As long as we're on this topic...

I'm planning a long bike trip during which I'll be in rural areas most of the 
time.  I'm planning to get a cell phone and use it to synch my Visor handheld 
with a home-base computer that's screening my e-mail for large attachments, 
spam, etc.  I might also occasionally use it for full Internet access if it 
works well.

However, I've never had a cell phone of my own before, nor have I ever used 
one with a modem.  Am I fooling myself to think that I'll be able to get a 
data connection in rural areas?  AT&T OneRate claims to cover the whole 
eastern US (which is where I'll be) with a few exceptions in the Appalachians 
(where I won't be).  Is their coverage sufficient for data transfer?  Speed 
is not a major issue as long as I can actually send and receive mail.

Thanks in advance for sharing experience!  --Ben