best way to connect?

simonp1

Hi all


This is for an assignment I have, 2 mobile sales staff need to connect to a head office network, what are the options open to them at a resonable cost.
Are laptops necessary or would pda's do.

I was looking at vodaphone tarrif and they look expensive enough.

cheers simon

irlrobins

Connect to do what? Read/send mail? Or access documents from a server. You need to give more details as to your requirements.

simonp1

Sorry yea,

The deal is, this company has 2 regional sales offices which will be connected to the HQ network via a VPN, unless there is another way. My question is regarding two sales reps on the road they will need access to customer data and stock levels etc plus be able to send/recieve mails.

hope this is clearer
simon

irlrobins

Ok well if it was just email they needed than a Blackberry would do. But since they obviously need to get documents and data as well, then you're prob looking at laptops with 3G datacards. Like this

If you look at the coverage map, 3G is limited to the major urban areas. So they could be relying on GPRS to connect which is slower. But thats prob you're only option for people on the road IMHO.

O2 also offer a similiar service http://web.o2.ie/business/services/mobile_office/datacards.jsp

simonp1

cheers irlrobins

That seems to be the only option at the minute, There was talk about eircon having hotspots from all their coin box phones did that pan out or is it still only a pipedream.

simon

irlrobins

yea they did trial free hotspots on payphones alright. But again it was limited to urban areas. Not sure if these hotspots exist. Someone in Wireless forum might know.

As regards data cards, I think O2 offer a data only account for €20 a month, all data included. If you make voice calls there are charged in addition. I think this si cheaper than vodafone as far as data goes.