Internet communications on the road... - Page 2

garry · 01-03-2008, 07:29 PM

I use the ATT (formaly Cingular) aircard in my laptop $59 month no limit.
From 100 kb to 300 kb downloads so far works everywhere call phone works.

Garry

thecatsandi · 01-03-2008, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverRanger

Congratulations on your 2,000th, Michelle! I always enjoy reading about your travels.

I just compared the coverage maps between Verizon and Clearwire:

Coverage Locator - Verizon Wireless

Clearwire Coverage Areas and Maps

Thank You.
I want Clearwire in Mountain Home about an hour to the east. No dice. Verizon on the otherhand will work.

safari 28 · 01-03-2008, 08:06 PM

Motorola Q on Alltell. Macbook bluetooth to the Q when needed. Wireless at the parks if it works??

Ahab · 01-05-2008, 08:15 PM

If you don't need to get on line every day while traveling the the Macbook hooks up to WiFi hot spots effortlessly. Most rest areas, schools, hotels, some city areas, truck stops, etc., have this ability. We just did a 5800mi road trip to the east coast and back and had no problem getting connected where ever we went and it's free!

TBRich · 01-05-2008, 10:40 PM

Congrats on your 2000th post, Michelle! You go girl!

We just signed on to Alltel's Mobile Broadband Axcess with an air card for my Mac (through the USB port). (Alltel because we already have Alltel cell service...similar service is provided by other providers.) I am able to connect anywhere where I can make a cell connection. After much research I decided this was the way to go for me, as I need to be able to transfer decent file sizes for my work from the laptop...it's $60/month but worth it I can be on the go in the AS and do some work if necessary. I don't think I'd be able to do this with other options within a decent cost range. Other solutions may work better for others, so find what works best for you and take cost and connection speed into consideration. If you only do email, you can get by with less. We are on our way back to Tucson after a week plus on the lower Colorado River north of Parker, AZ...we did not have good cell reception because we were in canyons along the River...had to drive about 4 miles to get through...that was a bummer, but nothing is perfect...we could not even get a radio station or any regular TV reception either, so it's not just a cell/aircard thing... I did discover (the hard way) that the limit for file transfers is 4 megs...a client tried to send me a file larger than that and it just choked the system and nothing would go through either way. I had to go online to my mail server and delete the email with the problematic attachment to get it moving again...lesson learned. We are now at Picacho Peak State Park and the reception and connection is very good... it's not as fast as cable I am used to but it's pretty darn good...

I have already done a little work remotely and my clients are totally behind me making this move...good for me...good for them. I am a happy camper...and so are they!

TB

LeisureTime · 07-19-2008, 09:13 PM

As a wannabe AS owner, and an almost iPhone owner (ordered it yesterday), I began wondering if the aluminum hull of an AS would interfere with the 3G signal of the new iPhones?

The same question would apply to a laptop that has 3G built in, or accessing the WIFI signal at a campground.

I plan to keep in touch with my business while on the road, but wonder about any interference.

Anyone have experience running these devices from inside an AS?

Thanks!

myoung · 07-20-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeisureTime

As a wannabe AS owner, and an almost iPhone owner (ordered it yesterday), I began wondering if the aluminum hull of an AS would interfere with the 3G signal of the new iPhones?

The same question would apply to a laptop that has 3G built in, or accessing the WIFI signal at a campground.

I plan to keep in touch with my business while on the road, but wonder about any interference.

Anyone have experience running these devices from inside an AS?

Thanks!

I've been using an Apple Powerbook wirelessly inside our Airstream for 2.5 years with no noticeable difference in signal strength inside or outside. Perhaps the windows are enough to mitigate whatever loss might result from being inside aluminum.

The bigger problem is finding an RV park with Wi-Fi that works as advertised. Sure many claim to have Wi-Fi, but the reality is that mysteriously the system will always be down when you arrive. But, don't worry, we've called the provider who promises that we will be up shortly. Yeah, right.

Also, I have been using our iPhone since the first week it was released last year. The iPhone has proved to be much more useful than the elusive Wi-Fi in RV parks because the internet is accessible over the AT&T telephone network. With the iPhone 3G you will have an even better result: 3G, 2.5G and Wi-Fi as you choose.

Apple rocks!!!! Enjoy.

Bambi75th · 07-20-2008, 06:32 AM

Verizon USB VZacess card in my HP Laptop running Vista. $59.99 per month for 5GB limit. Works well, acceptable speed where ever cell phone reception is available.

Ahab · 07-21-2008, 08:03 AM

Just came back from a mountain trip. My daughter and grand kids were along and she has an IPhone. While my Macbook did well in most areas with WIFI, her IPhone astonished me with it's performance. I've always carried two cell phones from different providers to insure a connection. She connected wherever we went with no problem and in the coach too!

Jimandrod · 07-28-2008, 05:07 PM

Verizon VZ Access. the card was built in to my Dell laptop. It's $59 a month but the coverage is good. I was getting reception at Dead Horse Point SP in the middle of nowhere in southern Utah

Crusty · 07-28-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeisureTime

As a wannabe AS owner, and an almost iPhone owner (ordered it yesterday), I began wondering if the aluminum hull of an AS would interfere with the 3G signal of the new iPhones?

The same question would apply to a laptop that has 3G built in, or accessing the WIFI signal at a campground.

I plan to keep in touch with my business while on the road, but wonder about any interference.

Anyone have experience running these devices from inside an AS?

Thanks!

Yes I do and I just cancelled my service with AT&T for their 3G network (HSDPA) that the iPhones use (taking a $175 cancellation hit).

I telecommute and a fast internet connection is essential for me to do my job and I found that for a while my Sierra Aircard worked near the botom threshold of acceptability, provided that I used an external antenna located outside of the trailer. The signal inside without it was just too sporadic, even though AT&T's software said it was "Good". I have a cell antenna about 2 miles away at each end of my trailer.

I used it for about a year more or less acceptably until the new iPhones went on sale. Then my response went to bad and the signal even dropped from a normal of -87dBm to around -104dBm and the network dropped back to 2G (EDGE) speeds a lot of the time (with absolutely no changes at my end).

After being unable to do my job for several days while an endless series of tech support chimps continued to read me the "Reboot your computer and call back" line from their script, I had cable internet installed (I'm in a fixed location) and then I told AT&T to stow it really deep.

If you decide that you can put up with a sporadic connection it might still work for you but I would plan on getting an external antenna (with 10 dB gain or better).

Be sure to make your mind up for certain before the end of your grace period or you'll be stuck with a two year contract that will cost you $175 to get out of if the service proves to be unacceptable.

I forgot about another fast one that AT&T pulled - when I signed up I had a 60 day grace period and my response was really good, but at the end of that time and I was locked into the contract they changed my routing priority at their end and my response dropped almost in half (as measured by speakeasy.net).

Jaxon · 07-28-2008, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crusty

After being unable to do my job for several days while an endless series of tech support chimps continued to read me the "Reboot your computer and call back" line from their script, I had cable internet installed (I'm in a fixed location) and then I told AT&T to stow it really deep.

I almost fell off my chair on that one Crusty! Gotta remember that line when dealing with IT...!

rollin' home · 08-09-2008, 05:29 PM

here are the three satelllite dish companies i know of for home use: Wild Blue, Starband,

and direct way (hughes/DTV) Which of these has equipment for mobile applications?

Whizzo · 08-09-2008, 05:42 PM

We've had better luck the past year with the generic Wi-Fi service at most private campgrounds. But with a good amount of phone-based Internet use lately, I'm tempted to look at Sprint's mobile broadband access, especially when we're out in the west Texas open spaces. The coverage maps are sometimes misleading.

For those that have Sprint Mobile Broadband/EVDO, any feedback on quality of service?