Posted on 09/05/2007 6:41:48 PM PDT by MindBender26
Need a little FReeper help.
I need to equip two computers (laptops) with WIRELESS wide-ranging Internet acccess. It's done with a PCMCIA-type card which "talks" to cell-type towers around country. This gives broadband speeds wirelessly.
Wi-Fi will not work in the application
There are four core services;
Cingular-AT&T Verison Sprint T-Mobile
My criteria are coverage areas and speed of download/upload. Service needed in cities and 'burbs.
Anyone have any experience with this? Any recomendation as to which service? Remember, we're not talking about voice, but broadband internet access.
Thanx.
1: Cingular-AT&T
2: Verison
3: Sprint
4: T-Mobile
?
The only one I’ve had any experience with is Verizon, and it’s always a royal pain to setup. Not to mention that I’ve seen a number of bad cards from Verizon that had to be replaced.
That doesn’t mean that the others are any better, that’s just the limit of my experience.
No complaints, except that you have to exercise it by surfing or otherwise taxing the connection.
Otherwise, it goes dormant, and it takes awhile to get back up to speed.
I use AT&T and it is a tad slower than cable but way better than dialup. So far seems to be good coverage also.
Forget T-Mobile, even 10 miles west of the Hudson River in NJ and the internet doesn’t work on their network.
Verizon is best if you travel to NY State, Cingular-AT&T is best if you travel to NJ.
You are looking to find 2.5G/3G roll out maps for each of the carriers in the geographic areas you frequently travel to. You can find most of this info on the companies websites, or try this website:
I have used Cingular and Verizon.
I have found Verizon to be the fastest and most reliable. It costs $60 per month, on top of a regular voice account.
Cingular I had for $80 a month on a stand alone basis with my Sony Vaio laptop.
Many IT Admin folks like Sprint for WAN applications as well. Both Sprint and Verizon are said to be fast.
I would recommend patience and persistance in setting up and using any WAN application. They can be much tougher to use than Wi-fi.
I had a Merlin s-620 from Sprint, which has now been replaced with the merlin 720. I have been able to get a signal, and fast uploads and downloads, even in areas that it wasn’t supposed to get a signal in..
I have been able to get on the internet, even when out in the boonies where I was something like forty miles from the nearest sprint tower.
I've also heard them advetise a mobile option, but I don't know much about it.
Sprint and Verizon both use CDMA cell protocols which is better for data packets than GSM. Verizon, while good, nickels and dimes you to death. Sprint has been just as reliable and gives you what you think you’re buying in your data plan.
This technology is still new and has more than a few bugs.
None of these has perfect coverage everywhere you go right now. Every one of these is still deploying new cells. All of them started out w/ the “low hanging fruit” places — metro areas, Interstates, airports, etc.
If you’d name the places you’re likely to travel, we could help you more.
I love my Verison wireless card. I get online anywhere I can get cell phone reception.
Drawbacks are: a) it’s expensive ($60/month for unlimited access — $80 if you don’t have a Verizon cell phone contract); and b) it’s slower than cable Internet, although still much faster than dial-up. The only time I really notice the deficiency is if I want to watch a video on Youtube.
But I love the freedom of being able to get online virtually anywhere. I wouldn’t be without it.
I’ll second the advice above to go with a CDMA carrier - it’s technology made for data that they’ve been doing voice with.
Take note - make sure your provider supports EVDO technology, as that is the next step in the evolution. And make sure your provider has decent roaming capabilities for when you get out in the hinterlands. I’m considering an air-card myself...by the end of the month, my wireless provider should have EVDO up & running in my area. I’m looking forward to at least test-driving it.
I have used my Treo 650 data/phone on the Cingular EDGE network - data speeds were always disappointingly low. That was about a year ago, though, so maybe they have upgraded their network in the interim...
Right now I’m using a Sierra HSDPA card with AT&T and testing a Verizon version for comparison. At 3.8Mbps it rivals base level DSL for upload/downloads and (in my area at least) has great coverage. (That 3.8Mbps means my kids can watch streaming media while we’re traveling down the road at 70mph!)
I’ve been working with this technology for about three years now and it has come a long way. The reliability of the cards is very good, the software is getting better, and the coverage is incredible. I regularly travel 100 - 150 miles a day and rarely experience drop-outs for more than a minute or two.
I’m spoiled rotten and could never go back now!
The difference between Sprint and Verizon is that Verizon has a secret cap and Sprint doesn’t. Verizon will just shut your connection off when you violate it and will give you a warning. Then they will turn it back on, but if you violate the cap again then they turn your service off for good.’
The cap refers to the amount of data you have put through downloading or uploading. Verizon expects you to use their service for email and web surfing only.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.