We have an aircard with AT&T,..... and I am using it right now from a parking area close to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

We have had this for a number of years and have had no problems with it.

Someone mentioned that one benefit of the aircard over a tethered phone is having the phone available for use. THis has been important in the past when we needed to be using both at the same moment.

I understand that there are some new smart phones that may be able to be tethered without losing calling capabilities.

We are very happy with our setup.

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Greg in Austin
2008 Ford 6.0PSD EB/E-PH SMB 4X4 Aluminess f/r bumpers (13.5mpg avg, 15mpg hwy) 52k miles [Texas McBeast]
2006 Toyota Prius (48 to 68 mpg) 120k miles [Penelope]
2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (15 to 18 mpg) [Johnnie]
2012 Mitsubishi MiEV (no gas required) ($.50/day in electricity) [Evie]
https://badge.facebook.com/badge/1232...3.32047100.png

I've added the 3 watt cellphone booster to my ATT card and trucker antenna and it makes a huge difference here in the mountains of Colorado

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'07 E350 4x4, voyager top, custom interior, prorock 60, arb front & back, aluminess front & back, hella lights, extreme air, braun wheelchair lift.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

Been busy that past few days and not on the forum .

Anyhow I have experience with a Verizon aircard. Been using an older model for about 3-4 years now as my primary internet connection when outside the office. It is ok on speed and works just about everywhere that a Verizon phone works-which has done me well. I have an older model card by Kyocera. I keep it because in the van I have a Wilson amplifier and this particular aircard allows for an external antenna to be hooked up to it. (you use a dongle to connect it to the Wilson amp, I also had one for my old phone which allowed for an external antenna). When you have a half bar or intermittant signal, turn on the Wilson amp and you will get a big boost (up to full bars). Wilson does make another model that is wireless (but I didn't get it 2 years ago because at the time the wired connection was deemed better).

Since I recently got a Blackberry Storm it doesn't allow an external antenna so I may need to rethink my in-van setup. It does seem faster than the Kyocera aircard but i havent used it enough to really tell. I assume it is faster due to newer technology (although it uses the same network). The main problem is, as someone else pointed out, you cannot be on the internet and talk at the same time which for me really sucks.

So bottom line, figure out how you are going to use it. Either the aircard or data plan on a phone will be great. But the best thing is to use either with an amplifier if you are are way off the highway and presumably have spotty cell coverage.

steve

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'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?

My only internet access comes through a Sprint wireless air card, specifically the Sierra Wireless 595U, the "U" being USB. I got this specific air card because it has an external antenna jack, which incidentally, I've never used. Also, it comes with a USB extension, which allows me some leeway in placement and definitely makes a difference in reception in the van.



http://www.sierrawireless.com/product/ac595U.aspx

In my 2 years of ownership, I have no real complaints. I get broadband speed in most areas of the North East and a reasonable connection speed anywhere I can get Sprint cellular coverage.

I just switched to an iPhone on the AT&T network from Nextel's lousy coverage network, so I'd like to add the Wilson Cellular Amplifier which will hopefully cover both my Sprint and AT&T networks. I had an external antenna for my Nextel (no amp), which generally added 1-2 bars of reception.

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2005 Ford E-350 Diesel Sportsmobile
EB 102 Voyager top, 3.55 rear, Mobil 1 all around
270 amp alternator, billet water pump, coolant filter kit,
aluminum radiator, X-Monitor with pyro, trans temp, boost
+ Scan Gauge & SCT Live Wire (Economy)

I just got a pay-as-you-go air card from Virgin Mobile (runs on the Sprint network). A word of warning, I had to set it up on a PC, but after the initial setup and programming it worked fine on my Mac.

I loved the idea of the Mi-Fi, but since I only need it once in a while I didn't want to be stuck with another contract (I already have ATT for my iPhone).

I only use it if I need to do email or web-browsing I can't do on my iPhone and to download emails off the server onto my computer. This has worked out to needing it just a few days a month and about 100GB of data, so I can manage with $20/month and even then, it is only on months I'm traveling for more than a couple of days.

Rest of the time I'm using my laptop & hotspots or the iPhone.

We also use the Verizon WIFI card and travel a lot. We have had excellent results with this devise. The only places we have had connectivity issues is in the mountains. This is not unique to Verizon and is probably still better than most. I strongly endorse this card, we use it at home as well as when we're on the road.

Verizon for me, used to have a Mifi card but have switched to an Android X phone, it is 'Hot spot" capable. I switched prior to the new data plan scheme. Monthly data is unlimited and the hot spot works great. We like it because both of us can connect individual laptops..

It’s a shame w find it necessary to be on a laptop when camping


I'd like to get a booster/amp.

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CJ