I’ve been having lots of fun with my new Nokia E61 gadget, phone, computer, ssh client, wifi voip phone and more. I’m a bit bummed it can’t make a nice cocktail.. but other than that it’s really cool.
Using the Putty SSH client I can use Mutt anywhere I like. I can even be really annoying and answer emails while waiting for movie previews to pass.
Getting the Bluetooth-GPRS connection to work (Vodacom SA) with my Mac was not that trivial. I needed the Nokia GPRS CID1 script. The Vodacom (data) network’s latency seems a bit lame (300ms minimum) to the first hop.. but at least I seem to get about the transfer rates I can expect with a 115200bps Bluetooth modem link.
Wifi access is pretty good. I have it working at home and at the office. The antenna seems to be a bit weaker than my laptop’s wifi connection.. but it works well enough that I can connect to the Mount Nelson Hotel’s AP from my bedroom.
I’m still playing with getting the VoIP features to work with the Frogfoot Asterisk PBX.
Viva la Wifi phone revolution. GSM RIP.
They look like real smart phones. I wish they could make one that runs Linux though. I’ll also be buying an E61 when the holidays are over, specifically for using the Symbian SSH client
Very nice, also been keeping my eye on the new Nokia range. I’ve been using my old Nokia 6260 to SSH to one of our linux boxes whilst in gym, but took me almost 2 minutes to connect with the numpad. This would work so much betta.
Oi! WTF are you doing kipping at the Mount Nellie?!? Unless of course unbeknownst to me you *live* next to the hotel and can reach their AP from your house??
Or the amphibious bunch are making too much ready cash and you’re playing at playboy about town??
btw. been playing with an E61 myself - not a bad phone, but the lack of camera irks me and it feels clunky as a phone when next to my head… eyeing the N80 for when my upgrade comes around.
Cheers Joe,
DaveG
Hi Dave. I live close to the MN, just above Melissas in Kloof st. I don’t mind the size.. it’s pretty much as big as it needs to be to have a full keyboard and a large enough screen to have a useful size text terminal. Camera could be useful, but I find mobile phone cameras only work in the daylight anyway.. I drag my Canon (7MP) camera and GPS around in my backpack all the time anyway. I can only hope somebody integrates all the above soon.
The Playboy Geek.
I managed to upgrade the OS my phone to version 3.0633.09.04 and I can now make VoIP calls.
Hey Joe,
Where’d you pull the upgrade from?
Have read some nightmare accounts of upgrades going pear-shaped - must organise a backup before I upgrade.
Dave
The most tricky part was finding the correct Product Code and a Wintendo PC to use for the upgrade process.
After some reading I used product code:
0530151 - Euro A2 silver: en, ned
You can pretty much follow this step by step:
http://blog.hishamrana.com/2006/12/21/force-flashing-vodafone-branded-nokia-e61/
btw. the NAT traversal (STUN) works, I’m connecting to the Frogfoot PBX from home (via Amobia) using the ILBC codec.
Thanks mate.
Will give it a go later.
I installed Putty again, with one minor config update:
UseSystemColours = 1
You have to save the putty config, copy (with bluetooth) edit the file, copy it back and make Putty load this new config (as default).
After some tweaking this seems to be my final Asterisk config:
sip.conf
—————————————–
[joe]
context => frogfoot-sip-internal
type => friend
regexten => 234
username => joe
callerid => “joe” <234>
host => dynamic
dtmfmode => rfc2833
insecure => very
canreinvite => yes
nat => yes
qualify => yes
disallow => all
allow => ilbc
allow => alaw
—————————————–
David asked:
“I followed you blog about the e61 upgrade. My VoIP was working before the upgrade, but since then I can register but I constantly get errors on Asterisk trying to connect.”
Joe:
“Known issue,
delete all your SIP configs on the phone and configure again.”
[...] Had dinner in Stellenbosch. Blogging with my crackberry is just not that much fun, but still handy. [...]
I’m due for an upgrade… I like the photo features of the N73, but whatever I get must have Wi-Fi!
Would you still recommend the E61? Or is there something out there I should know about?
Hi Henk
Get the E61i
It has a camera.