Aircards and Other cards for Internet use on the road?

[JF Massicotte]

going for EVDO, is there any difference between the Sierre 595 and the Sierra 595-U?

Is there a big difference between the PC Card and the USB version (-U)?

 

[Gordon Spencer]

They are both REV A. Devices. The only drawback I have read is about the 595U not working in routers as it is battery powered and the routers do not charge the battery in the unit and it can go dead in it under these conditions in about 80 minutes. Other than that they achieve pretty equal speeds. All depends on your application and what your laptop has space for. If you do have a PCMCIA slot I would suggest the card.

going for EVDO, is there any difference between the Sierre 595 and the Sierra 595-U?

Is there a big difference between the PC Card and the USB version (-U)?

 

[JF Massicotte]

Thank you very much Gordon, this was exactly the kind of answer I was looking for!

Have a good day!

J-F

They are both REV A. Devices. The only drawback I have read is about the 595U not working in routers as it is battery powered and the routers do not charge the battery in the unit and it can go dead in it under these conditions in about 80 minutes. Other than that they achieve pretty equal speeds. All depends on your application and what your laptop has space for. If you do have a PCMCIA slot I would suggest the card.

 

[Paul Redmond]

I was told that the battery is charged via the usb cable.

 

[Augie Rall]

USB Router for USB cards or cell phone tethering

This may help those who are trying to decide between traditional air card,usb card, or phone tethering option. I haven't seen this item listed in any other posts so I thought I would share. It's a wireless router that connects to a USB modem or your phone as modem. http://www.cradlepoint.com/ctr350/ctr350.php

If anybody has more info on this item please share. I'm thinking about trying it.

 

[Paul Redmond]

Will it work with evdo? Reading through the info it required a 3G device.

 

[Gordon Spencer]

Yes it will work , EVDO is 3G

Will it work with evdo? Reading through the info it required a 3G device.

 

[Scott Roberts]

This may help those who are trying to decide between traditional air card,usb card, or phone tethering option. I haven't seen this item listed in any other posts so I thought I would share. It's a wireless router that connects to a USB modem or your phone as modem. http://www.cradlepoint.com/ctr350/ctr350.php

If anybody has more info on this item please share. I'm thinking about trying it.

Looked like a great device...until I saw none of my phones are on the compatibility list...

 

[cedwards]

I just got my UTStarcom UM150 wireless modem from Alltel. Here is my first speedtest with it.

That is over 3X the download speed of my home DSL and over 10X what I was getting last year with my Verizon aircard.
I signed a 2 year contract and got the device for $49. I have heard that you can pay full price for the device and only activate it when you need it. Service is $60/month

 

[J Kinkaid]

I find it hard to believe that it's faster than your DSL considering that the latency is alot higher with cell phone providers . They really have a different feel to them

DSL

3G/ATT in Nashville, TN

ALLTEL

 

[cedwards]

You have much better DSL than I do.
Here is my DSL test:

 

[J Kinkaid]

You have much better DSL than I do.
Here is my DSL test:

That connection doesn't look right. What speeds are you paying for and have you tweaked yet ?

Try this link and let me know if it helps


http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

 

[Gordon Spencer]

you gotta love Verizon Fios

 

[Jason Boggs]

I noticed that the sprint aircard that I got ( 595U) isn't very fast at all here in Amarillo. Does anybody know why? Is there something that I need to do to get a speedier connection? Here is my first test with SPEEDTEST.NET. Seems pretty poor to me for a fairly large city.

EDIT: I am saying this only because I thought about ditching my cable internet and using this card for my full time internet for my desktop and laptop. With this kind of speed, I think I will keep the cable internet. I know it will be fairly slow in the field, but I figured it would be speedier than this in town. I just found the EVDO map and Amarillo IS NOT included. Maybe that explains it.

 

[David Drummond]

Yeah, we don't get EVDO on Sprint network out here yet Jason. I have been seeing it slowly creep westward from OKC and DFW. That said, if you happen to hit a roaming spot on Alltel, many of their towers out here ARE on EVDO, and you will get that. There are also a couple of towers here and there I caught it on Sprint before. One on the north side of Abilene, another one in Midland. So I am hoping maybe it's coming on Sprint soon.

I noticed that the sprint aircard that I got ( 595U) isn't very fast at all here in Amarillo. Does anybody know why? Is there something that I need to do to get a speedier connection? Here is my first test with SPEEDTEST.NET. Seems pretty poor to me for a fairly large city.

EDIT: I am saying this only because I thought about ditching my cable internet and using this card for my full time internet for my desktop and laptop. With this kind of speed, I think I will keep the cable internet. I know it will be fairly slow in the field, but I figured it would be speedier than this in town. I just found the EVDO map and Amarillo IS NOT included. Maybe that explains it.