New incar wi-fi setup

[Dustin Wilcox]

You don't need to pay for any plan to be able to teether from phone to computer, only thing the plan does for you is make it so it doesn't use your minutes. I have 1000 some odd minutes each Month I don't use thanks to Free nights and weekends and free mobile to mobile, so really I only need the $25 a month plan during the peak months.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I tried that last night and it connected only for a few seconds, then disconnected. This morning I talked to Tech support and they told me that the one day pass was only for browsing with the phone, to tether, I needed the $25/month tethering plan. He signed me up for it and I stayed connected.

If anybody was able to tether using the day pass, good for them. I just couldn't figure it out.

He wasn't using the daily pass either. He was using the $25/month plan and turning it off after the chase(and the price gets prorated).

All you have to do on the $25 a month (phone as modemn) is call them when you want to turn it on, restart your phone and your ready to use it. After the chase is over, to turn it off I just go online and turn it off in my account. They just prorate the charge so for a 24 hour period (I forget to turn it off till the next day) it normally ends up around $1.50.

 

[cedwards]

OK. That makes sense. I will opt to keep mine on. I use it enough to justify this. I am still paying $35 less per month now that I have switched from my slow Verizon aircard.

 

[Kevin Rider]

K. I e-mailed autonet and asked them a few questions and this is what they responded with. The Autonet Mobile router will need to be hard wired into your car. The version with the AC adaptor was specifically made for Avis Rental cars only. They also said that they will be announcing pricing and availability next month. I don't know about some of you but i was a little dissapointed that you have to get it hard wired into your car. Does anyone know how much that would cost to have that done? My interest level has gone down a little on the product with this information but i still think it would be a good investment especially for storm chasing.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

K. I e-mailed autonet and asked them a few questions and this is what they responded with. The Autonet Mobile router will need to be hard wired into your car. The version with the AC adaptor was specifically made for Avis Rental cars only. They also said that they will be announcing pricing and availability next month. I don't know about some of you but i was a little dissapointed that you have to get it hard wired into your car. Does anyone know how much that would cost to have that done? My interest level has gone down a little on the product with this information but i still think it would be a good investment especially for storm chasing.

This doesn't make sense. Maybe I am misunderstanding your post. I'm sure it comes with a cigarette lighter adapter or something. I thought they had a cigarette lighter and an AC adapter with them. This quote, which I posted somewhere much earlier in this thread, is from their original press release: "Simply plug the unit into a cigarette lighter or standard
wall plug and go." Unless they changed something.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Ok, so other than Alltel's supposed $25/mo price for voice customers with tethering option for data it appears otherwise for aircards Alltel, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint all charge $59.99/mo for flat rate data. Is this correct? If so, how many (if any) of these allow you to turn off the data plans on months you aren't chasing?

 

[Alex Sian]

how many (if any) of these allow you to turn off the data plans on months you aren't chasing?

i know that sprint and verizon allow up to six months per year, but each has different restrictions and processes.

 

[Bill Hark]

The version with the AC adaptor was specifically made for Avis Rental cars only. They also said that they will be announcing pricing and availability next month. I don't know about some of you but i was a little dissapointed that you have to get it hard wired into your car.

I was looking forward to using it with a cigarette lighter. Well, it is very easy to buy battery clamps or the male portion of a cigarette lighter with wires that can be attached to a piece of equipment.

Bill Hark

 

[cedwards]

I had the Verizon aircard and paid $59/month, but that was with a 2 year contract. If I remember correctly, when I signed up, it was $79/month without a contract $69/month with a 1 year contract and $59/month with 2 year contract. So I am assuming that you could get away with $79/month if you wanted it only for those months you are chasing.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Ok, so other than Alltel's supposed $25/mo price for voice customers with tethering option for data....

Supposed? Are we all just a bunch of liars, lol.

Ryan "supposedly" uses it, Wesley "supposedly" uses it, I'm "supposedly" using it right now, Dick "supposedly" uses it....on and on, lol. Hell Charles "supposedly" just started using it.

 

[Dick McGowan]

Here is what it says on the bill, Bill. I have a voice plan as well....I actually have a "Louisburg, KS" number, because they don't offer Alltel in Olathe.

 

[Derek Weston]

i know that sprint and verizon allow up to six months per year, but each has different restrictions and processes.

Anybody else confirm this with sprint? I'd be overjoyed if I could turn off sprint data for half a year with little if any penalty... however, considering all I've read, I'm surprised I haven't come across this policy.

Seems I've found an answer:

(quote from a user quoting Sprint -- http://www.evdoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5277&highlight=temperary+temporary)

Sprint does have a plan that allows you to suspend service with minimal cost. The Seasonal Standby plan works as follows.

- You must have at least three months of standard service in order to be placed on Seasonal Standby.

- You may remain on the plan for a maximum of 6 months or 180 days.

- The monthly charge is $5.95 per month.

- While in temporary suspend status, no voice minutes, Vision and data services are available.

- Seasonal Standby rate plan does not count toward the fulfillment of the 1- or 2-year Subscriber Agreement.

- An Early Termination Fee (ETF) will be charged if you have any remaining months on your Subscriber Agreement and you disconnect service during the suspension.

- Seasonal Standby plan automatically expires after 6 months. If you want to suspend service for less than 6 months, you need to call Care within the 6 month period and request to remove the suspension.

This is rather encouraging stuff.... Figuring I'd only really need the data from March-August, I could save a bundle. Basically: (6*60) + 30 would equate to a savings of (6*60) - 30 off the original. (390 instead of 720) That's certainly a penny or two.

Sprint is going to be hard to beat now, looks like I'm going that direction. You can pickup your card for as low as 50 with rebates, compared to the 500 dollar investment with Autonet. And it seems Sprint's network capabilities are every bit as good. (and you can configure your service to act similarly with sprint in automatically searching out best connections)

 

[Bill Tabor]

Supposed? Are we all just a bunch of liars, lol.

Ryan "supposedly" uses it, Wesley "supposedly" uses it, I'm "supposedly" using it right now, Dick "supposedly" uses it....on and on, lol. Hell Charles "supposedly" just started using it.

LOL! No I am just referring to the fact that you guys already have it, and I don't know if they still offer it as an option for new customers.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Sprint is going to be hard to beat now, looks like I'm going that direction.

Yeah, Sprint is good, but it's really hard to beat Alltel for $25 that you can turn off any time. Sure it is a tethered option, but for the price I can likely live with that. Sounds like Sprint $60 to $80 / month depending on service contract and if you purchase it directly or not. You can 'suspend' it for 6 months but when you do you don't get to use your plan for voice either. Alternatively Alltel is only $25/month and sounds like you can turn off anytime or even have a daily option, but I don't quite understand how that works yet. Plus I am concerned about this Alltel disconnect feature if the connection sits idle too long forcing you to constantly use Ping. What's the word on this Mike H, etc? Do you have this problem?

I want good data, but I want to go 'on the cheap'. Nowadays everything is so darned expensive - it's easy to just throw your cash away. I'd rather save it for other stuff than giving it to the cell phone company if possible.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Plus I am concerned about this Alltel disconnect feature if the connection sits idle too long forcing you to constantly use Ping. What's the word on this Mike H, etc? Do you have this problem?

I've had some chases where it did not disconnect one time in 10 hours. It keeps track of the minutes you are on there, so you can look and see how long it has been. Seems like several times I've see 400+ minutes on the thing. Like any ISP, they can have their moments of not working wonderfully. So far those have not been a big issue. If it disconnets just push the connect button and you are right back on in a few seconds. I did have those two this year(at least twice) where it didn't drop for over 10 hours. One I connected west of Des Moines, drove to Des Moines, then north into MN, then east almost to WI...then back home. Finally an hour from being home I just shut it off. I did the same thing another chase from home to sw NE and back. Often if there is some connecting issue, it is resolved by turning your phone off and back on, or updating your cell towers on the phone.

Oh yeah and this is with the razr without any sort of antenna booster setup. Just a plain ol Razr.