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I was pleasantly pleased with the performance of all three PC Cards in my hometown area of Louisville, KY, but I am curious about other areas. Are you using a wireless broadband card from a cellular company? How is the service? Are you considering purchasing a wireless service? What factors do you deem most important when deciding which vendor to contract with?
I have used a verizon aircard for about two years and am very pleased with it.
i have tried it in tx and az and even had service waaaayyyyy out in the boonies of northern tx in the mountains
granted not as good as in down town phoenix
but service
fred
i have tried it in tx and az and even had service waaaayyyyy out in the boonies of northern tx in the mountains
granted not as good as in down town phoenix
but service
fred
I have take my verizon card on Amtrak from Providence to Orlando at speeds upwards of 110 mph and have had contiuous service with exception of a 25 to 35 mile stip after leaving Savannha GA. I have been on their service for almost 4 years or so and have implemented 6 other road warriors all are completely satisfied. Always received excellent service for the 4 service calls I have had to make of the years.
Very happy with Verizon... both with the air card and with a smart-phone tether. Normally see download speeds in the T1 range, upload is capped at 153 kbps.
But location is everything. Trip to LA I've been on - works fine from a hotel downtown, but a hotel near LAX, it's awful (slower speed and high latency... presumably due to congestion).
In the 1XRTT areas, works fairly well - ISDN speeds. Great performance remoting in back to the office via Citrix.
But location is everything. Trip to LA I've been on - works fine from a hotel downtown, but a hotel near LAX, it's awful (slower speed and high latency... presumably due to congestion).
In the 1XRTT areas, works fairly well - ISDN speeds. Great performance remoting in back to the office via Citrix.
Very happy with Verizon... both with the air card and with a smart-phone tether. Normally see download speeds in the T1 range, upload is capped at 153 kbps.
But location is everything. Trip to LA I've been on - works fine from a hotel downtown, but a hotel near LAX, it's awful (slower speed and high latency... presumably due to congestion).
In the 1XRTT areas, works fairly well - ISDN speeds. Great performance remoting in back to the office via Citrix.
But location is everything. Trip to LA I've been on - works fine from a hotel downtown, but a hotel near LAX, it's awful (slower speed and high latency... presumably due to congestion).
In the 1XRTT areas, works fairly well - ISDN speeds. Great performance remoting in back to the office via Citrix.
Our company is in Nebraska and we have salesmen that cover the entire state. At present we are using Verizon and our contract is up in a couple months. In Omaha, the coverage is excellent. But outside of Omaha, it is just horrible, even in Lincoln. Our in town salesmen are using broadband cards and our salesmen outside of Omaha, are using voice plan cards running at 14.4 and sometines barely get a signal. 14.4 is just enough to push their orders in. We had Sprint and Alltel give use a couple demo cards to use and it was a major difference. Even in the desolete areas they were pushing their orders ultra fast. They were please and didn't want to give up the cards.
Something else that left sour grapes in my mouth with Verizon was when we first got our contract with them 2 years ago, they said that our Omaha slaesman have broadband cards and will be on the broadband network. Last year Verizon came out with their "New" Broadband network. I asked our rep what the hell have we been paying for. He said that it wasn't the broadband network but it was faster than the regular voice network. He also said that the new broadband network shows up in the VZ access manager as "National Access - Broadband Access" I looked in our VZ Access manager and it shows up as "National Access - Broadband Access". But our download speed is only 256KBs. All he said was "wow, that's strange." He was going to "check into it" and get back to me. Yea right. I guess he has bigger fish to fry and our $2300 a month is not good enough for him.
IMHO, my experience with verizon just stinks and I cannot see using them again. They would have to do alot in this area to have me stay with them.
When our contract is up with Verizon we plan on going with Alltel since they own all the towers in Nebraska.
Something else that left sour grapes in my mouth with Verizon was when we first got our contract with them 2 years ago, they said that our Omaha slaesman have broadband cards and will be on the broadband network. Last year Verizon came out with their "New" Broadband network. I asked our rep what the hell have we been paying for. He said that it wasn't the broadband network but it was faster than the regular voice network. He also said that the new broadband network shows up in the VZ access manager as "National Access - Broadband Access" I looked in our VZ Access manager and it shows up as "National Access - Broadband Access". But our download speed is only 256KBs. All he said was "wow, that's strange." He was going to "check into it" and get back to me. Yea right. I guess he has bigger fish to fry and our $2300 a month is not good enough for him.
IMHO, my experience with verizon just stinks and I cannot see using them again. They would have to do alot in this area to have me stay with them.
When our contract is up with Verizon we plan on going with Alltel since they own all the towers in Nebraska.
Declining early termination fee (ETF)- CRAP.
The wireless industry is predatory. One purchases hardware and a service that is unkonwn until tried. That service is subject to change at anytime. I have tried all three that you covered in this article. My home is three miles out of the city. All three providers work great everywhere in my daily travel but not at my home. I have to sit on the porch outside to get a reliable connection. Sometimes it is really cold outside. All three say, "THAT IS UNFORTUNATE - PAY THE ETF RANSOM AND YOU CAN GO ELSEWHERE".
The right and ethical answer is if I get a free something for a binding contract so be it. If I pay for the phone and the service is not adequate then I should be able to walk.
The entire company to customer relationship needs to be reviewed. Sooner or later a Toyota thinking wireless provider will come along and the BIG THREE will be forgotten as their empires crumble.
The wireless industry is predatory. One purchases hardware and a service that is unkonwn until tried. That service is subject to change at anytime. I have tried all three that you covered in this article. My home is three miles out of the city. All three providers work great everywhere in my daily travel but not at my home. I have to sit on the porch outside to get a reliable connection. Sometimes it is really cold outside. All three say, "THAT IS UNFORTUNATE - PAY THE ETF RANSOM AND YOU CAN GO ELSEWHERE".
The right and ethical answer is if I get a free something for a binding contract so be it. If I pay for the phone and the service is not adequate then I should be able to walk.
The entire company to customer relationship needs to be reviewed. Sooner or later a Toyota thinking wireless provider will come along and the BIG THREE will be forgotten as their empires crumble.
I moved to a rural area, 20 miles from a city. I have no choice for broadband. Satellite is it. It does not work in rain or snow, is slow and extrememly expensive. Broadband providers just laugh when I ask when something, anything will be available. It is unfortunate that US carriers can't build out the broadband infrastructure as they promised to do.
They do. It's called Broadband over Power Lines (BPL). But the telco and cable companies don't like the ideal because they are the internet supreme beings. But that's a different subject.
Let's see how far WiMAX will get.
Let's see how far WiMAX will get.
I notice that this was posted quite awhile ago, but I didn't know if you'd found any help in your area other than satellite.
We live 30 miles east of Kansas City, and we only have satellite providers as well.
However, we did purchase the AT&T (shown as the Cingular on this info.) and it works well.
If you have cell phone service in your area, that provider should have something that works....but may only be on a laptop.
My desktop did not have a slot to accept the original wireless card, however they now make them as a USB connection which should work on a desktop.
Our satellite service, Wildblue is horrible, very expensive and the only advantage is our phone line is no longer busy.
I am in the process of researching further ATT products to use on the laptop we got to replace our desktop, that's how I ended up seeing your post.
Call your cell phone provider and they should have something now...I can't wait to cancel my Wildblue/Gotsky service!
We live 30 miles east of Kansas City, and we only have satellite providers as well.
However, we did purchase the AT&T (shown as the Cingular on this info.) and it works well.
If you have cell phone service in your area, that provider should have something that works....but may only be on a laptop.
My desktop did not have a slot to accept the original wireless card, however they now make them as a USB connection which should work on a desktop.
Our satellite service, Wildblue is horrible, very expensive and the only advantage is our phone line is no longer busy.
I am in the process of researching further ATT products to use on the laptop we got to replace our desktop, that's how I ended up seeing your post.
Call your cell phone provider and they should have something now...I can't wait to cancel my Wildblue/Gotsky service!
If your Cingular phone works great in that area wouldn't your wireless broadband card? or do they run on seperate networks?
2 separate networks. Cells use a voice network and Wireless broadband use a data network. Most carriers will have a fallback to the voice network, at a slower speed on their broadband cards, if you are not in a broadband coverage area.
They are on separate frequencies as I understand it, so a good cell phone signal does not automatically mean wireless broadband. You'll have to do some research for your area to know for sure.
I tested several of these wireless broadband cards from several different cellular providers over three years ago and haven't played much with them since. Being able to connect from anywhere, your car, the restaurant, wherever, was fantastic.
One of the major factors of my testing these cards was to test their compatibility with the Corp Network, which was using a Checkpoint VPN solution. Some cards gave an IP address in the 10.x.x.x range, while others gave IP's in the 192.168.x.x range.
This factor was huge. This company's network already had a nat'd internal segment in the 10.x.x.x range, and therefore a card that allocated that address range would NOT connect with the VPN server, as it was considered to already be internal. The vendor that I really wanted to use was unable, at that time, to provide a solution. In other words I couldn't change and neither could they, the IP address I was allocated by their network.
This made the final choice fairly simple, as it then came down to which had best coverage area, as many have already agreed.
I'm not sure if this is a factor any longer.
Mark, or anyone else, has this issue arised or have the ISP's gained the ability to change the IP range allocated by their networks for compatibility?
One of the major factors of my testing these cards was to test their compatibility with the Corp Network, which was using a Checkpoint VPN solution. Some cards gave an IP address in the 10.x.x.x range, while others gave IP's in the 192.168.x.x range.
This factor was huge. This company's network already had a nat'd internal segment in the 10.x.x.x range, and therefore a card that allocated that address range would NOT connect with the VPN server, as it was considered to already be internal. The vendor that I really wanted to use was unable, at that time, to provide a solution. In other words I couldn't change and neither could they, the IP address I was allocated by their network.
This made the final choice fairly simple, as it then came down to which had best coverage area, as many have already agreed.
I'm not sure if this is a factor any longer.
Mark, or anyone else, has this issue arised or have the ISP's gained the ability to change the IP range allocated by their networks for compatibility?
I have a customer that setup remote construction office around the country and they state for speed and coverage Sprint is the best. Cingular in most areas is the slowest and has the least coverage.
IF your customers are on Sprint's relatively new EVDO Rev A network, they will be blazing along. No one else comes close - YET.
If they are on "regular" EVDO Rev 0, then Sprint is pretty much tied w/ Verizon in terms of coverage and performance.
Cingular's wireless performance could be better, but it is not the worst. Same with their coverage. They do have the upper hand, however, if the customer needs to use this type of service outside of North America - EDGE & GPRS are available in Europe and Asia.
T-Mobile is bringing up the rear in terms of coverage and performance/ speed. Their only saving grace is that their slow data network (GPRS) is available internationally. T-Mobile products are moving towards EDGE, but they are doing it rather slowly when compared to Cingular.
If they are on "regular" EVDO Rev 0, then Sprint is pretty much tied w/ Verizon in terms of coverage and performance.
Cingular's wireless performance could be better, but it is not the worst. Same with their coverage. They do have the upper hand, however, if the customer needs to use this type of service outside of North America - EDGE & GPRS are available in Europe and Asia.
T-Mobile is bringing up the rear in terms of coverage and performance/ speed. Their only saving grace is that their slow data network (GPRS) is available internationally. T-Mobile products are moving towards EDGE, but they are doing it rather slowly when compared to Cingular.
As a wireless software developer, I?ve worked with each network & others and know they have their strengths/weaknesses that realistically can only be tested by going to locations where your customer base is and running applications off the platforms you use (i.e.: laptops, pdas, embedded devices, etc.). Environment is also a coverage factor. (i.e: refelection, absorbtion, interference). Many coverage maps will tell you all is good in an area, if needed check it out before going full bore and giving away big contracts. Also check their policy for crossing networks regionally (i.e.: US, Canada, Mexico).
Very well said by rporrata. As suggested and relative to many of the other comments shared, surveying each specific market seems to be a key to getting the right provider as their coverage seems to vary by market. And though wireless branding might suggest otherwise, it seems inaccurate to generalize with statements such as "Sprint has the best coverage" or "Verizon provides a superior network."
For instance, there not only seems to be variance involved in wireless provider coverage from state to state but even from community to community. In a given area depending upon specific locality, environmental factors, user requirements, etc. a given provider might have a superior solution to another and weaker products in a neighboring community.
A couple of resources to consider in identifying conditions for a given market include:
- http://www.cellreception.com/coverage
- http://www.deadcellzones.com
Some factors that might impact a providers coverage variance between markets could be the background of a particular provider organization (e.g., PSTN vs. pager, retail vs. commercial products), how much of their local coverage was "built-out" by the provider vs. attained through acquisition, the wireless technology that they utilize and/or will utilize in the future, specific wireless spectrum that each has licensed in a given area, the support/opposition toward infrastructure expansion provided by a local populace as well as municipal and state gov't, who the early technical adopters were in a particular area, etc. etc. etc. And unfortunately current investment in a given area doesn't necessarily reflect the performance of a particular network as it can be rather subjective depending upon how much infrastructure already existed for that particular provider prior to investment.
Organizational culture as well as intended customer targets seem to also impact the quality of customer service each provides For example, with a focus on 18-34 year old males T-Mobile seems to provide liberal doses of Hollywood actresses and more cool, hip products. Meanwhile, Verizon's fixation upon businesses shows with the personal level of service they try to provide.
For instance, there not only seems to be variance involved in wireless provider coverage from state to state but even from community to community. In a given area depending upon specific locality, environmental factors, user requirements, etc. a given provider might have a superior solution to another and weaker products in a neighboring community.
A couple of resources to consider in identifying conditions for a given market include:
- http://www.cellreception.com/coverage
- http://www.deadcellzones.com
Some factors that might impact a providers coverage variance between markets could be the background of a particular provider organization (e.g., PSTN vs. pager, retail vs. commercial products), how much of their local coverage was "built-out" by the provider vs. attained through acquisition, the wireless technology that they utilize and/or will utilize in the future, specific wireless spectrum that each has licensed in a given area, the support/opposition toward infrastructure expansion provided by a local populace as well as municipal and state gov't, who the early technical adopters were in a particular area, etc. etc. etc. And unfortunately current investment in a given area doesn't necessarily reflect the performance of a particular network as it can be rather subjective depending upon how much infrastructure already existed for that particular provider prior to investment.
Organizational culture as well as intended customer targets seem to also impact the quality of customer service each provides For example, with a focus on 18-34 year old males T-Mobile seems to provide liberal doses of Hollywood actresses and more cool, hip products. Meanwhile, Verizon's fixation upon businesses shows with the personal level of service they try to provide.
Service is set by the tower sending the signal and these are kept track of by the zipcode they reside in. It is importain to know that some zipcodes are for a signal building or box in a given city. It is also importaint to know that each vendor then know the % of coverage for that zipcode (something they are usually unwilling to share (even with their own sales staff). These vendors are missing the real market by going after teens when businesses will jump on this as soon as they provide a usable coverage map. Why buy interent survices from a hotel if I can own cellular service at all the hotels I maybe going too. - My kid is not getting this service but my employees will if we can document coverage..
Hi,
I use Verizon wireless Internet Connection Card for my
service on my Mac Book Pro. I also use a Power Inverter
for use in my car. I connect the three pieces of equipment
and travel around, park anywhere and hook up the three
techno devices, and this I connect to my Saturn Vue. Well,
needless to mention it works wonders. I take my office
anywhere I choose to go and hook up to the internet,
using all 4 pieces of connectivity; my car, my laptop, my
verizon internet, and my car power inverter....it is
amazing what technology can do. Now then, I have
traveled all over the San Joaquin Valley here in California
and gone up to Lost Lake and gone to Avacado Lake.
Avacado Lake is a dark area...no towers anywhere, so I
could not connect there, however, drive aways and get up
a little higher and presto, back on the internet. Up in
Oakhurst, California and around Bass Lake, I hooked up
and connected all day, with my own view of the beautiful
lake and the playing people, the fragrant pines and the
lovely mansions...(would love to live in one of those.) The
cost I pay puts the producers of these products I use
comfortably housed in all of those ecological niches.
Nice. This is my go anywhere office! Onto Mars or the
moon....
I purchased my products to more effectively educate
myself for my degree in anthropology/archealogy and
have found them most useful as a traveling office as well.
Merrily McCarthy
merrilymccarthy@csufresno.edu
I use Verizon wireless Internet Connection Card for my
service on my Mac Book Pro. I also use a Power Inverter
for use in my car. I connect the three pieces of equipment
and travel around, park anywhere and hook up the three
techno devices, and this I connect to my Saturn Vue. Well,
needless to mention it works wonders. I take my office
anywhere I choose to go and hook up to the internet,
using all 4 pieces of connectivity; my car, my laptop, my
verizon internet, and my car power inverter....it is
amazing what technology can do. Now then, I have
traveled all over the San Joaquin Valley here in California
and gone up to Lost Lake and gone to Avacado Lake.
Avacado Lake is a dark area...no towers anywhere, so I
could not connect there, however, drive aways and get up
a little higher and presto, back on the internet. Up in
Oakhurst, California and around Bass Lake, I hooked up
and connected all day, with my own view of the beautiful
lake and the playing people, the fragrant pines and the
lovely mansions...(would love to live in one of those.) The
cost I pay puts the producers of these products I use
comfortably housed in all of those ecological niches.
Nice. This is my go anywhere office! Onto Mars or the
moon....
I purchased my products to more effectively educate
myself for my degree in anthropology/archealogy and
have found them most useful as a traveling office as well.
Merrily McCarthy
merrilymccarthy@csufresno.edu
Verizon's customer service is the true differentiator!!! I left Cingular after listening in on a cutomer service call to Verizon placed by my sister...Verizon places the customer first...ummm Cingular not so much!
I'm looking for a pay-as-you- go wireless broadband laptop card (they are available in Europe). Has anyone heard of one here?
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