Internet on the road: PDANET

[woodtic]

I have been using PDANET for several years. I have used it with Blackberry, Droid, and iPhone. iPhone is my favorite because it turns the phone into a wifi router, or you can use a tether option. Blackberry and Droid phones use tether or bluetooth. You can find PDANET here:
www.junefabrics.com

I have Verizon as a carrier and an old unlimited data plan. Never had any problems once installed and it is a one time only charge (trial versions are available) per smartphone. Very handy to have and much cheaper than paying your provider a monthly service charge.

If you have a smartphone and would like to get internet on your laptop while traveling, I would highly recommend PDANET. An unlimited data plan is also perferable.

[steelpony5555]

Not necessarily true any more depending on the phones and what you already have. First try FoxFi... a whole lot better then Pda espcially if you are wired tethering, FoxFi is wireless. But I thought the same thing untill I talked to a rep at the mall. Instead of paying for data for each device you now get a block of data for use by "all" your devices. So we got another smart phone for the wife and also a MiFi device and my bill increased $25. So basicly I am paying the extra $20 for the MiFi device. You don't need the MiFi device if you have a smart phone because it can be the device, it was just easier using the device and doesn't tie up the phone. The data plan is reguardless of the number of phones or devices. Now that was for only 2G of data but that's bout all we use normally. When we hit the road I get on line and bump it up to 4G for another $10-$15. I did have unlimited data but we never went over 2G when at home. So I now pay for 2G of data for all my devices that I once paid for unlimited data that I never used for just one phone. On the road we both have our laptops but since we do not download movies or music etc we never get close to the 4G I change it to. Go in and talk to a rep, what do you have to lose, and see what it would be. For maybe a couple a bucks more you can be legal, because sooner or later they will send you a letter if you are tethering with Pda.

[woodtic]

I hear what your saying. PdaNet is handy to have, but if your using it all the time it may not be the best option. I don't download much when I'm using it. It's a little slow for that with 3G. With 4G on my droid phone it was way faster. I do surf the net a bit when canping. I check our routes for the next day, or check for campgrounds that are along our way, check a few forums, ect. Also PdaNet has a feature that hides it's usage, but it directs you to mobile type websites. Still it's easier to read on a laptop than a 3 or 4 inch screen. It may be a good for some, but it's not going to be the best option for all.

[DQDick]

Kind of depends on what you use the internet for and how much you use. We locked in unlimited data on both our iPhones the week Verizon dropped unlimited data. We then used a cradlepoint router and Millenicom for our internet. Tracked our usage and found out we could go with a limited data plan from Verizon and one of their LTE units and now we have internet on both phones, the ipad and the iMac and our phone bill alone is less than it was before and we were able to drop Millenicom and have the savings from that. Plus, when we travel, we have the internet in our truck (for the iPad) also. Verizon really wants to get rid of the unlimited plans and if you don't need it you can probably save.

[woodtic]

After tinking about it a bit. Maybe I should look into changing my plan. I work out of the country now so I don't use my phone hardly at all half the year. DW has no desire to have a smart phone. Could save quite a bit every year. Thanks for making me actually think about it

[DQDick]

No problem, I have the same issue. I get a good deal and believe in it and think it ought to stay a good deal, but these folks change the way things work daily and quite often the intension seems to be to be confusing. The good thing for us is that Verizon, on their website, will show you your usage and so I was able to determine after a year what the best deal for us really was.,

[The Old Fogies]

I have used PDAnet for sometime. The last update I got encluded thr FoxFi app. When we can get 4G it's very fast, but 3G works as good as a dial-up in my world. I have had 3 laptops connected when the grandkids were with us, still worked well. The price is right also.

[steelpony5555]

That's what I'm talking about...I had the unlimited too, but found out we use less then 2G's when we are not on the road and just over that when on the road. When we go out on the road for a month or more I just bump it up to 4G till we get back. That's why I said we now have the MiFi device and an additional smart phone and can use internet on all of them for $20 more then what we were paying for the unlimited service. Don't know guess it's something in our brains that having unlimited is hard to comprehend that we don't need it. And like Dick we use it going down the hwy now. We tried to use a pay as you go MiFi from T-Mobile, that was a waste of $150, completely worthless.

[BusyCarol]

I use my Droid X2 as a mobile hotspot for and extra $20/mo and take the plan off when we aren't traveling. It allows for up to 5 devices. When we were in South Dakota I downloaded a Netflix movie (slow but it worked) and I didn't even come close to my 2GB max. I also use my tablet (Samsung) when we are traveling in the truck. I can no longer surf on my phone without putting on the reading glasses and I am too lazy.

My problem is when there is no cell service. For example, when we were at Fishing Bridge(Yellowstone) there were several fires going on around us but couldn't find any info about them. To be 100% honest, being a former Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer I am a little addicted and do all of my documents/recipes, etc via the internet. It would be nice to have satellite internet but haven't had much time to do research on it yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated for how to handle NO cell zones...Mama needs her access point

[mail2us]

I do have Verizon wifi card for $50 per mo at 5 GB. I also use PDAnet and it is great. I paid $18 for secure for life of smartfone and it performs well.