Truck stop wars

[The Killer Rabbit]

Just spent a night in southfield CT at a TA, and wanted an internet connection.
Well I tried to get a ta connection but got a flyin J connection instead...thing is, there isnt a flyin J around for ...wow...a hundred or so miles?

So i told the clerk, she semed surprised.
I called Flying J, and found out they have one set up at the days in pointed at the TA parking lot right next door.
I told the TA clerk this news and they were pretty much saying wtf.
I did someore digging and found the J does this at more then one location at TA "Travel Plazas".
Hmm...whats the deal with that?
Do they partially own or have some agreement with TA on wireless services?
Just curious if anyone has the lowdown on what these companies mean to each other.

TKR

[TruckerChris]

Flying J internet seems to be a seperate part of Fly J truckstops it seems. In my Flying J wireless location pamphlet it lists that they have wifi at a couple petros, pilots, Wilcos, Rip Griffins, Sapp bros, Loves and some more at various locations around the country. I'm at the bosselmans in Grand Island,NE and I'm on a J connection.

[Rev.Vassago]

Flying J does this to attempt to take business away from T/A's lousy wifi service.

Both of them are lousy, though, IMO. Wireless aircard beats them both, hands down.

[The Killer Rabbit]

Id have to say ive had my best experiance with flyin J, Pilot is crummy.
Just my experiance.
For example, I cant use any instant messengers with pilots connection vs. flyin J i do as well as a faster service.

TKR

Both of them are lousy, though, IMO. Wireless aircard beats them both, hands down.

What is a wireless aircard? Where can you get them?

[Floored]

I've had this happen too while at various TA's. If you do a search for wireless networks in range of your computer you should find the TA server (worked for me anyway). I doubt TA and Flying J are in cohoots on this though.

[lifespalette]

Just plain old competition between the two..........want to have some fun on your time off......take your lap top and drive around town or even your own neighborhood......you'll be surprised how many wireless sites you'll find that you can log onto.............amazing the number of folks who have wireless in their house and don't have a clue as to how to safe guard it.........and some of the stuff you can find out about your neighbors......ohhhhhh my.

The tech tip of the day.......if you and your significant other are into taking digital photos of those special moments in the privacy of your home, workshop and auto........and you have a wireless router in your home network, for god's sake make sure your safeguards are set to keep unwanted visitors from logging into your system. If nothing else keep those things on an external and turn it off when you're not using it..............better yet, if you have the boxes it all came in....pack it up and take it back, you're dangerous.

[Longsnowsm]

Some folks intentionally keep their connection open so that others can connect to it. I know I did for years until just recently. I found that several others in my neighborhood have their networks open so I have locked mine down now.

This isn't a big deal if your machines are patched and you know what your doing. Of course if that wasn't your intention then by all means lock it down with WPA and by MAC address. This really isn't that tough to do and just takes a few minutes. With on click you can also turn off the SSID broadcast so that your WIFI isn't broadcasting that info to the world and making it easier to hack.

Regardless if you know what your doing, in the space of a few hours you can hack into just about any WIFI WAP. It only keeps out the honest folks. :shock:

Longsnowsm

[mike3fan]

What is a wireless aircard? Where can you get them?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=1821

This is what I use and love it,you can get internet anywhere you have cell reception,it cost me $59.99 a month unlimited usage but I see now it is $49.99

[some_dude_in_michigan]

Just spent a night in southfield CT at a TA, and wanted an internet connection.
Well I tried to get a ta connection but got a flyin J connection instead...thing is, there isnt a flyin J around for ...wow...a hundred or so miles?

TKR

I was just at that TA last week, if you really meant Southington [Milldale], CT, and the lady behind the counter told me that they don't even try to sell their own Wi-Fi there since Flying J leased some space on top of the motel next door and FJ's signal out powers TA's. Radio signals, one of few products someone can sell on someone else's property without getting permission.

I've only been driving a truck since March of this year, and this is only my personal experience, but I have found that Flying J has the best WiFi of the major chains, TA comes in second. I have found the worst (and most expensive BTW) is SiriComm, the service offered at Pilot, Petro and Love's. I signed up for a 3 month sub with FJ, and will buy a TA connection by the day if I can only get that. The SiriComm, I will only buy if that is all I can get and I REALLY feel the need to get on the net, otherwise it ain't worth paying for the frustration. Oh, and I did try the WiFi at an IdleAire location, and it seemed to be pretty good too. (they offer WiFi incase you don't want to rent that yellow tube)

I've never tried one of those cell phone cards, I almost let a guy at Interstate Connections in a Petro talk me into a Cingular card, but reading the fine print it said I couldn't download audio and video over their connection (prohibited). One of the things I like to do is visit the websites of my hometown TV stations and watch news videos from my area.

There are a lot of access points out there today. I remember in 2002, when I first put WiFi in my home so I could take my laptop from room to room, I found a program called NetStumbler (it finds and logs access points). I went for a cruise with a friend around our hometown of Grand Rapids, MI using my laptop with WiFi and that program. We thought it was cool that we "sniffed out" 20 access points around town. A couple years later, we did the same thing and found over 1000! The technique is called 'Wardriving" as a takeoff on "War Dialing" in the movie "War Games". FINDING them can be fun and is legal, USING some of your finds might get you in trouble, user beware!

As truck drivers that log many driving miles per day, some of you may find this program of interest. Admittedly, the info has no real value, but it is amusing to see how many access points (public and private) are out there. The progam is free and can be downloaded at www.netstumbler.com. Just leave your laptop, wireless adaptor and that program running as you drive along all day (or night). When you end your day, you can see how many access points you passed during your journey. You can watch it as you drive, but I do not advise this for liablity purposes. It also gives audio signals with each new signal found, but that can be turned off.

I always have my laptop on anyway to run my DeLorme Street Atlas with Earthmate GPS for routing and current location info, so this is just a little something extra. A couple other things of interest along the same lines, I use a program called Franson GPS Gate (this one ya gotta pay for) www.franson.com/gpsgate , it will share your GPS and it's data with multiple applications at the same time. (like running 2 map programs, if you have enough processor to do it) The NetStumbler program will use GPS data to mark a location of the strongest signal reading of each access point it logs. If you add to all this a program called WiMap http://www.honet.com/WiMap/ (another free one) that will convert the data file that NetStumbler creates into data that can be read by DeLorme S/A and will put an overlay on the map and give a visual of all the access points and where you found them. It even puts a different mark for those AP's using WEP and those not using it. This can only be done AFTER the file is saved, it will not plot locations on the map in "Real Time".

As a newbie, I don't have a lot of driving advice to give, but I know about this stuff and have learned alot here, so I thought I would share. I'm sure this may not appeal to all, but there may be more geeks like me out there. And this was a way to pass some time as I earn a 34 hour restart here in Mill Hall, PA.

OH, one more thing, for anyone that trys this, don't be disappointed if you don't log 1000 access points. Remember I did this from a CAR and drove past office buidings and apartment complexes, your results along the open road may vary. (but I am sure you will find many)



Keep the bugs off your glass,
and the bears off your...
We gone, bye bye
-CW McCall, "Convoy"

*(sorry, I just felt I needed a goofy tag line)

[Karnajj]

Flying J does this to attempt to take business away from T/A's lousy wifi service.

Both of them are lousy, though, IMO. Wireless aircard beats them both, hands down.

But at $700/yr its way too expensive.

[bigtimba]

. . thankfully. I'm at the Pilot, next door to the "worlds largest truck stop" and using a (nowhere to be seen) Flying J signal. I didn't look but my machine hooked right up to it so it must be the strongest signal.

My preferences are right in line with a previous poster . . I have an annual with FJ, get monthly TA's, depending on the region I'm running and get Sirriflop dailies, but only as a last resort. I have never tried the cellular option as I, too, think the rates and restrictions are outrageous. If any of you have found that the cellular speed has improved over the last year or two, post your findings here . . I play a fair amount of on-line poker and get really po'd when a crappy signal forces me out of a good hand/tournament.

[mike3fan]

I, too, think the rates and restrictions are outrageous. If any of you have found that the cellular speed has improved over the last year or two, post your findings here . . I play a fair amount of on-line poker and get really po'd when a crappy signal forces me out of a good hand/tournament.

I have verizion and download videos,music from itunes and play poker all the time and plus I run a web cam most of the day while driving and have never heard a word from Verizon,the speeds are fine,and excellent around major cities.If you don't have this service i advise getting it.

[The Killer Rabbit]

I run a web cam most of the day while driving

you run a webcam all day?
Like what..so people can see you driving or where your at?
I thought of that so my girlfriend can click on me whenever she wants, or friends or whatever seeing what i do etc.
Thats interesting, Do you have a webpage for this?

TKR

[mike3fan]

yes I run it so my girlfreind can "ride" along with me,we use www.paltalk.com

What is a wireless aircard? Where can you get them?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=1821

This is what I use and love it,you can get internet anywhere you have cell reception,it cost me $59.99 a month unlimited usage but I see now it is $49.99

Thanks for the info!

[Windwalker]

Flying J operates their WIFI services through "Tonservices". Officially, it is a seperate entity from Flying J, but it is owned by Flying J. Just like "Transportation Alliance Bank" is one of Flying J's branches. They also offer insurance. So, there are a number of locations where Flying J has WIFI set up at another business next to other truck stops. I believe T/A may be a bit upset about that, because they will not accept anything from a Flying J account. TCH cards are not accepted at T/As and neither is my debit card from TAB.

For those of you that have good service from T/A's WIFI, I'm happy for you. I went online at two different T/As and will never do that again. Both times, I had to have it REPROGRAMMED FOR ALMOST $200 because something got in and corrupted the software. The second time, all I did was connect. Didn't even get to start surfing the WEB. It was like T/A doesn't want us to have working computers. I have not had any problems at Flying Js. So, if you use T/A's WIFI, beware....

[stanger92]

What is a wireless aircard? Where can you get them?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=1821

This is what I use and love it,you can get internet anywhere you have cell reception,it cost me $59.99 a month unlimited usage but I see now it is $49.99

it says on the site in major cities only? :?:

can I get it anywhere my phone works?

[mike3fan]

yes it works anywhere you can get a signal,around major cities is where broadband is available,When I run across PA on 80 I only lose signal once for the whole stretch and last about 5 miles.

[JBenson2]

According to the website, there are two Verizon Calling Plans with the Air Card, but the descriptions are very vague. They do not mention their download speed.

Broadband Access $79/month
Our high-speed wireless broadband network
Map: restricted to just the major cities

National Access $59/month
Connect to the Internet faster than dial-up
Map: more coverage, but half of Texas is not covered