Wireless Internet Card Info Needed (1 Viewer)

[The Counterfeiter]

I'm going to take my first vacation in 20 years to go to Indy for the 500!
A retired neighbor who has tickets in the stands behind the pits in turn one and rooms at a hotel a mile from the track invited me . . . it's an old farts racing club. I'll fit into that group just fine!
Instead of paying for a hookup at the hotel, I want to get a wireless card for my Toshiba Satellite PC. Any information on service providers, cost and reliability would be greatly appreciated! - Jim

 

[.]

Jim,

I just drove from Minneapolis to Las Vegas for a few days then to Pomona for the Winternationals then to Phoenix for the CSK Nationals and finally back to Minneapolis. Every hotel along the way offered FREE internet access (except for the Bellagio in Las Vegas… They wanted 12 bucks for 24 hours)

I don’t think you’ll have a problem accessing the internet as long as your laptop has built in wireless.


If you’re still thinking about a wireless card through a cellular provider…. Sorry, I cant help you on that. That’s a little over my head.

Brian

 

[.]

I almost forgot….. Make sure you bring a short Ethernet cable with you!! Most hotels offer wireless but some of them have a Ethernet connection in the hotel room instead of wireless (it’s still free though)


Brian.

 

[Bob]

Jim,

I looked into getting a wireless card for my laptop a little less than two years ago. At the time, the reason was, I occasionally run into race tracks that don't have any way to connect (a divisional at Dallas when they were remodeling the tower and there were no live phone lines and no wireless, or Yellowstone where there are no phone lines to the property at all, and the satellite internet is hard wired into the office computer, no wireless), or remote area tracks that have no local dial-up service offered by my providers. It would also be convenient in airports that don't offer free WiFi.

The catch to this type of service that kept me from getting it was, while you buy it from a wireless phone provider, they treat it as a separate phone line and as such, you need a separate contract (two years with Verizon). They'd give me the card with a two year contract, but if I wanted the card without the new service phone contract, the card alone (to use with an existing cell account) was $350. I already have two cell phones, so the expense of either an additional account or the up-front cost of the card didn't make financial sense for the limited amount of time I'd need the service.

Terms of service may have well changed since I last looked into it. If you are going to get a wireless card, I'd highly recommend you research as to which service has the widest coverage areas.

Bob

 

[Sully]

All of the wireless companies require service contracts for the air cards. IN return, most will either give you the card or a big rebate. Verizon has the fastest network, in big cities, and probably the widest coverage if you include the slower backup mode, but both Sprint and Cingular have large coverage areas too. Those three are the main providers of the service.

By the way, all offer "unlimited data access" plans, but Verizon will cancel your contract if you "eat too much." Their "unlimited" is really limited, but they won't tell you what the limits are. In my case, I went over 10 gigabytes one month and they cancelled. The other two are slower, so you probably won't have that problem and I haven't heard of any cancellations for exceeding the limits on their "unlimited" data plans.

What's ironic is that Verizon bans streaming video and music in their contract and assumes that's what you were doing if you exceed the unspecified limits. yet aggressively markets both as features for their newer cell phones. Oh well, moved both phone and data card to Cingular just in time for the name change.

 

[Chuck]

I too have an older model of the Toshiba Satalite Laptop. I use to try any means or methods to grab air time. My lap top has an internal antenna. I traveled from Las Vegas to Oregon and several other airports. I found the local airports were slow and had disconnects all the time, signal was poor. I got a new cheaper laptop (Compact) from a discount store. The newer computer I will use for data collection when I am racing and need to go on line. I got a Cingular air card as the monthly "Un-Limited use" price was good, but I found that it created interference on the lap top speakers when ever it was on line. Most every "Air Card" suppliers AT&T Sprint, and Verizon have 2 week trial periods. I returned my Cingular card due to interferences on the lap top and went to a Verizon card. The service was good and no interferences. I have used it in Oregon and Las Vegas and have no problems. I also note that you should use the 2 week trial period and expect to pay for that 2 weeks pro-rated. I am sticking to Verizon at this point it may cost a bit more but I feel it is worth it. Sprint use to be one of the best but the new air cards are not very good. One thing to remember is that you can move the air card to mostly any lap top.

Good Luck
Chuck AKA PineApple Express Racing.

 

[brian]

I have a Verizon aircard. I already had a Verizon company cell plus we get a corporate discount. I got the latest card for free with the added contract.

Thus far, I've been very pleased with the service, speed, etc...

You can get NationalAccess vitually anywhere, if your cell has service, the card will as well. Then BroadbandAccess kicks in where available, in most all larger cities.

No complaints thus far. I also know a couple folks who have Cingular & are happy with it as well.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

I have a Verizon aircard. I already had a Verizon company cell plus we get a corporate discount. I got the latest card for free with the added contract.

Thus far, I've been very pleased with the service, speed, etc...

You can get NationalAccess vitually anywhere, if your cell has service, the card will as well. Then BroadbandAccess kicks in where available, in most all larger cities.

No complaints thus far. I also know a couple folks who have Cingular & are happy with it as well.

Thanks Brian! Our company phones are also Verizon and we have a Verizon store in Arizona Mills Mall less than a mile from our shop. The staff there is always helpful (especially when you are spending more money). This could be a good deal - thanks again for your help! Jim

 

[Nitrohaulic]

My notebook came with the receiver built in. Most decent hotels nowadays have free wireless internet. Many aren't even password protected and work if you're simply parked close enough. I have stayed in a couple of Super 8s in which I needed the ethernet cable (most front desks I've seen will loan you one if caught without), and one that still had dialup, even.

 

[TF CREW]

I have a usb cable that plugs into my cell phone to get online while I am on the road. since I have unlimited airtime it was cheaper to get the software than to buy a wireless card and get locked into a 2 year contract @ $$$ a month when I just plug in my phone and use as needed

 

[sharkman]

I'm going to take my first vacation in 20 years to go to Indy for the 500!
A retired neighbor who has tickets in the stands behind the pits in turn one and rooms at a hotel a mile from the track invited me . . . it's an old farts racing club. I'll fit into that group just fine!
Instead of paying for a hookup at the hotel, I want to get a wireless card for my Toshiba Satellite PC. Any information on service providers, cost and reliability would be greatly appreciated! - Jim

Jim, make sure you can get TV broadcast's on your laptop, then you'll be able to see the Indy 500, seriously, you'll have a great time but Indy motor speedway is the Worst spectator friendly track I've ever been to, except for road courses, Have Fun and enjoy the experiance though.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Jim, make sure you can get TV broadcast's on your laptop, then you'll be able to see the Indy 500, seriously, you'll have a great time but Indy motor speedway is the Worst spectator friendly track I've ever been to, except for road courses, Have Fun and enjoy the experiance though.

Kenny - attended the 500 many times in the 50's and 60's with my Dad. I'm excited to be going back after so many years. Our seats are behind the pits in turn one and I have an LCD TV that has a jack for Racing Radios headphones.
You are correct - the track is so huge that you're not going to see much of the race. We should be able to cars coming out of turn four, down the straight and into turn one. I'm really excited that we will have a close view of the pit action. And . . . we will have fun! Thanks

 

[Bowtie]

The company I work for uses cingular for cell phones, but we use Verizon for the air cards. I have used the Verizons out at Firebird (we were just out there for the Mini Cooper ride and drive), Speedworld, and PIR. We send these cards out on the road to cities around the nation for the shows we put on and have had few problems, We do have one Cingular card for when one of our employees travels to the other side of the pond, and no matter what laptop I install it on, it has errors when opening and closing Cingulars software. We get the cards for free and they charge us 60 a month for unlimited access on the National Access services.

 

[BF]

Kenny - attended the 500 many times in the 50's and 60's with my Dad. I'm excited to be going back after so many years. Our seats are behind the pits in turn one and I have an LCD TV that has a jack for Racing Radios headphones.
You are correct - the track is so huge that you're not going to see much of the race. We should be able to cars coming out of turn four, down the straight and into turn one. I'm really excited that we will have a close view of the pit action. And . . . we will have fun! Thanks

Sounds like you will be sitting close to my brother and I. We sit in the Pit Road Terrace every year.

 

[Larry]

I have cingular air card and have service just about everywhere east of the Rockies.
Some general pointers.
As others said you have to get separate line or a media phone and unlimited time. The phone as a modem tends to be slow and drop signal [ just like a phone call does sometimes] , also my battery limited me to about an hour at a time without charging and I just paid $50.00 bucks to replace it cause it wore out.
Air cards come in several variety's with antenna or without.
With antenna jack for remote antenna.
Operating system matters too as Cingular/Verizon doesn't have a Vista air card card as of a month ago.
I travel through the back woods of the country and get internet everywhere I get a phone signal with cingular .
Good luck and have a good time.