Wireless internet...cheapest way

[Sean Poling]

I am in dire need of guidence for a proper setup for internet connection in my vehicle.

I have a good laptop and a verizon cell phone. Ive read about wireless cards.

Can someone fill me in on their setup, and what they recommend for someone on a tight budget? As well as who has the best service/connection in my area or nationwide!?

Living near the foothills of the rockies, I chase the eastern plains of Colorado, Wyoming, NW Nebraska and western Kansas.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Speaking for myself, I use a laptop and an Alltel phone that can be tethered together.
I have the Samsung 'Hue' and I bought it for $230~ + $25/mo for internet service.
I don't know if this is the cheapest means to make the connection, but that is what I have.

I tried the Allrel aircard and returned it(I thought the EVDO reception was worse w/air card than the phone), but for the same money I have a phone to boot w/nationwide minutes - so there is no roaming charges.
$75/mo includes 500 min & unlimited internet...

 

[Terry Tyler]

there are several different options that you can choose from, sean...as rob suggested...one option is getting a data package for your phone, and tethering it to your computer...you might also want to look into sprint or atts deals, but i hear they are pretty pricy depending on which route you wanna go...

att has that sierra wireless thing that they always show on those tv commercials...its a USB and you just plug it into your computer, install your att manager and connect to a cell tower...it shows you the bars and everything and it really aint that bad as far as pricing is concerned...depending on how much your trying to throw into it...

i know when i went to get just a regular phone at the att store, they wanted to know all about my credit...that can be a big issue if your like me and aint got none...they may ask you to sign a contract and pay a whole lot of money up front...plus, if you renig you have to pay a pretty stout fee...

personally, man this is what i do, and its not the best...i just use the built in wireless inside of my laptop...you can find a hotspot about anywhere these days...i know there are alot of chasers here who are spoilt to having that streaming broadband, but if your like me and simply cant afford it...you cant beat free internet...its alot better then the libraries i used the first two years

im sure youll get alot more feedback from more experienced chasers...im really not that advanced as far as the new technology goes, but i hope that helps!

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I have data service through Verizon, purchased a data card from them and signed up for $59/mo.

 

[Kevin Askew]

I use the verizon card as well. Does real well on the road and use it at home as my primary internet on both laptop & home system. Sometimes a tad slow but does real well most the time. About 60 bucks... I loved cable but cant afford both & cable cant go chasing with me

 

[David Wolfson]

I'd agree with the other posters. Verizon has excellent high speed broadband coverage in Colorado. The 5Gb/month limit isn't a big problem so long as you're aware of it and do heavy duty transfers off an unlimited connection. If you know you're not going to use it for most of the year, the last I checked you could also interrupt service and reconnect for a moderate fee; but best ask for the current details. Personally I like the fact that your cell phone isn't tied up; and you can tether it if need be.

 

[Dean Baron]

im pretty sure verizon has a month to month data plan now on their air cards as long as you buy it for full price (around $200) but to me this is better than signing a two year contract @ $60/month. last year i tethered my verizon phone for $60 a month and it worked fine.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

If you want the absolute cheapest mobile internet, tethering a cell to computer with Alltel is the cheapest. The $30 tethering plan just makes it when you data call, your minutes will not be used. The data amount used is never charged to you, regardless if you turn the plan on or not. The only time I turn that plan/feature on is when it is a chase during the week. On the weekends it is "free night and weekends", you can use the tethering and all it uses is the free night and weekends minutes. Basically all you need is a $40 phone plan with alltel and can get free mobile internet on the weekends and $1 a day data during the week. On top of that, their coverage is pretty good across the plains and is getting better all the time.

I have been using the data without the plan for a couple months now without a single problem, if I do ever get hit with a wierd charge for doing that, I will post back here. The only issue I have ever had doing this is if you leave the tethering plan "on", the night your new billing cycle starts and then turn the plan off the next morning. You get charged the for the upcoming month. You will normally get credit back the next month, but not always. Alltel is really difficult to get that money back from.

 

[Adam Lucio]

I roll with the AT&T sierra card Terry mentioned. A tad pricey if your not already an AT&T customer. I think unlimited internet is around 90 a month but since I was already a customer I was able to get it for 75 with a 2 year contract. Which expires this coming February so I may explore other options.

Most providers have coverage maps on their websites, so you might want to start there to see who has the best coverage for the areas you chase. Overall im satisified with it, no connection plan is perfect unless you get some signal boost kits to go with it.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

I too have Verizon as it makes the most sense for where I live. I have recently switched from the tethered option to using a Novatel MC727 USB data card. I have also switched to the month-to-month option. A few warnings here...the data cards are not like the tethering option for a phone. The data card has its own number and is treated exactly like a regular cell phone. IF you think you can deactivate the card and reactivate it when neeeded, you can- BUT verizon will charge you each time, which I think is around $30-35 range. They do not treat it as a feature like the tethering option on a phone. I originally signed up for a two year contract but decided to change it to a monthly option to have the flexability to turn it off in the winter. I had to pay the cancell fee but it was cheaper to move to month-to-month than to dish out 60 bucks a month for the down season. I like the card, it has a external antenna option and works well with my MAc and PC.

I do not like that Verizon could charge me each time I want to change the option on the phone, but I guess verizon saw a way to make a bit more bucks on us! When I deactivate the card this month, I will see what the rep tells me about the charge to turn it back on...

 

[Darin Brunin]

When it comes down to it, you get what you pay for IMO...we have chased with both Alltel and Sprint in the same vehicle the last two years.

The Sprint aircard is quite a bit better in every aspect than Alltel tethering...from coverage(Sprint has especially beefed it up in KS) to problems with the software. It's more expensive but you'll hit your computer in frustration less and your phone isn't tied up.

 

[Cris Schroeder]

I use Verizon and tether my laptop to my PDA phone (XV6700). With the PDA phone I have three options for data...pay as I go, 10 Meg a month, or Unlimited (5 GB/mo). I keep the 10 meg plan most of the year for $29.99 or so, then bump it up to unlimited when I am chasing or travelling. I believe it is $39.99/mo or so.

I'd rather not have my phone tied up, but it drops the data to receive incoming calls. This was the cheapset option for me by far, since I already had the phone and the Verizon service.

 

[Jay Cazel]

I have used Sprint for 10 years now as my phone/data sourse. I tethered my Treo 700p (first phone with EVDO on it) the last two years and it was fine and every other phone I got from Sprint. About 2 months ago I went ahead and got an Alltel usb data card ($60 bucks a month unlimited still). I was getting tired off my phone being tied up and using my kids prepaid phone to make calls with. At first the card did not perform as well as I hoped (speed wise I was only getting 300k to 400k down at best)compaied to tethering my phone (600k to 700k down)to my laptop, but I went in to the Alltel store and asked how could I make this faster, well there was a cable that came with the card and now I tether my usb card...lol
It seems that all the noise my computer put off messed with the card, getting it away from the computer made a HUGE difference in speed, (in Wichita 1.4meg down) also went ahead and got the amp kit from https://www.maximumsignal.net/store/home.php and I have did some testing in and around Wichita and have left it on for 5 or 6 hours driving around town and it only dropped signal a few times. Now the speeds out side of Wichita seem to be good enough I went to Oklahoma and got off the interstate about 25 miles and still semmed to be good. I have not had a real test yet out in the middle of nowhere with the card, but since my Tero worked well while roaming on Alltel towers I would not think there will be a problem.

 

[Dean Baron]

a couple things i didnt like about tethering was the data being dropped for incoming calls like someone else mentioned earlier, and how much my phone battery got drained (it only holds a full charge for 2 full days if im lucky). One other problem i had, which i dont know if it was installing the VZ Manager not quite right or phone settings, but it would not let me tether if i was in Verizon's "extended network" aka roaming. It seemed like if i got more than about 2 hours away from the Twin Cities in any direction i would be in the extended network. I might have to invest in a truckers antenna or amplifier kit and bring my phone in to a Verizon store to see if the settings need to be changed.

 

[Stephen Locke]

signal boost kits

"no connection plan is perfect unless you get some signal boost kits to go with it."

I'd like to hear comments regarding signal boost kits. Do they work? If so, how much better? pros; cons etc.