Wireless Internet: What are my options of wireless internet?
What are my options of wireless internet?
by smedby - 1/10/09 10:04 PMWe might move to a different larger unit where I know the phone company have said they can't pull dsl to because there is something wrong with the line. I can't stand going back to dial up. We have a desptop with XP and a laptop with XP. What are my options of getting internet to these two units without being hooked up to dsl from my phone company???
I wonder if there are options that will let me eliminate the land line?
Thanks.
Wireless Internet Options
by cnetba - 1/16/09 3:54 PM In reply to: What are my options of wireless internet? by smedbyI've been using a wireless Internet connection device, a USB modem, from Verizon Wireless for the last month and find it to be top notch. Had used a 3G wireless card from AT&T - with similar functionality - over the past several years with acceptable results but nothing like the ease of use and performance and for this device. The product code is UM175 and the cost for my plan $60./month for all the air time I'll ever need. Not unlimited but 5 GB of use. Can use it virtually anywhere in the country and will be provided with a free upgraded device at the end of a two year contract period. One year contract also available. Great customer support so far in two different parts of the country. Plan to drop the Internet broadband service from my cable package the end of the month. Check it out at verizonwireless.com.
Cricket is advertising a great plan $40/month
by mrgardon - 1/24/09 6:01 PM In reply to: What are my options of wireless internet? by smedbyUsing dial up now and would like to go to broad band, wifi, wireless internet - not sure what the differences are. Looked at Verizon and Cricket, both have a 5 GB thing. I say 'thing' cause I don't know what the throughput 5GB actually means. My dial up service tells me I spend just less than 8 hrs a day on the net. My time is spent on the blogs constantly up-loading/down-loading pix and txt. A higher speed connection would allow me to use video but just off the top of my head 5GB doesn't sound like a lot of something over a months period of time. Wondering what '5GB of something' actually amounts to in a period of a month?
What Will 5 GB/Mo. Do For You?
by cnetba - 1/25/09 12:55 PM In reply to: Cricket is advertising a great plan $40/month by mrgardonGood question on the 5 GB of use. The guy I dealt with at a Verizon location said that, unless I was literally on line all the time during a 30 day period, I should have no problem with 5 GB being sufficient for my needs. Believe his statement to be correct as I have been averaging perhaps 3-4 hours a day 4-5 days a week and not close to exceeding 5 GB of use. Expect that my current level of use per day, if fully on Verizon, would be in the 3.5 GB range - bust just a guesstimate. I have not dropped my old cable broadband service yet and still use it occasionally, partially to compare speeds and partially out of habit, so don't have a "pure" Verizon experience to compare.
Double check what Cricket is offering for $40./mo. Verizon also has a $40. plan but the amount of use is something like 500 MB, a drop in bucket. If Cricket is truly offering 5 GB for $40., that is a great deal. Don't know much about that service except from a flyer I spotted at a truck stop last month!
One final thought - keep in mind that you'll need much less time on line to process the same amount of information with wireless broadband vs. dial-up. Two different worlds!
5 gb enough?
by smedby - 1/25/09 2:05 PM In reply to: What Will 5 GB/Mo. Do For You? by cnetbaI have a desktop that sits online all the time, currently on dsl, a laptop that wirelessly use the same dsl, but is only on when we use it. Will my time online use gb space even if I am not doing anything?
Computer In Idle Mode
by cnetba - 1/25/09 3:47 PM In reply to: 5 gb enough? by smedbyYou'd be smart to ask that question of Verizon. Having said that, I understand data use only takes place with the exchange of data, uploading or downloading. Connectivity per se is not data use, as i get it. One nice feature offered by Verizon is the opportunity to quickly check data use to date during the billing period with a keystroke once you are connected. Good luck!
Also, I stated in an earlier posting that the $40./mo. program from Verizon included 500 MB; it is less than that, only 50 MB and not a very practical plan for most people.
Yeah wondering about that...
by mrgardon - 1/26/09 7:16 AM In reply to: 5 gb enough? by smedbyLooking at the connection indicator with my dial up service it appears that your never doing absolutely nothing when connected even when your doing absolutely nothing. There appears to be some input/output going on even when I'm just sitting here watching the indicator. I suspect that's from automatic checking for up grades/updates of installed programs like email, time, weather, dow jones and like that. I suppose some computer wizard could figure out how many mb/gb's that amounts to over a month but I damn sure can't.
Yeah checked Verizon again and ...
by mrgardon - 1/26/09 7:48 AM In reply to: What Will 5 GB/Mo. Do For You? by cnetbathey have two plans 5GB for $60 a month and 50MB for $40 a month. Both seem to be a ripoff particularly with the charges for going past the allowed mb/gb's. $.25/mb over allowance.
Here's the url I'm using for Cricket:
http://www.mycricket.com/cricketplans/
As I understand it at the moment, cricket has a plan:
$40 for 5GB/month
"Throughput may be limited if use exceeds 5GB per month. Internet browsing does not include: hosted computer applications, continuous web camera or broadcast, automatic data feeds, machine-to-machine connections, peer to peer (P2P) connections or other applications that denigrate network capacity or functionality."
Just thought I'd throw that quote in. Not absolutely sure what "Throughput may be limited" means though.
Will check on that a bit later...
Here is what Cricket told me in a chat with Brenda
by mrgardon - 1/26/09 8:38 AM In reply to: What Will 5 GB/Mo. Do For You? by cnetbaa few minutes ago:
Brenda: If you exceed the 5GB per month your speed could slowdown to 256 kbps until the start of the next month.
Beets the hell out of the 5-8 kbs I'm getting with my dialup downloading now.
Brenda from Cricket also said there were not extra charges for going over the 5GB limit when I asked the question specifically.
Think I'm going to sign up for the service if I can get the right monthly bill agreement.
Re Cricket
by cnetba - 1/26/09 2:13 PM In reply to: Here is what Cricket told me in a chat with Brenda by mrgardonSounds like Cricket is the way to go for you. That service not available in my area, so not an option I can pursue.
Yeah think I'll do the cricket thing. Just one more point
by mrgardon - 1/26/09 2:40 PM In reply to: Re Cricket by cnetbaYeah think I'll do the cricket thing.
Just one more point I'd like to make here. Have been having trouble with at&t sneaking in some extra charges about once every several months a couple of years back now. Had to call em and go through the hassle of getting em to trash those extra charges. Since then I've set up a payment plan where I send em a check from my bank with the amount I key in or use my CC with the amount I key in. A bit more of a hassle than just setting up a auto pay thing with your service provider but far less hassle than trying too call em and get credit over disputed charges.
5 gb/mo
by squeezit - 7/23/09 3:41 PM In reply to: What Will 5 GB/Mo. Do For You? by cnetbaI don't think they are talking about space, but upload and download speed... I could be wrong though. It is best to ask verizon... 5gb per mo is not very much at all, if they are talking about space...if they are talking about speed, I will take it... it will do just fine. Comcast only offer 10gb of download and upload speed... or am I talking about ghz.
Update on Cricket
by mrgardon - 2/2/09 2:32 PM In reply to: What are my options of wireless internet? by smedbyOrdered cricket on the 27th, got it on the 30th via FedExp, quick shipping I thought. Installed the software and plugged in the modem and the damn thing worked. Since then it's been all down hill. Constant cut offs and speeds ranging from 36kbs to 300kbs believe I saw 900kbs one time in a couple of days now. Getting cut off 2,3-8 minutes regularly according to a very fine log they provide with the software. Expanding on the through put, which is everything you send to the net and everything it sends back to you - I come up with 7-8 GB per month. Their limit is 5GB. Suspect I've been on a bit more than usual testing things out but following blogs as I do means a lot of up/down loading of pix and clips. Since this is my first experience with BroadBand I'm really-really disappointed. Thinking of hanging in for the rest of the month and seeing how it goes... well maybe at lest the rest of the week.
Further Note: Just getting to this forum took 5 minutes and never got past 51 kbs. Well guess I should be glad they didn't cut me off for nearly 10 minutes now, huh?
Cricket Experience
by cnetba - 2/7/09 8:19 AM In reply to: Update on Cricket by mrgardonLooks like one of those items that was a bit too good to be true. I have had almost no problems with lost signals using the Verizon USB modem in about two months of use. Am about to drop my home cable internet service to save a few dollars each month, a tribute to my Verizon experience.
Know that you said your fetish for blogs will likely exceed the 5 GB/mo. included with either Cricket or Verizon but perhaps VZ worth a second look. Two points here - you'll likely find the 5 GB goes further if you aren't constantly logging back in and slogging through web site location and Verizon is now advertising a full rebate against the cost of the modem. My transaction provided a $50. Visa gift card as a rebate that arrived within about two weeks.
By the way, I don't work for Verizon - just pleased with something that performs as advertised and, for me, seems a solid value that I can use virtually anywhere without hassle.
Cricket Experience
by dtracer46 - 2/13/09 10:45 PM In reply to: Cricket Experience by cnetbaI have had Cricket wireless broadband for almost a month now. I live in a rural area northeast of Kansas City, Mo. and my only options for high speed internet are satellite or wireless as there isn't any cable or DSL where I live. $60 a month for Verizon or Sprint was too much for my budget so when Cricket came up with their $40 plan I took the plunge. So far I have been happy with the results. I ran speedtest and it reports I download at 700-750kps and upload at 115-120kps. Compared to the dialup I was on it is just great. I used to dread having to download Microsoft updates and patches, but not anymore. My experience may be unusual but but I am happy. ( by the way, I do not work for Cricket). I hooked the usb modem that I haven't had on the internet in over a year and updated the anti-virus and downloaded 49 Microsoft updates in a little over an hour, it would have days on dialup.
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