Aircards - which to buy?

[waynehartwig]

I'm looking into buying one, as I'll be on the road ALOT over the next month and then in temporary housing for probably another two after that.

Which has the best coverage? Which is the fastest? Which is the cheapest? Bottom line, which is the best and which should I buy?

 

[Rusted]

Are you talking an EVDO card? I have used a verizon evdo card for over a year, it was killer in big cities (chicago and vegas) and was slow in SLC until recently. It was pcmcia card set up. Now I use a EVDO enabled blackberry that I teather to a computer. It is verizon as well, I have been happy with it. In the big cities I have fast service, and in the fringes I at least get something, similar to dial up speeds.

A lot of the newer cell phones have evdo service as well, you may see if you can just get a cell phone that you can tether to your computer. I think that the verison charge is $15 a month on top of your phone bill, and they have a 30 or 90 day trial you can get for free.

 

[Caleb]

Are you talking an EVDO card? I have used a verizon evdo card for over a year, it was killer in big cities (chicago and vegas) and was slow in SLC until recently. It was pcmcia card set up. Now I use a EVDO enabled blackberry that I teather to a computer. It is verizon as well, I have been happy with it. In the big cities I have fast service, and in the fringes I at least get something, similar to dial up speeds.

A lot of the newer cell phones have evdo service as well, you may see if you can just get a cell phone that you can tether to your computer. I think that the verison charge is $15 a month on top of your phone bill, and they have a 30 or 90 day trial you can get for free.

I don't know about adding it to an account but alone verizon is about $80 a month for unlimited. I have heard Verizon's is the fastest. My Dad's company (State Farm) just switched from Cingular to Verizon for two reasons, better coverage and faster connect speeds. If it were me I'd go Verizon for sure even though I am sure they are the most expensive.

 

[waynehartwig]

Are you talking an EVDO card? I have used a verizon evdo card for over a year, it was killer in big cities (chicago and vegas) and was slow in SLC until recently. It was pcmcia card set up. Now I use a EVDO enabled blackberry that I teather to a computer. It is verizon as well, I have been happy with it. In the big cities I have fast service, and in the fringes I at least get something, similar to dial up speeds.

A lot of the newer cell phones have evdo service as well, you may see if you can just get a cell phone that you can tether to your computer. I think that the verison charge is $15 a month on top of your phone bill, and they have a 30 or 90 day trial you can get for free.

I think so... How do you know if you have a EVDO compatible phone? Do you just use it as a USB modem at that point? I have one of the new Razor's... I believe it's blue tooth enabled and so is my laptop, so no wires possibly? If I use the phone, will I get internet basically where ever I can get a signal?

 

[waynehartwig]

Just looked, and mine is a V3M, which is EVDO compatible. So maybe I'll drag my laptop and phone into Verizon and see what they have to say about it...

 

[waynehartwig]

I don't know about adding it to an account but alone verizon is about $80 a month for unlimited. I have heard Verizon's is the fastest. My Dad's company (State Farm) just switched from Cingular to Verizon for two reasons, better coverage and faster connect speeds. If it were me I'd go Verizon for sure even though I am sure they are the most expensive.

I would like to stay Verizon, since I already have their cell service (for years) and like their service.

 

[Rusted]

I think so... How do you know if you have a EVDO compatible phone? Do you just use it as a USB modem at that point? I have one of the new Razor's... I believe it's blue tooth enabled and so is my laptop, so no wires possibly? If I use the phone, will I get internet basically where ever I can get a signal?

look at your phone by the power strength meter. Do you have a 1XEV? From memory the 1X means you are on digital network and the EV means you are on the fast EVDO network. Both will give you internet access, but the difference in speed is much better on EVDO.

Check the Razor manual to see if they support EVDO. It is possible that you can bluetooth phone to PC to get data to work, that is one complaint that I have with my blackberry is that I have to use a USB cable. I think they do that because the phone also charges over the USB connection, so I don't drain phone battery by using internet.

 

[waynehartwig]

look at your phone by the power strength meter. Do you have a 1XEV? From memory the 1X means you are on digital network and the EV means you are on the fast EVDO network. Both will give you internet access, but the difference in speed is much better on EVDO.

Check the Razor manual to see if they support EVDO. It is possible that you can bluetooth phone to PC to get data to work, that is one complaint that I have with my blackberry is that I have to use a USB cable. I think they do that because the phone also charges over the USB connection, so I don't drain phone battery by using internet.

OOOOhhh that's what the 1x and EV there stands for. So as long as I have either one there I can connect? I dont' think I have ever seen anything but those there... I take that back, I think I have seen an A and a D before, but I was out there.... I'm going to have to look into this further. If it's only $15, then it's a no brainer!

 

[waynehartwig]

Looking into it more, my phone is compatible and it's $15 a month. I will need a tethering device or home office kit - what are these actually? Is the tethering device a plane jane USB cable? If so, I have one... Will I need software?

 

[Meat_]

Looking into it more, my phone is compatible and it's $15 a month. I will need a tethering device or home office kit - what are these actually? Is the tethering device a plane jane USB cable? If so, I have one... Will I need software?

$15 for unlimited?

 

[waynehartwig]

Actually I think it's $15 for a Blackberry and $59.99 for any EVDO compatible headsets - which is what I have I believe.

 

[waynehartwig]

$15 for unlimited?

It looks like yes, if you have a blackberry.

http://solutions.vzwshop.com/bba/pricing_connect.htm

 

[Meat_]

Actually I think it's $15 for a Blackberry and $59.99 for any EVDO compatible headsets - which is what I have I believe.

That's gay. Why the difference

 

[waynehartwig]

That's gay. Why the difference

Not sure.. I was thinking the same thing as well...

 

[Rusted]

I was told $15 unlimited. This is a company plan and a company phone. I better check the price. I already have an unlimited data plan (ie all the pda browsing I want and all the email I want), and it was $15 more for unlimited EVDO traffic.

My data connection works from SLC to vegas (in 1X mode) , it was dead in Vernal. 1X up in the heber area. All you need is a regular USB cable, nothing fancy. The verizon software is called VZAccess and you can download that from their website for free. I think that the office kit is a
USB cable, a CD with the software, and probably some instrucions that you will not read anyways

 

[Rusted]

The price must be a blackberry thing, who would have guessed. Will they give you a free trial period?

 

[waynehartwig]

I was told $15 unlimited. This is a company plan and a company phone. I better check the price. I already have an unlimited data plan (ie all the pda browsing I want and all the email I want), and it was $15 more for unlimited EVDO traffic.

My data connection works from SLC to vegas (in 1X mode) , it was dead in Vernal. 1X up in the heber area. All you need is a regular USB cable, nothing fancy. The verizon software is called VZAccess and you can download that from their website for free. I think that the office kit is a
USB cable, a CD with the software, and probably some instrucions that you will not read anyways

Just checked, and I don't think my phone has a normal USB connector on it. It's wider....

 

[waynehartwig]

The price must be a blackberry thing, who would have guessed. Will they give you a free trial period?

The flier I recieved in the mail said 15 day trial, but it was also for buying the aircard and service. I'm sure if I'm using my hardware, it's still 15 days.

 

[Rusted]

Well do your homework on what cable you need, and see if you can use it over bluetooth. That would be super cool.

Another option..... I have seen a wireless access point that can accept a pcmcia card in the back for EVDO. you can plug in into your wired network and have a normal access point and use the EVDO as a backup. And then when you travel just plug the acess point into a power converter, and you have an access point in your car that you can 802.11 over to a laptop. Throw the access point up on the dash for better EVDO reception and all the laptops in the car can be in the internet.

 

[Caleb]

Well do your homework on what cable you need, and see if you can use it over bluetooth. That would be super cool.

Another option..... I have seen a wireless access point that can accept a pcmcia card in the back for EVDO. you can plug in into your wired network and have a normal access point and use the EVDO as a backup. And then when you travel just plug the acess point into a power converter, and you have an access point in your car that you can 802.11 over to a laptop. Throw the access point up on the dash for better EVDO reception and all the laptops in the car can be in the internet.

kinda pricey but yeah, the access point would be kind of cool.

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=12735&ta=prod_info

I've actually had this catalog sitting on my desk with this access point sitting here staring at me for the last week