mobile internet - gizmohead on the road

I set up tcp/ip access over GSM. The girls were attacking an outlet mall in a (apparently traditional?) post-thanksgiving shopping spree, and Kenny and I were left lounging in the van for an hour or two. In that time I managed to connect my Ericsson T616 to my laptop and get GPRS (General Packet Radio Service, aka packet-switched data over GSM) working. (As they say — how stereotypical.) For some reason, I couldn't get the Ericsson software to talk to the phone over the IrDA link, but with the serial cable (thanks to baseballump) it works fine. Service is available nearly everywhere in the cities and along interstates. It's a bit slow, though, (reportedly 9600 bps), and expensive (cents per kilobyte)? I'm interested in other solutions to the mobile internet problem. Can I, for example, just dial up a regular ISP using the phone as a modem? I tried calling a BBS [Digital Decay, +1(714)871-2057] but it wouldn't connect ("NO CARRIER" without ever connecting). I'm eager to play with 802.11b some more, but I'll need a better card first (and an external antenna).

I'd also like to get some mapping software for my computer too, so I can have something like mapquest-on-the-fly. Delorme Street Atlas gets surprisingly horrible reviews, and Microsoft Streets and Trips apparently has atrocious GPS support. Not sure what to get, then.