Do aircards work while driving?

[GMAN]

If accurate, I don't think my speed is very good. I ran it twice. The first time it was at 923 kps. The second it was 896 kps.

[landstartammy]

Yes, aircards work fine while driving. Be careful who you get an aircard through though. I had an aircard through one of the big name companies (I don't want to say their name on this site due to liabilities). Since I drove longhaul I would occationally miss the bill in the mail. My service was cut off repeatedly due to non-payment (less than 15 days overdue). The last time it was cut off I paid the bill and 2 weeks later it was shut off agian for late payment. I told the company to disconntinue service. Now 3 months later...I now owe for 4 months of bills when the service was turned off. Needless to say, I have been around and around with these people and STILL owe 4 months of bills. So be careful who you deal with.

[jnk2001]

Yes, aircards work fine while driving. Be careful who you get an aircard through though. I had an aircard through one of the big name companies (I don't want to say their name on this site due to liabilities). Since I drove longhaul I would occationally miss the bill in the mail. My service was cut off repeatedly due to non-payment (less than 15 days overdue). The last time it was cut off I paid the bill and 2 weeks later it was shut off agian for late payment. I told the company to disconntinue service. Now 3 months later...I now owe for 4 months of bills when the service was turned off. Needless to say, I have been around and around with these people and STILL owe 4 months of bills. So be careful who you deal with.

Sounds like Cingular or Verizon to me. they can really take the heart out of heartless...Not that I would know mind you....

[BanditsCousin]

Automatic bill-pay 8)

Cingular is quick to pull the plug, but, I still stay with them

[KD7MIR]

with verizon you can elect to have bill notifications sent via e-mail or text message to your phone. also I check/pay online

[CADMANDO]

Use www.2wire.com for your speed test. Very simple and fast to come up. Verizon has an agreement with many other cell companies to provide internet connectivity when your Verizon cell phone doesn't work. I was in Vernal Utah and messed up my connection and couldn't remember the password. I called Verizon and they gave me my password and said there is no coverage in Vernal UT. They also said I must have been using an unprotected cell provider.

thanks for the link steve, i gave it a try and it said i loaded up their web page from 2wire.com at about 125 kbps tonight (65 miles south of Indy)

i think i like dslreports.com a little better because it loads random web pages from all over the internet (not just from dslreports.com) plus i get to see that speedometer thingy makes me feel like a computer geek trucker. too bad the test uses flash tho, not sure if there is a non-flash version out there or not for those who dont have flash installed or just prefer the simplicity...

one thing i read about 2wire.com...
apparently their test is not meant to test the speed of your ISP connection
(from 2wire.com)

What does this test actually measure?
This connection tests how fast your computer can load a Web page from the 2Wire Website. It does not measure the speed of your ISP connection, but rather the speed at which the page is received and appears in your browser.

Why do other "bandwidth" meters give different results?
Bandwidth does not always mean the same thing, other meters measure how fast your connection is able to find a requested Website, or how fast you can send and receive email.

How do I determine if my results are good or poor?
Your results should be consistent and should not change dramatically. If you receive inconsistent results, such as a high number then a low number, you may be experiencing a problem with your connection.

[serbie]

Automatic bill-pay 8)

Cingular is quick to pull the plug, but, I still stay with them

Don't I know it. Used to run with US Celluar. I could go 2 months without paying, would pay an extra $5 per month late, make my 2 month payment, and everyone was happy. Tried that with Cingular, 15 days overdue and got the "Your service has been temp. suspended, please call Cust. Care."

YUCK!!! But yeah... won't leave em... Sitting here in camphill, pa and have full Signal on the Data card, tested my speed, and hit 1.4Mbs per second, yeaaa baby!!!

[tweety bird]

We had Nextel when the cards were first coming out and then after Nextel and Sprint merged we were able to port our data plan over to Sprint. I spent a lot of time on the phone when we did it but I got the new air card for free. If you keep an eye on their special offers, you can get one for free if you have at least one Sprint phone and you are starting a new data service.

The Nextel card was terrible. Slower than dial up. The Sprint card is way faster than dial up- though I doubt it qualifies as broadband.

We keep dial-up at the house since we have two lap tops and several desk tops. That way we can both go online. We only have ONE air card!

[tweety bird]

Oh- and we use it going down the road (but not while driving gman :wink: ) all the time. It's strange- sometimes the air card will have a signal when the cell phone doesn't and vice versa it seems. Usually it's a bad signal if one or the other has one. The air card cannot roam vs. the cell phone which can.

[Mountain Flyer]

I just got a Verizon aircard. This trip out is my first road trip with it. Already worth it's weight in gold 8) I got a load out of the Grand Junction, CO area yesterday, and a connecting load home for the weekend, thanks to having the card and being able to hunt for loads in my truck while my dispatcher was taking a nap or something... kidding...

As to speed, it is broadband fast in the larger cities, and like a fast dialup/slow DSL in the other areas.

For $59 per month, I am tickled to have it and it will pay for itself in no time. I am having a few technical problems but overall it's great. I listened to the Paragliding Radio Talk show today on online radio while driving from Idaho Falls to Twin Falls instead of the same old XM channels... a nice change :P

Now if I can just get my truck to run on all six cylinders instead of five...

[mistergreen]

I have cingular and even talking directly to their customer care reps and tech advisors about using bittorrents I haven't had any problems with them discontinuing my service. There are times I leave my laptop on over night with it downloading in the background and doing it while driving. figure it's just sitting there not being used so why shouldn't I. I'm paying for it right?

[allan5oh]

Wow, finally found this damn thread.

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the info!

[Doghouse]

I've been testing out the t-mobile aircard for a week, and so far it gets the job done. Its slow sometimes, but then its also fast like dsl sometimes. I drove all around the Tampa Bay area today with the computer sitting on the seat next to me. Every 5 minutes (at a stop light), I would change pages to see if it stayed connected. The longest it went was 2 hrs before losing the signal, and even then all it took was a couple of clicks to get the signal back.
I payed $149.00 for the card, and my plan is $39.00 per month unlimited usage.

I remember 5 years ago I had an altell aircard, and it was so slow that the internet would "time out" during a page change,.....I sent that junk a packin'

[tdriver1959]

I have T Mobile the wife last week went with me and she was on the computer from Spokane, WA to Stanfield, OR with out losing the signal.
There are times it is slow as dial up and other time it is like dsl.

[allan5oh]

$39 a month, wow, I'll look into it!

[Doghouse]

That is 39.00 a month if you already have a couple of phones with them. Also if you do go with them,...you can take the SIM card out of the aircard, and put it into another t-mobile phone. I carry a spare in case I break mine, and even though the spare is old,...it works well enough to get me to another T-mobile dealer.

[tweety bird]

The rates keep going down, it seems, but my payments keep going up... I keep adding things. Started with just a cell phone. Then went to a cell phone with unlimited service. Then went to a cell phone w/unl. serv. and a wireless card. Now we have a cell phone w/unl. serv., a wireless card w/unl. serv. and a second phone with a low minute plan (free nights/wknds and Sprint to Sprint) for when one of us is home (or at the grocery store, for that matter...).

[nickbtubas]

verizon has unlimited data plans. I used them for a while and debating on going back.
I used my card EVERYWHERE and it was ok. they work like your cellphone and sometimes "drop" the signal. I paid $59/month for the service. If you use it in Canada expect to pay the roaming fees which i found out once. not a pretty site...


Nick

[Kurbski]

COMMANDO Wrote:
sometimes i can use verizon internet where i cant use my verizon cell - dont know why that is...
------------------------------------------------

Not all cellphone towers are capable of transmitting data.

All cellphone towers do not support every vendor either.

[dieseldogtrucking]

Verizon IS unlimited.