Alltel offers unlimted mobile broadband (500kb/s+) for $25 a month

[Dick McGowan]

First question I have is does one have to have the nation wide (no roaming) service to obtain this service? Second from what I understand it sounds like the cables Alltel tries to sell are a rip off, can someone please direct me to which alternative cable is required for the Razar V3?

Not totally sure about the Nationwide plan, but I think the $25 applies to any voice plan. Don't quote me on that though.

As for the cable for the razr, I just picked a spare one up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cell-Phone-acce...95625131QQcategoryZ108322QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There's a bunch of other crap that you don't really need, but for 12 bucks, you can get 2 extra chargers with the USB cable. I ordered from these guys and it was pretty quick with the shipping.

 

[David Wolfson]

Assuming it all works, I'm adding Verizon broadband at $60/month to my voice account. A hopefully reliable company has what seems a great package deal:

Verizon (Audiovox) PC5750 EVDO Rev. A card @ $50 after current promotion and rebate;

Linksys WRT54G3G-ST @ $230 after discount, a Wifi router/4-port switch like the trusty WRT54 we use at home for our cable broadband except this new product has a slot for an EVDO card;

Mag mount antenna and adapter for the EVDO card @ about $40.

The Linksys EVDO router is better-reviewed and lower priced in most aspects than other similar Rev. A offerings from TopGlobal and Kyocera. Plus it has the GPL upgradeable firmware and Cisco support.

As I understand it, if it works, you configure it with the card, plug it into AC, and you have a mobile Wifi hotspot accessing EVDO or 1xRTT as available, which appears to cover most places that have digital cell coverage. You can also plug in 10/100 cables directly without using the Wifi.

Will report back after I get it together and test it on the road.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Not totally sure about the Nationwide plan, but I think the $25 applies to any voice plan. Don't quote me on that though.

As for the cable for the razr, I just picked a spare one up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cell-Phone-acce...95625131QQcategoryZ108322QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There's a bunch of other crap that you don't really need, but for 12 bucks, you can get 2 extra chargers with the USB cable. I ordered from these guys and it was pretty quick with the shipping.

The Razr uses a standard USB to mini USB cable. Often your digital camera or your external flashcard reader will come with one. You can pick them up very cheap on Ebay as mentioned, but check your gear first to see if you already have one. You'll also need to download the drivers from the website I posted in this thread.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Has anyone had any problems connecting with alltel(once they have all the upfront bugs figured out)? I'm wondering exactly how the servers are setup and whatnot. I can't connect with it right now, but another chaser near KC can with his(this is right after it dropped me from the connection I had going for a while). The signal strength is all bars and the EV indicator is on. The computer talks to the phone. It calls, it even tries to authenticate, but then it says remote computer won't respond. I had this problem when I was sitting south of Dodge City. I was in one spot doing just fine, when all the sudden it stopped and I couldn't get it to authenticate again. It must just be whatever server I am on? Would these all be in one location, or are they integrated with all the towers, or at least somewhat and spattered about everywhere?

Edit:
It's working again now, and wasn't down that long. Guess I was just wondering how frequent this is/has been.

 

[CraigFisher]

Hey Mike, I've been having a similiar problem. Sometimes when I try to get a connection, the phone will not respond or not make the call. Has been a few times when my connection is dropped. All connections have been made in Beatrice.
I would go through the ritual of re-booting the laptop, turning cell phone off/on, reinstall motorola driver, etc.
Havent been sure if this has been the phone prob or vista prob.

 

[Bob Hartig]

I've had that problem, too, but just once, tooling along the Indiana/Illinois border. No signal or five bars of signal--it just didn't matter: my connection wouldn't authenticate. I spent big time trying to correct this with Alltel and finally wound up just rebooting at my chase partner's suggestion. Of course. That solved the problem, but it's not really a solution. I should mention, though, that my buddy has the same problem with Sprint.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

I've not had a similar problem yet, but I've only used it from the house. I would be curious as to your location relative to the closest two towers......it could be an issue with one tower "handing you off" to the other, kind of like the click you hear if you are on the phone as you drive down the road. I can't imagine the hand off would be smooth on the data side.

 

[Bob Hartig]

Not the same thing. I've had dropped connections often enough, but I've usually been able to reconnect almost immediately, and when I haven't, it's because no signal was available. But when I've got five signal bars showing and yet Alltel refuses to recognize my modem, then a different problem exists either with Alltel or with my laptop.

BTW, if anyone is checking into Alltel, don't let this faze you. At $25 a month, great coverage, and no stinkin' two-year contract, this is still the best thing going IMHO. So there are a few bugs to hammer out--no biggie. That's true with any mobile provider.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

For what it is worth, this occurence has not been a computer or phone issue. Both times I never rebooted my pc or changed locations. Both times the phone actually dials and tries to authenticate. I agree with Bob, it's really not a big deal. The times it stayed like this weren't all that long.

 

[Joe Dorn]

Whoever posted this initailly should go get a commission from Alltel. I have been a limited use customer for years and have now added a second phone, purchased new phone, and added internet connectivity.

It is runnng or has run on my desktop and laptop with reasonable speed.

Now on to the GPS sharing software...

 

[Tony Cook]

Not in Austin!

After several weeks of extensively researching this topic, I finally decided to switch from Verizon to Alltel. I just called them to sign up and...

They do NOT offer service in Austin, TX! What the hell? Looks like I am back to my limited (and more expensive) options with Verizon...

Very frustrating...

TonyC

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Some of that stuff can seem pretty odd. I bought my Verizon plan by going to Omaha and buying the phone. I wanted to be completely sure I did not ever have any roaming charges no matter where I was, so I wound up getting the national single rate plan. It was like 150 minutes for $40, no nights and weekends either. I was fine since I wouldn't use it much. Well I later go to try and get on the america's choice plan and when I put in my zip code it says I'm not in the network and can't. I'm 20 miles from Omaha. I was like, what....since it showed me in the "red" coverage area on their maps. So I called and was told the same thing, that they didn't have my exact area covered yet. But, if I somehow had that plan, I'm sure I could call from my town and not pay roaming charges....or at least I think so. I kept checking and checking to see if Blair was added and it never was, yet it was always on their map as covered. I should have switched to Alltel soooooo long ago.

 

[David Drummond]

Some of that is because the zip code is either regulated in some way, or there is some sort of agreement with one carrier or another in place that "protects" that zip code from way back.

We had problems like that even with DirecTV back when I used to peddle that. There were two Zip Codes in the center of Lubbock that as a DTV dealer we could not sell to, only DTV itself could.

I ran into the same thing when I wanted a Cingular phone a couple years ago.

 

[Mark Sefried]

This is Sprints newest coverage map. I don't know if it includes cell data coverage via 1xrtt though. If it does, it even beats out Verizon on coverage. Does anyone know if all the areas shaded in green is 1xrtt data capable?

 

[David Drummond]

All the dark green Sprint areas are 1xrtt capable either on Sprint or roaming. Zoom in a few notches on their map though to get a more realistic picture.