries too. The corporate plan, announced on Tuesday, is an end-to-end product with two main parts. At the client end, in the mobile user's notebook, is a Dell TrueMobile 5000 PC Card (made by Novatel Wireless) containing a data-only GSM/GPRS SIM card from BT Cellnet. At the server end, behind the company firewall, is optimisation software from Broadcloud Communications that maximises the efficiency of the GPRS connection. Installation services -- which can include the setting up of a secure leased line (a requirement) -- will be handled by a third party. The cost of setting up wireless access for your mobile workforce isn't exactly cheap. Companies will need to budget at least £6,000 for installation services -- connecting the LAN to the GPRS network -- and £2,000 for the optimisation software. Then there's the GPRS PC Cards, at £249 each. Finally there's the tariff for data traffic. Dell and BT Cellnet are offering two tiers: 20MB for £30 a month, or 50MB for £50 a month. Excess data over the monthly plan will be charged at £1.50/MB and £1/MB respectively, and there's also a GPRS-only supplement of £3.50 a month and a one-time connection charge of £29.79 to consider. If that sounds somewhat scary, Dell has calculated that a heavy mobile user will get through around 2MB of emails and attachments a day, which reduces to around 600KB thanks to the server-side optimisation software. This equates to a per-user cost of some £2 a day. Demonstrating the optimised service, David Krathwohl, Dell's director of wireless business development, showed a 250KB Word attachment being downloaded in around 20 seconds, and a 610KB file downloading in 35 seconds. This equates to a data transfer rate of 17KB per second or 136kbps. The GPRS connection uses four 14.4kbps slots for downloads (57.6kbps in total) and one slot for uploads, the server-side optimisation software accounting for the higher apparent download speeds. For small businesses, Dell offers a simpler solution comprising the PC Card, the SIM card and a contract with One2One rather than BT Cellnet. No leased line or server-side installation is required, but the level of security is commensurately less. Many businesses with mobile workforces will find Dell's hand-holding approach tempting, especially if they already buy Dell notebooks. However, there are alternatives: companies whose mobile staff already have Bluetooth-equipped GPRS phones, for example, may prefer to simply plug Bluetooth PC Cards into their notebooks, although it's possible that this may prove harder to set up and manage.

Networks and networking products have seen huge innovation and growth in the last few years. High bandwidth LANs and Storage Area Networks are now in common use. ZDNet UK's Networking Central keeps you up to date with the latest news and views. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

41 minutes ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

54 minutes ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

1 hour ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

1 hour ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

2 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

5 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

6 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

6 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

7 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

8 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

9 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

18 hours ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Replying to an old topic that I'm currently facing with my CEO (who is on a Mac). Our servers are primarily Windows Servers, office is about...

1 day ago by txtrainguy on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Sure, that makes perfect sense. Pay wrong-doers money and thank them for breaching your security and pointing out your flaws, that would surely...

1 day ago by k0tcs3 on US indicts Romanian over NASA climate change hack

I think he's referring specifically to Android apps, as Apple do regulate their App Store, but Google seem to let any old crap onto the Android store!

1 day ago by Random_Error on RIM: BlackBerry will keep 'garbage' apps out of store