Internet Access on the Go

George,

That's a kind of a cool gadget.

Still harkens back to the high-gain analog set-up we used in the Phoenix One. It was a 3-watt analog transceiver that I tweaked to a higher performance level + coupled with a high-gain antenna -- but the network was decidedly 0.05G.... I built a splitter that worked pretty well...

The biggest issue I see with the MiFi 2372 is the lack of high-gain antenna and, of course, the lack of nodes out in the backroads. Mike Booth and I keep missing each other -- but truckers are at the forefront of internet access these days -- they require good web connections to assemble their loads. I'll try and connect with him today.

Mark

Either one of those is going to work just as well as, if not better than, a tethered iPhone or other handset. I wouldn't doubt that the other carriers have similar devices.

Mark, a bit off topic, but I do remember my first bag phone - and I was amazed that I could actually make phone calls in my car. I've read Megan's book so I know what you went through!

The first time I set up mobile Internet for someone was fun - it was for a customer with a yacht. I was in Burnham Harbor in Chicago and connected a cell phone to a laptop using a cable and PCMCIA card, and was amazed that we could actually get on AOHell - at a whopping 9600 baud!

Yeah, I had a 3-watt phone (installed -- 1 step beyond the bag phone) in my car before just about every one I knew. When we were on the road in the early days of RTA, we would have been thrilled with 9600 baud. 1200 was the best we could ever hope for in 1994!

And beyond that, of course, we used the "iguana" -- an accoustic coupler for pay phones. The number of people who threatened us with citizens arrest for what they thought was a theft of telephone signal was amazing... But I digress too.

Mark

Mike Booth has tried just about every combination of internet access devices you can buy over the last couple of decades. What he's found that works the best these days is:

1. A Virgin Mobile Hot Spot Card -- he purchased at Best Buy for about $150
2. Used on conjunction with the Sprint service which is about $50 per month for unlimited data service

Like the AT&T hot spot card -- you can operate multiple devices -- he uses his laptop and iPad

Advantages of the Sprint Service:
-- No service contract -- renewable when used
-- Seems to work every where Sprint cell service works
(Known poor reception in Wyoming, Montana, western Nebraska, North Dakota and parts of South Dakota).

Verizon's latest entry in this space are their 3G/4G phones that can operate like a hot spot card.

Mike reports that the Sprint service works just about as well the WiFi services at truck stops.

--Mark

That's cheaper than a no-contract AT&T device and AT&T doesn't have unlimited data.

Virgin Mobile offers voice service over Sprint too - including pay-as-you-go and throwaway phones.

Erm, sorry, but I'm a bit confused by all this new vocabulary. I'm not a tech geek at all. In fact, I'm pretty new at this kind of stuff (I bought my iPhone less than 4 months ago), and I am not familiar with the U.S. Internet/phone service providers. All I know is that I need a smart phone that works properly in most places the US so I can receive and send emails in real-time, answer phone calls, and also a way to have flawless Internet access for my laptop. The Hot Spot card sounds great, but does it mean I would have to buy another phone on top of that? I already have a plan in Canada with Telus, so do you reckon I could connect my actual Canadian iPhone wirelessly to this Hot Spot card (and configure my iPhone to work solely on that connection to avoid roaming charges) and carry it everywhere to get emails and calls? Could I make long distance calls to Canada? How can we calculate the cost of voice bandwidth?

Thanks a million for your precious help!:)
Gen the tech dummy

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All I know is that I need a smart phone that works properly in most places the US so I can receive and send emails in real-time, answer phone calls, and also a way to have flawless Internet access for my laptop. The Hot Spot card sounds great, but does it mean I would have to buy another phone on top of that?

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No, this is not a smart phone and you really don't need one for this application. The problem of getting a smart phone that functions as a hot spot device is that will perform in a half-**** capacity as both a phone and hot spot device. You should get the best performing phone you can afford and the best internet connecting device and not try and to use a one-size fits all solution.

Think of a hot spot card as a black box... you turn it on and it becomes a hot spot transmitter -- which you can use to connect your laptop and other devices. You still need a monthly data service -- but it's not a phone service. If you use Mike Booth's option, you'll have unlimited data services.

Mark

If I'm not mistaken, the only US networks that your Telus iPhone can be used on are AT&T and T-Mobile, those are the only 2 that are GSM and use sim cards. You would either be paying international roaming rates, or you would have to buy an AT&T or T-Mobile sim for it along with a voice and data plan. This would give it a US phone number when the sim is in it. I do NOT know whether AT&T and T-Mobile would allow tethering (connecting your laptop to it using a cable or wireless), and if they do, it will probably be considerably more expensive than just a data plan for the device.

If you buy the Virgin Mobile hotspot card, it can be used with your iPhone (and any other wi-fi device such as your laptop) using wi-fi for data only. This is your BEST bet here for handling data, but you will have to do something in addition in order to have a telephone. I would suggest a throwaway pay-as-you-go phone, but it WILL be expensive calling back to Canada.

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Originally Posted by glc

... but it WILL be expensive calling back to Canada.

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For calls back to Canada, have you thought of putting Skype on your laptop? Not sure what plans they have for Canada / US. With my Australia wide plan (approx $80 p.a.) I can call back to Oz for free, when I am in North America.

Lifey

It's not quite free for me -- but I use Skype exclusively for business calls (where I'm not using my cellular phone) Long distance calls cost 2.3 cents per minute anywhere in North America.

Mark