Cell phone as modem?

One of the little known secrets of cell phones is that many models can act as modems, and connect your computer to the Internet through a cell carrier.

[casualuser]

Now I just need to know the how!

[fla guy]

it's easy, except in Ohio

[Skeptic]

Ever since cell phones became digital, you can patch the phone directly into the computer without a modem, you just need the patch cable and software, Motorola offers a package for not very much. Works well, I've got an old Motorola V66 that works like a charm. This really is an old story, nothing new.

[Dave]

Didn't you see where that guy got a 80,000 $ cell phone bill from bellsouth for using his cell phone as a modem for his computer!

[Skeptic]

No, I'll google it, if it is not in your plan, I guess they can pin your ears back, so to speak, wow!
thats way worse than a lot of the bills the little kids get for texting.

Dave wrote:

Didn't you see where that guy got a 80,000 $ cell phone bill from bellsouth for using his cell phone as a modem for his computer!

[Skeptic]

Just last week a Canadian man thought he could use his mobile phone as a modem and received a whopping $85,000 phone bill for failing to read the fine print (or because the company failed to make their charges easily understood). This week it's a factory worker in the UK getting hammered by tethering surcharges, resulting in a $54,000 bill.
Ian signed up for a Vodafone Anytime 800 contract and added a [$15] inclusive internet deal to let him use his phone for surfing the net. But his first bill had hundreds of extra charges for online use - some at [$35] a minute. He said: "My mate told me how to wire my mobile to my laptop as a modem. It meant I could download faster than on the handset and get a proper internet connection in my flat. "I probably downloaded 20 or 30 TV shows and four albums. I assumed it'd be OK, but they cut me off. I rang up and they said I owed them nearly [$60,000].
His $82 mobile phone plan didn't include unlimited web use and comes with a 120MB monthly cap. "We will try to come to some sympathetic arrangement," says Vodafone -- "and we hope he won't make the same mistake again."