Broadband Cards

[bradjones]

I know that somewhere on this board it talks about the mobile Internet debate of who is the best and so on. I'm just to lazy to search it but I do wonder if someone could tell me a good broadband air card to get and what carrier provides the best coverage(not perfect) but decent for a reasonable price?I only chase in Oklahoma and AT&T is my carrier. I have been chasing for the last 2yrs with my IPad and it has performed very well with Radarscope but there has been times where I lose coverage in the rural areas. Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[STexan]

The general consensus is a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot device is the preferred technology. (Millinecom) But if you're serious about chasing, I'd keep your ATT phone that you can share data off of as a backup. I've found that there are areas that a Verizon data device will simply not provide enough solid data stream to support simple radar apps, and I switch over to ATT and everything works fine. But on balance, Verizon seems to offer the "most" coverage area in the more sparse areas.

I'm not a fan of the "USB card" type data devices. They can too easily get broke off as you're trying to reposition your laptop. If you're going to use one of these, use with a short extension cable.

 

[Brett Roberts]

The general consensus is a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot device is the preferred technology. (Millinecom) But if you're serious about chasing, I'd keep your ATT phone that you can share data off of as a backup. I've found that there are areas that a Verizon data device will simply not provide enough solid data stream to support simple radar apps, and I switch over to ATT and everything works fine. But on balance, Verizon seems to offer the "most" coverage area in the more sparse areas.

I'm not a fan of the "USB card" type data devices. They can too easily get broke off as you're trying to reposition your laptop. If you're going to use one of these, use with a short extension cable.

It sounds like we have very similar setups. I have AT&T service for my smartphone, but activate a Verizon USB modem for three months in the spring. My findings this year have been similar: Verizon has better coverage overall, but there are spots -- mainly in OK and TX -- where it flips the other way. I actually think that having some form of data through those two providers is the best possible setup for maximized coverage.

Brad, since you already have AT&T data on your phone, I'd certainly go with Verizon for your second source. The most hassle-free method is probably the MiFi hotspot plan through Millenicom. However, there is a slightly cheaper route that I've gone. I purchased a very cheap USB modem (~$20) and used Cradlepoint CTR-35 (~$30) on eBay, and combined, they basically function in the same way as a MiFi unit. The difference is that you can activate the modems directly through Verizon, without contract, for $50/mo -- assuming you're okay with a 4 GB data cap. You really can't go wrong either way, though.

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

Just a heads up on mobile hotspots and millenicom. The plan through millenicom is $70/mo plus a $50 activation fee (everytime you activate). You can, instead, opt for a plan directly through verizon by purchasing a mifi on ebay (~$40-$60) and activating it on a month to month basis without a contract. The activation fee is $36 and it runs $52/mo after taxes. You can then suspend your service in 3 month intervals and won't be charged a reactivation fee. Technically you are only allowed to suspend service so many times but you can also pay $15 per 3 month period thereafter if you need to to suspend. In the end it comes out significantly cheaper than the millenicom hotspot plan but you are limited to 5gb of data as opposed to 20 through millenicom. But even with heavy chasing (and no streaming mind you) I only used roughly 2 gigs last month total. If you aren't looking for a hotspot and just want a datacard, millenicom is hard to beat because of the increased data cap. And fwiw I have still never been charged to suspend my verizon service (over roughly 3 years).

 

[bradjones]

Thanks everyone for the response. Yeah I'm using a iPad and have data from At&t on it as my phone is not a smartphone it is a dumb phone.

 

[Windshear Kear]

I'm just now learning about this mobile internet technology, other than on a smartphone. I assume I'll need an external antenna if I choose to go in the USB aircard direction? I see the mobile hotspots either come with an antenna, or have an internal one. Also, I'm seriously considering streaming next year. Just wondering from those who have streamed...about how many hours of streaming before 5G's of data is used up? Thanks

 

[David Wolfson]

I haven't personally streamed video on the road out from my broadband card, but let me try to contribute anyhow. Given the situation of just getting a fish or learning how to fish (biblical metaphor, here) I find the second worthwhile. On and off the road I do listen to streaming radio while website windows, e.g. SPC mesoanalysis and WeatherTAP, are auto-updating and stuff. The reason I do this is both for the content of the stream, but also to monitor that the connection is up. It's not fun to look at a radar image of a storm you think is current, and discover your connection dropped and it's actually 20 minutes old. Anyway, that sort of activity for four hours per day burns on the order of 5Gb per month, or doing the arithmetic, on the order of 10kb per second. I have a legacy unlimited 3G Verizon contract so don't worry about blowing past 5Gb, which I do some months.

Well, back to your question. How much data allocation you use depends on the data rate of the stream and other usage, and how long you do it. This can be estimated by benchmarking yourself -- setting up the configuration you'd be using including a window where you're receiving a video stream of the sort you're looking to broadcast. There are many widgets and apps that will keep track of how much data is passing over the line; and you can do this with a regular internet connection. It's a good idea to practice this anyway IMHO so you don't have to futz with these things on the road as much.

So the answer depends very much on how you use the connection, but it's very possible to blow past the 5Gb line in an active week or two on the road. And that's with 3G that limits the potential damage. As 4G gets more widely deployed, the capability exists to burn your data allocation at an astounding rate AFAIK. A few years ago my wife was on a trip with the aircard and streamed a bunch of Netflix movies. That month the usage was over 20Gb(!).

If you can, do get an aircard with an external antenna port and the mag-mount roof antenna to fit. That gives you a 3-5dB gain at modest cost plus the flexibility to locate the broadband device where it's protected from heat and mechanical damage. Hope this helps!

 

[David Biggar]

To echo what David said, before I bought a plan, I installed a program on my laptop to monitor data usage (in/out). I opened all the programs I normally do and left my laptop to the side for an hour (occasionally opening up various websites like SPC and a few local offices). Off of that I figured out my usage numbers.

I did a similar test with streaming settings when I was setting up my camera. I ended up burning ~1.5GB for 3 days, but that was with everything (doppler, stream, a "livewire" chat system, twitter, etc) plus the occasional stopping to feed back video to my station. This was also streaming from when I hit the road until when I got back to my hotel. Normally I don't fire up my data connection until I'm in/near my target area except to check on a few sites (which I just use WiFi hotspots for anyways).

I also second the recommendation for an external antenna. I am using an oooooooold UM150 that I bought for $10 on ebay...look for unlocked devices so you can avoid contracts and only get an account for the season. I think I need an upgrade soon since the Verizon guy told me he thinks they are dropping the UM150 soon.