The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Ranger Dave on December 10, 2009, 07:18:13 PM
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I live 13 miles from town. My dial-up connection speed is 18 kilobytes per second on a good day. I am debating wireless airtime card or sattelite. Would like to hear pros and cons on both. Any and all help is appreciated.
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No DSL available either, I presume.
Some areas have rf-based capabilities, which is what I used out north of Mandan where DSL was not available.
I've used the Verizon card for work, very handy at airports so I didn't have to spend $10 an hour of internet service. Never had an issue or problem, not even a dead zone. This applies only to air cards from 3 years ago, cannot vouch for the new G3 cards.
Never used satellite, but I understand it is a mite slower than the air cards. Since I do have satellite TV, they are hinky when it comes to storms.
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You wireless card through the cell phone company does pretty well, if its available in your area. I'd stay away from satellite unless you've already got its television. And your internet transfer rates are measure in bits, 18 kilobits per second. I'd go with the card.
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I have satellite internet and have used a wireless aircard. Satellite is WAY faster (I can actually get megabit download speeds), but it has so much delay (satellite uplink, too) that sometimes it doesn't work right. It used to work through moderate rains, but a big storm actually moved the dish and I have never gotten it re-aimed properly so it drops at a drizzle :(
My suggestion is to TRY an aircard first--most have a week or two return policy. Take it home and hammer it to see if it works or if it bogs down.
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Thanks for the input
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I know satellite TV goes out in rain very easy.
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Be careful... the internet cards from Verizon, AT&T, sprint and so on typically have a limit on how much it can be used in a month before charging insane overage rates. This can be one of those mis stated things in the sales pitch. Ask direct questions at the retailer about this. But yes the inet cards in 3G are excellent if you are in a 3G coverage area. AT&T has the fastest but not the biggest coverage area.
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It's the damn 2 year contracts that ruin them. I had the 3G AT&T USB insert, yeah it worked fine, but I wasn;t getting $68.00 a month value out of it.
Your price may be different, read the fine print and try to avoid a contract.
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You can get service with AT&Ts without a contract but you have to pay a heck of a lot more for the card... (NOTE: I'm selling mine for $40 works great.) Yes you can get cheaper plans starting at about $40 a month if you want it as a backup to your home. It's not really worth it unless you go all out and get the $60 5gig plan. When we had a 3 day power outage last winter in the Ohio valley I used it like crazy. but other than that it was more of a convenience to just have on call.
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You can get service with AT&Ts without a contract but you have to pay a heck of a lot more for the card... (NOTE: I'm selling mine for $40 works great.) Yes you can get cheaper plans starting at about $40 a month if you want it as a backup to your home. It's not really worth it unless you go all out and get the $60 5gig plan. When we had a 3 day power outage last winter in the Ohio valley I used it like crazy. but other than that it was more of a convenience to just have on call.
Also, if you travel a lot, either on the road or in airports, they are valuable as you wait 2-3 hours for a connecting flight, or in a rest stop along the freeway where there is usually very good cellular reception. Both the airports and big chain hotels charge outrageous sums for internet access - airports more. $10-15 per 24 hour period in a hotel used to be normal, I have no idea what it is now, as I gave up being a road warrior some years ago.
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Thanks for all the input. One more question how are they for downloading pics video and audio?
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The best example I can give is the with my internet card and my cable inet at home I could download a song from itunes in about the same amount of time on 3G. Pictures about the same. The only time I could really see a difference was with streaming video. On my way to Camp Perry one morning I stopped at a truck stop to kill some time since I had left really early to be there when they opened. Mainly cause I had to go to work later that day and had a 3hr drive each way. I sat watching DRTV videos for about 30 minutes and some youtube. They were not as quick to load as they would be at home but still impressive all things considered.
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I LIVE on my aircard when I'm out of the house .... Sometimes it is faster than the networks at the hotels.
My parents house has the same problem that you do... dial up only at the house. I used the aircard there for a couple of days last week and it was a lifesaver.
-RJP
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ahhh good old wireless
firstly I don't have a clue of the prices and plans you can get over there this is all from my experience here with the world wide wait and the australian back water of a connection ( ie we get shafted )
if you can get DSL then go for it over here SAT connection are soo expensive and the other issue is the Data limit
they only have small down loads then you get charged a crap load however only option for some people
to give you an idea I for my ADSL 2 account ( only 4mb connection due to distance ) we are paying $80 per month for 50gb per month of data
back to Wireless
there are a couple of ways like the guys have said
Sierra wireless cards give you a 3G connection, they give you the most flexibly of them all
I don't have one ( set up heaps for clients though ), what I do it connect my Lappy to my iPhone and use the tethering to get on to the 3G network that way ( part of the version 3 software ) and I just use part of the 2gb per month data pack I have with my phone plan ( $114 per month with unlimited calls )
there is also for the geeks a new modem we have here the Sierra Wireless USB306 gives you up to Download speeds of up to 21mb ( only in a few City's at the moment they are expanding that only issue is that only Tel$tra have it and they charge a fair bit for the monthly plans with them