Cingular aircard service - Montana Owners Club

Dave e Victoria · 03-17-2007, 04:04 AM

We just switched all cell phones to Cingular because they have better coverage than Nextel/Sprint where we travel. In the process, I opted for the 3G compatible Sierra Aircard 875. I installed it in my Apple powerbook. I had to get a third party software patch to use it with the Apple and also call Cingular support because the sales guy forgot to activate the account. Right now it is working extremely well. It seems comparable to or maybe a bit faster than my DSL. As soon as I figure out how to share the connection with Vikki over our wireless network I plan to get rid of the DSL.

Funny thing, for $128.00, I upgraded phones, got the aircard and we save about $50 per month. Also found it pays to whine a bit at the sales counter. The negotiation lasted awhile but the guy made all rebates instant instead of mail in, threw in a car charger and AGREED TO REFUND THE COST OF the 3rd Party software patch, That is 75 euros. All in all, we are pleased. Will miss the Nextel walki talkie network but this is better.
Dave

Glenn and Lorraine · 03-17-2007, 06:55 AM

The air cards are fantastic. We use the Verizon Air Card and are more than satisfied. We also got the router so that Lorraine and I (and anyone parked close by) can share the same air card. In over 3 years only 3 times did we not have a signal.

richfaa · 03-18-2007, 04:26 AM

We have had cingular cell service for 4 years, We have been all over the country, East, West, North South including Canada.Cingular has given us excellent service.Of course there are places where there is nothing and there is always the area that your provider does not serve but Cingular has been 97% effective. We signed on with Verizon for one year for the air card,same set up as the Glen and Glenn. Verizon , when we signed on had the most coverage in the most markets so we went with them but kept the Cingular cell service and we will see which provider forges ahead by the end of our contract year. Verizon has also been 97% effective but there is always that place where it does not work or is slow. It is difficult to find a carrier that will serve you effectively every where. Have no fear..technology will catch up very soon.

VanMan · 03-18-2007, 09:15 AM

Is the Cingular air card extra per month or only minutes ?? i.e. about what would it cost for the aircard and Internet service. I have AT&T at home, Cingular cells and use SBC Yahoo for internet (through flashnet). All those folks are one now!

Dave e Victoria · 03-18-2007, 02:53 PM

We got unlimited aircard service for 59.95 per month IF we carry Cingular cell phone service. I think it is 20.00 per month highrer other wise. We are paying 49.95 per month for DSL service so plan to drop that in a month or so if all goes well with the aircard.
Dave

Dave e Victoria · 03-18-2007, 03:04 PM

OOps, Vanman also asked about total cost.
Here it is
two phones, 700 minutes each shared and roll over month to month for up to 12 months,
200 messages media transfer.
Unlimited voice nights and weekends
Unlimited voice cingular cell to cingular cell anytime,
Unlimited digital media Cingular to Cingular
Totl for this 79.95.
Unlimited Aircard Internet access 59.95
Total Package: 139.90

Previously had Nextel at 130/ month plus DSL for 49.95 for total of 179.95. Note this varied +/- 5.00 for a variety of reasons not having to do with usage.
Hope that helps
Dave

Montana Sky · 03-31-2007, 04:07 PM

Dave,
I am happy to hear you are enjoying your new Cingular air card. I will be needing to purchase one as I head down to my summer site in two weeks. Nothing like trying to finish an online degree without internet service...

sreigle · 04-02-2007, 03:40 PM

Dave, when you've had some time with the Cingular aircard I'd be interested in your thoughts on the speed. We also have had a Cingular phone for years and years and have been very happy with it all over the country. We might consider an aircard but do not want to switch services to save the premium on the aircard. So the cingular card would work better for us if the service is sufficient.

jrgwdenner · 04-02-2007, 07:19 PM

Steve, Bill and Helen have had experience with both the Cingular and Verizon aircards so you might want to ask them. They actually paid a penalty to stop Bill's Cingular card because it wasn't a good experience for them. The Verizon card was much better. We've had awesome connectivity with our Verizon card and the speed is quite good. We had a connection most recently about 98% of the route from San Diego to Yuma to Phoenix. It's really fast here in Phoenix.

Dave e Victoria · 04-02-2007, 07:48 PM

Steve,
So far, so good. We have not traveled with it yet as our semi full time period starts sometime in may. However, I have both the aircard and DSL available here. I have not taken data but it appears that the aircard is somewhat faster than DSL in the actual data transfer process. But, the "handshake" seems longer with the aircard. This was especially noticeable when we were in the midst of the last round of American Idol voting. I have a suspicion that that might be caused by people using cell phones to vote and chewing up bandwidth. I wasn't voting but sure saw the slowdown while trying to get to ebay.

During slack times the aircard speed is really impressive. Bottom line is I believe the bottle neck is the servers in the Cingular Hub. Having said all this, tonight everything is flowing very well. They may have moved some resources around.

When we decided to try Cingular, a big part of our decision had to do with the fact that they have a tower within visual distance of our property in KY. The area is remote and not many other services were reliable there. My research says Nextell/Sprint, Verizon and Cingular are overall very equal. They are all upgrading to 3G aircard technology and all are expanding their coverage area. I think it is coming down to one of those Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge discussions where every one has an opinion mostly based on little or no actual fact.

richfaa · 04-02-2007, 10:15 PM

Here at our home base in Northern Ohio our verizon Aircard is running at 627kbps.In Lake Havasu City , Az there was no coverage at all.In Apache Junction it ran at @ 327kbps.In other areas we have traveled through it was very slow to very fast.Such is the problem you have when traveling the country. If you choose a carrier that gives you fast service at your home base there is no guarantee that it will give the same service 100 miles down the road. I am sure this will improve over time. We were always able to "take care of Business" with the verizon air card while on the road although at times not at a very good speed. Folks with other air cards had the same issues.

You may also like: