Tom said:
Does anyone have experience getting online at a large rally such as the upcoming FMCA rally at Pomona? I doubt I'd get online with my t-mobile air card, partly due to the density of coaches and partly due to the competition for bandwidth/radio access.
You may find T-Mobile access works better than you expect... For one thing it's not the most popular (Though I do agree it should be) nor do they advetise the modem aspects of their phones all that well. (Vorizon does)
An external antenna might help... If you are roof top challanged here is how you can do it.
1: Obtain a good Mag Mount antenna and the required adaptor(s) to connect to your air card
2: Obtain a good size square of steel sheet,,, NOTE: It can be painted or not, I have a bar sign (Coke-a-cola or some such) I use for this, A piece about the size of a speed limit sign is more than large enough
To protect your roof you might wish to put felt on one side of the sheet of steel
3: Assemble,,, Put mag mount on top (non-felted) center of the sheet
4: "Install" Using ladder or "long reach" tool place sheet, antenna up, on roof
5: Route cable (in via handy window
6: Connect
I got about 2 extra bars in one campground doing this. (The campground is just below the coverage area, it's one of those places where hill-toping works)
Option 2: The tower option....
Simular in every way except you use a tower and base, The base is the same as the flag-pole bases sold at QZ last January, it's a plate of steel you park your Duals on,, the plate extends out past the side of the MH and has a tower mount there... Bolt in the "tower" (single bolt at the bottom, Walk it up, and put in the 2nd bolt,, The antenna is now {tower height] in the air and your feet never left the ground. This works well with towers up to around 20 feet
You can put some serious antennas at the top of these things (directional for example) if you want to spend the money... WilsonElectrnoics is the antenna place for cell phones