multiple aircards

[cedwards]

Is it possible to use multiple aircards at once to increase performance and/or coverage?
It would be nice to have two aircards from different providers and be able to use them both at the same time.
Has anybody done this, or is it even possible?

 

[J Kinkaid]

This is the product that you will need and they run around $215 and it will work great with more than 1 card

http://www.cradlepoint.com/products/mbr1000-failsafe-broadband-n-router

 

[David Wolfson]

As J Kincaid said, but I'd add that the CradlePoint CTR500 also has the same multiple cell modem/fallover features and firmware
http://www.cradlepoint.com/products/ctr500-mobile-broadband-router

The CTR 500 is more compact for mobile use and allows for connecting an external wi-fi antenna; however it's wireless-G rather than wireless-N and only has a single wired ethernet connection. IMHO neither of those deficiencies should outweigh the advantages for your tour hotspot application.

A source with excellent service, prices, and on-line information from my own experience, Charles, is
http://3gstore.com/

 

[Jerry Prsha]

I've done this with he Macintosh OS so assume it can be done in Windows and Linux somehow. The Mac just monitors both and automatically chooses which one is working. It's done without any intervention...

 

[Mark Blue]

I think Charles is talking about using two air cards simultaneously. All previous suggestions refer to fail-over solutions, which are great as Cradlepoint (and others) have that technology nailed down pat, and from what I've read it works seamlessly. I am not aware of any available solution to use two air cards at the same time though.

I have the Cradlepoint CTR-500 and will be using it this chase season, but I cannot afford to carry two cellular subscriptions, unless one of them was just for a one month period of time. With my Comcast cable at home and Sprint for mobile/cellular use, I'm shelling out enough as it is for internet access in this tough economy!

If I remember correctly, Charles mentioned that he used an MBR-1000 last year in one of his posts a couple of weeks back. It sounds like you are trying to create the ultimate rolling mobile hotspot for storm chasing if you ask me. I'm behind you all of the way and hope it ends up meeting your expectations this year.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

I think Charles is talking about using two air cards simultaneously.

Oooooooooohhh... There's a "bind" command for two interfaces that can double throughput however, I don't think this can be done via wireless cards. Just not sure. You might want to contact the tech department for your vendor of choice. I'd bet that someone higher on the "smart scale" would love something less mundane to do in their job...

 

[David Wolfson]

If Charles has the MBR1000 (or the CTR500) already, it's possible he hasn't upgraded the firmware to at least 1.3.1, which was released last August. This version adds load-balancing, as described here: http://www.cradlepoint.com/files/uploads/ReleaseNotesMBR1_3_1.pdf

Load Balancing across modems. If two or three modems are attached, the router will use multiple connections to transfer data. If only one data connection is being used by an application (for example, a network performance test or a single video download), then only one modem will be used. But if multiple connections are being accessed (for example, a Bittorrent with multiple seeds, different simultaneous video downloads, or a simultaneous web update and email download), the traffic will be balanced among the modems.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Excellent, I'm glad to see all this info. I'm planning on buying a second aircard from the different provider for chase season to avoid going over Sprints 5 GB/300 MB roaming limit. Looks like some decent cards for $30-$40 on ebay, plus activiation and monthly fees for a few months should only come out to about $250. I'll have to look into the cradlepoint, either that or just switch cards when my Sprint nears it's limit.

 

[Mark Blue]

I guess I haven't discovered all of the available options of my router yet by reading the new enhancements of each firmware release. That's the other advantage to Cradlepoint: their frequent release of new firmware. Load balancing sounds awesome and useful for certain applications. They do mention in that firmware release to use modems with approximately the same performance for the best results, otherwise performance is limited by the slowest modem in use.

I could swear I've read about companies (in past posts) who offer short term rentals of air cards with no long term contract commitments. I'm going to have to fire up the search function here and try to track that down. It totally pays to discuss these matters here as there is always something new to learn.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I just checked out a few places, and it looks like roughly $120 for two weeks...no thanks. I can buy an aircard, activate it, and turn it on for a month for that price - then sell the aircard again when I'm done and recover some money.

 

[cedwards]

There is a lot of good information here.

I currently have the CRT350.
I may consider the MBR1000 to use two aircards (Sprint and Alltel)

I would like to be able to use both simultaneously thus increasing the bandwidth.

Last year I used my Alltel card with an amp and external antenna and had coverage in most areas. Some areas the connection was much slower than others.

I was looking at renting an additional aircard from http://www.rovair.com/ for $5.95/day if it may increase my coverage and/or speed.

 

[Scott Bennett]

Back in the days of dialup there was a way to bond 2 dialup modems to a ISP, however the ISP also had to support it.

I don't think you will find a soltution that will let you use the combined bandwidth of the 2 cards, however there are a bunch that will "Share" for example send your web ports out one card, and your rtmp streaming out another.

Another solution might be adding a phone to your current plan, like a V3m or other phone that supports EVDO as a modem, most of these caps do not apply to phones such as Sprints.

I was able to plug both my 8330 Curve and a Mogul, both which do not have phone as a modem on the account to the KR2 from Kyocera and it worked like a charm.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I just re-ordered a new Millenicom card this morning. Their cards use both Sprint and Alltel towers, so you're twice as covered. And they are still NO CONTRACT (which is the most beautiful thing about them). I used it last year and it worked great. $60/month for connectivity. Then after the season is over, just mail back the card and terminate your service.

 

[Gordon Spencer]

That is the best solution , no contact with mellinicam so you can turn off the second card when not using .

I just re-ordered a new Millenicom card this morning. Their cards use both Sprint and Alltel towers, so you're twice as covered. And they are still NO CONTRACT (which is the most beautiful thing about them). I used it last year and it worked great. $60/month for connectivity. Then after the season is over, just mail back the card and terminate your service.