First of all thanks to all respondents!

Will Kemp wrote:
[...]

An alternative is to use a mobile phone with bluetooth and connect to
the net via bluetooth on the laptop and the mobile. That will definitely
work with Linux. I've done it without problems on Telstra's "NextG" network.

Earlier I said that I would prefer not to buy an UMTS/3G phone, but
I've since reconsidered:

My current Dutch GSM phone with pre-paid Telstra SIM, has very bad
coverage, especially in the rural/outback areas where we intend to go.
And a NextG pre-paid phone seems to cost about the same as the Telstra
Wireless Broadband USB Modem ($149), so I might as well buy a NextG
pre-paid phone and kill two birds with one stone, better coverage for
normal voice calls (and SMS) and broadband Internet for my Linux mini-
notebook.

I've studied the information on Telstra's Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband page
(http://www.telstra.com.au/telstraprepaidplus/broadband/unplanned.html
and it looks like the Samsung A411 ($149) and LG TU500 ($179) NextG
Pre-Paid phones will give the best rural coverage (Telstra Blue Tick
handset) and offer Bluetooth and Internet (see [1] below).

But now the problem/questions for/from this clueless newbie:

How to proceed from here?

The NextG phones apparently have a USB connection to the notebook, but
the software which comes with the phone is again for (MS-)Windows. What
do I need to do on the Linux side? (My mini-notebook has three USB
ports, so the hardware side is not a problem.)

And about the Bluetooth connection which you mention: The Telstra
information talks about "Stereo Bluetooth" i.e. for things like audio
headsets, but what about the Bluetooth phone-to-computer connection
which you mention, can these phones do that, and if so, what do I need
to do on the Linux side?

My mini-notebook does not have Bluetooth, so I will have to buy/use a
Bluetooth USB-'stick' for that. Would that be easy to configure/use
under Linux?

N.B. An added complication is that I have to prepare, configure, etc.
this stuff at home in The Netherlands, *without* the phone, NextG
network, etc., because I can only buy the phone on arrival in Oz. And
once I am in Oz, I have no (other) Internet access, so I can't lookup
things on the web before the mobile Internet connection works, Catch-22.

Sorry for these newbie questions, but *this* stuff is completely new
for me.

BTW, my Linux version in Linplus Linux Lite, which is based on
(Red Hat) Fedora (http://www.linpus.com and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linpus_Linux).

FYI, I have extensive professional UNIX (HP-UX) experience, but
practically no Linux experience. I have sufficient hardwired and WiFi
networking experience, but the latter only on (MS-)Windows. Same for
USB. I have no Bluetooth experience.

Again thanks in advance for any and all response. And thanks for
reading this far! :-)

[1]
https://shop.telstra.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=11651&categoryId=30920