WiFi and/or cellular data service

[Bobbi Andrzejek]

I am utterly ignorant of this stuff. I was real excited when I figured out how to use a wireless router in my house <G>.

How do I get service for my laptop when we're chasing? Right now, I pull in next to hotels, etc where I can usually pick up a wireless signal. But obviously, there are too many places with no signal. I've seen folks discussing Alltel and Sprint, but I don't even really get how this stuff works, or how expensive it is. If I got one of those cards, would it (or could it) replace my satelite service at home? How does this all work? What do I need, exactly?

 

[David Wolfson]

The mechanics are pretty simple. You contract for the service with a carrier, buy an aircard that can plug into your computer (USB, PCMCIA, etc.), install some provided software sometimes, and you're good to go. An aircard looks to the cellular network like another phone, basically. With most aircards, you can use an external antenna and/or an amplifier to improve reception.

I'd go in to your cell carrier's store in Yankton and have them give you a demo and sales job. When they show you the internet access, connect to http://www.speedtest.net, click on the yellow pyramid and see what kind of service speed you have. You can test your current satellite home internet service with that site too, to compare.

In general I think most cellular broadband providers limit the usage to some extent. Verizon for example now dings you for more than 5Gb per month. This can be a problem for home use if you use your bandwidth heavily, such as a lot of video, etc.

Unlike the 802.11 wireless signal at motels and from your own router which is very localized, the cell signals cover a wide area and allow mobile access. Your connection is also private and not shared. EVDO (fast) service is still spotty, but slower 1X service is becoming widely available as cell carriers update their tower equipment to remain competitive. There are service gaps, but mostly they're also gaps in your voice cell service as well.

I personally have a mobile wireless router. It's like the cable/satellite router, except that it has an aircard slot and additional software inside which allows connection to the cellular broadband system as well, with multiple wireless connections. These cost several hundred dollars -- more expensive than the ones without the cellular option.

 

[Nathan Truninger]

How hard is it to set up a phone to be a modem itself for a laptop?

 

[David Wolfson]

It all depends on the phone and cell service. This says it better than I can: http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/usingyourphone/a/cellmodem.htm

I don't think that there're many who can beg, borrow, or steal an aircard would be content with only modem service nowadays for the road. It's rather slow, prone to disconnect, and uses account minutes. But this reminds me to check... this year, according to Verizon's coverage map, digital voice service is available in many of the data holes, e.g. nw OK and chunks of the high Plains. It's worth having the option when there's nothing else available IMO.

 

[Bob Hartig]

How hard is it to set up a phone to be a modem itself for a laptop?

Not hard. You can get Alltel's Mobile Access plan for $25 a month, and you don't have to sign a 2-year contract. But you may need to contract with Alltel for your mobile phone service. Where EVDO is available, you've got high-speed connection, and it will give you decent service. You can either use a tether or, if your computer and phone both have it, you can link wirelessly via Bluetooth.

But as Dave Wolfson pointed out, you'll get a lot of dropped connections, and coverage is spotty. Good luck, for instance, in the eastern panhandles.

I use Mobile Access, but only because I can't afford to lock into a two-year data contract at sixty bucks a month. If I had the money, I'd go with a Sprint aircard in a heartbeat.

 

[Cris Schroeder]

I finally have mobile broadband capability as of this week. I picked up a used XV6700 PDA phone on Ebay for about $150. I activated it in place of my old phone (through Verizon) for nothing, and added a $24.99/month data plan for starters. This gives me 10 meg/month to play with until I decide how much bandwidth I'll use. I can switch data plans without incurring a contract, so during chase months I'll bump up to the $44.95 5 GB/month plan. During the winter months I can switch to the pay-as-you-go plan which is free if you don't use any data (and I'd better not, considering their rates).

Once I activated the phone, I flashed it with the latest ROM software from the manufacturer and Vista detected it as a CDMA modem through the USB tether cable. After that, it was simply a matter of setting up a dial-up connection using the Verizon network settings. I clocked my speeds earlier this evening and was getting around 275 kb/s downloads on EVDO and 60 kb/s downloads on 1xRTT.

The XV6700 is a pretty slick piece of hardware. It may be a little bulky for most, but I got tired of carrying a cell phone and PDA at work. Now I have both in one unit, with mobile broadband capability to boot.

It took me almost a year to make the jump, as I'm on a Verizon contract (only decent provider in my area) and didn't want to lock myself into a new long-term contract with a data plan I'll only use a few months out of the year. So far, so good.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Not hard. You can get Alltel's Mobile Access plan for $25 a month, and you don't have to sign a 2-year contract. But you may need to contract with Alltel for your mobile phone service. Where EVDO is available, you've got high-speed connection, and it will give you decent service. You can either use a tether or, if your computer and phone both have it, you can link wirelessly via Bluetooth.

But as Dave Wolfson pointed out, you'll get a lot of dropped connections, and coverage is spotty. Good luck, for instance, in the eastern panhandles.

I use Mobile Access, but only because I can't afford to lock into a two-year data contract at sixty bucks a month. If I had the money, I'd go with a Sprint aircard in a heartbeat.

EVDO capable phones use the exact same networks and can achieve the exact same download speeds (though not upload speeds) as air cards, so unless you have an external antenna hooked up to your card (which will also hook up to most cell phones), or are hacking the PRL list on your aircard, you will get roughly the same service with a phone as with an aircard.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

I finally have mobile broadband capability as of this week. I picked up a used XV6700 PDA phone on Ebay for about $150. I activated it in place of my old phone (through Verizon) for nothing, and added a $24.99/month data plan for starters. This gives me 10 meg/month to play with until I decide how much bandwidth I'll use.

I'd just say -- be careful. Your intarwebs use may be dramatically different than mine, but I go through 10MB of traffic in roughly 30 minutes of internet use. And that's just for general surfing. I don't know Verizon's overage policy when it comes to data, but I suspect that they begin charging you per kilobyte after you hit your 10MB limit, often at exhorbant rates. And by exhorbant, I mean "don't be shocked by a $1,000 phone bill".

 

[J Kinkaid]

If you go over your allowance with Verizion you will be paying $0.49 a MB if you have the 5gig plan and $0.99 if you are on the 50mb plan

If you are using a slingbox or even GR3 get ready for a huge bill. This makes Alltel, Sprint and ATT better choices for chasers .

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

If you go over your allowance with Verizion you will be paying $0.49 a MB if you have the 5gig plan and $0.99 if you are on the 50mb plan

If you are using a slingbox or even GR3 get ready for a huge bill. This makes Alltel, Sprint and ATT better choices for chasers .

GRLevel 3 pulls down around 300KB every 5 minutes with all tilts on both reflectivity and velocity. That means you can run it for around 2 and a half hours with a 10MB plan before you run out for the month. After that, it'll cost around $5 an hour to keep it running.

1 gig a month isn't at all unusual internet usage for normal people. I probably use 5 gigs or more a month. If you used 1gig a month under this plan, your bill would be $990+ tax in overages for the month; for what you'd pay in overage for 5 gigs of usage, you could buy a used car. I'd seriously reconsider having a 10MB a month plan.

 

[David Drummond]

It took me almost a year to make the jump, as I'm on a Verizon contract (only decent provider in my area) and didn't want to lock myself into a new long-term contract with a data plan I'll only use a few months out of the year. So far, so good.

I was just looking at the SprintPCS map for Clearwater, KS, your location shown Cris. Seems not only does Sprint have excellent coverage around that area, you also should be getting EVDO broadband speeds on the Sprint network (orange in the pic).

I understand being stuck in a contract, but I wouldn't say that Verizon was the only decent provider in your area. I'd LOVE for them to finally turn on EVDO in my area.