The Cheapest Aircard/Internet Service is...

[HAltschule]

...I have no idea.

I know there are several other discussions ongoing about aircards, but I was hoping that some of you could list the best monthy service deals from various wirless companies.

My questions: What is the cheapest monthly rate for wireless service via aircard? Is there a long committment necessary? What else do you need besides the laptop and aircard to get up and running?

The most importnat question is finding out what the cheapest plans or monthly plans are. Verizon is $59.99 a month and that seems expensive. THANKS.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Howard,
From what I have learned, the most popular companies seem to charge almost the same amount per month. Approximately $60 month unlimited use. I guess what matters is who has the best coverage where you will use it most.
A lot of opinions are out there who's is best. Again, it is where you will use it. I am in the south and Sprint is not that good. ATT has better coverage here. In tornado alley, Sprint is probably better, but ATT is not bad with an antenna.
Others will surely give you their input. I am not sure what coverage is like in your area.
ATT will let you suspend your service up to 6 months at a time with no penalties and your 2 year contract resumes when you turn it back on. So, if I use it 5 - 7 months, I can suspend for a few months and then turn it back on. Seems like a good deal to me.
With the laptop and aircard, you have what you need, unless you will be in a poor reception area. In that case you may need an external antenna or amp/antenna combo.
I have not needed my antenna yet, but I am sure I will sooner or later. I just use an USB datacard and use a longer USB cable and set the datacard on my dash for better reception.
This works for me so far.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I got the Sprint aircard for 60 bucks a month and a 2 yr. contract. Around June 1st I will break the contract for a 200 dollar penalty. I will still save money breaking the contract instead of paying 60 a month for 2 yrs. when I will only be using it for about 8 month in the 2 yr. period.

 

[John Wetter]

$60 is the rate. There are cheaper ways to work the system but do yourself a favor and just get the normal setup.

 

[Steve Miller]

The best deal out there $-wise is probably T-mobile but their coverage is nowhere near the coverage of Sprint or AT&T. If you're needing a bargain service though, T-mobile will get the job done, just make sure anything you want to download or look at is done before you get off a major highway.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

The best deal out there $-wise is probably T-mobile but their coverage is nowhere near the coverage of Sprint or AT&T. If you're needing a bargain service though, T-mobile will get the job done, just make sure anything you want to download or look at is done before you get off a major highway.

You might want to really check their (true) coverage area. I used them about two years ago and even in the places they had coverage it would rarely work. That was two years ago but they still have very little coverage outside of interstate highway areas and a lot of tornado alley chase areas are a long ways from the interstates. And at that time what I did have was slow as hell even though when it worked it was unlimited.

 

[Steve Miller]

Yeah, they are no stellar carrier but the question was cheapest, not best coverage. For the price though, they will get you by in TX, OK, KS, NE, SD on the interstates. Been using them for several years for data until this one when I switched to Sprint. Much happier now!

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Yeah, they are no stellar carrier but the question was cheapest, not best coverage. For the price though, they will get you by in TX, OK, KS, NE, SD on the interstates.

Lol, True but I was kinda figuring he would want to balance it out with price vs coverage and since you may never have service again after you leave your interstate motel in the morning and get started on a chase day it would kind of defeat the purpose.

T-mobile worked ok for me when I was over the road but I was also 90% interstate and even then it seemed there were dozens of towers along the line that would show service on the air card but was actually unavailable to use for internet access. I think I got better service from random motels than t-mobile in some areas, lol

 

[Ben Prusia]

I used T-Mobile from 2004 through 2007 and their coverage is the speed of a 56K modem, slightly faster. I still use T-Mobile for my voice cell phone (11 months left on contract). I had the Dash which I tethered to my laptop and had the phone as internet option which was only $19.99 a month and it was easy to turn on and off the internet to use only on chase days ($0.65 a day). I am planning to use it as backup for my Sprint usb modem this year.

Coverage is very spotty and not the best. A lot of the roaming coverage that they show on their coverage maps are not usable for data services. Overall I am happy to have made the switch to Sprint.

 

[Brian Kluck]

$60 is the rate. There are cheaper ways to work the system but do yourself a favor and just get the normal setup.

That is what mine is through AT&T. It's the unlimited data plan, I'm very hapy with it also.

 

[J Kinkaid]

buy a card on ebay and then call Alltell or ATT you will be contract free and be rock n and rolling in no time That's how you work the system cause contracts are the devil

 

[HAltschule]

Thanks for the great input so far. It seems as though Alltel, Sprint and AT&T (and maybe VZ) are the way to go. I will certainly contact AT&T/Alltel to find out about their no contracts deal. I will have to consider whether TMobile is worth it based on the semi-dismal reccommendations out there. Thanks again!!

 

[brian morgan]

I use T-mobile it runs $29.95/month unlimited data in addition to my regular cell phone bill. I use the Sony gc 83 edge card w/ wilson external antenna. It works great in TX and Ok. The only dislike that I have is I have to switch out the sim card from phone to aircard unless I buy another sim card with extra phone line added to my current monthly service. In other words when out on the road I can only use either the phone or the aircard unless I switch out the sim card... Oh and I like the fact that I can start and stop the service anytime I want without any problems. (The data service is pro-rated) If I only use it a couple of days that is only what I get charged for.

 

[Gene Moore]

I got the Sprint aircard for 60 bucks a month and a 2 yr. contract. Around June 1st I will break the contract for a 200 dollar penalty. I will still save money breaking the contract instead of paying 60 a month for 2 yrs. when I will only be using it for about 8 month in the 2 yr. period.

OK Jason you're using Sprint, so set me straight here. I thought Alltel was a combination of both Sprint and their own towers ....so wouldn't that be much better? If the wireless coverage maps mean anything, it appears Alltel has much more coverage. I currently use AT&T, good coverage but slower speed. I'm always looking and trying to keep up with the changes since my contract expired last spring.

 

[Chris Bowman]

The deal with Verizon is if you have a phone that you can tether to your laptop you can sign up for an unlimited data plan for $60 month. There is no contract so you can cancel at anytime. It's also prorated. My billing cycle starts the 17th so I'll be adding that my plan and keep it on through about mid June. This was the cheapest option for me since I don't want to sign a 24 month * $60/ month aircard deal for something I am going to use a 1/3 of the time that is in addition to my regular plan. If you have Verizon this may be the best choice for you. Otherwise, I hear Alltel offers $25 addon for existing customers for unlimited data.