Any Experience w/EVDO Card (Aircard)?

[Dog]

Currently we are maintaining two homes and have broadband at each. The DSL at our primary residence is fairly inexpensive ($19.99), but the comcast cable modem at our secondary home (future ER home) is over $50/month (they claim they don't have a cheaper rate). I need the broadband because occasionally I telecommute (from both homes). Anyway in preparation for my ER, we are reducing expenses and considering an aircard for my laptop and disconnecting the DSL and Comcast service. But, I want to make sure that the service won't be too slow. I have excellent cell phone reception from Verizon at both homes, so will probably go with their aircard. Anyone have any experience with using an aircard as a fulltime broadband solution?
(BTW - already played the game with comcast to get their retention offer. It only lasted for six months. I don't have any other options for broadband service in the area)

Thanks!

[SteveR]

I have a Verizon air card in addition to our other service. I use it in DW's laptop and in a router in the motorhome. It runs about $60 per month for the service. As long as you are in the Broadband area and not just the National access area the speeds are OK...not like DSL.

There is a new version of the EVDO card out; Rev A I believe, tha is faster. You need to check the Verizon coverage map to see if they even off Broadband and then Rev. A. There are many places you can get a good cell signal but can't get the Broadband speed because it is limited to being near major cities.

Otherwise, it is handy and works great while on the road as long as you know there will be places you can't get service and most places (out here) where you can't get Broadband.

Added:
There is a throughput limit of 5GB per month? on the service so ask before you sign on the line. They do watch this very closely as they don't want anybody doing business using the service due to bandwidth restrictions.

[MikeD]

I have a Sprint PCS EVDO Modem. It's pretty reliable now that they have the drivers' kinks worked out. Took about 8 months after it came out to be OK. Sprint's customer service is legendarily bad, which I pretty much determined to be true on my own experiences.

The only diff between Verizon and Sprint is the fact that Verizon has an unwritten limit of 5 GB/month while Sprint actually states they have no limit.

Mike D.

[DallasFH]

I have a Verizon rev A EVDO card and max download is 1 Meg. Preffer the cable modem better as it is 6-7 Meg download.

[Patrick]

I started with Sprint because they had no download limit, but it was so horribly slow that I switched to Verizon, who my cell service is with. The Broadband is OK, but the National Access (which is what it reverts to when you can't get Broadband) seems kinda slow. It's nice to be unplugged, but it's not as fast as the cable modem was. My service is $60/month and the aircard was included free with a 2-year commitment. As long as you don't download movies constantly, you should be within Verizon's limits.

[Martha]

I have the Verizon rev A EVDO card. Works great in broadband areas but I agree with Patrick, pretty slow when not in a broadband area.

To increase my range I got a separate antennae which does a good job of increasing my range. I have been able to get broadband internet when not even able to get a Verizon cell phone signal.

[RunningBum]

Something to consider--the aircard would only give your one laptop internet access, right? DSL or cable with a router can give access to multiple computers. If you have guests, or other family members who would have computers, you may want to just bite the bullet.

An advantage to an aircard is that you should have access just about anywhere, right? You don't have to go searching for a WiFi hotspot?

btw, with your Comcast cable internet, you probably also have basic cable TV. Unless it's changed, it was difficult or impossible for them to block basic cable TV. You might give it a try if you are interested.

[SteveR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Something to consider--the aircard would only give your one laptop internet access, right? DSL or cable with a router can give access to multiple computers. If you have guests, or other family members who would have computers, you may want to just bite the bullet.

Not exactly.

You can get wireless or wired routers that use the aircards. I have one in the RV which runs the internet and WiFi hotspots on 3 computers and a printer without a wired connection.

We can use it on one computer at a time or in the router. All I have to do is pull it out of the router and plug it into a laptop and go.

Other computers can log on (if I authorize it) and can use the internet too if they are in range of the router.

It works very well on the road for us. I am looking at upgrading to a Rev. A in June but may wait as it is not available on the network here yet. (One of the down sides of living in an isolated state that is mostly wilderness/BLM land.

[RunningBum]

Cool, thanks Steve!

[Martha]

Steve, what router are you using with your aircard?

[Maurice]

I use one exclusively and have for 3 years. It is the only broadband I have. Its not as fast as cable or dsl, but I don't want the former in my house and the latter isn't available.

Its perfectly acceptable here. I've almost never traveled with it.

[walkinwood]

If you are used to cable speeds, you'll find the evdo service slow and unpredictable. I've used it at work over the past 2 years and concur with most of the reports above.

My company - ah, ex-company - initially gave us a choice - they would pay for wired internet access or the evdo. But later, they relented for frequent travelers and allowed us to have both because the evdo card was not as reliable and fast as the wire based services (dsl, cable) and it caused a lot of frustration while working in home-offices.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR Not exactly. You can get wireless or wired routers that use the aircards. I have one in the RV which runs the internet and WiFi hotspots on 3 computers and a printer without a wired connection. We can use it on one computer at a time or in the router. All I have to do is pull it out of the router and plug it into a laptop and go.

That's exactly what we do! We just upgraded to the Kyocera K2 router from the DLink router. If we leave the motorhome for a while with our computers and want internet, we just plug the aircard into one of our computers. Otherwise it stays in the router in the motorhome and we use via WiFi.

It's been great for a fulltime RVer. In the >2 years since we've used it (Verizon account, Kyocera KPC650 aircard) we've noticed significant increases in national coverage and more and more places with broadband signal.

Right now we're camping at scenic Emigrant Lake south of Ashland OR, and we have full strength Verizon EVDO.

NationalAccess (non broadband) may be a bit slow, but it's still way faster than dialup! and beat having to go over to the "office" and try to use their modem or trying to find a WiFi hotspot. We too have found that using a small external antenna helps significantly when signals are weak, and we have stayed places where we couldn't use our voice phone but had internet!

Audrey

[nphx]

On sprint i just use the Bluetooth to tap the evdo internet off the phone - doesnt become an extra device. I only use it when traveling, its not fast enough for me for regular use.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nphx On sprint i just use the Bluetooth to tap the evdo internet off the phone - doesnt become an extra device. I only use it when traveling, its not fast enough for me for regular use.

I use a Sprint EVDO aircard both at home (with a wireless router) and when traveling. Living where the only options I have are dial up and satellite, I find the aircard to be plenty fast enough for me and very reliable.

[Dog]

Thanks for the great input. I haven't made a decision yet - although I'm leaning more towards going with the EVDO card. I'm going to wait until I see a good promo.

RunningBum, we had DIRECTV at the island house when comcast installed our cable modem - they didn't even try to convert us to cable TV.