Verizon Only? - Montana Owners Club

rickfox · 11-19-2007, 05:02 PM

Good Evening,

I have been away for some time, being totally involved in honey-dos. Earlier in the year, there seemed to be quite a few discussions on Sprint vs. Verizon. And at the time it seemed that the EVDOforum was leaning toward Sprint as the provider that was most quickly deploying the Rev. A product.

What's the story now? It sounds like most are running with Verizon.

DONnANNIE · 11-19-2007, 05:47 PM

Rickfox, I have been running Verizon PC5750 Aircard revision "A" since mid-August. I have the Aircard for my laptop and I also use it in my Linksys router for my home network. I get 1300Kbs D/L and 700Kbs U/L. It certainly is not like Comcast cable, but for being able to use it at home or on the road, I am am more than satisfied.

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-19-2007, 10:04 PM

After our jaunt across the U S of A this summer I am 100% convinced that Verizon is the only one for me. We have 2 Verizon Cell phones and the Verizon USB AirCard with the Kyocera router and everywhere we went we had a signal with the exception of some of the more mountainous areas where NO one had a signal, not even Sprint. Due to conditions at times some signals were weaker than others but a signal is a signal and we were online and making phone calls.

adelmoll · 11-20-2007, 12:31 AM

We have never tried Sprint so we really can't compare but we have used both AT&T and Verizon air cards.... Verizon winds hands down.... I have used this for three years now, in lots and lots of places and am very happy with it.

Helen

Dave e Victoria · 11-20-2007, 01:51 AM

We have the new AT&T 3G service using a Sierra Wireless 875 Aircard and are quite happy with it. At first, it seemed slow but, after I got a new sim card installed and the right software from Sierra, it screams. It is faster than the DSL service we had been using. (To be fair, our DSL was at the max Loop distance)

Dave

Alex Sian · 11-20-2007, 02:19 AM

Lately, I have to answer the question of "best coverage" with "it depends... are you after coverage of any kind, or coverage of fastest speeds?" ... there's a difference.

Most RVers find themselves in more rural areas for which the most they can hope for is 1xrtt/nationalaccess network coverage, which has speeds that are from 50-140kbps, depending on signal and tower/network load.

So if you're the kind of RVer who cares mostly about who has the most coverage of any kind of speed, and because Sprint/Verizon/Alltel all allow each others customers to roam on each others 1xrtt networks, to me its a coin toss.

Then there are the RVers who want to know which carrier provides the largest network of true high speed broadband EVDO, not just the 1xrtt stuff. EVDO broadband with good signal typically is 500-1500kbps download and 200-600kbps upload. Much more like an entry-level DSL connection you can get for your home.

In my opinion, the carrier with largest network of true high speed broadband EVDO availability is Sprint because their roaming agreement with Alltel allows customers to roam at EVDO speeds (unlike verizon's agreement with alltel, which still only allows 1xrtt roaming).

One last thing about coverage. Some RVers truly wander and have no set itinerary, while others spend their time routinely at certain places each year. If you are the latter, you may want to see which carrier has best coverage at all the locations you routinely/annually visit. (You can email me with a list of zip codes to research, if you'd like)

For most of my customers, Sprint has been the safer 'overall' choice... but there is an exception to this rule. If you have a tendency to stay in western united states (say, up to and including texas) then verizon is likely to be your better choice.

I agree that a LOT of folks on this forum have expressed tremendous success with Verizon... but at the same time, I haven't seen many RVers who I've sold Sprint service to, complain about their service.

Its entirely possible that there is parity across carriers for the moment.

Just keep in mind that the carriers are not ever content with their coverage or network performance, and truly are always trying to be better than the competition. Who is better, can change from week to week!

Mrs. CountryGuy · 11-20-2007, 02:36 AM

Being stick built home owners and Tana lovers, and Direcway/Hughesnet tethered owners, we had to have which ever company provided service here at the stickbuilt. We cannnot afford both Direcway and an aircard. It became simple, Sprint provided coverage, Verizon did not. Verizon swore they were coming. We did not care to wait another ??? years. Tried Sprint on the 30 day "try it" deal, got ping times 4 times faster than Direcway.

We became untethered. Sprint aircard, cause it worked here, and Sprint got our cell phones too, same reason. Dropped hard wired phone line and Direcway.

This has worked out wonderfully for us. We have a TopGlobal router, hard wired to the desk top in the house and the old lap top in Tana, the newer laptop goes wireless to the router. When on the road, the newer laptop gets to have the air card all to itself and I can surf in Big Butt while Al drives (he can surf in Big Butt while I drive too

)

Point is, this is what works for our living situations. The only question we had, is ARE WE COVERED?? For where we live, Sprint did the deal. Get what works for you and your life style!

Untethered is fab!

rickfox · 11-20-2007, 03:32 AM

Thanks for the many responses. Back in May, we decided to go with Sprint, mainly because of the Alltel agreement. Thus far, things have been acceptable, but I am always interested in what others have experienced. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

richfaa · 11-20-2007, 10:42 AM

Very good explaination by EVDOalex.. Everything is give and take.. We have verizon same as Glenn and others. We do not think it is the fastest service but we do beleive, at least for now that it is the most reliable service coast to coast. Like Glenn the only places we could not get verizon signal is where there was no signal of any kind at all . We got the 1 year verizon contract, which is now up, and will change to whatever service proves to have the best speed and coverage. We will be talking to EVDO alex soon.

OntMont · 11-20-2007, 11:30 AM

I expect that EVDOAlex has it right, there is not much to pick between Sprint and Verizon. We went with Verizon for "soft" reasons more than the technical service details. I have found that their Customer Service is first rate, and they were willing to let me suspend the service for up to 6 months when we return home to Canada. (It will work in Canada, but the roaming fees are a bit steep).

EVDOAlex: A question, do you know of any plans that would allow me to use my Verizon Air Card in Canada without incurring roaming charges. Been thinking that with a yagi antenna, I could pretty near pick up a Verizon tower across Lake Erie from where we live.

Alex Sian · 11-20-2007, 01:13 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by OntMont
EVDOAlex: A question, do you know of any plans that would allow me to use my Verizon Air Card in Canada without incurring roaming charges. Been thinking that with a yagi antenna, I could pretty near pick up a Verizon tower across Lake Erie from where we live.

If you _can_ see a US tower with a yagi, then all you need to do is turn roaming off on your device?

richfaa · 11-20-2007, 01:58 PM

Don't know John although you are on the narrow end of Lake Erie it is still a fair shot across the Lake. I am not up on what the power is on those towers but on our Micro wave towers that we carried Radar info down from our site in Buffalo the range was 12 to 15 miles between towers???

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