Jim - does the above response to Jon give you the answers you need?
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Actually it was a bag phone connected to a hard wired box that received the cell phone calls and distributed them via phone jacks throughout to any regular phone in the bus. The neat thing about it was all the phones in the bus were normal land line phones. Even though they were operating on a cell network they funtioned like a land line. They had dial tones and you used them like the home phone. No pressing send or end.
I still have the same thing in our coach today, only it is digital technology. Still is a cell phone, except the phones throughout the bus operate like our home phones. You have no idea you are on a cell phone.
Jon, there is no catch. Now is a time when you can pick up the current technology or stand fast and watch the world go by.
The old ways were good and still may be in certain cases. I don't know what your computer needs are or what you currently have Apple or PC. Get yourself a laptop if you don't already have one, either brand works with the air cards. The air cards and similar devices are not as fast as hard wire DSL, but neither is Cable internet.
I think you will more than get by if you choose a cell service and get your internet through them.
I prefer Verizon. Their Air Card @ $60.00ish/month or the deal Truck has will be sufficient for you and work in the home or on the road anywhere you are able to get a good phone signal.
Something else to consider is for you to get Web Based Email. That would be AOL, YAHOO, G mail or the like. It is free and with it you can get your email anywhere you get a cell phone connection, with most current cell phones and through your computer if you have it with you. Examples are on the road or in your home or at work at your daughters and on and on, almost anywhere.
I have tried to over simplify this and will offer more if you need it.
You don't necessarily have to cancel your current email service. Some people have several email addresses and use them for different purposes.
I don't think you have a Droid nor do I think you would like one so stop asking about tethering it :p
JIM :)
Jim C, perhaps you did not get the memo. I'll use the recently introduced new version of the iPad as an example. Amid much fanfare the new iPad is out, and in the same news blurb announcing it they indicated later this year a newer version will be introduced.
At the pace of the introductions of the electronic marvels no matter what anyone has and how new they think it is, i guarantee they are as rooted in the past as I am. Only I don't claim to keep pace with technology.
Unless I have access to a computer I cannot get or send email. My cell phone has no camera, text or voice mail capability (my choice) so I am out of touch with the world until I reach my home base or someone chooses to phone me. There is no lack of ways to reach me, just not through a computer when we travel. The bus as well as Di and I have cell phones and the bus phone has an answering machine.
So it seems your air card by Verizon is already out of date and Tom's MiFi is cheaper and does the same thing only better. If I were you I would hold off until the 4G version comes out, or maybe wait for the 5G version sure to follow. That one will be so fast you will get responses to emails and posts before you send them.
Hey Jon. My first mobile phone account was with a Motorola Phone attached to a large lead battery. probably 4-5 lbs. Those were the days!
That was in the early 80's.
We have been using Verizon's MIFI card for almost 2 years, and seldom find an area where it doesn't connect. It is a 3G (3rd Generation) unit. 4G (4th Generation) is supposed to be finally going online in major metro areas, and while that may be true. as slow as 4G is coming (since 2007) you'd have plenty of of time to practice with your 3G unit. Also we've been in campgrounds where so many users were on the wifi system that it was nearly impossible to get online - in these situations the MIFI card came in real handy.
Jon,
Here's the difference between 3G/4G - 3G provides 14 megabits per second (Mbit/s) download and 5.8 Mbit/s upload. This is compared to the projected minimum 100 Mbit/s transfer speed of 4G. Now that's not even close to what your home DSL, cable or T1 connection can provide, but if the phone or cable goes out, you can still surf the web with one of these.
Michael, I think so. Thanks.
Jon - Yes you can dump Comcast and use the Mi-Fi at home. Your I-pad and Kindle's will also connect to the Mi-Fi just like you were at home on Comcast. There are no wires needed, it's all wireless.
Jim C - Why spend 60.00 per month, dump the USB Aircard, save 25.00 per month and allow up to 5 devices to hook to your Mi-Fi?
There is another option too. My iPhone is jailbroken to allow an app called MyWi which takes my 3G signal and turns my phone into a wifi router. Essentially the same thing as having a Mi-Fi, except that I have one device that does it all. Best of all, the app is $20 one time and the jailbreak is free, so no recurring monthly charges. If you are already paying for cell service, why pay for another device?
AND, if you have an iPad, there is another app that will allow it to automatically turn on the MyWi on the iPhone when you need an internet connection! It don't get no betta.