I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

On 10/11/2011 8:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. You'll have to buy the laptop dongle
from them, and then buy your access in blocks. It's a pay-as-you-go
plan, so you can buy it only when you want to use it.

On Oct 11, 9:43*am, Hell Toupee wrote:
On 10/11/2011 8:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:

I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. You'll have to buy the laptop dongle
from them, and then buy your access in blocks. It's a pay-as-you-go
plan, so you can buy it only when you want to use it.


I think the first place to start is to determine where you're
going to use it and need the service. In many cases, if the
coverage is good or even available at all in the area can be the
critical issue.

On 10/11/2011 9:38 AM, wrote:
On Oct 11, 9:43 am, Hell wrote:
On 10/11/2011 8:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:

I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. You'll have to buy the laptop dongle
from them, and then buy your access in blocks. It's a pay-as-you-go
plan, so you can buy it only when you want to use it.


I think the first place to start is to determine where you're
going to use it and need the service. In many cases, if the
coverage is good or even available at all in the area can be the
critical issue.

That's an excellent point, one I hadn't thought of. Thanks for
bringing it up. There are other pay-as-you-go providers who offer this
service, so the OP ought to do a little google-fu and figure out what
provider is most likely going to meet his needs.

Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Think wireless modem & Starbucks.

On 10/11/2011 9:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast. Thanks.

Most hotels and airports give free service. You would not want to do
important stuff like banking on them for security reasons of course.

"Frank" wrote in message
...
Most hotels and airports give free service. You would not
want to do important stuff like banking on them for
security reasons of course.

Actually there is no need to worry! Online banking websites
encrypt the data from your browser to the banks server.

On Oct 11, 9:28*am, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. *It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. *Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

All the major carriers offer some sort of pay-as-you-go data plan.

The only problem is, the data blocks you buy are "use it or lose it."
You have X days to use the data block, depending on the size you
purchased.

With pay-as-you-go cell phones you buy the minutes and they're good,
period. You can buy 60 minutes of airtime, use the phone for 5
minutes, come back a year later, and the 55 minutes are still there.

If there was a data plan like that, I'd be all over it.

On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

On 10/11/2011 9:43 AM, Hell Toupee wrote:
On 10/11/2011 8:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. You'll have to buy the laptop dongle from
them, and then buy your access in blocks. It's a pay-as-you-go plan, so
you can buy it only when you want to use it.

Except that would be the worst choice for a lot of areas since it only
uses Sprints network. Sprint is a little better than tmobile but not
spectacular. And in some areas say where I live they only deployed 3G on
a few core cells and everything else is still 1X speed.

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:30:48 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Oct 11, 9:28*am, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. *It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. *Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

All the major carriers offer some sort of pay-as-you-go data plan.

The only problem is, the data blocks you buy are "use it or lose it."
You have X days to use the data block, depending on the size you
purchased.

With pay-as-you-go cell phones you buy the minutes and they're good,
period. You can buy 60 minutes of airtime, use the phone for 5
minutes, come back a year later, and the 55 minutes are still there.

If there was a data plan like that, I'd be all over it.

It costs them money to carry you as a customer, so what you want isn't likely.
However, PagePlus is close. They require that you purchase minutes every
three months but all minutes roll over. They're on the Verizon network, so
the coverage is good, too. I'm four years into my two year contract on
Verizon. I may switch to PagePlus. It would save me money almost every
month.

http://www.pagepluscellular.com/

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:23:53 -0500, "
wrote:

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:30:48 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Oct 11, 9:28*am, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. *It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. *Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

All the major carriers offer some sort of pay-as-you-go data plan.

The only problem is, the data blocks you buy are "use it or lose it."
You have X days to use the data block, depending on the size you
purchased.

With pay-as-you-go cell phones you buy the minutes and they're good,
period. You can buy 60 minutes of airtime, use the phone for 5
minutes, come back a year later, and the 55 minutes are still there.

If there was a data plan like that, I'd be all over it.

It costs them money to carry you as a customer, so what you want isn't likely.
However, PagePlus is close. They require that you purchase minutes every
three months but all minutes roll over. They're on the Verizon network, so
the coverage is good, too. I'm four years into my two year contract on
Verizon. I may switch to PagePlus. It would save me money almost every
month.

http://www.pagepluscellular.com/

Sorry, I wasn't following the thread. The PP deal above is for voice.

On 10/11/2011 4:30 PM, wrote:
On Oct 11, 9:28 am, Art wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.

All the major carriers offer some sort of pay-as-you-go data plan.

The only problem is, the data blocks you buy are "use it or lose it."
You have X days to use the data block, depending on the size you
purchased.

With pay-as-you-go cell phones you buy the minutes and they're good,
period. You can buy 60 minutes of airtime, use the phone for 5
minutes, come back a year later, and the 55 minutes are still there.

If there was a data plan like that, I'd be all over it.

The cell operators are really competitive on minutes but they know data
is their future.

It seems a few days of pay as you go will buy a month of service.

I used to have an aircard and a smartphone. I turned the aircard off
when I got the my latest smartphone. I almost never use the notebook
anymore because I can do almost everything on the smartphone. If I do I
can tether from the smartphone and the smartphone data plan is 50% of
the aircard dataplan.

George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a
beast. Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They don't
serve Folger's instant coffee.

On 10/11/2011 10:44 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when
not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a
beast. Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They don't
serve Folger's instant coffee.


At least you are consistent. You never convey useful or accurate
information so why change?

George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 10:44 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service
when not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such
a beast. Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They
don't serve Folger's instant coffee.


At least you are consistent. You never convey useful or accurate
information so why change?

My twice-in-a-lifetime trips to Starbucks is accurate. Perhaps you have an
example of a less-than-accurate post. If not, I'll assume you're just being
a pest.

Art Todesco wrote in news:j71ga9$fo0$1
@speranza.aioe.org:

I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast.
Thanks.



You should discuss this with your cell-phone provider.

You may be thinking of an "air card". Your cell-phone provider can supply
those. I've had one for years (currently a USB Sierra Wireless Compass
597). I "connect" and "disconnect" as desired.

Plans obviously vary by provider, but with my plan there is a $60/mo basic
charge, then it's by megabyte after that. Work pays for it, so I have no
idea what my monthly bill is. I do know that once I "disconnect", the MB
charges stop.

I need wireless access anywhere, and am often in areas with no Starbucks-
style "free" wireless, so my air-card is essential to my work.

If it is possible for you to be in range of the very many Starbucks-style
free wireless access-points available these days, it would probably be
advisable to just use those and not pay extra for an air-card.

Here's a tip: Go around with your laptop, anywhere you wish, and
periodically refresh the wireless-network list. You may be very surprised
to find quite a lot of wireless networks that will allow you to connect to
them, some of them completely unsecured.

--
Tegger

On 10/12/2011 3:27 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 10:44 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service
when not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such
a beast. Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They
don't serve Folger's instant coffee.


At least you are consistent. You never convey useful or accurate
information so why change?

My twice-in-a-lifetime trips to Starbucks is accurate. Perhaps you have an
example of a less-than-accurate post. If not, I'll assume you're just being
a pest.


How about all of them? Perhaps you have one that conveys useful or
accurate information that I may have missed?

George wrote:
On 10/12/2011 3:27 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 10:44 PM, HeyBub wrote:
George wrote:
On 10/11/2011 12:01 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used
when traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the
service when not using it without huge penalties. Anyone here
using such a beast. Thanks.

Think wireless modem& Starbucks.



Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They
don't serve Folger's instant coffee.


At least you are consistent. You never convey useful or accurate
information so why change?

My twice-in-a-lifetime trips to Starbucks is accurate. Perhaps you
have an example of a less-than-accurate post. If not, I'll assume
you're just being a pest.


How about all of them? Perhaps you have one that conveys useful or
accurate information that I may have missed?

How about all of them?

On 10/11/2011 9:28 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
I'm looking for a cell modem/service for a laptop to be used when
traveling. It would be nice to be able to shut off the service when not
using it without huge penalties. Anyone here using such a beast. Thanks.
lot's of answers deleted

Thanks for all the discussion. It led me to search out a few
possibilities. One would be to replace my present Verizon dumb-phone
with a new dumb-phone capable of tethering in the 3G world. Verizon
will allow you, in this case, to turn on and off the data plan whenever
you like, with a reasonable rate. As the phone which I now have
(Verizon), is piece of junk, this should be pretty painless. Verizon
has been bugging me to "upgrade" my phone for the past year. I'm sure
that Verizon really wants me to get a smart phone, however, with a
computer available pretty much all day negates any need to pay for a
data plan for the entire year.

The second possibility would be the Virgin Broadband pay-as-you-go plan,
as was mentioned. It too, allows you to active whenever you want within
a 12 month window. If you don't add data, which usually expires in a
month, for 1 year, they do drop you. You do have to buy a modem for
about $80. Virgin uses Sprint towers which have very good coverage
along the Interstates, but if you go slightly perpendicular, you'll be
without service. I used to have Sprint voice and it seemed very good
until we drove from the Interstate to an RV park about 1/2 mile away.
Here the service was very spotty.

Both of these are 3G and, according to their web sites, should give
between 700k to 1.4 meg downloads. Not too bad for reading emails and
going to a few sites, while traveling in the RV. Of course, most RV
parks offer wi-fi ... most of them free. The Verizon coverage seems to
be much better. I'm sure there are other options from other companies.

Thanks again for all the discussion and info.

On 10/12/2011 7:51 PM, Art Todesco wrote:

Thanks for all the discussion. It led me to search out a few
possibilities. One would be to replace my present Verizon dumb-phone
with a new dumb-phone capable of tethering in the 3G world. Verizon will
allow you, in this case, to turn on and off the data plan whenever you
like, with a reasonable rate. As the phone which I now have (Verizon),
is piece of junk, this should be pretty painless. Verizon has been
bugging me to "upgrade" my phone for the past year. I'm sure that
Verizon really wants me to get a smart phone, however, with a computer
available pretty much all day negates any need to pay for a data plan

You'll be very disappointed with Virgin Mobile if you're RVing. Everyone
I know with an RV uses either AT&T or Verizon, or one of their MVNOs.
Verizon is better.

How much data per month do you need? Don't most RV parks and private
campgrounds offer Wi-Fi?

If you don't use an enormous amount of data you might want to sign up
with Verizon's MVNO Pageplus.

For $55/month you get unlimited voice, unlimited texting, and 300MB of
data. Tethering works fine. Extra MB are 10¢ each (this plan is coming
in about two weeks, and is not yet on their web site).

For $30/month you get 1200 voice minutes, 3000 texts, and 100MB of data.
Extra MB are 10¢ each. I have this plan. I have never used more than
25MB in a month since wi-fi is so ubiquitous. Of course I don't watch
movies or transfer huge video files while on 3G, I wait for Wi-Fi if I
need to do data intensive stuff beyond checking e-mail or basic web
browsing.

You bring the smart phone--no subsidized phones. You can use any Android
phone. No iPhones allowed. You can pick up a gently used Droid 2 Global
for $150 or so, you just have to meet the seller at a Verizon store
where they can check that the phone has a clean ESN.

Caveats about Pageplus
----------------------
1. Roaming off of Verizon's network is 29¢/minute, so if you're going to
spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not good.
2. There is apparently no data roaming off of Verizon's network, so if
you're going to spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not good.
3. No subsidized phones.
4. No off-peak or mobile to mobile minutes, every minute counts (of
course this is not an issue on unlimited). If you have a lot of Verizon
subscribers calling you they will be charged for each minute even though
Pageplus is on the Verizon network.
5. They do not allow the Verizon iPhone to be used (actually it's
Verizon that forbids it).
6. No Blackberry devices (apparently they will work, but you will have
no access to the RIM servers).

AT&T now offers unlimited voice, messaging, and data for $50 per month
on prepaid, but tethering is not included or permitted. This is actually
a very strange plan because it's far cheaper than postpaid with a data
limit of 2GB.

On 10/13/2011 4:31 AM, SMS wrote:

You'll be very disappointed with Virgin Mobile if you're RVing. Everyone
I know with an RV uses either AT&T or Verizon, or one of their MVNOs.
Verizon is better.

How much data per month do you need? Don't most RV parks and private
campgrounds offer Wi-Fi?

If you don't use an enormous amount of data you might want to sign up
with Verizon's MVNO Pageplus.

For $55/month you get unlimited voice, unlimited texting, and 300MB of
data. Tethering works fine. Extra MB are 10¢ each (this plan is coming
in about two weeks, and is not yet on their web site).

For $30/month you get 1200 voice minutes, 3000 texts, and 100MB of data.
Extra MB are 10¢ each. I have this plan. I have never used more than
25MB in a month since wi-fi is so ubiquitous. Of course I don't watch
movies or transfer huge video files while on 3G, I wait for Wi-Fi if I
need to do data intensive stuff beyond checking e-mail or basic web
browsing.

You bring the smart phone--no subsidized phones. You can use any Android
phone. No iPhones allowed. You can pick up a gently used Droid 2 Global
for $150 or so, you just have to meet the seller at a Verizon store
where they can check that the phone has a clean ESN.

Caveats about Pageplus
----------------------
1. Roaming off of Verizon's network is 29¢/minute, so if you're going to
spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not good.
2. There is apparently no data roaming off of Verizon's network, so if
you're going to spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not
good.
3. No subsidized phones.
4. No off-peak or mobile to mobile minutes, every minute counts (of
course this is not an issue on unlimited). If you have a lot of Verizon
subscribers calling you they will be charged for each minute even though
Pageplus is on the Verizon network.
5. They do not allow the Verizon iPhone to be used (actually it's
Verizon that forbids it).
6. No Blackberry devices (apparently they will work, but you will have
no access to the RIM servers).

AT&T now offers unlimited voice, messaging, and data for $50 per month
on prepaid, but tethering is not included or permitted. This is actually
a very strange plan because it's far cheaper than postpaid with a data
limit of 2GB.

Thanks. To answer your question, most RV parks have wifi, most are
free. But there are times where an alternative would be nice. My usage
is for email and a little web surfing, little large downloads or
streaming .... after all, I would be doing this when on vacation. Just
a side note, I've only paid for internet service 2 times on trips. One
of these, on the west coast, was the worst internet I've had in any
park. I'm planning a trip to Disney World. In their campground, they
will "give" you a cable modem ($160 refundable security deposit) and for
$10/day, you get high speed broadband service. So, an alternative might
be in order. They priced it at just the right price where you might
just go for it, and I probably will. Typically, people usually spend
less than a week at Disney.

You must be a PagePlus employee. PP sounds like a good thing. It's on
the Verizon 3G network, it gives 1200 voice minutes (maybe I could kill
long distance on the landline) and some data (100m). Kind of small on
the data, but for what I want, it might just fit.
I have to weigh all the info. Right now I have a Verison phone. My
phone really needs to be replaced. So, if I were to change phones to a
Verizon tetherable non-smart phone (they have a few), I could add the
$30/month Mobile Web on the months where I need it on the road.
According to their rep, they allow you to add it and remove it with no
penalties.
Thanks again.

On 10/14/2011 9:35 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
On 10/13/2011 4:31 AM, SMS wrote:

You'll be very disappointed with Virgin Mobile if you're RVing. Everyone
I know with an RV uses either AT&T or Verizon, or one of their MVNOs.
Verizon is better.

How much data per month do you need? Don't most RV parks and private
campgrounds offer Wi-Fi?

If you don't use an enormous amount of data you might want to sign up
with Verizon's MVNO Pageplus.

For $55/month you get unlimited voice, unlimited texting, and 300MB of
data. Tethering works fine. Extra MB are 10¢ each (this plan is coming
in about two weeks, and is not yet on their web site).

For $30/month you get 1200 voice minutes, 3000 texts, and 100MB of data.
Extra MB are 10¢ each. I have this plan. I have never used more than
25MB in a month since wi-fi is so ubiquitous. Of course I don't watch
movies or transfer huge video files while on 3G, I wait for Wi-Fi if I
need to do data intensive stuff beyond checking e-mail or basic web
browsing.

You bring the smart phone--no subsidized phones. You can use any Android
phone. No iPhones allowed. You can pick up a gently used Droid 2 Global
for $150 or so, you just have to meet the seller at a Verizon store
where they can check that the phone has a clean ESN.

Caveats about Pageplus
----------------------
1. Roaming off of Verizon's network is 29¢/minute, so if you're going to
spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not good.
2. There is apparently no data roaming off of Verizon's network, so if
you're going to spend a lot of time outside Verizon territory it's not
good.
3. No subsidized phones.
4. No off-peak or mobile to mobile minutes, every minute counts (of
course this is not an issue on unlimited). If you have a lot of Verizon
subscribers calling you they will be charged for each minute even though
Pageplus is on the Verizon network.
5. They do not allow the Verizon iPhone to be used (actually it's
Verizon that forbids it).
6. No Blackberry devices (apparently they will work, but you will have
no access to the RIM servers).

AT&T now offers unlimited voice, messaging, and data for $50 per month
on prepaid, but tethering is not included or permitted. This is actually
a very strange plan because it's far cheaper than postpaid with a data
limit of 2GB.

Thanks. To answer your question, most RV parks have wifi, most are free.
But there are times where an alternative would be nice. My usage is for
email and a little web surfing, little large downloads or streaming ....
after all, I would be doing this when on vacation. Just a side note,
I've only paid for internet service 2 times on trips. One of these, on
the west coast, was the worst internet I've had in any park. I'm
planning a trip to Disney World. In their campground, they will "give"
you a cable modem ($160 refundable security deposit) and for $10/day,
you get high speed broadband service. So, an alternative might be in
order. They priced it at just the right price where you might just go
for it, and I probably will. Typically, people usually spend less than a
week at Disney.

You must be a PagePlus employee.

LOL, no but maybe I should become a dealer! I would not be listing the
caveats about Pageplus if I were an employee. We have five phones on
Pageplus in our family. My wife and I recently dropped Verizon and moved
to Pageplus with Android phones, while my kids have had dumb phones on
Pageplus for years.

Personally I find that most places I go to have free wi-fi, and of
course at home and work I don't need to use 3G. I use 3G when out and
about, but I don't watch movies, upload or download videos (or stills),
or play games over the network. If I download Android applications I do
it when I have wi-fi.

If occasionally I go over 100MB, even a few hundrd percent over, that's
fine, I'll pay the overage. If I were using multiple GB of 3G data per
month it'd be a different story.

What I've seen is that most people think they use far more data than
they actually do. "Unlimited" sounds just so great, but the reality is
that for most users they're paying a lot for something they don't need.

Cisco reported that in 2010, the average (mean) data usage for smart
phones was 355MB for iPhone users, 209MB for Android users, and 104 MB
for Blackberry users. But 65% of that data was used at home or work, and
35% was used elsewhere (including, presumably, many places where Wi-Fi
was available but since most users had unlimited 3G data there was no
incentive to hassle with using Wi-Fi).

AT&T, when they introduced their 200MB and 2GB plans after dumping
unlimited data stated that 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use
less than 200 MB of data per month.

A Validas report in 2011, showed the mean data from 345MB to around
425MB (depending on the carrier) but the median amount was under 100MB
for all carriers other than T-Mobile (around 135MB), and that only
between 36% & 42% of users used more than 200MB of data per month.