New incar wi-fi setup

[Gordon Spencer]

I really feel these guys if and when they finally hit the market are going to be behind everyone. Alltel now has a roaming agreement for EVDO with Sprint and are putting one in place with Verizon . The adavantage of this device is being passed by others . Like I said before put your card in an EVDO router and you have the same thing . We have never been told what agreements this company has with the carriers. I suspect the unit will be activated on one of those carriers and take advantage of the roaming agreements I spoke of. Then it really becomes a major cost issue. You can get a card for little or nothing from a carrier with a new account and the Nexaira router is $149. 00 . No set up fees period. Till these people get into specifics and start answering people's questions about thier service agreements , contract length , coverage areas, technology etc. it is not even worth the bandwidth we are using up.

 

[John Erwin]

but I see a $400 setup fee. ouch. You can get data cards for free if you look for one of their deals.

Setup fee? It looks like the $400 is the cost to buy the device itself, then you pay $49.00 a month for unlimited data. Sure you can get a free card from a cell company (with a long contract no doubt), you still need to buy the capable wireless router to get the functionality of this device. Might still work out cheaper... but the extra cost of the autonet solution might be worth it to some if you don't get contracts, roaming fees and good service with it.

While I agree it would still be prudent to see a side-by-side "test drive" between this device and a similar setup with say a sprint card in a wireless router, this device still seems like an attractive solution. The point is still valid though regarding updates to technology; it would be nice if this unit could be upgradeable to account for newer network technologies for a reasonable amount of time.

Gordon keeps mentioning the cost of roaming; from all the literature on the autonet site it appears that you do not have a contract with any particular cell company. Go ahead and use the device.. roam at will... autonet handles all the roaming agreements. That in the end might be the strongest point of this device.. no dealing with greedy cell-phone providers who want to charge you for any little thing they can.

Waste of bandwidth? I think if a subject can generate 14 pages of commentary then there must be a need that isn't being adequetly met by other means.

 

[David Drummond]

Gordon keeps mentioning the cost of roaming; from all the literature on the autonet site it appears that you do not have a contract with any particular cell company. Go ahead and use the device.. roam at will... autonet handles all the roaming agreements. That in the end might be the strongest point of this device.. no dealing with greedy cell-phone providers who want to charge you for any little thing they can.

Just for the record, Sprint is not charging roaming fees on data cards now.

 

[Gordon Spencer]

Where did I mention the cost of roaming ? The only concern would be Canada. And till the product is on the market and they give us more details on the product , service agreements , contract length , technology, networks being used, etc. It has become a waste of valuable Bandwidth . They need to put such info on the site or at least answer the odd inquiry. The lack of response to anyone makes me wonder if they have run into financing problems. Many great products never realize thier potential due to falling short on financing.

Setup fee? It looks like the $400 is the cost to buy the device itself, then you pay $49.00 a month for unlimited data. Sure you can get a free card from a cell company (with a long contract no doubt), you still need to buy the capable wireless router to get the functionality of this device. Might still work out cheaper... but the extra cost of the autonet solution might be worth it to some if you don't get contracts, roaming fees and good service with it.

While I agree it would still be prudent to see a side-by-side "test drive" between this device and a similar setup with say a sprint card in a wireless router, this device still seems like an attractive solution. The point is still valid though regarding updates to technology; it would be nice if this unit could be upgradeable to account for newer network technologies for a reasonable amount of time.

Gordon keeps mentioning the cost of roaming; from all the literature on the autonet site it appears that you do not have a contract with any particular cell company. Go ahead and use the device.. roam at will... autonet handles all the roaming agreements. That in the end might be the strongest point of this device.. no dealing with greedy cell-phone providers who want to charge you for any little thing they can.

Waste of bandwidth? I think if a subject can generate 14 pages of commentary then there must be a need that isn't being adequetly met by other means.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I agree. So far their customer service has been horrible, pretty much their customer service is non-existent. I have yet to hear of anyone who actually got any kind of response from anyone at this company. I know I've sent them a few emails with questions and I never hear a word from them.

You would think that a company that is working to release a new product would want to try everything they can to draw in customers, which would include interaction with people inquiring about this product. As time goes on, my mind is becoming more and more set on just getting the data card from Sprint, at least I know they're a reliable company who will answer my questions.

Where did I mention the cost of roaming . The only concern would be Canada. And till the product is on the market and they give us more details on the product , servivce agreement , contact length , technology etc. It has become a waste of valuable Bandwidth . They need to put such info on the site or at least answer the odd inquiry. The lack of response to anyone makes me wonder if they have run into financing problems. Many great products never realize thier potential due to falling short on financing.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

So what would be the most reliable route to get internet access while chasing? I have to find something and I am clueless on which way to go. I was going to try one of these new wireless routers for the car, but if they aren't backing up their products well I obviously don't want to do that. Which company offers the best coverage in the plains? What advantages are there to using a card vs. tethering from a phone? And are there any companies that offer monthly plans so you can turn it off after chase season?

 

[Derek Weston]

So what would be the most reliable route to get internet access while chasing? I have to find something and I am clueless on which way to go. I was going to try one of these new wireless routers for the car, but if they aren't backing up their products well I obviously don't want to do that. Which company offers the best coverage in the plains? What advantages are there to using a card vs. tethering from a phone? And are there any companies that offer monthly plans so you can turn it off after chase season?

There is quite a bit of discussion on such topics, even within this topic itself. I suggest reading through any number of threads on the issue here on ST.

Quick answers, from what I've gathered: Sprint's EVDO mobile broadband seems to probably be the best product out there when looking at coverage and speeds. 60 a month or so with a contract, I believe. There are some cheaper options that allow you to turn coverage on and off. (alltel I believe, is one)

 

[Andrew Revering]

I believe if you want a card, all companies are running at $59.95/$59.99 a month. Usually requiring a 1 or 2 year contract.

Tethering to a phone with either a cable or bluetooth will be cheaper but will give you the disadvantage of not being able to use your phone while on the internet. Usually the unlimited plan when tethering to a phone will be about $20 cheaper per month.

I've been using wireless data since the beginning of the technology back when AT&T was the only provider on analog data. Its my opinion that Sprint is the best choice. They have speedy EVDO Revision A data, which may be important for anyone who uploads video in the field. Upload speeds on EVDO Rev A can be on the order of 2x the upload speed you get with a cable modem. Downloads are comparable to DSL.

Sprint also has great partner agreements. This is where your choice in a provider is crucial. Research their partner agreements. For storm chasers who need to traverse the whole mid section of the nation, you want someone who can provide seamless data even off their own network. Everyone provides unlimited data roaming without additional fee, so don't be afraid to go with someone who has a lot of roaming partners.

Sprint's biggest allies in this are AllTel and Verizon. If you like AllTel or Verizon, they are also great choices as I believe all 3 companies have backwards compatible roaming agreements. So if you get a plan with any of these providers, you'll get to roam on all 3 networks. So look at the coverage maps. Generally they will include any roaming areas as a part of their native network. Sprint does this. So if you look at the Sprint coverage map, it will show a lot of coverage. Much of it is roaming on other networks, such as Verizon and AllTel, but that's ok because there are no additional fees, and you as a user won't even notice when you're switching to their towers. Works seamless and unnoticed.

Thats a big reason not to go with someone like Cingular/AT&T or T-Mobile. Although GSM has been the leading technology across the world, CDMA is the leading technology in the US, and therefore there are more companies using CDMA for a company to partner with. AT&T is basically by themselves with GSM, so they have to put up their own towers. Companies like Sprint just need to sign a contract and they light up several thousand more towers that you can use. So what it means in the end is much better coverage. If not now in your area, it probably will be that way in the future as this is the leading technology here.

Also, regarding speed of data, HPSA (abbreviation may be incorrect) is the technology for GSM and it is not as fast as the competing EVDO on the CDMA networks. So not only do you get better coverage, but faster data.

If you really want to get into the subject, visit evdoforums.com. You can make your mind explode with all the info you could want on the subject.

As a footnote, I'd add that my recommendations are for storm chasers traveling a lot of ground. Do not take this advice if you're just looking for coverage for your cell phone. I use Sprint for both my data and voice, but the advice for voice is the old standard.... check out the high resolution maps for where you LIVE and if they have good coverage and price in your neighborhood, then its a good choice.

A good company with lots of towers and speed nationwide is going to do nothing for your cell phone if they don't have a tower where your house or work is.

 

[Bill Hark]

My wife and I had a quick trip to Ft. Lauderdale last weekend thanks to some amazingly cheap rates on JetBlue. At the Avis counter, there was a plastic model of the Autonet and the cashier said it was now available. I didn't know beforehand thus I didn't bring my laptop. According to the website, it is now available in several US locations. Hopefully more before 2008 season. It is a bit expensive and I still may consider getting a card instead. Unlike many chasers, I do rent during my chase vacation.

http://redirect.avis.com/autonet/

Bill Hark

 

[Brett Adair]

Since everyone is interested in this product....I have been contacted by Autonet Mobile about a sponsorship deal. From the best I can gather, the unit will not be made available to the general public for a little while. I'm hoping to work out a deal to get our units before the spring chase season arrives. I can't really disclose any other information about the deal, but anything that I find out regarding a potential release date....I will let you guys know.

 

[Jay Cazel]

Since everyone is interested in this product....I have been contacted by Autonet Mobile about a sponsorship deal. From the best I can gather, the unit will not be made available to the general public for a little while. I'm hoping to work out a deal to get our units before the spring chase season arrives. I can't really disclose any other information about the deal, but anything that I find out regarding a potential release date....I will let you guys know.

I don't know about these guys Brett...But in my line of work we can get the router now for use in our Interent jukeboxes..I talked with the guy from Rowe Int, the maker of the jukebox and both Sprint and Verzion have the deal set up to use it. I just talked with him Friday but he is sending me more info about this product.

 

[HAltschule]

Do most people on this forum use the EVDO Card (for $60 a month) or do you use your cell phone as a modem and connect it to your laptop. For me, using my cell phone is not an issue since I have unlimited minutes.

I would like to use my cell phone as a modem but I don't know how to set it up on the phone and with the laptop. Anyone willing to share their knowledge with me as to how I can set this up? I have Verizon Wireless.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jay Cazel]

Do most people on this forum use the EVDO Card (for $60 a month) or do you use your cell phone as a modem and connect it to your laptop. For me, using my cell phone is not an issue since I have unlimited minutes.

I would like to use my cell phone as a modem but I don't know how to set it up on the phone and with the laptop. Anyone willing to share their knowledge with me as to how I can set this up? I have Verizon Wireless.

Thanks in advance.

One thing you will need to hook it up to you laptop Howie is a data cable, or if your phone is bluetooth ready and you laptop has bluetooth on it that is another way to get it connected to you laptop. I use Sprint, (EVDO card and phone connected to laptop via data cable) but a guy who works for me has Verizon and I think it costs him $40 a month (I will ask him) for the phone as a modem serivce which give him umlimted data time. I think the day is over where you use you minutes for data...But I could be wrong.

 

[Andrew Revering]

I have the data card from Sprint as well. The EVDO Rev A cards are a lot faster than tethering/bluetoothing to your cell phone. However, they gave me the unlimited phone as a modem plan for $39.95 as well for my TomTom internet connection... which they told me has no contract, even though their web page says its a 2 year contract. I guess they are implementing that "take care of their long term customers" philosophy they recently published about.

I will likely cancel the phone as a modem plan and keep the data card though. I'm not seeing a good reason for phone as a modem just to connect my TomTom.

 

[HAltschule]

Thanks for the info guys. I'd be interested to see how many use the cell phone as a modem and the laptop.

I also wonder what the best deal is out there for aircards where you can go on a month by month basis....

So many questions.