Connectivity on the Road

[Jeff]

That's how I feel about my T-mobile card. I've used it across the US and through eastern Canada, and even in the UK. It's not super-fast, but has proved to be reliable and had good coverage for the last 3 years of testing. At $29.95/month, the price is right too. I'm sure not going to cancel that service unless/until I have a solid alternative that works in places I need to be online.

Tom:

You also do NOT want to use the Verizon card up here. Verizon has no contract rate for data in Canada so it is .49/kb or some silly number. ???

 

[Luca1369]

Jeff,

    Is their an economical alternative to the Verizon card in Canada?

Steve

 

[Tom]

That's an ouch Jeff.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I get excellent speeds on the Sprint card when in EVDO areas (about 75% of the time so far) and often good speeds in 1x areas as well. No rel complaints there.

I got the Sprint card on a special "no contract" deal, so plan to end it when we get back home around Nov 1. I'll probably go with a Verizon card when we set out again next spring. In between time, I will activate data service on my LG phone (it is an EVDO modem as well) if I need mobile service for brief periods. The LG 8550 makes a dandy modem but it's handier to have the data card and just leave it plugged in. The advantage of the phone modem is no contract and $2/day cost.

 

[Tom]

How fast is "excellent speeds" Gary?

testmy.net reports the following for my VZ modem: "Definitely broadband, but not super fast" and "only 88% of the average for your carrier".

I have 30 days to cancel my contract and 90 days to return the modem, no questions asked. Initial cost to me was $0 so, worst case, I'll be out one month's service fee. Since I canceled my HughesNet service, it's a wash. I plan on keeping the T-mobile card, at least for a while, and maybe until our next trip across the Atlantic. Hopefully, they'll deploy their next generation which, if grandfathered at $29.95/month, will be a heck of a deal.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I don't bother to measure the download speeds - they vary by so many factors that any number is transient at best. And you cannot compare numbers from different speed tests either. Page response times on our forum and various web pages is my figure of merit and as long as I get 3-4 second page loads I am happy. I get that 75% or more of the time on 1X service and 100% of the time on EVDO.

I'll run a speed test now and add the numbers shortly.

Follow-up:
I used the Digital Landing speed test (link on the testmy.net site) and got 128kbps, which is just about max for 1x service (140 kbps max) and about 3x a land line.  My page response times at this location (rural Ohio) are about 4 seconds most of the time with an occasional 5-6 second one.

 

[Tom]

Gary,
How do you measure the page download speed?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Page times are approximate, measured by the seconds on my digital watch for viewing messages on our forum. There are test sites that give measurements for test pages if you care to get it exact, but it is exact only for that particular page, so what's the point?

 

[Tom]

I was just curious how you measured it, in case there was something I didn't know about. A watch sounds plenty accurate. I use something less accurate sophisticated - I watch numerous tabs opening in FF; If the connection is really slow, several of the tabs will time out.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I just re-checked data rates using speakeasy.net and speedtest.net, which are somewhat more sophisticated tools. Got speeds that exceeded the theoretical for 1x, so I also double checked my connection and find it is now EVDO Rev A, which is new since yesterday a.m.! Good deal!!! Either I'm picking up a different cell or Sprint upgraded in the last couple days. I had some repeated brief outages over the last couple days, so maybe they did a tower upgrade.

Speakeasy says 497 kbps down and 105 kbps up, using their Chicago server.
Speedtest says 569 down and 145 up, using the nearby Columbus server.

Those are about mid-range for EVDO.

 

[Ron]

The general consensus is that the most accurate speedtest is available from Testmy.net since they do not require Java to work. 

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The general consensus is that the most accurate speedtest is available from Testmy.net since they do not require Java to work.

Really? I must have skipped class that day.

OK, mytest.net says 471k down and 96k up.

 

[Tom]

I have no idea which is the best or more accurate speed test. I do know that the folks on some of the satellite forums are big on testmy.net, which was why I used it.

 

[Jeff]

Jeff,

    Is their an economical alternative to the Verizon card in Canada?

Steve

Steve:

I don't know. We will wait until we get back to Maine.

 

[Ron]

I have no idea which is the best or more accurate speed test. I do know that the folks on some of the satellite forums are big on testmy.net, which was why I used it.

Many of the satellite folks recommend testmy.net because of the accuracy.  Also from what I have been the local cable company recommends the same.

 

[Ned]

testmy.net is used partly because it's consistent in its results, but mostly because test comparisons are more meaningful if everyone uses the same test.  There are other good test sites, but comparing the results between them isn't always consistent.  There are so many variables in testing internet speed so it helps to eliminate as many as possible, and the actual test used is one that can be easily implemented.

Java tests are generally avoided because there are so many versions of Java around that it introduces another uncontrolled variable.

 

[Tom]

Verizon has no contract rate for data in Canada so it is .49/kb or some silly number.

Jeff,

I just received the plan confirmation from Verizon bill for the USB modem and it shows a roaming rate of $0.002/kB ($2.05/MB) for Canada.

 

[Ned]

That's the same as VZW charges for data in the US if you don't have a data plan, $2/MB.  When I got a new phone, it required changing the plan from America's Choice II to the Nationwide plan that prevents using plan minutes for any data, even browsing on the phone.  Curiously, it's only on some phones like my Chocolate 3 but not on Lorna's original Chocolate.

 

[Jeff]

Tom:
We are on the "new" Canada plan for our phones and because I have a PDA they gave me a kb rate that I thought was more than that, in any event I had them shut data off.

 

[Tom]

Maybe I should call them and tell them my rate should be higher  ???

We don't have any VZ phones, so this is data only; Broadband Access is all they call it. 5GB/month, then $0.49/MB.