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Old 02-13-2010, 02:49 AM   #1
Wild Horse
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Country Plow Boy vs. Technology

OK, I've read all the threads and my head's spinning like a bull comin' out of a chute at the National Rodeo Finals.

So let's take a look here....we have two cells, 1 blackberry and 1 instinct, and one laptop...and now a vuecube (if that matters) We pay around 120 for our two cells packaged.

That's what we have, now what we want when we pick up the 5er this spring. Want two cells and will have sat tv and want several hours a day internet...given our "plan" of adventures, we will probably have wifi at some locations. I'm not too thrilled with adding another 50 bucks a month to phone/internet charges.

We've looked at tethering, also at virgin mobile "pay as u go" aircards (thru sprint). I'm not too sure tethering will be around much longer...the virgin plan isn't too bad, so we are looking hard at that. Also considering taking my phone (not the blackberry) and trashing it when my plan expires, replacing with an el cheapo 30 a month plan, thus freeing up more funds for an aircard.

I want to keep this as simple as possible...if we have no internet for a few days, that's ok by us too. I understand our new vucube has two lnb's, so we thought about sat internet too...but geez, the price !
Oh yeah...we will also have a homebase too (stickhouse), tho' not sure how much time we'll spend there but need the features there too.
Thoughts?
 
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Old 02-13-2010, 03:33 AM   #2
Mrs. CountryGuy
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What do you use for internet access at home?? How much does it cost??

We dropped our land line at home, savings, well over $65.00 a month. We dropped the Hughes net for internet service too, savings of $70.00 a month. Dropped our Verizon cell phone which was no good at the stick built, saved $35.00 or more a month. Other savings were realized as well, not listed here.

Went to a family plan with Sprint, which does work at our stick built. Got a LOT of minutes on 5 phones. Cannot remember exceeding those minutes, may have once. Useability factor went up megawatts. Price about $100.00 a month. Our air card is $59.00 a month, about $10.00 cheaper than Hughes was, about 2 to 4 times faster than Hughes was, and totally portable.

We actually spend less a month now than we did, have much better services for the phones and the internet and we are un-tethered. We can pick up and go when we want and still stay connected and NO hassle. No calling to turn services on and off (last time we suspended the Hughes it took Al 8 hours on the phone with a nice lady from India to get back online).

Add in a router and we now can use 2 computers, Wii and iPod touch all at the same time off that air card.

Keep thinking out of the box, you will figure out what works best for you. Since you will maintain a stick built, be VERY sure whatever you choose, like Sprint, vs Verizon, etc etc etc, works AT the stickbuilt first!

Good luck.
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Old 02-13-2010, 03:47 AM   #3
Countryfolks
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We're setup somewhat like y'all. stick house, 2 cells and Dish network [no vucube]. We use a tethered cell for internet, both at home and on the road. The tethering is OK except we don't have the REV A, yet. While checking on upgrading, it seems there isn't much difference in cost between tethering and an aircard anymore. By the way, why do you think tethering isn't going to be around much longer? As long as you don't do much, if any. business involving personal info on the net, you can use "public" wifi hot spots, like libraries, TX rest stops, some fast food places, etc. and for a fee, some truck stops.
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Old 02-13-2010, 04:07 AM   #4
Wild Horse
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At our current stickhouse, we have a "bundle". Cable, landline and roadrunner cable internet. We will be moving our homebase to NY sometime this coming year. No matter what, we will no longer have a landline..heck, we hardly ever use it and certainly don't need 3 phones. I kind of figured we would go with dishnet or directv satellite at homebase and on the road with the vucube. As far as tethering goes, we've heard rumblings that verizon is already taking steps against the tetherberry system, and others will follow shortly. I like the virginmobile aircard thru sprint, as it allows you to pretty much only pay for what you actually use and don't have to worry about turning on and off. It's just like a pay as you go phone I guess.
Basically, it's down to this....I have a problem with paying 200+ a month for cells/internet/sat tv, hoping to avoid it if possible.
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Old 02-13-2010, 05:33 AM   #5
boylanag
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We bundle Verizon 2 cell phones, Verizon Air Card, which we use in stick home too, DirecTV and landline, which we are about to get rid of because of using cells. We also use EFax for our faxes, which uses internet and not phone lines. Saves us a good amount. We have a router, too, so we can use 2 'puters at a time, either traveling or at stick house.
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Old 02-13-2010, 10:24 AM   #6
Countryfolks
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This may be of some interest. I don't know anything about it, found it on a search.

http://tether.com/
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Old 02-13-2010, 02:35 PM   #7
exav8tr
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Wildhorse, I would suggest calling the folks at www.3gstore.com. They have good solutions for mobile access. We use a router with a Verizon air card,hardwired to my wifes desktop (Ethernet) and I wifi off her. We have a secure network. I do not like to use public wifi as I do not trust it. Now I also have a 3 watt amplifier and a Wilson trucker antenna that I connect to the top of our ladder when we park. Service is Verizon, we have two cell phones and we can disconnect the 3 watt amp from the router and plug our phones into it for a better signal when needed. We very very seldom do not get a signal. We also have Direct TV HD DVR in LR and Direct TV HD in bedroom. We enjoy the creature comforts and are willing to pay for them, Afterall, THIS IS OUR HOME!!!!!
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Old 02-15-2010, 06:31 AM   #8
DonandJudy_12
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We are committed to Verizon- As fulltimers without a stick house, we have 2 cells and MiFi from Verizon for our connection to the outside world- Cost approx. $120.00 per month on a 2 year lease including new cells every 2 years- We had Sprint and Verizon at the same time in the first year of travel- Verizon coverage was best, hands down- The MiFi has 5 gb per month- We rarely use 3 gb- We are on the web several hours each daily- The MiFi can handle up to 4 laptops at the same time- Good luck and may your choice please you!! Don
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Old 02-17-2010, 02:20 PM   #9
Wild Horse
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thanks for all the great info. we'll study on 'er, and later i'll post what we ended up going with.
again, thanks....
bill
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