related topic verizon air card

[bobby A]

read in another post about the 5G vs unlimited, but I haven't heard anyone say just how good these air cards work ?? and how fast ?? I am considering getting the free card the 175, I guess it plugs into the usb port. We have an older lap top and if and when we upgrade our computer I wanna a card that will be able to make the change also. the verizon card is free right now, it usually costs $129.00. I just really need to know how good they work, we will be full time real soon and traveling. Need your input. Thanks

[Parrothead]

Bobby
I'm using the Verizon air card right now. The 5g limit has never been reached here and I do a lot on the computer and send out a lot of pictures, etc. If you are running a business with it, I guess you could reach that level but for everyday home use you will not. I have the one that plugs into the USB port so I can use it on both my desktop and laptop. I have only found one small space, about 2 miles long in the White Mountains in AZ where I could not get service. It is faster than any wireless we have used in RV parks.
JMHO - Go for it!
Happy trails.......................

[kilch123]

I just got my Verizon card. Works great! Really fast (quicker than the FIOS wireless connection I had before)

I've only had it for a few days, so I don't know about the 5G limit yet...

[boylanag]

We have used the Verizon air card for three years or so and, with a router, it is used both on the road and at the stick home. It is fast and have discovered very few slow or dead spots. Used it in our business also and have not had a problem with the 5G limit.

[SAndreasen]

We run two computer off of our Kyocera router and the Version card. We liked it so much we even dropped our DSL at home. Never had trouble with the 5gig limit. Thats to keep folks from downloads/watching lots of full length movies. If everybody did that it would take to much of Verizon's bandwith.

[bsmeaton]

Although I have no basis for comparison - the Verizon air card has served me well.

The speed is directly related to the area you are in - big city-high speed, rural area - it can get pretty slow. The coverage area maps pretty much explain the expected speeds and I believe they parallel the phone service.

Bobby - if you're laptop is older than 2.0 USB, you will be sorry you went with the USB card. The older USB cannot handle the transfer rate. I went with the PCMCIA aircard because of that issue a few years ago with a laptop, and even with the new laptop and high speed USB I have now, I still use the PCMCIA aircard. As far as the optional or upgraded cards, I do not believe there is a difference in performance at all, just features. At least I never could get a straight answer on what the difference was between the free card and the copay card.

I'm still holding fast to my unlimited. I believe I could run over a 5gb limit and the consequence is high dollar. As a roadbound engineering consultant we end up exchanging large files continuously, or downloading references, even connecting direct to VPN servers for Autocad - etc. (BTW the aircard typically performs better than the hotel Wi-Fi and far more secure) Some of our files are so large they exceed the email limits so I have to use a third party fileserver to exchange data (filesanywhere.com). In fact, its uploading a design with over 10,000 pages and drawings in the background right now (170 mb). Another thing that will eat up that limit is any kind of nightly or periodic backup of files through a VPN or even Office Live. Alhough I don't use the aircard for it, my laptop typically reconciles about 2gb of backup files nightly to our corporate vpn.

Best thing for me about the aircard - send me a business email and I may be responding from under the awning on the Montana next to the water and you won't know it unless you call and hear the seagulls in the background!

[Delaine and Lindy]

Don't know anything about Verizon but we just went back to a AT&T USB connect wireless. I must say its much faster than the old card we used in 2005. Its actually faster than our Hughes net system. We are very satisfied so for. We have sent e-mails while driving down the road at Hwy speed. We are using two Laptops and have the Cradle point 1000 router. The speed will slow down in rural area. We haven't been in a area yet were the speed has slowed down. With the old Air card system in 2005 we used it in most Western States. And since we do no boondocking we are normally in a large area were Cell system is good. I can recomend the AT&T system and the Cardle point 1000 router, based on my experience to date. GBY....

[bobby A]

Thanks to all for your input, I've heard some of you use a router with this card. What is the reason for that ??? Excuse my ignorance, I'm not very knowledgable on this subject. We still have dial up at the house.

[Delaine and Lindy]

Bobby we use the router so we can use more than one computer at a time. As I type this Delaine and me are setting in a Love seat and we both are on the internet. GBY....

[adelmoll]

We just got the new UB 175 from Verizon. We have been using the Verizon air cards for about 5 yrs now and we went from the USB 720 to the 175 this week as we had a free upgrade coming. We have been using the original KR1 since the beginning but have a new Cradlepoint 350 coming in today. We also use the Wilson truck antenna that we attach to our ladder outside. The adapter for the antenna doesn't fit in the new UB 175 so we have a new adapter coming today also. We spend six months in a Florida National Forest and the nearest tower is three miles away so the antenna really helps and we have our computers on all the time. We allow some of our neighbors to use our signal also and the speed is still awesome.

When we got the new UB 175 we were told that if you are renewing an older contract, the 5g doesn't count. At least, we will never be billed overage. It is possible we may be cut off at 5g but at least we won't be occuring extra charges. We have never come close to 5g anyway. We'll see how true that information is as time goes on.

Helen

[richfaa]

We have the verizon USB 727 card(rev a) and the CP 1000 router. As speak we are 1.32MB down and 740kbps up. That will of course vary depending on weather conditions and location. That is pretty steady here near Disney world in Florida. We are using "my connection PC lite" to measure speed and line conditions. We have had good coverage at around 1 mb speeds in most areas of the country. Although a provider may be strong in a particular area the way many of us travel around we need to chose the provider that gives the best service all over the country. That takes a bit of research. we are still on unlimited service since we upgraded. We are both on line a lot. Helen does booking for a organization she belongs to and all of our communications and other businss is on line. We have never come close to the 5G limit.

If you don't have one try this for speed checks

http://www.myconnectionpc.com/index.html


We just looked the 175 card up here https://3gstore.com/


It does not have all the lights and chimes of he 727 card but the performance is the same.

[bobby A]

Thanks to all for your input, my concern now is what Brad was talking about, my USB not being 2.0 does anyone know how to check if my 4+ year old lap top has a USB 2.0 ???
Thanks,
Bobby A

[HamRad]

Bobby A,

It has been a long time since I've been on a PC but I seem to remember that you can check what is in your computer. Go to "My Computer" and when the window opens there will be a whole bunch of icons telling what they do. Look for one that tells you about the stuff in your PC. Maybe a PC user can give more precise instructions. Anyway if you find the right thing it will tell you what type of usb ports you have.

Another way is to plug in some know fast usb device. If it is a slower type usb port a message will pop up telling you that you have a faster device plugged into a slower usb port.

Sorry I cannot be more specific. But I've been on a MAC now for well over a year.

HamRad

[exav8tr]

Go to SETTINGS, CONTROL PANEL,SYSTEM, HARDWARE, DEVICE MANAGER, UNIVERSAL BUS CONTROLLERS, CLICK ON + TO OPEN, RIGHT CLICK ON EACH BUS, THEN GO TO DRIVER AND CHECK VERSION #.

Hope this helps. Mine is an '05 with version 7.2.2.1001.

[c5racer]

Here's a website you can check your internet speed on.
http://www.speedtest.net/

[Alex Sian]

quote:Originally posted by bsmeaton
Bobby - if you're laptop is older than 2.0 USB, you will be sorry you went with the USB card. The older USB cannot handle the transfer rate.

how do you figure? USB 1.0 is already rated for 11mb/s and nobody on EVDO is seeing more than 3mb/s, ever. at best i've seen 2.4mb/s

USB 1.0 is NOT a limiting factor, though a computer old enough to have USB 1.0 may have other infrastructure/processor issues that could contribute to making things feel slow (for instance, web browsing may suck worse on slower machines just because of slower processors and insufficient RAM)

But, in all of MY testing, (and i've tested them ALL) USB 1.0 itself is not a factor.

[bsmeaton]

quote:Originally posted by EVDOalex

how do you figure? USB 1.0 is already rated for 11mb/s and nobody on EVDO is seeing more than 3mb/s, ever. at best i've seen 2.4mb/s

USB 1.0 is NOT a limiting factor, though a computer old enough to have USB 1.0 may have other infrastructure/processor issues that could contribute to making things feel slow (for instance, web browsing may suck worse on slower machines just because of slower processors and insufficient RAM)

But, in all of MY testing, (and i've tested them ALL) USB 1.0 itself is not a factor.

You could be right - it may have just been the slower computer. Verizon seemed to think it was the USB.

Goes to show - you just never know WHICH vendor to believe.

[adelmoll]

quote: Goes to show - you just never know WHICH vendor to believe.

.

I'll take Alex's word over Verizons anytime Brad.

[richfaa]

Here in Florida Near Disney we are now seeing 2.0/2.4 m's on our USB 727 This is is recent thing within the last 2/3 weeks. We where seeing 1.0/1.2 mb/s earlier. Our signal does vary with weather conditions. checked speed as we typed this and we are at 2.08 mb/s. We are not in a ideal signal area and use the Wilson ant and the booster amp.

[exav8tr]

Some help here. I ran the speedtest and I am getting 521 kbs download and 327 kbs upload. This is on my laptop which receives its signal from my Phoebus Router. Are these speeds a; lousy b; OK c; good d; great???? What say you in the know??? Appreciate the help......Thanks