Wireless Laptop?

H

harryr2000

New member
Just wondering if anyone can share experiences with a wireless card in a laptop for mobile boating access. I have investigated two possibilities so far:

1. US Cellular offers a card for 99.95, and then 60.00 per month - no contract - pretty good coverage on the East coast, but the drawback is 40 - 60 kbps - about like dialup speed.

2. Verizon offers true broadband, also with very good coverage, but here the deal is 2 year contract, card for 50 and 60 per month. They also offer a 1 year contract at 100 for the card, and 90 per month.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Harry
 
From my experience many of the boaters traveling full time in the US are using Verizon--just because of the coverage. However, don't count on the high speed links in much of the area. It varies greatly in the various areas of the country.

You might want to find out which coverage is best in the part of the country where you will be traveling.
 
Hi Harry,

Check out our cruising thread - the Cruising Adventures of Wild Blue and Crew... most of the posts there have been made with a wireless broadband card. We use Verizon and have found that there are few places on the road, and a few more on the water, where we haven't had some kind of coverage. If you have broadband coverage, you can expect speed similar to (or maybe a bit slower than) DSL. If you have National Access coverage, it will still be about 3-5 times faster than dial up.

This is not to say that it's perfect... but it is great to be able to have coverage while cruising - on the road or on the water. Besides keeping in touch, we are able to check weather on the internet (including real time radar for weather immediately in front of you on your route).

We've been using it about a year and a half now, and have found it to be well worthwhile for the type of traveling we do. Wi-fi is available at many marinas (although some charge for it), but you can't always count on it.

If you can get a cell phone signal, you should be able to get some sort of wireless coverage.

YMMV, your expectations may be different from ours. We like it.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
I travel every week; border to border and coast to coast. In four years of using the Verizon service, I am still satisfied with the coverage. As a matter of fact, I am sending this message from my laptop while sitting in a hotel in Portland Oregon. I have used the wireless card many times on the boat while at the dock and also underway. I have used it in moving cabs and while sitting on an airplane prior to pushing back from the gate. I agree that if you can get a signal on your phone you can get wireless on the laptop.

There are faster services, but nothing else gives a broad a range of coverage.
 
ATT/Cingular also has wireless broadband similar to Verizon. I have had it for about two years and on the water, I have had better reception/connection speed than on land in some of the remote areas I travel.

I believe all the cellular companies have similarly priced options. Get the one that gives you the best coverage in the areas you will be using it the most.

At home, I have a 1.5 meg connection and at the office I have a 6 meg connection. My cell connection at the best is only 600k and at the worse, about like a slow dial up connection (24k).
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
I'm using AT&T air card mainly because of better coverage on the coast of Maine. The speed varies from true broadband speed to dsl but is always better than dial-up. Been satisfied with it in this area. 2 year contract $49/month unlimited time.
 
I got Verizon broadband because both Jim and Brent (Discovery) had it on Lake Powell and I was amazed at how they were able to get reception and post to C-Brats in such a remote area. However, having now used it extensively my feeling is that it is a good thing to have when all else fails, but it is never going to replace a good WiFi connection.

Warren
 
Harry, I have Verizon "America's Choice with three lines and a Motorola V325i cell phone for my line. I can and do use the "Unlimited Internet Access" high speed connections when available and do it without contract, paying only for the prorated time I actually use it. The phone is "tethered" to my laptop via a USB cable. Standard USB at one end, mini-usb at the other. So far it's worked just fine. Verizon even sells a "Mobile Office" kit (MOK) for the 325 but it's really not needed.

CAVEAT: $60/month in addition to the basic (America's Choice) plan. It can be turned on and off at will so the charges are minimal.

You do, however, have to use the buzz words that Verizon uses so you're properly charged because a lot of the reps have no clue.

What you need:

USB cable that connects the phone to the laptop

Drivers for the phone (part of the MOK but are available free if you google around a bit) so it can "emulate" a modem

Software to connect to Verizon's "National Access" network. (Part of MOK)

When I want to turn on the service, I call Verizon Customer Service or stop by our local genuine Verizon store and tell them I have a "Tethered phone" and want to enable "Unlimited Internet Access" on my phone. They turn it on and I can immediately log into the National Access network on my laptop, paying $60/mo extra. When I finish my vacation trip I call and tell them to turn the service off. No 2 year contract! Prorated charges!!!

I know this works 'cause I used it on my trip to the Bellingham gathering and a subsequent RV trip. This is NOT a "back door" freebie, though it used to be. If you try it without turning the feature on you're gonna get a rude surprise come end of the month bill....

I suspect if one owned some other brand (SOB) phone, as long as one was technically capable of tethering the phone and setting up the drivers etc., it might also work but I have no personal knowledge of that fact. Just remember to use the words "Tethered Phone" not USB cable or any other nerd term.

Another caveat: The last time I used it was 2 months ago. They've changed some plan names since, so check it out first.

Don
 
All of our posts and email responses for the past several years have been with Cingular (AT&T) through Dell Mobile Broadband -- it's our only connection (using it now) and has been VERY good almost everywhere we have been on the water. We even listen to our favorite Denver radio station, through the wireless connection in our computer with the transmitting website.

Similarly, our only phone service for years has been cingular (AT&T)cellular -- so we have no land line links. (Even our snail mail is forwarded to us by a mail forwarding service -- us nomads never had it so good!!)
 
We use the Verizon Broadband card as our only source of internet connection. We are too far from the hub to get a DSL service, and also too remote for Cable. The Verizon card is the USB version, and works equally well in my Mac desktop and Dixie's PC notebook
 
Last year I helped my friend move his stuff cross country. Since I have a Verizon Treo 700w, I downloaded PDANET and installed it on the Laptop and phone. Then I simply used my cell phone as the modem for the laptop at Verizon's typical speeds. Worked great and no extra phone charges other than the typical unlimited data use I already pay for.

If I needed this more often I would definitely purchase the $35 license for it. It worked flawlessly and was easy to install.
 
And some of us pine for the 'good ol' days.' Ain't technology grand?

When we first became nomads, we recall standing in the rain, in the dark woods, in bear country, talking on a public telephone to the family -- now the Grandkids wake us up in our V-berth, in a remote anchorage, to chat on their cell phones.
 
El and Bill":2b5la0rb said:
And some of us pine for the 'good ol' days.' Ain't technology grand?

When we first became nomads, we recall standing in the rain, in the dark woods, in bear country, talking on a public telephone to the family -- now the Grandkids wake us up in our V-berth, in a remote anchorage, to chat on their cell phones.
Click to expand...

Joan and I were talking about this... just 20 years ago, we not only had to stand in line to use a pay phone, but you had to carry traveler's checks because ATMs weren't available, and there was no "on-line" bill paying (if you were traveling for any extended time, you had to depend on someone "back home" to pay bills for you). Oh, I did have an early laptop back then (monocolor screen)... complete with a 300 baud modem with an acoustic coupler... I could pull up Flight Service weather from a phone and get a print out instead of a live briefing. I thought I was living large. :wink:

I don't miss "the good ol' days"... well, except for the 50¢ per gallon gas and music didn't sound like "chanting." Maybe my buddy Mike is right - I am becoming an old fart. :mrgreen:

But, getting away is much easier these days.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
I was eight years old sitting in the passenger seat of my father's car (can't remember its make) as we pulled up to the gas pump when my father exclaimed, "G...D....! and a few more expletives." I asked, "What's wrong Dad?" His response..."Gas just went up to 15 cents a gallon!!!"
Hal (C-Dory wannabe)
 
Really new boat owner here who - once I do get out on the water - will need to be concerned w/ being able to do my job (gotta insure the '$' keeps coming in to pay for the boat!) and minimize my impact on possible weekend boating excursions.

Does anybody have any current comments on accessing the internet via a laptop connected to cell phones? Any comments - mostly specific to access in the Puget Sound / San Juan Islands area - would be appreciated.

Such things as costs of various offerings from different cell phone providers such as Verizon vs. Cingular or other cell phone providers?

Plan costs and connection how-to's?

Quality of coverage comments?

I am almost always on-call. If paged I need to be able to access the Internet on a laptop to create a Citrix connection to enable me to logon and diagnose/address problems on a remote mainframe (z/OS) operating system. OS support on the mainframe is strictly text based (as opposed to most internet connection's predominant graphics weightings) so connectivity from more locations is far more important then higher speeds.

I realize many marinas have Wi-Fi access but to insure I can do this from more remote moorings or locations a cell phone/laptop connection would be much more useful.

Tanks for any more current insights, experiences, and/or suggestions you can provide,
Dan
 
I would add Sprint to the mix too. $60/mo. $30 for the usb card which serves as a very effective gps receiver. I've used it in 4 states, (Ore/Wa, Texas, and now in Az.) without interruption.

-Greg
 
A satellite connection will be your most reliable and location-free option. And obviously the most expensive, as well. Because you don't need a GUI you might be able to get by with an email-level connection, assuming you can hack it to allow a ssh or telnet connection.

Failing that, there are several of us here who have the dedicated Verizon USB (or PC card) package that costs $60 per month. This is not a phone, but a data-only link. Because there are many people living in the San Juans your chance of finding a cell tower are very good. I decided to get one of these gizmos after seeing Discovery and Wild Blue post to the site from the middle of Lake Powell!

You can also use a Verizon phone to do the same thing but Verizon has throttled its data connection for cell phones to about half the speed of the dedicated unit.

Warren
 
Dan, Glad to see you here on this site. El & Bill and Jim from Wild Blue are a couple of regular and remote posters from around the country. There are others here too, Roger on Dreamer, Oldgrowth Dave, and Larry H, are all pretty much PNWerners. IMHO, a PC data card, (ours was from ATT/Singulair) should do the job for you.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Dan,

I have used my Sprint Broadband card in Friday Harbor, San Juans. It works anywhere I can get Sprint service and if I want to pay for roaming, it will work with other digital cell services. I use Sprint Broadband because I use Sprint cell phone service, and I live where there are no phone or cable lines.
 
We have been using our AT aircard for years, from remote anchorages, on the road, and right now from our rental condo in CO -- we have no land line service and (except for higher speeds, perhaps) don't miss it.

There are other services (Verizon, etc), with variable (and perhaps better) coverage in different parts of the country -- but so far, ours works fine most everywhere except very remote spots. Then we use our Spot satellite link to let the fam. know where we are and that all's OK. Aircards are great!
 
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