Getting Internet on the Road ?

[Mako Koiwai]

What do you call those little plug-ins for ones lap top to have internet connectivity while on the road?

Recommendations?

We've got AT&T, so should we use one of their devices, assuming they have them?

Cost?

Do they support VPN?

Would they work when we're traveling in remote'ish areas in Oregon, Washington, Canada, Wyoming?

We're taking a road trip up to Canada to visit Karen's folks, plus we might meet up with Reijo. Karen would like to be able to do some office work while on the road. I'm not sure I would have any use for the internet ...

Karen NEVER gets car sick ?!

[Max Hayter]

What do you call those little plug-ins for ones lap top to have internet connectivity while on the road?

An Android phone

[Don Salyers]

What do you call those little plug-ins for ones lap top to have internet connectivity while on the road?

An Android phone

My computer uses a USB to the Blackberry....

[Mako Koiwai]

We both have iPhones ... but she needs her laptop and VPN to communicate with the mothership employer.

[Steve Ekstrand]

I tether my blackberry to my cradlepoint portable router. I can then send wifi to the iPad and my notebook and friends wifi phones all simultaneously as the Wiggle Way Racing rig flies down the road. My Tekkeon Lithium Ion portable power supply powers the cradle point, the phone, the iPad, and about anything else for a very long time if we're out of the car and unable to plug in.

I also have ATT 3G on the iPad.... Verizon 3G is clearly faster than ATT for data.

[Mako Koiwai]

OK, but you can't do this with an iPhone right (as opposed the Blackberry), because the iPhone doesn't tether? But I do know that you can send wifi from a iPhone to an iPad, with a particular iPad app?

What I was thinking of was one of those little usb plug-ins that I see some people using ... but I'm guessing that's another whole subscription situation? I wonder if we could do that just for a month?

How about Blue Tooth? Does that have enough bandwidth? Can one Blue Tooth from a iPhone to a laptop? I remember having a usb bluetooth receiver for an old desktop Mac ...

[Theo O.]

Get an AT&T wireless aircard. I have one from my work for responding to fires and they work very well.

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscen ... 0000dd4106

[Theo O.]

Here's a USB equivalent, but no first hand experience with this.

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscen ... inkLoc=BDY

[Mako Koiwai]

Thanks Theo ... Karen is going to check with her IT dept if they would recommend the USB model ... she needs VPN. The USD model should work on both of our lap tops while the aircard would only work on my MBP, not her older IBM

[Kurt Rahn]

Here's a USB equivalent, but no first hand experience with this.

My wife has this one, and she loves it!

[Mako Koiwai]

Do you know which payment plan she has?

$60 for 5 gig's/month
$35 for 200 megs/month

AT&T said they DO have a way to tether the iPhone to a laptop to receive 3G net service ... I think that was about $45/month

Of course these all require a 2 year commitment.

It ridiculous how much we spend for communications/telephone/cable/internet these days. For all those items I think we're up to about $370/month ... including my sons cell phone

[Kurt Rahn]

Do you know which payment plan she has?

Last I heard, she was on the unlimited plan. If she's on a limited plan, she's got the one with the most traffic, cuz she's on that thing all the time.

[Randy Chase]

It ridiculous how much we spend for communications/telephone/cable/internet these days. For all those items I think we're up to about $370/month ... including my sons cell phone

I was always struck by a column I had read back in the 80s that claimed in the future, we would spend more on our telecommunications than we do on heating and ac. Seemed crazy at the time.

But my TV cable, netflix, roku, cell, internet, data bill is over $1k a month. A lot of that is business... but still.

Mako, I have two verizon data modules that connect to a USB. They are being used by SCCA until Nationals is over then I will get them back. I will need one at least for SEMA and other trade shows this fall. When is your trip?

[Randy Chase]

A buddy of mine uses a Verizon handheld that he keeps in his pocket. It may be phone capable but he uses it only as a wifi hub for his iphone and ipad. When I bought an iPad, I declined the data plan thinking I would do the same thing.

[Arthur Grant]

We both have iPhones ... but she needs her laptop and VPN to communicate with the mothership employer.

Your thinking of what is called an Air Card. However there has to be a cell in range. Your iPhone with 3 or 4 G can do the job as well. You can use the app listed to jailbreak the iPhone and use it as modem, no additional charge beyond your iPhone data charge which I hope is unlimited.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/08/tutorial-turn-1/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

See if this helps you.

[Mako Koiwai]

Looks like this is the way to go ... Virgin ... pay as you go ... no contract. Two options ... MiFi or USB

Canada 0.10/minute

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-b ... nd2go.html

NY Times article on this great deal:

http://nyti.ms/cx3wIj

[Mako Koiwai]

Cool ... I was in and out of Best Buys with our Mifi in about 4 minutes ... device is charging ... nice, replaceable battery. Went ahead and bought the $40 unlimited plan for the month.

No bigger then a thick credit card. Available at Radio Shack also ... I recommend it for your drive backs

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Thanks Theo ... Karen is going to check with her IT dept if they would recommend the USB model ... she needs VPN. The USD model should work on both of our lap tops while the aircard would only work on my MBP, not her older IBM

Wireless card should work with VPN since it's a security protocol, not a transmission/network protocol.

[Mako Koiwai]

We got it set up last night ... need to charge it first. Make sure you download the Manual First Before trying to Activate. The abbreviated instructions will have you chasing your tail.

Don't bother buying the Top-Up time from the store ... easier to just use your credit card and buy the time on-line ... instead of having to enter in another long Top-Up card PIN number.

(After you enter in your Top-Up card number or I assume your credit card, you have an on-line credit ... which you then have to use to buy time, an extra step, even if you're going with the $40 unlimited plan?!)

We had four devices connected to it last night ... worked fine once we were able to log in. There are Passwords, Pins, and various ID numbers ... but at least no multi year contract. Once you're in, you're good for up to a year even if you stop using it after the first few times.

[Mako Koiwai]

So it turns out that the VirginMobil web site was misleading, ie. Our MiFi uses the Spring Cellular network, in Canada you will pay $0.10/minute to use the cellular connection.

Turns out that the moment we crossed the border into Canada, our MiFi device stopped working! Spent over an hour of a 90 minute beautiful ferry ride from Bainbridge Island to Victoria on hold with VirginMobil Canada trying to find out why it wouldn't work. (toll free call from a Ferry payphone.) Turns out that VirginMobil Canada is owned by BellCanada ... and they have nothing to do with VirginMobil USA?! They have their own MiFi device.

SO ... we ended up having to take our iPhones out of Airplane mode a few times during the trip, when Karen HAD to get in touch with her office, I HAD to get in Touch with Karen and of course after Karen's accident ... where oddly enough, a number of the people that stopped didn't have cell phones ... and the forest service guy with a two-way radio couldn't reach his base from our incident location.

Just got our AT&T bill. Not Too Bad ... our very judicious use of our iPhones in Canada cost us about $90. But of course on top of that we spent $160 for the VirginMobil Mifi device plus $40 for the month of service. We could have returned it to BestBuys when we got back, and VirginMobil said they would refund us our $40, but we decided to keep it and we bought another month of unlimited service. It WAS useful when we got back and we thought Karen was hogging the router with her hardwire to her work laptop and new desktop while I used the MiFi device to be on the net at the same time. We only recently discovered that we could be hardwired to the route AND have wireless at the same time. But I can use the MiFi when on the road or at work when there isn't otherwise Wifi where we're filming.

[Bill Martin]

I've only had my IPAD a short while, but it seems a better deal. $15 per month for 3G 250Mb, or $30 per month unlimited. And you can subscribe month to month. Only downside I see is it's AT&T where I'd prefer Verizon. And of course, IPADs aren't exactly cheap to purchase.

[Kristoffer Gjevre]

I've only had my IPAD a short while, but it seems a better deal. $15 per month for 3G 250Mb, or $30 per month unlimited. And you can subscribe month to month. Only downside I see is it's AT&T where I'd prefer Verizon. And of course, IPADs aren't exactly cheap to purchase.

AT&T 3G data plans for iPad
Data per month - Price per month
250MB/month $14.99
2GB/month $25.00
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s ... TECH+SPECS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The downside to this is that it is only for the iPad, and I would like to have it so I could also run a laptop.
Sucks to have two devices (iPad and iPhone) with cell data but no way to use that capability for a laptop... I looked at the Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200 as an option, but it got quite a mixed bag of reviews on the BestBuy site...

[Bill Martin]

I'm finding the same data plans you show. But I also have available unlimited for 29.99. Apparently it's been discontinued for new buyers. Dunno if it will remain available to me.