Verizon aircard reception in cities

[The Oldguard]

Judy,
Yes we have had a problem with dropping our connection, but this can happen in any area that has a large area with “Wifi” saturated signals.

Yes you need the greatest updates, and we were told that with all of the updates that Verizon is doing you should get the updates at least yearly.

If you go into VZAccess and under tools drop down menu and select Dial up connections you can edit,delete, or add different dial up connections.
You need to delete all “Wifi” connections and only use “National Access-BroadbandAccess” as the only connection, and you will get a better connection, and you can go back in and add the “Wifi” any time you want.

[adelmoll]

Well I will have to add one more little glitch that has come up with my Verizon card. I have been using the card for just about 2 years now and just love it. I did not have any trouble in big cities. In fact there were few places that I had any kind of trouble while Bill's Cingular card was very spotty. I finally ordered the router so we could both use the Verizon card in our computers only to have my computer die on me on Jan 29th. I had to buy a new 'puter on Jan 30th and they now come with Microsoft Vista instead of XP. My Verizon is the wider card that does not fit into my new computer. I need the express card instead. My router has the wide slot and the express card does not fit in that. Bill has canceled his Cingular card so if I don't go thru the router he will not have access. The Express Card is not yet updated to work with Windows Vista. Verizon has a USB stick card that is for the Vista but not compatible with the router. They are all very expensive but next week I will be eligible for an upgrade with a new two year contract. This will still cost a lot of money.

Here is my possible salutions........
1- Next week I can go through the router company and order an express card from Verizon with a new two year contract and hope that it will have the upgrade that works with Vista. Then I will have to get an adapter that fits into the router to accommodate the new express card which will cost me another $60.00 plus $169.00 for the Verizon card. ( I will get a $50.00 rebate ) but still have to put out another couple hundred $$$.

2- I can buy the USB stick that I know works with Vista and hope that they have updated the router so it is compatible with the stick and will pay way more for the stick from Verizon but not have to pay any extra for the KR-1I know that things will work out in time but my advise to any of you right now is don't get a new computer with Vista until they have worked out all of these bugs. It is sooooooo frustrating.

Helen

[jrgwdenner]

Helen, you should have to HOPE those things work before you buy. Those guys at Booster-Antenna should be able to tell you what will work. That's there job! What are you using for Wifi now? I hate getting a new computer.

[adelmoll]

Judy, I can still use my card as long as it is in the router but I do not like to take my router every time I use my computer away from the Tana and the card will not fit in my new computer.

Helen

[richfaa]

Both of our PC's have both the express and the PC card slot...However most Routers are NOT express card compatable. Booster_ antenna(which by the way has undergone a name change) advised us to go the PC card route so we did. You PC card should fit in your router so both of you should be able to connect .Our card is in the router all the time when stationary.It might to worth it to talk to Booster antenna before you spend a bunch of $.. The booster antenna web address will get you to the new site.

[jrgwdenner]

We take our router on the road. It's a simple task. We keep the cigarette lighter cord plugged in in the truck all the time. The regular cord stays in the Monty all the time. We just disconnect and go. The router rides on the plastic bin where we store our travel books while traveling in the back seat. It enables us to check for campgrounds, emails and post to the forum while traveling. Life is good!

[adelmoll]

Thanks Rich but this is where I have gotten all of my information. One thing you don't want to do is talk to Verizon about router problems. They are not happy to hear that others can get on line without the monthly fee. Booster anntena told me that they have an adptor for their router for $60.00 The problem remains that neither Verizon or Booster Antenna have the upgrade for Vista at this time. The USB stick is for Vista but Booster Antenna had not tried that one yet in their router so they don't know if it will work or not. I will find out if things have changed next week when my two year contract is up with Verizon and I can get a discount on the new card. Whichever one it is. My new computer has an express slot, a SD slot, USB slots and phone slots but none for the wider Verison card that we currently have in the router.

Helen

[lwcdg]

OK here is an option not previously stated, Return the new Laptop and find one that is XP and has the "correct" slot for you.
It has only been a few days so most every store has a 10 to 14 day return policy, state your reasons if needed

HTH
Chuck
Ps costco and many other stores still have XP on the existing laptops. even on line dealers may have some.

[richfaa]

Sounds you are between technological upgrades.There is a gap between air card ..Express card/PC card technology and router technology.You are correct..Verizon does not want to talk about Routers..they want to sell air cards for all your Computers. We got our setup less that 6 months ago and it is probably already a technological Edsel . Keep us updated on the latest.

[adelmoll]

That might be an option Chuck of I hadn't spent almost two weeks putting all the information that I lost in this new computer. When my other one died it wouldn't even turn on so I lost everything. If you think I want to go through that again. Ha Ha . Not a chance.

Things are getting a little better now though. The first day I got it I couldn't even get NOrton to install because they didn't have the upgrade yet. I guess nobody was able to do anything until Jan 30th when Microsoft introduced this one and I'm sure that about three months down the road things will be a lot easier. If I don't pull my hair out in the meantime.

The reason I don't like to take the router with Judy is because Bill has done such a beautiful job with my desk. He has cut a hole in the back corner for all my wires to go through and drop down behind the shelf he installed for my printer and plugs into my surge protector. The large thingy on the router sits on the floor and to get all the wires up I have to crawl around and find out which wire goes to which. Pain in the butt so I just leave it in The Tana. That is when I need my Verizon card inserted into my computer.

[lwcdg]

It sounda like your on the the "road to recovery". the only other thing I will say is "back up", if a backup plan is implemented and used you will never have to go thru a "x" period o trauma again.

There are many programs out there that will do this automatically, thus it is done. Yes, I've been there, now I'm "protected".

Good Luck and enjoy the new laptop.
Chuck

[jrgwdenner]

Sounds like a nice setup, Helen.

Rich, have you had your card updated? Supposed to have been done in Feb. but now they've extended the update time.

[richfaa]

we have all the latest updates.we are really happy with the performance of this set up. It is better than expected.

[keham]

Hmmm why not leave the PC type card in the router and get the new usb stick for the new computer. and us it away from the tana and when in the tana just connect to the router like hubby does with his computer. Or is that possible with verison.

[adelmoll]

I could do that but what happens is that you have to buy the new usb card and it is not cheap. Then you have to sign a new two year contract to get a rebate on the usb card which makes this the card that verizon reads and the other one is obsolete. Works sorta like getting a new cell phone. Once you get a new one the old one is pfffft. If I keep the other card as is I will have to pay the $59 per month on each of them.

Right now I am going to just keep my computer hooked up to the router and wait to see what happens down the road. I have been having great signals with my current card and do not want to rock the boat.
Helen

[ols1932]

Other than maybe speed, what is the advantage of the Verizon air card over just normal connecting to the Internet or getting e-mail with the 14.4 modem of your cell phone? I'm having a little difficulty computing in my mind what the additional cost gets me besides a little speed. We have no difficulty surfing and getting e-mail with just the computer connected to our cell phone.

Can someone enlighten me?

Orv

[jrgwdenner]

The price for the Verizon aircard allows you to be on the internet 24/7 with no added costs. We would use up our phone minutes very quickly if we used the phone as much as we use our aircard.

[adelmoll]

Judy has hit the nail on the head.

I put a lot of pictures on my blog and I mean a LOT. There is no way I could do that without unlimited time with the air card.

Helen

[richfaa]

ORV..It would depend on your usage if you do not mind the slow speed, as Helen and Judy have stated.There are times when the air card can be as slow as the phone connection. If how your are using your internet connection serves your needs I would see no reason to spend the additional dollars. Both Helen and I are high internet users and for us the air card makes sense.Example we are using the aircard connection now here at our stick house.We were able to do away with ouir DSl and phone service so actually saved money by going with the Verizon aircard.We all have different needs.

[Dave e Victoria]

Not sure how the PC world works but Apple allows two computers with wifi (airport in apple terminology) to share an internet connection without an additional router. Just got to preferences and then to internet and check "allow sharing" But, Make sure your local network is protected.