Internet on the road

[Mike Mezeul II]

I'm in need of help for getting internet on the road. What does everyone use? I honestly have no knowledge about computers and all I have really been doing with mine is borrowing local wifi hotspots (starbucks, truck stops, etc.). I've heard a bit about WIFI cards, like from Cingular and such, but how exactly do those work and are they worth while? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[J Kinkaid]

Treo 750 teethered to my laptop I can't wait for every city to have 3G

 

[Brian Emfinger]

I'm in need of help for getting internet on the road. What does everyone use? I honestly have no knowledge about computers and all I have really been doing with mine is borrowing local wifi hotspots (starbucks, truck stops, etc.). I've heard a bit about WIFI cards, like from Cingular and such, but how exactly do those work and are they worth while? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I think a lot of us are using the Alltel tethering method. You get a Alltel phone (like the Razr V3c) and you connect it via usb to your computer. For 25$ a month (plus whatever phone plan and charges you get) you get unlimited data. Everytime I go out it seems to work better and better. I only lost connection 3 or 4 times this whole trip which is unbelievable...and when it did lose connection it reconnected immediately. Speeds are also really fast.. 230kbps is what I am usually getting. I think verizon might offer something similiar...

 

[Darin Brunin]

I use Sprint with a Novatel U720 aircard and have been very very satisfied so far with it this spring.

 

[Jody Radzik]

Sprint PCS via a tethered Samsung M610 is working fine for me.

 

[David Wolfson]

I'm looking forward to taking my Verizon air-card and Linksys mobile wi-fi router on the road. It works very well around the EVDO area here in Phoenix. 1XRTT (~80 kbps?) service is now available where digital cell covered a year or two ago, with high speed EVDO service rolling out to popular tourist sites and metropolitan areas rather fast.

This means, however, that big holes still exist in OK, the NE sandhills, etc., in the case of Verizon. My impression is that the other mobile broadband carriers have their own coverage holes. My crystal ball says that within the next year or two EVDO coverage will extend where 1XRTT is now, with 1XRTT being pretty much everywhere. I understand that Sprint/Alltel has the best EVDO coverage right now, but the others are catching up and negotiating mutual roaming.

The main thing is it promises always-on shared wi-fi without the hassle of tethering. It can also be your home broadband.

 

[Billy Griffin]

I've been a Sprint customer for over 5 years now and the service has worked great for me. I now have a broadband card, S720, and it does very well.

However... I'm wondering what folks are doing for that big "black hole" over northwest Oklahoma? I assume Pioneer Cellular has their monopoly on that area, and they're still likely running light-years behind the rest of the world. Urgh - every time I think of Pioneer, I break out in a sweat! I'd almost bet there are some people up there still using bag phones!

I notice Sprint and Alltel have great coverage areas, even over the most wide open country in Kansas and the TX panhandle.

 

[Mike Mezeul II]

Does anyone use a cingular card? if so, what are your opinions?

 

[Chris Carlson]

I was going to make a new thread about my question but I'll just add it here. Who is good provider for southern Minnesota? I currently have Verizon as a voice provider but I'm looking for good data coverage. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[David Schuttler]

I've been a Sprint customer for over 5 years now and the service has worked great for me. I now have a broadband card, S720, and it does very well.

However... I'm wondering what folks are doing for that big "black hole" over northwest Oklahoma? I assume Pioneer Cellular has their monopoly on that area, and they're still likely running light-years behind the rest of the world. Urgh - every time I think of Pioneer, I break out in a sweat! I'd almost bet there are some people up there still using bag phones!

I notice Sprint and Alltel have great coverage areas, even over the most wide open country in Kansas and the TX panhandle.

It was odd I suppose yesterday as I had coverage West of Woodward and very little to none in the Panhandles. I did see bars for the Rx signal between Guymon and Dalhart but my login was refused as a bad password. The Sprint card would allow me to get the roaming though, go figure Time to get an antenna for sure

 

[Chris Vagasky]

Does anyone use a cingular card? if so, what are your opinions?

I use a Cingular card. I get good coverage across Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. I've only had problems with it in the black hole of NW Oklahoma.

The speed is generally 100-200kbps, if you're in one of their high speed areas, you can get speeds faster than that.

 

[Willoughby Owen]

Hi
Would anyone know why the Alltel coverage in NW Oklahoma is so poor; the whole region is white! But I see Alltel is not alone by the above post.

Will finally be nice to enter a country with no data caps though!

 

[Rob Herman]

If you have the $25 Alltel plan, how do they charge for minutes of usage? Thanks

 

[sdienst]

I had a cingular but switched to Verizon mostly for financial reasons. Seem s to work great except in western Oklahoma and TX panhandle. One thing I would recommend is an external antenna for whichever one you get. I got mine from Wilson cellular and it improves coverage a great deal.

 

[Brian Emfinger]

If you have the $25 Alltel plan, how do they charge for minutes of usage? Thanks

no minutes are charged...the 25 plan is unlimited. we use the phone at home too since we cant get high speed any other way so cheapily and our bill consists of only the phone plan (40$), the $25 data plan, $20 for axcess web/axcess tv/my cast wx, and then taxes and other stuff puts the bill around 100$... i know alltel has lower phone plans and you dont have to have the other stuff as well.