Verizon Wireless Internet

Verizon has 1xRTT service in most places in the US. I have used it in many states: 16 in the past 18 months.

Speeds will very depending on the usage (voice and data) on the closest towers. Based on my experience, you can expect average speeds (down and up link) of 45 to 90 kbps. I got as low as 8 kbps at Hartsfield Airport (ATL) and above 145 kbps in on 101 in Monterey County.

You might want to set your email program so that it does not download large attachments. Do you really want to download someone's 4 MB movie while you are on the road?

There are places without 1xRTT service (like most of Arkansas). You can use Q2N service in these places, however the maximum speed will be 14.4 kbps.

I hope that this helps.

 

I am glad it worked for you. I just broke my contract to get out of it. It was worth paying the fee and not waste my money on a service that doesn't work. Here in NYC I barely got any signal. On the train going home, service was spotty at best and at home on Long Island, no signal at all. It was a totally wasted $80/month.

The worst part is that it used to work fine. Over the last year, I have seen service steadily decline and decline until I finally pulled the plug.

 

Maximum, great to hear everything's working out for you. Please keep us updated on your experience with VZW. Since you are always on the road, please let us know of your experience with VZW coverage in the various places you travel.

 

True, a lot of the midwest is w/out VZW 1x... but please keep us updated wherever you travel for voice and data.
Thanks,
Andy

 

Maximum, do you use VZW for voice usage as well?
Thanks for your reports!

 

Max, then also let us know about voice coverage on the road and cities you visit. Your reports would be very valuable...that is if you have the time,

 

I am in Montana and have been using National Access for about a year now. Love it. The area that we live in will probably never get cable or broadband. I could have gotten satellite but it was cost prohibitive. I use a LG4400 as a modem. The software that came with the mobile office kit had this little thing called venturi, speeded things up somewhat and then I found Artera. www.arteraturbo.com awesome little accelerator. Uses artera proxy servers works great with both Firefox and IE if you get a chance MAX download ArteraTurbo and watch your national access really scream. A good site to check your speed for both upload and download is www.toast.net. Using Artera I'm as fast as broadband.

Wayne

 

Venturi is absolutely horrible. When I had Verizon wireless and a Sierra Wireless card, Venturi caused so many page not founds that I finally uninstalled it. Verizon's tech support told me to do the same.

All these turbo accelerators do is compress what is being sent to you. It may help a bit downloading a web page with pictures as the resolution can be lowered but try downloading a 100Meg zipped file. The accelerator will not help at all. If you are using the 4400 as a modem, you are still stuck at 56k. With my cable modem, I can download at 400 - 500k or more per second compared to 10k or so with a 56k modem.

 

Are you using any of the cell amps you're selling on Ebay?


Thanks for all the info you've been providing. it's a shame my laptop doesn't have a pcmcia slot..

 

Thanks for your continuing input!! HAve a safe trip!

 

I've loved my 5220 in my IBM ThinkPad and travelling through the east and midwest. But I just replaced my laptop with a new Sony and it doesn't work. Verizon says its Sony's problem and Sony says it doesn't support this card so it isn't there problem.

Anyone got ideas? Anyone know of a compatibility list for this card and various laptops? Thx!

 

Wow..is all I can say. I've been totally ignorant of the wireless revolution: Bluetooth, WIFI (walk around with a laptop, get hi-speed Internet access. Philadelphia is making a big move), & now this cellular phone as a wireless modem ("70mph going down a highway -- life is good").

Back in '97, I got a Nokia cellphone with a data cable for a laptop (I had a primitive Mac notebook). I NEVER used it, because of lack-of-cellphone coverage & slow speeds..the technology & infrastructure at the time just made it klunky. These days (after reading this interesting thread), it's like..WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?? (like a bear in hibernation).

I need to get "online" with this Verizon xxx, or is there another carrier which has this capability/technology? I've always been with SprintPCS, because a long distance call is like any other call (no extra charges for long distance) -- it was always a superior feature above other carriers. I've never had any issues with coverage (but then again, I'm not a serious cellphone user). But, I've heard that Verizon has superior coverage. I was just in the Arizona desert 30 miles south of Quartzite (in Kofa National Refuge), rock climbing -- I was amazed that my SprintPCS could connect (analog roam, though). I was alone (not a good idea, as per that guy in Utah who cut off his arm when he got "stuck" & couldn't call for help), so my cellphone could have saved me if I got into trouble (fell & injured myself). I did bring my satellite phone (Iridium), which I've used for my worldwide travels (twice in Africa, in Zambia & South Africa):

http://www.comet-track.com/eclipse/secl01/secl01.html
http://www.comet-track.com/eclipse/secl02/secl02.html

It just amazed me, that here I was in the middle of nowhere (NW Zambia among villagers in the 3rd poorest country in the world), & I was talking to my parents in the US!

Question:
What is the best carrier for the "theme of this thread"..wireless Internet access via cellphone? Is it Verizon? I like SprintPCS, it has competitive basic plans (I basically use it for ALL my long distance calling, I no longer use Pacific Bell for that..just local calls). I just recently got "with the program", with the camera/video cellphones. I did a little project called "real time uploads of pics/videos", see:

http://www.dillonmotorsports.com/dms redone/geiser_brothers_2004_christmas_p.htm

[ I was amazed how easy & seamless, the whole process went! I had a "receptor", who p****d the emails with image&video attachments, & then uploaded them to his site. I need an "automated way" of doing this, so a humman "receptor" is not needed to do the tedious "intermediary work". Anyone have any ideas? I believe the answer is "photo blogging software" ]

http://www.seeleyracing.com/geiser/main.html
[ this is followup of my "real time coverage", using mini-DV & digital camera content ]

These camera/video phones have opened the door to "live coverage" by photo bloggers! I plan to do this for the upcoming SCORE race in Laughlin..stay tuned. BTW, I need the software to be able to have my "real-time emails w/pic&video attachments"..uploaded to a webpage in a "photo-gallery". (in a format like http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/). Can anyone forward me to the right "photo blogging" software (or scripts, SQL, programming, whatever..I'm an engineer so I can do this). I've done some initial research on "photo blogging", but it's so overwhelming in that it's a new area for me. I just need a basic functionality, which will post images in a row/column format..as I send them sequentially. Very basic..for now.

I just got on board, with a new Samsung MM-A700 (multimedia phone, 1 megapixel camera & video phone) & 2yr SprintPCS plan. I can still cancel within 14 days. Is the Verizon xx plan (with Internet access) so superior, I should change over? What does Verizon have in terms of good camera/video phones? (I absolutely need the latest & greatest in resolution, so this MM-A700 I just got..fits the bill). Also, I'm stingy on "extra payments" per month (for $5 extra, I have Internet Access on my SprintPCS phone with unlimited image uploads), so does the Verizon plan have a really high per-month-fee? If you're a working professional like the rock-band guy, then it's worth it (no brainer). If you're a hobbyist like me, then it's a different story..the costs could get exorbitant. I only need the Internet access very rarely. Although, with this project I'm doing, it's getting to be along the lines of a blossoming "business".

On another note, I checked out Direcway, the satellite DSL that's partnered with DirecTV. I contemplated using this system as a "mobile setup", but a dealer told me NOT TO. It's really designed for a fixed location (i.e., home), since the dish alignment & calibration is 1.5 hrs (or 30 min tops). Compare that to the Verizon xx system, where it's power-up-and-go. (assuming you have connectivity in terms of cell coverage). I believe cellphone technology is giving satellite a run for it's money.. I have a Internet Access kit for my Iridium satellite phone (purchased in Sept '01)..it only gives me 9600bps, & the per minute charges are EXORBITANT for satellite!! (btw, I've never used it because of the frightful nature of the expected costs) However, it would give me the capability of Internet access in the WAY OUT boonies, like NW Zambia. (no cellphone coverage there!). I will say, that in my worldly travels, that cellphones are EVERYWHERE. In Curacao (near Aruba, off Venezuela coast), in Turkey (even in the sp**** region I was at):

http://www.comet-track.com/eclipse/secl98/secl98.html
http://www.comet-track.com/eclipse/secl99/secl99.html

Conceivably, in the future, cell coverage will practically be *ubiquitous*.. I.e., you don't need satellite phones for unquestioned coverage.

Take a look at these videophones that CNN were using for the Iraq Invasion..I believe that was over satellite, right? Soon, "photo bloggers" will be replaced by "news bloggers", where individuals can file "stringer" (nickname for free lance photographers) news reports to CNN. On the Internet, with webpages, everyone has become a "publisher". With "blogs", everyone has become a "publisher in a daily sense". With "cellphones with Internet capability"/WIFI, everyone has become a "publisher in a real-time sense". I just proved it in my little project above. This technology has really opened some doors into "virgin territory".

I've been tracking this interesting comet, currently in the nightsky:

http://www.comet-track.com/macholz/macholz.html

I have to be in the boonies (away from city lights & light pollution), to get these dark sky photos. I could conceivably shoot this comet (with digital Canon SLR), & upload it in near real-time to my website (using the Verizon xx plan)..people all over the world could log-in to see it! That's what I was trying for Comet Hale-Bopp (my reference to the Mac laptop/Nokia phone w/data cable) in 1997. Couldn't do it THEN, but sure can do it NOW!

I could be rock-climbing & taking digital pics (what I was doing 1.5 weeks ago), & uploading images in "near real time" to a "photo blog" site. People could see me doing "action sports" in real time. Who needs to sit in front of a TV watching sports, when you can log in to a "live webpage" & see people doing sports (in this case rock-climbing) in "real time". I believe there was an outdoor competition (E-games, something like that), where satellite phones were used for Internet access. (people could log on to a website, & see coverage: text & pictures). I was playing around with this idea, when I got my satellite-phone back in '01. Never "flew", because of prohibitive satellite costs. I could see a "business model", where companies could provide "real time coverage of events", using cellphone Internet connectivity. I'm giving it a go in a couple of weeks at this SCORE offroad race.

I'd appreciate any other comments..I'm a newbie in terms of cellularphone capability. I'm sure other people have more mature/developed ideas.

[ sorry for the length, I was thinking as I was typing ]

 

Chimp, first of all, I think we need to get a moderator to up you from a neophyte quick!

Second, Verizon is just building out what they claim to be the fastest national highspeed access. They call it Broadbandaccess. With a PC card, you can access the web @ 300-500k/sec. From a coverage standpoint, this is a new breakthrough.

If you want the fastest, try it out. You'll need a data card however, as they do not (yet) make phones which can handle EV-DO.

As far as I know, sprint with their videophones uses 1x CDMA, the same as what has been spoken of the majority of this thread.

Verizon tends to have better coverage when using highspeed, as you (most if not all of the time) need to be on a home network while using it.

Verizon, as most national carriers, also offers free long distance, as you've mentioned sprint does. Verizon also offers free mobile to mobile to any other verizon wireless customer, even if they are at the other end of the footprint. The other big thing is unlimited nights and weekends, which are useable weekdays after 9pm, and all day saturday and sunday.

 

I have a question, however, about Verizon's (Express Net) National Access. A verizon rep told me that I could use quick 2 net (AND NATIONAL ACCESS) with my data cable and phone by just using airtime! SCORE, as I have unlimited N&W! I couldn't believe it. I tried it, and it works. I thought I had read somewhere that VZW allowed america's choice plan customers use express net for airtime. I'm phsyched, as I have been using quick 2 net everywhere in the past 2 months.

IS THIS REALLY TRUE????

 

BTW, do you use any kind of enhanced antenna? (i heard about these "plates" that fit into the battery compartment). My satellite phone "internet access" package has a magnet which you clamp on the car roof, which turns the roof into an antenna-extension?

I just spoke with a SprintPCS rep, & he told me if I tried to use a USB/data cable with my Samsung MM-A700 (i currently have "Vision", which is SprintPCS's unlimited internet access for cellphone -- email, picture/video uploads, crude web browsing on the cellphone screen), it would be a "violation of contract". (obviously SprintPCS isn't prepared to go the Verizon route of "progressive/agressive"). Question: could SprintPCS tell, if I did? From what you say with Verizon..it's perfectly OK. If that's the case, I should switch to Verizon! (I didn't know they also had long distance calls treated as no different than a local call.).

However, for my project in Laughlin, NV..Verizon's website states that they have NO COVERAGE. SprintPCS rep told me they have normal coverage in Laughlin..possibly some digital or analog roaming (.42/min..is this typical for other providers as well, for roaming charges?) outside city limits (where I'll be, photographing bad-azz race-trucks flying over the desert).

So, that kind means I'm tied to SprintPCS, at least for the next 14 days (free trial period, where i can return the phone & cancel the 2yr contract).

Question:

Suppose I'm in Baja, Mexico (where a lot of offroad races are held, like the Baja 500 & Baja 1000 & SanFelipe 250..the next race after Laughlin). What is the situation, when one uses a cellphone down there..in terms of "transfer" between the American carrier & Mexican carrier? A friend set that up, for his Baja1000 race..but the rates were exorbitant..like $20/min. (has anyone tried Verizon Internet access, from Baja Mexico?). At that rate, there's no difference in charges than a satellite phone (the sat-phone would be an advantage, since it has essentially "anywhere" coverage).

I still like & am considering that DirecWay satellite internet access (over DSL), even though that one dealer told me NOT to use it for mobile applications. Apparently, some clients like scientists & RV'ers use them (despite the hassle of setting it up, it's a 30lb dish 3 ft wide). I have this gnarly 4x4 van, so I'm essentially a "RV'er"..a 30lb 3ft dish is not-a-big-deal.

Man, I just got back from the Rose Bowl & the same guy I saw last year was there in the infield with a DirecTV setup (sturdy industrial tripod, supporting the DirecTV dish), running it off a generator. I'm getting a Honda EU2000 (whisper quiet generator) next week, since I go to the desert a lot with power-hungry equipment. So, I could take 1 of my 3 receivers I have at home for DirecTV & watch DirecTV (CNN to keep track of world events, WeatherChannel to check on weather for astronomy) in the Arizona desert next week while I'm photographing Comet Macholz.

BTW, I got into the Rose Bowl for $10 (unsold scalped tickets by gametime, were being blown out at halftime). Terrific game, Texas & Michigan.. I coulda did a "photo blog" of the game (unfortunately, my phone was screwed up when I got it Friday..customer service told me I had to get SprintPCS store to re-flash the firmware). Man, those Texas fans are really enthusiastic! The guys around me were on their cellphones, talking to their friends about where they were & giving details about the game. I suppose a Verizon user coulda brought a laptop, & video-streamed the even back to the Internet.

[ in theory yes, but reality-wise..NO. Rose Bowl doesn't allow video cameras, since they are afraid of people getting footage & selling it..ABC wouldn't like it. I almost didn't get in, because I had my mini-DV camcorder with me. I ended up letting some friends in the infield hold it for me ]

This hypothetical example shows you how the new mobile technology, is beginning to "infringe on other domains". I saw huge media trucks with big satellite dishes on their roofs. Heck, an average-Joe with a laptop & video-camera can stream live video to the Internet..a real threat to these mega-dollar satellite systems that the media uses. Like I said in my previous post, the cellular Connectivity/Technology has advanced rapidly to the point, that satellite technology is being "threatened". This might mean, a drop in satellite prices. The competition between satellite & cellular is good for the consumer: better technology & lower pricepoint. That's why satellite-phones command premium prices, there literally is little or no competition.

 

Verizon does have native coverage in Laughlin, NV. Check their coverage locator and/or coverage maps. And Yes, Verizon does count long distance calls as local calls as long as you are on the America's Choice Network which covers over 275 Million people. If you want to use Roaming on your Sprint phone a lot, I would suggest the $5 add on which allows you to use 50% of your minutes to be used off-network.