I think a much cheaper solution that works very well is to connect your computer via bluetooth or USB (tethered modem) to your cell phone. If you have an iPhone you are already paying a flat data rate with AT&T and on a 3G wireless network. There may be a better set up process but once you’ve done it you won’t be paying two cell bills. $60 month to sprint… yikes!!
Totally agree Dan.
When I purchased my new laptop, I got the ATT broadband card. It is great. Here’s a story.
I was driving to Nashville last fall. It was about 10pm, in the middle of nowhere, and my wife called to tell me that I had not left her the map for her trip the next day. So, I pull off the highway onto an exit/entrance ramp. Cranked up my computer, went online, did a Google map for her, saved it as a PDF, sent it by email to her. All in about 10-15 minutes. And because I spend a lot of time driving, I also purchased the power connectors for using the car’s power. It’s great too. Convinced me of the value of both.
I love my Sierra broadband on a stick. I have the same one as you. Another added advantage of that exact product is it has GPS and includes some light applications based on that service. This is excellent for knowing exactly where you are when traveling and what available services are around you.
The downside to this Sprint service is it only works in the USA. I travel outside the US and would love the exact same thing around the globe. I use my Nokia as a dial-up modem using 3G (I have a T-Mobile global all I can eat data plan on it for $20 a month – it is a Blackberry global email service by actually).
A co-worker and I have found that the USB version of these do not work well – the PC Card version tended to work better and have a better connection. The downside of those is that is that newer computers might not accept them. Thankfully, there are mobile hotspots now that do the same thing – they don’t need to be inserted into the computer and you connect to it via a wifi connection. The added benefit to this is being able to have multiple devices use the same hotspot, such as wi-fi only tablets.
I think a much cheaper solution that works very well is to connect your computer via bluetooth or USB (tethered modem) to your cell phone. If you have an iPhone you are already paying a flat data rate with AT&T and on a 3G wireless network. There may be a better set up process but once you’ve done it you won’t be paying two cell bills. $60 month to sprint… yikes!!
For iPhone folks…
http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/use-your-iphones-internet-connection-on-your-laptop-327066.php
For users with a “bluetooth” enabled computer and cell phone…
http://mobileoffice.about.com/od/typesofaccessavailable/ht/bluetoothphone.htm
And for folks with a blackberry…
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/tethered_modem.jsp
If there are better set-ups or ways to go about this please share!
@ Chris — Awesome suggestions. Much appreciated.
Totally agree Dan.
When I purchased my new laptop, I got the ATT broadband card. It is great. Here’s a story.
I was driving to Nashville last fall. It was about 10pm, in the middle of nowhere, and my wife called to tell me that I had not left her the map for her trip the next day. So, I pull off the highway onto an exit/entrance ramp. Cranked up my computer, went online, did a Google map for her, saved it as a PDF, sent it by email to her. All in about 10-15 minutes. And because I spend a lot of time driving, I also purchased the power connectors for using the car’s power. It’s great too. Convinced me of the value of both.
I love my Sierra broadband on a stick. I have the same one as you. Another added advantage of that exact product is it has GPS and includes some light applications based on that service. This is excellent for knowing exactly where you are when traveling and what available services are around you.
The downside to this Sprint service is it only works in the USA. I travel outside the US and would love the exact same thing around the globe. I use my Nokia as a dial-up modem using 3G (I have a T-Mobile global all I can eat data plan on it for $20 a month – it is a Blackberry global email service by actually).
I have loved your travel tips.
Android phones can create a ‘portable wi-fi hotspot’ that you can use to surf the web using your regular phone data plan. Cost: $0.
… if your contract doesn’t prohibit it, which mine does …
If you use Skype, you can use Skype Access to pay for Wifi across multiple providers (boingo, et al)
A co-worker and I have found that the USB version of these do not work well – the PC Card version tended to work better and have a better connection. The downside of those is that is that newer computers might not accept them. Thankfully, there are mobile hotspots now that do the same thing – they don’t need to be inserted into the computer and you connect to it via a wifi connection. The added benefit to this is being able to have multiple devices use the same hotspot, such as wi-fi only tablets.