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Air card? - 4/6/2008 10:20:53 AM
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JonBulb
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Joined: 6/17/2007
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Okay, i have a Acer Extensa notebook model no. 5620-6830. it has a 1 ExpressCard/54 slot. I was thinking about getting a air card and cancelling my local cable connection. my notebook is pretty fast and I'm wondering if their are any downside in going w/a air card? I want to start using the notebook in my vehicle while driving or traveling out of state. I unusally drive and not fly. any thoughts? Thanks.
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RE: Air card? - 4/6/2008 10:34:00 AM
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Miss Giggles
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From: MI
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What do you need to use the laptop for driving for? A GPS? . it might be easier to get a tom-tom gps or garmin that plugs into your cigarette lighter. I will get one if I need to travel more. if you need to check your email almost every coffee shop has wi-fi. Theres really no downside, but its not the safest connection if you need to do something secure.
Do not use the laptop while driving, my pet peeve is distracted drivers and it only takes 1 second to swing out of a lane and hit someone.
< Message edited by Miss Giggles -- 4/6/2008 10:49:21 AM >
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RE: Air card? - 4/7/2008 12:52:57 PM
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new68
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I have a cellular WiFi card from AT&T and really like it. I don't use it that often, as I don't travel that much. But when I do it seems to work very well and be as fast as my 3Mbps DSL at home. The only downside I can think of is the cost for unlimited service is a bit high compared to cable or DSL. But if you are on the road a lot, it may be worth it. I would make sure you use a provider that has good coverage in the areas you travel to. Otherwise you may get hit with roaming charges or worse, no signal.
One other downside is that when you get away from metropolitan areas, you may not be able to get higher speed connections. Some providers have not upgraded their rural cell towers to high speed internet.
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RE: Air card? - 4/7/2008 1:51:25 PM
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1love1God1way
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Is it even legal for someone to be operating a laptop while driving?
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RE: Air card? - 4/7/2008 2:32:45 PM
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stateofgrace
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My husband recently did a career switch to trucking, and truckers seem to really like those air cards. Apparently the different truck stop chains each have their own (paid) WiFi access and it's cheaper to pay for an air card monthly than have multuiple WiFi accounts.
As far as "every" coffee shop having free WiFi, it depends on the coffee shop and the chain. Our local Cool Beans has free WiFi...Panera does as a chain...but Starbucks has WiFi through AT&T and you have to subscribe to it.
Hopefully, people are not using their computers while driving. Although I have heard of truckers hooking up the earphone/mic combo and using voice enabled IM or Skype to talk to their families and friends, while driving.
Hubby doesn't have a personal laptop yet. I don't know if I want to do tech support across the country. I am considering an iPhone for him.
Another cool thing you can do with a laptop and either WiFi or an air card while traveling is Slingbox. You can hook it up to your home cable or satellite and watch your local cable access over the internet.
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RE: Air card? - 4/8/2008 10:30:25 PM
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crm4souls
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We have verizon new USB connection Wireless Internet for our laptops. Great for travel and the speed is great. We use it for travel and backup for our internet in office & home, works great for us. We have cable internet at home and DSL at our office. The wireless is good, it is slower than our cable of course at home. It is more expensive then to have cable internet, but if you need it for travel, it is the best solution.
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RE: Air card? - 4/10/2008 10:40:50 PM
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TheNextBillGates
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I concur. I use my Sprint wireless card often. Bandwidth in EVDO cities is very good, but congested cities (like Manhattan) reveal much slower speeds. Get a card that's EVDO Rev A compliant and you'll get the best bang for your buck.
I couldn't replace my home internet with it, but it's certainly great to have as a consultant. Runs about $50/mo for unlimited data on Sprint.
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RE: Air card? - 4/13/2008 10:19:40 PM
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JonBulb
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I meant to say when traveling in my vehicle, Not using it while I drive.
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RE: Air card? - 4/25/2008 10:44:03 AM
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DaveW
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quote:
ORIGINAL: 1love1God1way
Is it even legal for someone to be operating a laptop while driving? Police around here do it all the time....
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RE: Air card? - 4/25/2008 5:35:37 PM
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mark56
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Check the byte transfer limits for different providers. The last I knew AT&T and Verizon have limits and Sprint does not. It is usually is not an issue for most business users but if you are getting rid of your home connection and you listen to music streams and download video it may be a problem.
I used a slot PC card type and the newer USB cards from Verizon. The USB type initializes faster and tranfer speeds seem to be faster too.
If you use the PC card type make sure you remove it before putting the laptop in the case. I know someone who kept the card plugged in and the extra force pressing on the card damaged the mother board.
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