Please Help

[Icehouse]

Not sure if this is the right place, so if not, Administrator please move it.
Ok, we have no internet and this is getting harder by the day. Does anyone know if those little cards that you can put in the side of the computer will work in a hole? The lady at the cell phone store said they don't use the cell phone antennas and I don't understand any of it, I just use it.
So, please explain to me, in English, if we can get internet by getting a card. Thanks so much!
Tammy

[DONnANNIE]

Yes, Aircards do work. They say if you have cellphone service you should have broadband service. You need to do a little research for your area. Check Verizon, Sprint or AT&T or whatever service you have in your area. They should have some chart or map showing you what the broadband coverage is in your area.

Check with Alex at 3G Store.(Very knowledgeable) They have aircards that go into the side of the laptops or USB connections. They also have routers, antennas and amplifiers if needed.

Here in the Spokane, WA area I have a Verizon aircard and I get good coverage with the little antenna on the aircard. I also bought an antenna for mounting on the 5er and a mag-mount antenna for the truck.
Be sure you get an aircard that will accept a plug-in external antenna.

Now, if you have just a laptop - the aircard would suffice. If you have a desktop computer or two and/or a laptop or two, then you can setup your own network with a router that will accept an aircard.

I hope that helped.

[Ozz]

Tammy, we went with the air card 3 month's ago, we love it, it works super.

[Leaseit]

Tammy,
Who do you have cell phone service with and does it work in Seward wold be one question. Then call that cell phone provider and ask about aircards OR
Give GCI Communications at call and ask who has the best Cell Phone / Aircard Internet service there in town. There down on 4th street. 907-224-8912.
or try AT&T in town 907-224-3126 and ask about aircards.

[slewis]

We have the Verizon Broadband card and it works great. Haven't been in a spot yet that we couldn't get some kind of coverage. Good luck-I, too, hate to be without the internet/email.
Sandy

[sreigle]

We also use our aircard and have since last April. It has freed us up to park our rig in state parks, etc., that don't have wifi.

As for having to have broadband service, not everywhere you get a cell signal yas broadband speed. Yet. None of the services yet have broadband service everywhere. They are rapidly deploying broadband service, however, and we've had broadband speed in many unexpected places. We've also had slower speeds. But we've always had some kind of connection and none has been really "bad" speed, in our estimation. I think the booster helps when we have a very weak cell signal.

Is it worth it? Probably not to everyone. When we're in a park with a good, free wifi system, then no, it's not worth it. But when we are in a location with a poor wifi system or none at all, then it definitely is worthwhile. To us, anyhow. We have the verizon card.

Tammy, the folks in the stores don't have a clue about this product and service. I'd highly recommend you go to 3gstore.com, get the phone number, and ask for Alex. Or do a MOC member search for evdoalex and email him.

[rogue]

Tammy, Just got a Verizon USB broadband a couple weeks ago while in Indio CA. The store there offered a 30 day period that it could be returned if it did not work at your home location. Make sure you get that offer before signing on the dotted line.

Edit, Did we say we like it, we do. It has worked everywhere we have stopped between Indio CA, and South Padre Island, TX except at Big Bend National Park, TX and there we had WIFI at the Cafe there.

[tom41]

We have Verizon air card, love it we also camp in alot of state parks and COE parks where wifi is not offered. We can also use the laptop while underway with the aircard.

[Icehouse]

Awesome! Thank y'all!! We have cell coverage in Seward, but we are 20 miles north of Seward and we have no cell or satellite coverage. We are going intown on Saturday to a coffee house with wifi and I am going to look up Alex and email him. Also, AT & T has the 30 day trial period. I am determined to beat this! The campground lets us use their wifi, but it's not wifi. It works ONLY 15 feet from their router. I won't say how irritating that is....

[exav8tr]

When you talk to Alex, mention the Wilson antenna that extends your range....

[waldo238]

quote:We have cell coverage in Seward, but we are 20 miles north of Seward and we have no cell or satellite coverage.

I would be surpprised if you got 1X or DO coverage for data without cell phone coverage.

[VanMan]

methinks with an aircard - no cell signal = no aircard connection

[MacDR50]

If the CG has a router they or with their permission you can use a cable to connect to a wireless outdoor access point/bridge. There are also wireless repeaters but they tend to be pretty expensive. I am setting up just this sort of system for the Shriner's CG where I have a seasonal site. There are a wide variety of products that will work. I have chosen the Engenius / EOC-3220 EXT / 54Mbps / 802.11g / - 400mW / Outdoor Wireless Access Point. It should give solid coverage and Xmeg. speeds out to about 1000 feet in a line of site setting. At about $200 it is good value. Of course this doesn't help if the internet isn't available in a CG or they won't let you plug into their router.

[snfexpress]

Assuming that you will be staying in that area for some time, have you thought about DSL (if available from your local telephone company)? Or, perhaps cable internet? Or, just POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)?

The CG either has satellite or they have a land-based system for getting the Internet. If it is land-based, it might just be DSL.

On edit - I think you are near Moose Pass? If so, then forget what I said; I bet the CG has satellite internet and the best way to get Inet from their router would be wireless or wired (with an ethernet cable).

[Icehouse]

You are right! We are closer to Moose Pass than Seward. The campground owners are super and we really want to stay here. They have contacted GCI about running cable to the campsites. But you know how slow cable companies are. The cell phone companies are having more towers erected this spring.

Their is a router in the office. Problem is we have to be within 15 feet of the router to get service. Bernie spoke to them and told them we'd like to stay but really NEED communication ability. Soooo, they are trying to figure out something to do about the wifi. Bernie is trying to figure out if we can use our router to hook into their router (WITH PERMISSION OF COURSE) and provide wifi to us in our rig.

Any thoughts????

BTW, it's good to be able to talk to y'all today! I've missed y'all!

[snfexpress]

Yes, you can use your router.

1) Configure your router to use a static IP address for the WAN connection (Inet).
2) Put in 0.0.0.0 for the static IP address (if this is not permitted by the firmware, use 10.0.0.1)
3) Turn DHCP off
4) Find out what subnet the CG router is using (probably 192.168.0.x with a subnet of 255.255.255.0)
5) Find out if they have DHCP on. If so, how many addresses are given out? Ask them to give out plenty so that you can connect.
6) Run an ethernet cable from the LAN side of the CG router to the LAN side of your router.
7) Enjoy.

Or, you might try this cheap alternative for a 12db gain antenna:

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...te2/index.html

[sreigle]

Tammy, tell them to look into using repeaters. A few years ago they cost around $100 at Best Buy. They're proably cheaper now. They're intended for indoor use but I've seen them used outdoors by encasing them in pvc pipe with a cover and a small hole in the bottom for the wires. They usually extend the wifi signal up to around 100 yards although you should figure 200 feet as the max. But a series of repeaters can take the signal farther. Sometimes the repeater is called a booster. It's not an antenna.

Or, it sounds like they have only an indoor router and don't have an outside antenna. If they had the outside antenna it should be visible up to about 200 feet. Maybe newer technology is better but 200 feet was the limit without repeaters a few years ago.

As VanMan said, the aircard will not help if it can't get a cell signal. The question is whether a sufficient antenna can pick up a signal and a booster make it usable.

[Driftwoodgal]

Wish you luck with your connections. It is sad to say that we have the same problems near Austin Texas. Verizon, our phone company refuses to upgrade our phone system. You can still get a party line in our area.... does that tell you how out of date our system is? I pay for a monthly fee for touch tone phone servce instead of a rotary phone. Bringing back memories?????? Maybe I should find a rotary phone

We use an aircard on hubbies laptop as it is quicker than dialup. It limits us because it will not let you access websites that expect you to be on high speed internet. At some point I hope companies,websites, understand that everyone can not use a high speed internet connection. Not sure if they know that not everyone lives inside the city. We are less than 8 miles from Austin city limits but are strangled by the phone service. Our only option for high speed is with Hugesnet.

[Icehouse]

Well, we are sitting in the CG office. We were just told that GCI doesn't provide cable out this far. They are having the manager from the phone company come to the CG and demand it to be fixed. Fingers are still crossed. We really like it here. Thanks for the input y'all. We will keep y'all posted.
Tammy

[gojodo]

Maybe someone already mentioned it but Smoothtalker for an antenna which matched the frequency of the cell phone being used. These really work if matched correctly. Web page: http://www.smoothtalker.com/
I use a Smoothtalker for my cell phone, works great, but doesn't work on my Verizon PC card, because my cell and PC card transmit at different frequencies, so be sure to match them. Good luck!