Folks, we're traveling quite a bit down east, and admittedly, cell coverage is spotty. Tired of having to drive to Staples for free access, or out of the way for coffee shops, etc. Lots of campgrounds we're at have little or no wifi...most have "b" level, not even G...and I dare not pray for N-MIMO anytime soon... that said, we need internet capability. Any recommendations for laptop needs? TIA, Carl
My husband uses an air card from Sprint when he travels. It works driving down the road in most areas. (No, he doesn't drive and use the internet at the same time, in case someone was thinking that.) It is $59 per month, so it's pretty high, but I think he said that some others he checked on were around $79. He used to have a T-Mobile account for $34 per month, but it only works at certain hot spots. And yes, you can drive into many neighborhoods or hotel parking lots and get access to unsecured networks. That is what I do sometimes, but that's not good enough if you are relying on the net heavily for business.
We travel in our Winnebago, so the need for the hotel/motel is negligible. Sprint has Zero coverage where we are..and will be. thanks.
If you need a quick hot-spot, you might try finding the nearest Starbucks. Aside from that, you've pretty much eliminated everything else.
I had written: Satellite only downloads through the dish. All uploads are through the phone line (I used to have it until RR came to my area). But, after reading the link just to make sure, it appears that the technology has changed in the past five years. Uploads are through satellite as well. Hatteras6: It appears this may be your best bet. As I said earlier, I used to have satellite high speed. It is very fast (rivalling Road Runner), and since it's now both download and upload, it's also solution I will consider for my RV.
one perspective I would agree with the option of using Satellite works well but it could get pricey, The size of the dish you buy will be based upon what kind of speed would need for download speeds. At work, our business plan is about $500 /month for unlimited and I get speeds about what DSL would give you. Even with a clear sky you will still have non-consistent connection. (if it is snowing, forget about connecting :cry: ) I find that I can't show video very well, because I don't have dedicated connection. I am sure residential rates are cheaper but I would assume you still have to buy all the equipment up front which won't be cheap. good luck with it
I've had the opportunity to use various types of wireless cards at work, if you're still consider that as an option. Sprint: I recommend staying far away from Sprint. The signal was always fine, but even with a full signal, we had problems where you would lose connection for no reason in particular, and sometimes had to reboot before you could get a connection again. I think they had a problem with jumping between cell towers. Cingular: Nice high speed connection in the urban areas (Wake County), but outside of that, you'll have a very slow speed connection, if any at all. Verizon: Decent in the city (Cingular is better in the city, IMO), but coworkers that travel out of state tell me Verizon has the best overall coverage. It may not be the best speed, but you're more likely have SOME sort of signal out in the boonies. Alltel: No experience with them, but I heard the coverage isn't that great.
