Satellite internet versus cellular broadband

I could really use some help here.

We currently have Wild Blue satellite INTERNET. It is far better than the crappy free dial up we were using but as always, I want more speed. The cost of our satellite INTERNET is about $49.99/month. It does have its problems specifically weather. I was wondering if going to a cellular broadband setup would be better and hopefully more reliable.

The issue we have here with cellular is signal. For the past 10+ years we have been with Cingular/AT&T. For the most part we have been pretty happy with the exception that we typically do not get a good signal here at home, until recently we upgraded out phones to a Motorola Razr V3. We now can talk on our cell phones inside our house with a pretty reasonable signal and no drops. I wish I knew this a long time ago but none of the customer representatives would ever tell me if the phone made any difference. Well it apparently does. So because of this new revelation on my part I am hoping that cellular broadband 3G would be of some significant increase in reliability to satellite.

Once I have determined via input from this forum that going cellular broadband is a good idea I will have a new dilemma. From what I have gathered, no service provider will allow a trial period for this type of service. I want to try it for thirty days or so, pay the cost for the trial in order to determine if it really is the thing to do before entering into a long term contract. the contract doesn't bother me so much as long as the service is good.

Ok now it is your turn, please tell me your thoughts.

Thanks,
Mark

both sprint and verizon have 30-day trial periods. company i work for gave up representing att because their claims of having largest 3g network are really more marketing hype than truth.

if you pm me your full street address and zip, i can research what carrier should have best high speed coverage at your address. if you want me to look at zipcodes for areas you will travel into, send me those zipcodes, too.

most of my rv customers have found great success with verizon 3g/evdo service.

PS: there is quite a bit of verizon high speed 3g / evdo coverage in the xenia area:

http://tinyurl.com/vzw-45385

Hi Mark, We just dumped Wild Blue after 2 1/2 years. It was fine untill the first thought of moisture, even fog. We put up with it here in the wet PNW because it was all that was available where we live except dial up. Some freinds visited with their 5th wheel and she was able to use her aircard with verizon with no problem at all, so when verizon went month to month we jumped ship and went with them. It's been a month now and NO problems at all even thru some bad squalls. IT'S GREAT and well worth the extra $10.00 a month. Don't worry about the 5G limit, I can't put a dent in it.
Stick with Alex, he knows his stuff. I've been following his post's on more than one forum. he speaks the truth and many, many people go with his thoughts.
Jump ship, you'll be glad you did!!!

Just so you're fully informed. As you travel, there are some places, especially out west, where it's hard to get a signal. We are in Fort Mohave, AZ, at the present and have very limited, slow, and sometimes no signal using Verizon's Internet Service. This would be true with all the services at some locations. That being said, it's a lot easier to use, a lot easier to transport and does work in areas you wouldn't expect it to. All depends on where the towers are. Verizon's now owns Alltel, that hopefully will correct the problems we have out in this area as Alltel has a bigger presence here than Verizon did.

We have a few months to go on the current contract, so we have unlimited useage. Looking back the 5g limit seems to be suitable for our needs, but beware there is a hefty charge if you go over that limit.

Alex knows his stuff so I would go on his recommendation. That being said, I have ATT Broadband. The reason I have stuck with it is I have an unlimited usage contract which none of the carriers offer any more. So if I change I would be stuck with the 5g limit. From the class Alex put on I now understand that I would lose my unlimited by changing or upgrading. We have traveled all over the country and have only found one place where the ATT did not work. That was at Hart Ranch RV Resort in Rapid City SD. It didnot work there because they are in a valley, however they have a great WI-FI system for free and it worked great. If I were to change though I would go with Verizon on Alex's recommendation.

PS The Broadband 'card' works so good I am seriously thinking about canceling my DSL at home to use just the ATT Broadband service so I would not have to pay for 2.

Mark, I use Verizon while traveling and it has excellent signal even in the little remote town I live in I typically get about 1300 down with it. While traveling from the east to the west coast and to southern texas, I have not run across a single place yet where I could not get service with Verizon. AT&T has specific spots it works great in, but if you are outside that area not so good. I still have my at&t card and it will be active till the 22nd of this month I think it is if you want to try it. We will be back in ohio around the 12th of the month. I can run down to Xenia and meet you if you would like.

We like Verizon, we have almost never had a problem with reception. BTW, On-Star in GM vehicles is Verizon for those of you who are not aware of it. Bob

Bob&Patty, don't forget to mention that not only is the GM phone through Verizon, if you have Verizon as your cell phone you can add the truck phone as an extra line for $9.95 per month and share your account minutes with no Verizon to Verizon call charge. Oh, by the way I do not work for Verizon I'm just happy I could add the truck phone.
Peace
Dave

I have used the Sprint card for a number of years with good success in virtually every corner of the US. Even in rural areas areas I usually have enough strength to check emails, etc.

The other nice thing about an air card vs. satellite is that your travel partner can actively check weather/traffic while in transit.

I guess that I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I've used HughesNet satellite internet for a couple of years. (Though I'm not using it in this park and they provide use with wifi). As we have traveled around, we have been in a number of places with no cellular service so our only means of communication was with the dish. I would love to have the convenience on not having the dish, but it works and I have not had a problem with getting a signal on cloudy, foggy or stormy days with the exception of one time in Virginia with a real gully washer. Just my 2 cents.

John

Thank you all for your input.

Pulltab, I think I am kinda leaning toward Verizon for this service but I do appreciate your offer though.

I really like the idea of having my internet portable and if it is more reliable too then that is super. Ideally I want to share the service at home and also when we are camping so I know that a cool router is needed. Darn, if I have to by another cool tech toy. I will continue to investigate this and let you know what I find.

Thank you all again,
Mark

Mark,

Yes - you will want a router with a wireless access point built-in (most do).

I have a mobile router (accepts Air Cards and is AC and DC powerable) that I move between the RV and the truck. Most routers, even the mobile ones have one or more Ethernet ports on them to connect to any hard wired clients (PCs, Printers, Hubs, Switches, Apple TVs etc.) at home.

If you take your mobile router with you and more than one PC, WiFi enabled phones, game consoles etc, you'll have a lot of flexibility.

I do a fair amount of air travel and always take my Air Card with me. I was at a hotel in Las Vegas recently that was really proud of their WiFi - $15 per day! Just used my Air Card. And had Nancy needed to bring her work laptop, I would have brought the mobile router so we could both use the Air Card at the same time.

Another factor is that super small form factor PCs and UMPCs may not have PC or Express card slot for an Air Card - that is where a router is handy. Pop the Air Card in the router and route signals wirelessly to whatever clients you want to.

That all said, mobile data devices also come in USB models. And I believe all of the Mobile Routers sold at the 3GStore.com accept both an Express Card style Air Card and the USB data device. Some accept the older PCMCIA PC Air Cards too. My mobile router is an older PCMCIA style and I use an adapter with it now in order to use my newer Express Card style Air Card (Sprint - from the 3GStore).

Jim

Jim Beletti said:

Mark,

If you take your mobile router with you and more than one PC, WiFi enabled phones, game consoles etc, you'll have a lot of flexibility.
Jim

Click to expand...

And, if you don't have that router set up properly...everyone in three blocks is gonna have a lot of flexibility too.

When dealing routers...MAC adresses rule.

Just so ya know lefty... MAC addresses are spoofable. And, using MAC address filtering does NOT protect your data.

Please use WPA/TKIP or WPA2/AES to make sure your data is secure. Anything less ( WEP, or no encryption ) will allow anyone savvy in the ways of wireless to see everything you do.. and even utilize your connection.

BTW... I vote for Sprint over Verizon for broadband cards. I've had great success with my Sprint card in any location with even the least bit of signal. AND: Sprint's overage rates are WAY less than Verizon.

Hope this helps!
LK

linuxkidd said:

BTW... I vote for Sprint over Verizon for broadband cards. I've had great success with my Sprint card in any location with even the least bit of signal. AND: Sprint's overage rates are WAY less than Verizon.

Click to expand...

Completely agree about overage charges, but have to comment that Sprint's EVDO coverage is nowhere near as vast as Verizon's.

Here's a graphic that Verizon created comparing the two networks: (click on it for a blowup i've created that includes a legend)

in the graphic above, the yellow represents Verizon-only, the orange is Verizon+Sprint, and the darker maroon(?) is Sprint-only EVDO.

for those of you wondering about VZW vs. ATT, there is a graphic for that too. click here to see it. (i haven't found one that compares all three)

my guess is that the graphic in linuxkidd's sig indicates the states he's traveled into -- if thats the case then i can understand the sprint bias. if a customer told me they were only going to travel in the states that you have, i'd have also recommended sprint.

on the topic of "whose coverage is best", everyone needs to also keep in mind that Verizon is assimilating Alltel... which will nicely fill in much of the whitespace in their coverage.

In my opinion, the new "Verizontel" will rule -- from a coverage standpoint.

Delaine and me went this week and got another AT&T USB Sierra wireless 885 system. We had the old AT&T air card type several years ago very soon after they became available and travel thru out the West and had sevice in most large city and towns. But in some cases we didn't have cell service we didn't have computer service. This new AT&T system we just got is as close to DSL as I have found. Don't know about Verizon air cards but I have in the past had cell phone service, can't really tell much difference between Verizon and AT&T service, just my opinion.


We also have the Hughes Net system and have used it all over the lower 48. Its not as fast as the AT&T 885, but were we have our home base out cell service isn't very good. Hughes is more trouble to set up, but it does work. We also order the wireless router from the 3gStore and it will be here Thur or Fri.

As for which is the best I don't have a clue, we have had AT&T so long and haven't had any issues so we really didn't want to change service again. I think its just what ever makes you feel good. But its so much better to be able to have computer service in the Truck or Car. We have also been in contact with AT&T in ref to letting them install a tower on our land, we will see about all the legal stuff? GBY....

mrcomer, i have answered your pm, please let me know if you do not receive my reply.

for those curious, at his location sprint definitely has the advantage, based on coverage maps.

Alex,
I did receive your PM and thank you. My only other question is if at my house I could get a great signal from Verizon, would that be a better choice when it comes to overall coverage throughout the U.S.?

A friend of ours just got a Verizon card and is willing to let me try it out at home.

Thanks again,
Mark