I know theres some truckstops that offer subscriptions to their connections, but I'm curious as to what other options there are and the quality/cost of them.

I use an air card. It costs about $60/month plus tax. With everything I spend about $65/month. I think most of the air cards are about the same. I use Sprint, but T-Mobile had one that was less expensive, but I don't know the price or how well the coverage is across the country. I rarely have a problem getting on line, but it can slow from time to time if there is a weak signal. With most air cards, if you have a cell phone signal then you should have a good air card signal since they use the same towers. Another option is to either get an IPod or IPhone and use it for the internet and everything else. There are also adapters you can use to access the internet from your cell phone to your lap top.

Thanks Gman

I too have Sprint. My HTC EVO is used as a WiFi hotspot ($20/month), plus the regular phone plan ($180/mo total for 4 lines). That includes unlimited data/text/1800 mins shared.

A lot depends on what you want to do One. And how good your eyes are too. Smartphones come with internet access. My Droid (the first/original one) costs me $40 for telephone and $30 for data and there is no option to just use it as a phone. So whether I surf the web with it or not, I'm paying at least $70 a month, more if I want more minutes talk time.

If your eyes are good and you're just doing light surfing that might be all you need. There is a way to make the phone's internet connection available on your laptop but the legalities are murky - Verizon says they have the right to charge people that do that an insane amount of money but afaik noone has had to pay a dime yet. (of course I would never do such a thing because I try to stay squeaky clean at all times) PM me and I can get you going with that but all I know is Droid on Verizon so your mileage may vary.

For more serious usage I like Sprint. I've got their aircard and for about $60 a month it's not a bad deal.

You may check with T-Mobile. At one time they had a less expensive internet card. A friend of mine had them at one time and really liked them. Some areas their phone service is a bit spotty, but you could live in one of their better areas.

Air Card from AT&T. 5GB per month and usually have a good signal 99% of the time. $60.00 per month

Re-opening questions.....

I'm currently AT&T user.....for you OTR folks who by far has the best coverage especially for data?

I had Sprint for many years and they served me well at the time. A few years ago I decided to try T-Mobile hotspot for half the price. I have 3 GB of 4G and unlimited for $30/month. For the most part it has done pretty well for me. I just left Iowa and I didn't have service in the two areas where I needed it. If I could find something comparable for the same or less money I might switch. However, I can't see going back to Sprint or going with Verizon. I think both have limited plans now. When I was with them I had unlimited service. The one downside to using T-Mobile is that they slow your speed down to 2G once you have used up the plan that you purchased. When I left Sprint I asked about my usage and was told that I was averaging about 3GB per month. With T-Mobile I can use that much data in a week to 10 days sometimes. I think it is all the popup ads that I am likely being charged. My habits have not changed since I was with Sprint, but according to T-Mobile, I am using double or triple the amount of data I used with Sprint.

i have a verizon air card. i like it a lot. rarely lets me down. its ok in its quickness. i have a old plan. i pay $50 a month for 5GB a month. this month i am real close to my limit but i watched about 2-3 hours of videos. what i like about it if you have the newer rand mcnally GPS's you can link them up for weather updates. works great in the bad stuff.