MvdV> I think I am getting it now. I have always wondered why a device such as
 MvdV> a dongle for a laptop that can not be used to make telephone calls,

   It could be used to send and receive SMS (free of charge) though.

 MvdV> needs a telephone number. Well... it looks like these mobile devices
 MvdV> still use an equivalent of making a POTS modem call to the "ISP home
 MvdV> gateway" to get on the internet...

   Not exactly. They call an URL and presents the phone number and a PIN code 
to log-in. Apart from that, basically a dial-up connection, yes.

   The first years using my dongle, I only got a 10.x.x.x IP number, but later 
on I got a real, public one. I used it for a few weeks when my ADSL didn't 
work.

   Since I got a new IP every time I reconnected -- and often even when I *was* 
connected -- I never could use it for any kind of server functions (such as 
binkd), only for outgoing traffic.



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