Tired of dial up on the road: Try a 3G PC card

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

BigFrank suggested I start a new thread on the topic of internet access and timesharing. So, here it is.

Due to my work, I am pretty much untethered from the home. I can work anywhere I can get an internet connection. Since timesharing is so cheap, I run out of holidays and weekends when my kids are off faster than I run out of options for timesharing.

But, the one issue that I have encountered over and over again in timesharing is the lack of broadband internet access in the rooms. Most of the hotel brands have it and have it for free. Some offer it for an additional charge. But, most timeshares only have a dial up option in your room even though they may have a terminal or two down in the lobby.

I've had to put up with dial up internet access in too many timeshares. This week, I bit the bullet and bought a PC Card with 3G internet access from Cingular wireless.

The internet access connects at 1.8M which is a heckuva lot faster than dial up at 56k or 128k. It's pricy at $60/month plus tax. But, you can get internet access anywhere you can get a cell phone signal from a Cingular wireless tower. You can access the internet from the car, from the pool or even camping in the woods in your tent. As long as there is a cell phone signal on your cell phone, you can get internet access.

The service is quite a bit better than dial up. But not as good as DSL or Cable modem service. I wanted to test it this week in Orlando to decide if I would keep it. I think I will.

If you are tired of dial, a 3G wireless PC card may be just for you.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Jim if the service is $60 does that include unlimited minutes? If it does then that's not to bad. Can we add 2 laptops for the same price/plan if we purchase 2 cards. Are the cards still costing about $200 which was the price when I first looked into this.

I had wanted to buy the cable to just run it off my cell phone. I would be using my cell phone as a dialer. I never got around to doing it because every time I wanted to they never had the data cable I needed or they did not have the software for it. I think this way it may come out cheaper but I am unsure how fast it is. Anyone have it connected this way?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Jim if the service is $60 does that include unlimited minutes? If it does then that's not to bad. Can we add 2 laptops for the same price/plan if we purchase 2 cards. Are the cards still costing about $200 which was the price when I first looked into this.

I had wanted to buy the cable to just run it off my cell phone. I would be using my cell phone as a dialer. I never got around to doing it because every time I wanted to they never had the data cable I needed or they did not have the software for it. I think this way it may come out cheaper but I am unsure how fast it is. Anyone have it connected this way?

The card cost around $150, but they give you a $100 rebate for a 2 year commitment. Since it is a PC card, you don't need to hook it up to your cell phone. It has a GSM simcard in the PC card, so in essence it is a cell phone. And, you get a cell phone number for the PC card.

You do get unlimited minutes. And, to use 2 laptops, all you need to do is have ONE card accessing the network and then connect the two laptops wirelessly by configuring a private wireless network and sharing your internet connection.

Or, you can put the PC card into the second PC and use it as if it were the first one.

There is some software that you need to load which is like a dialer that drives the modem.

I only chose Cingular since it is my wireless carrier. I didn't look at the alternatives which could have been cheaper.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have been meaning to do this for two years now and still have not. I want to get a PDA phone around summer. Maybe I will get this two. I was hoping that the new PSA phones with Windows OP systems would work for me.

BTW I used my sons Sony PSP to get online once. It worked well but I did not care for the navigation to much. Of coarse you need to steal a wireless cable signal when doing so.

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

That is quite a bit of money per month but I travel with work way too much and often I am stuck in an airport or waiting for a meeting to start or some sort of down time...

Often I sue that time to hack some code but one of these cards would be great and I have looked at them many times.... I just don't know if the cost is worth it to me yet...