Looking for mobile broadband

[RandomFool]

I'm considering getting one of those fancy smancy mobile broadband cards for my laptop. I travel a lot so it'd be handy for that plus my GF's house is still using AOL dial up (I know) so I could use it there too.

I've currently got my cell phone service with Verizon and was thinking of going with them but from what little I've found Verizon doesn't seem to be quite as fast as Sprint or AT&T. I don't have any plans to switch phone carriers but I'm open to using a different company for data services. According to my tests I'm currently using about 5 gigs a week for normal traffic which included watching 5 episodes of streamed LOST and a bit of TF2. I figure I can stay under the data caps pretty easily as long as I refrain from gaming and streaming videos. Awhile back I saw a thread that mentioned a site that offered sprint data without a contract. At the time they were out of cards and couldn't seem to find it again when I searched for it.

Anyone have any experience with this stuff?

 

[QueBert]

dunno about your area but Verizon is faster then AT&T out here, Sprint is the fastest in So Cal. 5 gigs isn't much, you don't have to do a whole lot to have your bandwidth get eaten up.

my neighbor has Verizon and it's pretty decent I used it a few times and it wasn't as bad as I expected at all.

 

[RandomFool]

Right now I'm about pretty evenly split, 50% SoCal and 50% Rhode Island. Verizon has really good coverage back home as well. Sprint is ok, Not sure about AT&T/Cingular they used to be terrible but that was years ago and I haven't heard any complaints in awhile.

Sprint was my first choice until they killed the unlimited plan. I've been monitoring my bandwidth usage for a week now and just hit 5 gigs today with reasonably usage (no online gaming). All day at work plus night at the hotel doing whatever. I figure as long as I keep an eye on it and only using it for some light browsing and work stuff while traveling, or at my GF's place I should manage to stay under the limit.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: RandomFool
Sprint was my first choice until they killed the unlimited plan.

I have had my Sprint unlimited BB access now for two years, and it hasn't changed. I suppose it would if I made a change in it.

I have used it all over - Oregon, California, Lousisana, Mississippi, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and a few other places here in Arizona. It has been really good and very reliable. Sometimes I get EVDO, EVDO RevA, and in some areas it downshifts to 1xRTT - but rarely nothing.

As I understand it, Sprint and Verizon share towers in some areas for what amounts to free roaming. They both use the same technology.

Sprint now has a new software interface - "Smart" something or other, and it is really nice. Much better than the old Connection Manager.

I am on my second air card - the Sierra S-720 by Novatel. A very reliable card with a good antenna. It can accept a booster as well.