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Best Wireless Card for Working on the Road with Laptop?

Original Post
claytown · · Boulder, CO · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 1,210

Anyone have experience using AT&T, Verizon or Sprint wireless internet cards for their laptop at climbing destinations? I can work from wherever, as long as I can get online with the laptop, and I'm trying to figure out how to get more flexibility than just hitting up coffee shops, libraries, etc. while on the road.

One specific area of interest is Yosemite. I plan to be there as long as possible in August - Sept (until I get the boot) but don't want to be a drag on the hotel constantly on their wifi. I also spend a lot of time around moab / the creek, Zion, Utah in general, all over Colorado, and looking at the Sierras, Northern AZ and maybe even all the way up towards BC.

Anyone have experience getting a laptop online at any of these killer destinations? Some questions in my head are:

Is the service reliable?
Is any provider better/worse than the others?
What are download/upload speeds (more like dial-up or broadband)?
Anything I should know that I might not think to ask?

Thanks in advance!

Clayton

ese · · chester , NH · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 0

I have had very good luck with Verizion.
Up Stream and Down Stream Transfer Rates vary considerably based on connection (number of bars) but it totally lets me keep in touch

Brigette Beasley · · Monroe, WA · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 275

+1 for Verizon.

John McNamee · · Littleton, CO · Joined Jul 2002 · Points: 1,690

Verizon for sure!

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318

Verizon has the best reception in the E Sierra. I get 3G coverage in Rovana when A&T doesn't ever register a signal.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

Just upgrade to an Android operating system phone. Verizon/Sprint use the same type towers, so I recommend sprint w/ unlimited roaming. You'll get Verizon coverage w/ sprint prices.

You can tether to your computer and use the 4g/3g anywhere you have service.

The EVO 4G is sweeeeet.

claytown · · Boulder, CO · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 1,210

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Looks like I won't have much reception in the Valley regardless of the carrier but Verizon is the best all around for reception while peformance is pretty much the same across the various networks.

Here's to working on the road! This is going to be a good fall!

Clayton

Brigette Beasley · · Monroe, WA · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 275
Price wrote:You can tether to your computer and use the 4g/3g anywhere you have service.
How does this work? I have the Motorola Droid, and I'm also paying for a wireless card. Does tethering the phone provide the same quality of access?
Jason Wells · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2001 · Points: 100

Not sure if this would be useful in addition to a cell card, but I've had good luck with an external wifi antenna: hfield.com/the-wi-fire/. Gives you a lot more options on where to sit when using open wifi hotspots.

If your provider doesn't easily allow tethering (i.e. an AT&T iPhone) you can easily pull out the SIM card and tether an old cell phone (I have a Nokia 6555). No doubt this is against your carrier agreement, but as long as you don't go crazy downloading movies you probably won't get noticed.

With a cell phone or card, you would probably find some benefit from an external powered antenna. I've never tried it, but have read and heard good things.

Summer Time · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2010 · Points: 190

I've had good luck as a telecommuter w/ a Sprint wireless card (just got the 3G/4G Sierra Aircard).

sierrawireless.com/Newsroom…

Here's the Sprint 3G/4G voice and data coverage map; as to Utah, I noticed there was decent coverage in the Moab area but haven't checked it out myself yet. Sprint’s roaming agreements w/ Verizon are on a market-by-market basis. Roaming on Verizon in the Western slope (Colorado), my email was super fast on my cell phone but my data card was slow.

coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.…

Also, if you’re telecommuting away from Wifi, I assume you’re also away from an electrical outlet. What do you do about battery life on your laptop? My friend uses this, which he really likes:

SolarGorilla and PowerGorilla (stores the sunlight/energy that was harnessed by the SolarGorilla).

I bought this (on the fly at an auction, not sure if I want to keep it – haven’t used it yet):

Goal0’s ELITE® Sherpa 120 Explorer Kit

Any thoughts on good ways to supplement the laptop battery?

claytown · · Boulder, CO · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 1,210

Thanks for the beta everyone. Summer Time, in regards to battery life, I'm not sure how the solar options stack up to one another but it seems like you need something to trickle charge another battery and then use that to run/supplement the laptop. For car camping you can always get away with a converter (inverter?) to charge the laptop that way. My laptop has a 6 - 8 hour battery so I've always been able to just charge in the car. Maybe a simple fix is 2 or 3 laptop batteries and the car charger? Maybe not but at least it would be redundant!

Ty Harlacker · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 231

+1 Android based device. Root it and you will have a portable hot-spot... free. Just make sure you use flash a ROM like Cyanogen so you have free tethering.

Ty Harlacker · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 231
Brigette wrote: How does this work? I have the Motorola Droid, and I'm also paying for a wireless card. Does tethering the phone provide the same quality of access?
Yeah you will have mobile broadband. However, you need to "root" your phone and install some apps such as "super user" and "tether". You can also flash an aftermarket ROM that supports tethering like CyanogenMod.
Bob Dergay · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 101

You don't need to root your android device--
Just download "Easy Tether" and you're there--
There's a free version of it that works great- I use it all the time...
It then just connects your computer to the internet through your phone's existing 3G connection-- no need to pay more for a broadband card.. But if you've got an iphone, you have to pay extra to ATT for the privilege of tethering...

John Farrell · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 85
Brigette wrote: How does this work? I have the Motorola Droid, and I'm also paying for a wireless card. Does tethering the phone provide the same quality of access?
There are several ways to tether on Verizon with your Droid for free:

1) You can root your phone and put a custom ROM on it that can turn your phone into a WIFI Hotspot. This works well and doesn't require a cable. I use the Bugless Beast one:
droidforums.net/forum/bugle…

2) Another option is a piece of software called PDANet that is an app on both your laptop and phone:

junefabrics.com/android/

There are other types of software for it, but I found this one to work really well, and it's reasonably priced.

3) Pay Verizon an extra $30.00 a month. Personally, I don't like this one.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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