Verizon Wireless Internet

[Bruce Patterson]

OHMYGOSH! ;D

Now I done went and did it! I was in the Verizon store the other day because my company bought me a cell phone and they want me to use it becasue if we call each other we don't get charged minutes.

Well, anyway, while there, I got to looking at their wireless aircard.  They plug into the PC slot  on the laptop and get you online for gosh sakes!

There are two levels of service. One is national network which gets anywhere from 64-128 k on a dialup to the cellular network.  The other is Broadband which is available only in the big cities.  They are priced $59 and $79 respectively.  If you get the Broadband card and are in a non broadband area, it reverts to the national network and you have the "slow" speed.  Ha!

Well, long story short, I'm using it now, and I can be connected even when driving down the cotton pickin' highway at 75 mph!!!

Combine that with my Microsoft Streets and Trips with GPS, and I think I might have too many toys!  Next I'm buying a laptop stand for my truck!

Holy Kow!  (haven't gotten bit by the XM bug yet though).

Now I have no excuse for not getting online!  Well, sometimes I'm stuck in a hotel somewhere like S?o Paulo with the WiFi system broken down....

What the blazes will they think of next?

Bruce on the loose!

 

[Tom]

Some of us have been using those wireless air cards for some time Bruce. Verizon has been testing much higher speeds in a few cities. I use t-mobile, slower than Verizon but cheaper and it doesn't switch me to some other plan. Unlimited internet useage, no roaming or long distance charges and no minutes charged, 24/7/52.

 

[John From Detroit]

Some of us have been using those wireless air cards for some time Bruce. Verizon has been testing much higher speeds in a few cities. I use t-mobile, slower than Verizon but cheaper and it doesn't switch me to some other plan. Unlimited internet useage, no roaming or long distance charges and no minutes charged, 24/7/52.

RE: T-Mobile... You know..... That is what my cell phone says too  I have unlimited internet, 19.95/month I think works,,, Sort of, 28.8 when it works, (They said dial up speed) and when it works it works well,  No good for many things though, a lot of stuff i do 56K is minimum and dsl prefered

 

[Tom]

when it works it works well, No good for many things though, a lot of stuff i do 56K is minimum and dsl prefered

My t-mobile air card runs around 40K, comparable with what folks think is 56K dial up. Works pretty good at a campground when I don't want to drag the satellite dish out. DSL wouldn't be available when we're going down the road, which is when I'm often online. At home I have 6Mb/s sec cable, so no need for DSL there either. When I travelled extensively for a living I used dial up from many parts of the world, but I now can't recall the last time I used dial up.

 

[Jeff]

All:
I am using a PDA on the Verizon Express network that consistently gives me 90-110K with good signal strenth. I haven't jumped into the sat service yet so I depend on Verizon, works good on the left coast and most of the time going to Maine and back this summer.

 

[Tom]

Sounds good Jeff. Which PDA?

 

[Bruce Patterson]

To all,

I was one of the first to use a cell phone to connect. I learned all about it in this forum.? I used a Nokia phone with AT&T and paid for maximum minutes, yet my first phone bill was $3000!? They advertised 9.6k and 14.4k on a good day, but I found that it worked better at 4.8k, which was just fine for me since I didn't do much "internet" in those days.? My most used program on my computer was Tapcis, and I never used a CIS client or even a web browser.?

At that time, I monitored more than 15 forums and at least flashed on my screen all messages from those forums.? 4.8 was just fine for Tapcis, since I started with a 2.4k modem and thought that was fast at the time!

Lately I've been using a lot of dialup when in my trailer, but often broadband in the hotels, either with a cable or wireless. In my new home and business in Manaus, I have a 400k DirecWay setup, which is the system I sell in the Amazon.? I sell speeds of 256k, 400k, 700k or 1mbps. 400k is just fine for the 10 computers I have in the cybercafe.

I'm getting to the point were I want to get rid of my telephone line so I can be more portable, but the idea of hauling a DirecWay system around with me and setting it up every time is a bit daunting.? Here in this park for example, I don't have a clear shot to the satellite because of the hill and the trees next to me.?

The Verizon card is giving me between 64-128k here in the country, and about 1.4mbps in the big cities. That's better than dialup! I'm paying almost $70 per month for my phone line (including taxes and unlimited long distance) now.? The verizon plan is $79 plus tax, so it comes to about $84 per month. That's about a wash with eliminating my phone line.? I have discovered that I can use dial up at the same time to increase the speed even more, and in hotels, I can use the WiFi to really get a boost.

So, next time I move the trailer, I doubt I'll hook up a phone line again.? I'm planning to move close to DC, so I should get broadband on the air card there.

So far, so good..... 8)

Bruce

 

[Tom]

Bruce

Verizon definitely has the fastest connect speeds. I knew they had been testing 500K, but didn't realize they were now providing speeds up to 1.4M. That's really impressive. One issue I've read about with Verizon is coverage, but I can't recall specifically which areas were being discussed.

I started with a 2.4k modem

That's lightning fast compared to my first modem running at 300 baud max.

 

[Bruce Patterson]

Tom,

I think when you have two internet connections they combine to increase the total download speed.? When I got 1.4mbps, I was connected both to Verizon and to the hotel WiFi network, and I think it was the combination that gave me that speed.? When I was at the rest area just outside of Washington, I had only Verizon and the connection was very fast, but I didn't have a way to check it at the time.

Is there a simple utility that can be used to monitor connection speed?

That's lightning fast compared to my first modem running at 300 baud max.

Yeah, I know.? I was very late to get online.? I didn't switch from CP/M to DOS until 1992, and I never bothered with a modem much before I switched to DOS.? I joined CIS in 1992 when I first started using my Compaq Portable III 286 with a built in 2.4k modem and a fresh installtion of DOS 5.? I never had my own computer with DOS 2, 3, or 4 although I used others.? I was a diehard CP/M user and considered "converts" to DOS top be "traitors."? I used the latest version of WordStar for CP/M (version 4) and when I switched to DOS immediately bought the upgrade to WordStar for DOS version 7.1.? Still have it!? My access to CIS was via a freeware program from Peter Norton called Telex.? It was a dumb terminal emultor with no mouse support. My first forum was the MECA forum where I met Dizzy Deane (Mr. Deane K. Yamane) from Hawaii who introduced me to Tapcis, and later to snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. My third forum was Photography where I first sysoped, and where I met Lorelle VanFossen who introduced me to the RV forum.... And so goes the story!? :  I didn't switch to Windows until 1995 when I bought my first Laptop with Win 95 and a 56k modem, then I hooked a cell phone to it! : I never used DOSCim, WinCim or any other CompuServe "Client.'  I went from Tapcis straight to a web browser. Now I use Maxthon.

 

[Tom]

Good story Bruce, with several names that bring back memories.

I think when you have two internet connections they combine to increase the total download speed.

I didn't know that was possible. Is there something I need to do make that work when I get home?

Is there a simple utility that can be used to monitor connection speed?

I'll let Ned answer that.

 

[Ned]

The best test of connection speed is to do an FTP transfer of a compressed file and time it.  If you use Windows to download such a file, the file transfer window will show the actual measured speed for the transfer.

Other internet uses, such as browsing, will have widely varying speeds depeding on what is happening at any time, and can be 0 to the maximum that the connection supports.  Instantaneous speeds are really useless measures, it's only sustained speeds (as during file transfers) that are important.

 

[Bruce Patterson]

The best test of connection speed is to do an FTP transfer of a compressed file and time it.  If you use Windows to download such a file, the file transfer window will show the actual measured speed for the transfer.

I need to set up something that allows me to do that test from time to time to see my actual speed. Do you have a way to set that up?

I  didn't know that was possible. Is there something I need to do make that work when I get home?

I'm not sure.  I just assume that they are adding up together, I have two internet connections going right now.  It seems to be faster.

I know there are ways to set it up externally with a router.  Don't know if it works internally in my laptop.  I hope so!

Here's a little bit of research I did.

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/hardware/reviews/2003/q2/neteyes_cyclone200.asp



http://www.cable-modems.org/q&a/index.php?one_question=71



http://www.winplanet.com/article/2907-.htm



http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/wirelessII3.html



http://theboost.net/internet_speed/



http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/2002/january02/netcom.htm



http://www.google.com/custom?q=Connect+two+internet+sources+together+to+increase+bandwidth&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&cof=AWFID:778ccf1ab6bdc2aa%3BL:http://www.republicanforum.com/images/RFBanner.jpg%3BLH:89%3BLW:435%3BBGC:%23FFFFFF%3BT:%23000000%3BLC:%230000CC%3BVLC:%230000CC%3BALC:%230000CC%3BGALT:%23008000%3BGFNT:%23000000%3BGIMP:%23000000%3BDIV:%230000CC%3BLBGC:%23FFFFFF%3BAH:center%3B&start=0&sa=N

 

[Bruce Patterson]

OK, I just found a test and did it.? I got 41k down and 20k up connected both with dialup and wireless.? I checked my wireless connection and it said it was "dormant."? So I disconnected the dialup connection and tested again.? This time, my speed was 95k down and 96k up.? HOLY COW!

So I guess they don't add up automatically. Apparently if you've got another connection it disables the verizon wireless connection. So that speed I got with 1.4mb at the hotel was probably the hotel WiFi system.

Hey, 95k ain't bad, huh? ;D

 

[Tom]

LOL Bruce, sounds like they subtract rather than add.

 

[Ned]

The speed test at testmy.net are good and consistent.  They are one of the few that work reliably with a satellite connection.

If you have multiple internet connections, I believe the last one established will determine the routing for internet requests.  You could test that with the route print command but reading the routing tables is not easy.

Here's my current routing table:

===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 50 56 c0 00 08 ...... VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
0x3 ...00 50 56 c0 00 01 ...... VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
0x10005 ...00 02 2d 2e 47 81 ...... ORiNOCO Wireless LAN PC Card (5 volt)
0x10006 ...00 11 2f a7 f9 42 ...... Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Ba
se-T Adapter, Copper RJ-45
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway      Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0    192.168.7.10    192.168.7.4      20
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0        127.0.0.1      127.0.0.1      1
      169.254.0.0      255.255.0.0  169.254.62.203  169.254.62.203      30
  169.254.62.203  255.255.255.255        127.0.0.1      127.0.0.1      30
  169.254.255.255  255.255.255.255  169.254.62.203  169.254.62.203      30
      192.168.7.0    255.255.255.0      192.168.7.4    192.168.7.4      20
      192.168.7.4  255.255.255.255        127.0.0.1      127.0.0.1      20
    192.168.7.255  255.255.255.255      192.168.7.4    192.168.7.4      20
    192.168.139.0    255.255.255.0    192.168.139.1  192.168.139.1      20
    192.168.139.1  255.255.255.255        127.0.0.1      127.0.0.1      20
  192.168.139.255  255.255.255.255    192.168.139.1  192.168.139.1      20
    192.168.142.0    255.255.255.0    192.168.142.1  192.168.142.1      20
    192.168.142.1  255.255.255.255        127.0.0.1      127.0.0.1      20
  192.168.142.255  255.255.255.255    192.168.142.1  192.168.142.1      20
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0  169.254.62.203  169.254.62.203      30
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0      192.168.7.4    192.168.7.4      20
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0    192.168.139.1  192.168.139.1      20
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0    192.168.142.1  192.168.142.1      20
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255  169.254.62.203  169.254.62.203      1
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255      192.168.7.4    192.168.7.4      1
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255    192.168.139.1  192.168.139.1      1
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255    192.168.142.1  192.168.142.1      1
Default Gateway:      192.168.7.10
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None

See what I mean?

 

[John From Detroit]

To all,

I was one of the first to use a cell phone to connect. I learned all about it in this forum. 

Bruce

Bruce.... Just out of coursity,,,, When was that?

 

[Ron]

We got our Nokia Phone while in Florida in 1998 and signed up for the ATT one rate plan.  It was just after getting the phone that I got the card necessary to connect to the internet via the cell phone.  Thought that was pretty cool then while Sam driving 65MPH down the freeway heading for texas and I was on the forum posting messages.  Wasn't broadband by any means but I was connected and it worked.  Used that Cell phone setup till 2002 whne I got the Satellite connection to the internet.  Think I still have that card somewhere that I used to use.

 

[John From Detroit]

We got our Nokia Phone while in Florida in 1998

I'd have to think on it a while... I think I first used a Motorola Analog phone (9600 baud possible) to access CIS and the internet (Using NetTamer for E-mail and usenet only) in 1998 or 1997, I'm truly not sure which but think it was '97... My daughter was at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp and I was staying at either Wiskey Creek (one year) or Lake Schenepheno (Man is that spelling in question) the other year.

That week some jerk was posting nude photos to a non-binary newsgroup so I got slammed with a bill (The ng has "pern" or "Anne Mcaffery" in it's name and I mention being in the woods of Muskegon County if memory serves,  This makes it searchable via google)

Suffice to say many of us were not happy with said jerk.. He posted the same photo under many different titles no less

The next real use of Wireless internet was from Chicago in 2000 (Labor Day Weekend) and T-moble was supposed to have me on a plan they had not switched me to so I got slammed bill wise again.

(Slammed to me is a phone bill of 200 or more)

Now days I have a T-Mobile unlimited internet plan, all the data my phone can eat and no bill