Best internet to have?

[Dustin A Colvin]

I'm from indiana and this year i'm leading a group to go chasing in the plains for a few weeks. I'm looking to get a wireless internet card for my laptop but i'm not quite sure what provider gets the best service out there. According to the commercials in must be verizon right? Can anyone help me out?

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

I think the most popular services are AT&T and Verizon. but that is a guess. I recently got the Verizon air card for $130 plus ~$60 a month - plus a $35 hook up fee. It isn't cheap - but it has much better speed than tethering a cell phone...

Two cents...

 

[Brett Roberts]

Verizon and Sprint are the only real options for acceptable coverage in the Plains. AT&T is a joke out here.

If you're only needing mobile Internet for chase season, your best bet is to decide on a service provider and data card, then purchase it on eBay for about 20% of what the provider themselves would charge you. This will also keep you out of the mandatory two-year contract most telecoms will hit you with if you purchase the device directly from them.

If you decide on Verizon, you should have no problem activating your own card on a monthly-basis without contract for $60/mo (plus an activation fee, of course). If you want Sprint, I'd recommend Millenicom, who resells Sprint service on a contract-free, month-to-month basis. They even offer a $70/mo. plan without a data cap, which I've been quite happy using this season.

But regardless, if you're budget-conscious at all, go the eBay route for the card itself. I actually broke my data card (Novatel U727) a few weeks ago and needed a replacement quickly, so I logged onto eBay and seriously snagged one that night for $3.99 shipped. It arrived a few days later and has been working like a charm since.

 

[Jason Foster]

I think the only reason folks even have AT&T in the plains is the iPhone & it does tend to have slightly better upload speed when getting video up. iPhone is obviously different than a data card, but that is the only justifications I've heard for using them versus Verizon, Sprint, or Alltel.

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

Definitely go verizon or sprint (millenicom) and purchase a nice cheap card off of Ebay, but do beware. I recently also broke my Novatel USB727 (verizon) and purchased a new one that stated it had a clear ESN only to find out that it is still ACTIVE on someone elses account. So be sure and message the seller and verify they owned the card and have cleared the ESN from their account.

Oh and don't set your laptop down on the aircard

 

[Jason Foster]

Oh and don't set your laptop down on the aircard

USB extension cord FTW