Wireless Internet

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bigskymt

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I'm wondering what would be the best service for my needs. On the occasion that we travel more then a few days we need internet service in the Western US, primarily for E-Mails so speed is not a concern. We have relied on internet cafes or friends houses in the past but parking or special trips is a problem.
Can anyone suggest reliable internet service for our laptop??
We have Verizon Cell Phones
A wireless card with a monthly service fee seems like a costly option and I've heard they are not reliable in many mountain areas.

Thanks, any help is greatly appreciated







 
If you are only going to use it occasionally then I would go to a Verizon store (not a Verizon dealer but a Verizon owned store) and see if the phone you have can be tethered to your laptop. If it can then ask them about the Mobile Broadband Connect feature. This in NOT a data plan. You will need to get a cable to tether your phone to the laptop or if your laptop and phone both have bluetooth you can connect them that way.

The Mobile Broadband Connect feature can be turned on and off when ever you need it (you have to call 611 to do that). I think it is $39 or $49 a month but they only charge you for the days you have it turned on. When you turn it on the the full amount will be charged to your bill then if you don't have it turned on for the full month the bill will be adjusted the next month.
 
Don's post above is spot on.

Since we are on Verizon for our voice plan, we were able to get on the "Tethering" feature for $30/month extra, and now I can tether my Dare phone to our laptop for 3-G speeds, and can start/stop that "feature" at will....so in another words, I could start the tethering, and stop it....for about $1/day.
 
Verizon has two air card data plans. The inexpensive on is around $30 and it would do if all you wanted was email.
 
Right, wrong, or whatever, what we have done in the past is ask larger hotels if we can borrow their internet. We always look at the restaurant menu, and if it's appealing, I will ask the desk if I can use the internet to check my mail if I eat in the restaurant.

I've never been told "NO".

Joe
 
Thanks for the great answers. We will be upgrading our cells this year so a good time to make everything compatable. An air card that can be turned off/on might also be a good plan.
I've done the hotel lobby internet before, most desk clerks seem unconcerned who uses their PCs.      terry
 
Just FYI...the aircard requires you to sign up for a 2 year plan, cant be turned on and off (maybe once a month for $35 fee I think), and is $59.95/month for minimum of 24 months.

Like I said earlier, you can go the "tethered" route and pay half, turn it off and on at will, and it's a month to month FEATURE (not a plan).

There is a big difference in the two. ;)
 
If you have more than one PC or don't want to have a cell phone hanging off the USB port you might look at the Mifi options from your carrier.  Here is a Verizon option.  http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_mifi from their web site. 

I just purchased a Cradle Point device that can use a cell phone, tethered or a USB broadband modem. http://www.accessorygeeks.com/cradle-point-antenna-ctr350.html#  I've only had it since yesterday evening but it seems to work good at the house.  I already had the USB broadband modem to use in it. Now DW and I can both use it at the same time from our respective notebooks.

Good luck in your search.
 
I am now using the Verizon Wireless network. It works great. Very few dead spots. I have yet to find a place where it won't work here in AB. Canada, but it's expensive to use from Canada when from the USA (as I am doing now).

I have the sixty US bucks per month plan otherwise. But pay more for "roaming" while in Canada.

-Don- (boondocked at the Hinton, AB  Wal-Mart)​
 
FrontrangeRVer said:
Just FYI...the aircard requires you to sign up for a 2 year plan, cant be turned on and off (maybe once a month for $35 fee I think), and is $59.95/month for minimum of 24 months.
That's not the case, at least with Verizon.  You CAN get a month-to-month plan using an air card.  The only catch is that you have to pay full price for the air card (somewhere in the $200 range), rather than getting it free with a 2-year contract.

However, for someone who only wants or needs Internet access occasionally rather than 24/7, tethering a phone to a laptop is the way to go.
 
A couple years ago I ran into a guy on a jobsite that had an adaptor to connect his laptop to his cell. It was only a dial-up connection but he swore it worked great for e-mails and I.M. with his family when he was out of town. He had Verizon and did most of his on-line after hours or weekend with his unlimited nights/weekends plan.
I'm leaning toward Verizon as they have the best coverage in the western U.S.
I'm really trying to get educated before I make a costly mistake with a two year commitment.
 
We got a Verizon air card and CradlePoint router last winter, with a 2 year contract it cost about $100 for the package. This gives us broadband speeds where available and both my wife and I can be online at the same time. It worked fine; faster in some location, slower in others, throughout the country. We criss-crossed the midwest and eastern part of the country and only had 1 nite out of 189 without any service. Our Sprint cell phone can give us 56k speed to Marlene's computer (the software doesn't work with my Vista OS) and had a good signal in that one location. I got excellent wi-fi there. So we were never without the whole trip, even under trees ;).

Now that we are home, I suspended service at a one time cost of $15 and the system will be off for about 3 months until we hit the road again in January. There are no charges in between or to reinstate. While the service is off, my 2 year commitment is extended for a compensating time.
 
LindaH said:
That's not the case, at least with Verizon.  You CAN get a month-to-month plan using an air card.  The only catch is that you have to pay full price for the air card (somewhere in the $200 range), rather than getting it free with a 2-year contract.

And it's my understanding that Verizon will charge you a $35 fee to stop and start it, and only once or twice a year....otherwise, it's $59.95/month for 5 GB usage
 
[quote author=BernieD]... I suspended service at a one time cost of $15 and the system will be off for about 3 months until we hit the road again in January. There are no charges in between or to reinstate.[/quote]

Bernie, Just curious ...

I have a VZ air card (in addition to my T-mobile air card) and plan to buy a Cradlepoint router for the VZ card (not as a package). I'm wondering if I could turn the VZ card on and off several times a year for $15/time, or is there a limit to the number of times this can be done?

Meanwhile, I'm a little confused by Mark's comment:

[quote author=FrontrangeRVer]Verizon will charge you a $35 fee to stop and start it, and only once or twice a year[/quote]

Maybe I'm mis-reading or misunderstanding something?

TIA.
 
Tom said:
I have a VZ air card (in addition to my T-mobile air card) and plan to buy a Cradlepoint router for the VZ card (not as a package). I'm wondering if I could turn the VZ card on and off several times a year for $15/time, or is there a limit to the number of times this can be done?

Tom

I know that they will do it twice a year, not sure about 3-4 times. I've been battling that issue with DirecTV for a couple of years now.
 
Thanks Bernie. Since I also use it while we're afloat, maybe it's not such a big issue.
 
Tom, you should check with Verizon on the stop/start with the VZ aircard.  They told me it's $35 per stop/start, and you can only do it once or twice a year.  The reason being...it's a "Plan", and not a "Feature" like the tethering is.  Tethering is free per stop/start, and you can do it as much as you want.
 
Thanks Mark. Good point re a plan vs a feature. I'll call VZ, but I also think I probably won't change it. If we're not in the coach, we're on our boat once or more a month.

OTOH I must say that I've had my share of problems with the USB VZ air card. Going through first-tier support usually results in the equivalent of "is your computer plugged in and turned on? If so, please reboot your computer". Last time I called, I got a real technical person who started out the conversation with "you've obviously tried this and this, now let's try this". What a difference! The result of that call was a replacement air card that was on our doorstep when we arrived home, and a month to return the old one.

The new card worked fine, but was again intermittent last time we were afloat.

I usually have to resort to my (much slower) T-mobile EDGE card, but it's proved to be very reliable and has super coverage in the US, Canada (big $$$), and Europe. Last time we stayed at our oldest son's house in Wales (UK), I couldn't get a T-mobile signal for 3 days. Then I remembered that his house is built of 28" thick stone. I took the laptop into the garden, and voilla! I was online.
 
bigskymt said:
Thanks for the great answers. We will be upgrading our cells this year so a good time to make everything compatable.

this article maintains information about which verizon/sprint/att phones are tetherable, and other related information: http://j.mp/tetherable
 
We went to a Verizon owned store today and were told we have two options a $50/mo. aircard or $50/mo. tether plan. Both are two year contract....Sometimes I hate Verizon!!!
I later called Verizon customer service and they advised of the $30/mo. tethering option. Our next step once we return to sales tax free, MT. is to upgrade all the phones. Tethering sounds like our best option.
Thanks to all for the good advice.
 

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