New incar wi-fi setup

[Derek Weston]

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.

Good points.... depends on your situation, of course. I'm already set with voice... Picking up an Alltel plan for voice wouldn't be a good financial move for me.

So for me, Sprint seems like an obvious choice.

As others have mentioned -- and some might not like the ethics in this I suppose -- but you can probably get sprint to give you a contract at a lower than normal rate if you're smart about it.

 

[Scott Roberts]

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?

This has not been my experience. Cellphone data is packet data, so the connection does go idle when nothing is being requested...but as soon as a request is made it immediately shows data flow again. Only when I lose signal does the phone actually hang up, requiring a re-logon.

This is on the AllTel tethered data plan, tethered to an E185 with Bluetooh, though I doubt the device or tether method makes a difference, as this was also the behavior with 1X data.

It's possible the dialer software (especially if you're using the windows built-in stuff) has an idle timeout. I'm pretty sure I had to manually set mine to not hang up unless told to. Don't have the laptop handy to check (I'm in Wchita, it's in Tulsa )

 

[Chris Bowman]

Went to the Alltel and Verizon stores today to check into my options. I have Verizon for voice and the service they offer is 60 a month. I asked if that could be stopped at any time without a fee and the rep said it could. This is encouraging but is still expensive. It sounded like the Alltel deal but more expensive. The deal with Alltel is that you already have to have a voice plan which has already been explained in this thread. I was hoping to sign up for a pay per minute plan and add on the $25 plan. This apparently is not an option. The cheapest plan that allowed the $25 add on was $79.99. At least this is what I was told.

 

[Chris Bowman]

Went to the Alltel and Verizon stores today to check into my options. I have Verizon for voice and the service they offer is 60 a month. I asked if that could be stopped at any time without a fee and the rep said it could. This is encouraging but is still expensive. It sounded like the Alltel deal but more expensive. The deal with Alltel is that you already have to have a voice plan which has already been explained in this thread. I was hoping to sign up for a pay per minute plan and add on the $25 plan. This apparently is not an option. The cheapest plan that allowed the $25 add on was $79.99. At least this is what I was told.

For those with Verizon the details of the plan are $60/ month. It it is prorated and it can be started and stopped whenever without a fee. It sounds basically like the Alltel plan but twice as much/month. You would need to have a data capable phone and the software loaded on a laptop which acts as a dialer. I think this is the route I'm gonna have go because it seems the cheapest for my situation. Alltel requires a 2 year contract on the basic plan of 40/month. I added (hopefully) an image of the verizon national access (their data plan). It's pretty good across central and eastern kansas and a little sporadic across western kansas.

 

[Alex Sian]

I added (hopefully) an image of the verizon national access (their data plan).

"national access" is their slower speed network.

here is verizon's high speed broadband (in blue) overlaying the slower national access:
(you have to turn on 'broadband' button that red arrow points to, to see blue)

and for those interested in sprint... EVDO Rev-A is in orange, national access in green:

 

[Chris Bowman]

Thanks Alex. I new that but I figured I would post the National Access since that's about 90% of the state. I don't think Verizon or Sprint beat the Alltel deal but hey, I gotta work with what I got. I'm not made of money.

 

[Brett Adair]

A little help here......I'm trying to troubleshoot building an external antenna for my autonet unit but I don't have a real clue where to start. For example....I'm not sure what kind of connector is needed for the end of the coax. Think you guys could help me...

There is an image of the back of the box.....any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Augie Rall]

Can't really tell with the picture. If you take it a ham radio shop or even radio shack I'm sure they could help you

 

[Alex Sian]

I'm not sure what kind of connector is needed for the end of the coax.

much earlier in this thread was this post:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showpost.php?p=162938&postcount=200

Dave sounds pretty sure of himself that its a TNC connector, and it looks like one to me as well.

What do you use to judge signal strength the unit is receiving?

 

[Brett Adair]

There is a blue light on the box that will blink continuously if you have no signal. If the blue light on the box is constant, you have signal. I have only lost it in VERY few places. I want to see if this external high gain antenna build will help this issue.

 

[Alex Sian]

There is a blue light on the box that will blink continuously if you have no signal. If the blue light on the box is constant, you have signal. I have only lost it in VERY few places. I want to see if this external high gain antenna build will help this issue.

so your saying there is no web admin of any sort that gives you any kind of idea what signal it is receiving? just this blinking blue light?

 

[Gordon Spencer]

That is a TNC Female connecter . Dave was using our Rockies amplifier last year testing his prototype . He said he never lost connection with that combo . By the way all our antennas are TNC Male connecters . We also have a cable in stock to connect the unit direct to our amplifier . It is the same cable used for the Motorola M800 bag phones.

A little help here......I'm trying to troubleshoot building an external antenna for my autonet unit but I don't have a real clue where to start. For example....I'm not sure what kind of connector is needed for the end of the coax. Think you guys could help me...

There is an image of the back of the box.....any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Brett Adair]

so your saying there is no web admin of any sort that gives you any kind of idea what signal it is receiving? just this blinking blue light?

That's all I have been able to find thus far. I'm reading more through the guide now.

 

[Jarrod Cook]

Well, February has come....and is now gone. Still no word on this thing available to "all" of us. I think most chasers have/are giving up on this as a possible data solution, at least for this year.

 

[David Wolfson]

I've just gotten the DBSW 819 mobile wireless amp Gordon Spencer promoted in a Marketplace thread and looking forward to setting it up and testing it around town in the next few days, though it may be awhile before I can take it out of town for a service test. It's a satisfyingly solid unit and kit.

The kit comes with an inside paddle-type antenna which the mfr. recommends be mounted on the dash. The external antenna mag-mounts preferably on the roof. As Gordon says, the RF power is safely shielded away from the occupants, unlike sticking the RF right next to our brains, as one does with a hand-held cell phone.

For this year, I'm mounting a 25A/12v ham power supply, 60W dual-band, and fan inside a Shuttle PC lunch-box type chassis. The PTT mike is clipped and a SWR meter is Velcro'd onto the front. The DBSW 819 is Velcro'd to the top, and a carry-handle makes the unit portable. The power supply gets its AC from an XPower-type mobile inverter which has a 40Ah battery and can deliver up to 15A/120v on demand. A 5A/12v supply off the accessory socket should keep the mobile inverter topped off with power to the radio and wireless amp.

I'm also springing for a sine-wave 150W inverter to power a laptop, sat radio, and the Linksys wireless router containing the Verizon aircard (under the driver seat). FYI, I've found the standard modified square-wave inverter generates quite a bit of radio noise.

The point of all this is that, if it works, everything is rather easily removed and nothing is permanently attached to the vehicle or wired directly to the battery. The whole setup, including the computer mount, can be installed into a compact rental car in an hour or less. There should be ample stable power for the ham transmitter. FWIW.

Dave W.
KD7SMQ