wifi

[Raz]

If we want Internet it's Verizon mifi or dial up. In our rural location that is all there is right now. For the first time we exceeded our 5 GB data cap by over 500 MB costing us an extra $27 on top of the $60/mo. flat fee. We are always very careful to monitor our daily usage via the data provided by Verizon so when we found we were over, it came as quite a shock. Maggie spent about half an hour with a very nice young man at Verizon to review our usage (She's better at that stuff than I am). It turned out there were no anomalies ( other than we were over). He did knock a few bucks off the bill, which we thought was a nice thing to do. He also revealed that the data that Verizon provides for us to track our usage is not current and in fact could be a day or so behind. Mystery solved. Raz

[Jon Vermilye]

If a Verizon signal is available in your area, you might want to take a look at Millenicom. Their Advanced plan uses the Verizon network, is 3G, and provides 20GB per month for $59.99 including all fees & taxes and no contract.

You do have to purchase the usb modem from them & they have a start up charge, but if you typically use over 5GB per month, it can be a good deal. If you only need the service part time they allow a couple of months vacation, or you can drop the service & restart anytime for $19.99. I used Millenicom throughout the west & found coverage in most areas, and everywhere that the Verizon coverage maps showed a Verizon signal.

As I noted in the post above I have the USB modem plugged into a router, however if you only need one connection, it could be plugged directly into your computer.

Some of their other plans are on other networks.

[honda03842]

Earlier in the thread I had commented that we use 5Gigabytesper month on Verizon 3G...

That was the case a year ago. For the last 12 months we've been using 10Gbytes per month. Since we have an unlimited plan, we rarely look at our usage. I will say that Verizon never seems to throttle our data rate.

It also turns out that here in Central FL Verizon now has 4G service in our small town of 3700 people. Time to upgrade..

[Sharon G]

Norm, I have the same plan you do, including the Cradlepoint router. We also use it at home and on the road because it's so convenient to have unbroken net access.

However, we have noticed that on weekends we do get throttled and speeds drop so low we can't load a web page for several hours at a time.

We just adjust our online schedule, since the convenience of being able to jump in the truck and go at a moment's notice without worrying about depending on wifi or buying another plan is worth it to us.

[honda03842]

We leave our router on continuously. Sometimes I find the speed slows down so I simply unplug the power cord, replug it in and I'm back to regular speed.

I think what happens, though I have no proof, is that while it's sitting there unused it get's switched to a slower speed line. When I repower it I'm back to normal.

I believe this to be the case because it will happen early in the billing month as well as late. Early in the billing month we are no where near our "potential" throttling point.

I also find sometimes just clicking refresh brings a page back that seems slow.

How's the new rig?

[Raz]

Jon, thanks for the tip on Millenicom. We are with Verizon until mid summer. As they won't "shut things off" at 5Gb and we can't use the data they provide to reliably predict our usage, I am not feeling real warm and fuzzy about staying with them after our contract is up. Since the "free" internet is really paid for by advertising and more and more of our data use involves downloading that advertising, it will become almost impossible to stay under a 5 Gb data limit. We will certainly be looking for an alternative. Thanks again, Raz

[Sharon G]

Originally Posted by honda03842

We leave our router on continuously. Sometimes I find the speed slows down so I simply unplug the power cord, replug it in and I'm back to regular speed.

I think what happens, though I have no proof, is that while it's sitting there unused it get's switched to a slower speed line. When I repower it I'm back to normal.

I believe this to be the case because it will happen early in the billing month as well as late. Early in the billing month we are no where near our "potential" throttling point.

I also find sometimes just clicking refresh brings a page back that seems slow.

How's the new rig?

We leave our router on continuously, too, Norm.

Sometimes we can unplug and reset and get an increase in speed. Sometimes not. Also, just connecting and disconnecting also helps.

However, we are in a fringe area and maybe atmospheric conditions play a part, too. But it's a lot more fun to complain about Verizon!

We are crazy about the new rig. There are some small issues we're fixing, but that's normal. We are so thrilled to finally have our egg that we still sometimes can't believe it's really OURS!

Thanks for asking!

[honda03842]

I should have mentioned that our son gave us a Wilson signal booster that our air card sits in now. This also seems to help. It has a small magnetic antenna that just sits on one of the metal cabinet supports.

It would probably work even better if I put it on a small metal plate.

We are leaving FL Monday heading north to one of the COE parks on Lake Seminole on the GA border and from their a slow drift west.

[Sharon G]

Enjoy the trip!

We are planning to camp at the Lake Seminole COE park in April on the way back from our next trip to Florida. Haven't been there yet, but heard it is nice. Even nicer since we can use our senior pass there!

Thanks for the tip on the antenna!

[honda03842]

It's not just an antenna, it's also an amplifier. It's something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...26%2Caps%2C944

Here's more golden eagle camping. You can get the equivalent of a golden eagle pass to Maryland state parks.



Maryland Department of Natural Resources - Maryland Park Service