Internet option for air only locations

[buckeyefarmer]

I just realized that speedtest.net gives it's results in bits (lower case b) and my Apple activity monitor gives the speed in Bytes (upper case B). That's why you are seeing 700 kbps and I'm seeing 100 kBps.

Well, at least I haven't seen anything gives speeds in nybbles ;-)

Ken

In LTE (W-CDMA) they give speeds in chips, such as Mcps..A chip is a "fast bit" after it's been spread.

 

[Ronbo]

I have had a sprint aircard for over 4 yrs with great connection. 3 wks ago the speed dropped to as low as 20 kBps. that is less than dial up. I have had unlimited service and planned to take it into retirement with me in 10 years. Tech services tried to fix it and the last guy I talked to told me that there were too many users in my area. I then asked to have my contract canceled without penalty. The cancellation person I talked to said " well you can get on the internet so we are providing you service". I couldn't believe that. After talking to a supervisor, I was able to cancel effective next month and am waiting for comcast run cable to the house.

we will see

Ron

 

[merrickvilleguy]

to be fair ... 20kB/s is about 3x as fast as dialup (7kB/s) ... but there should be a minimum standard for the connection to consider it as them delivering their end

the problem is its hard to get a objective test to judge what is actually available, and where the problem lies, an upstream router can cause all sort of trouble and is out of their control

but generally speaking the cos take advantage of this fact and their contracts list only the max available (meaningless to you in the contract sense since delivering 5-10% of the max is still "up to")

 

[buckeyefarmer]

CDMA speed is based on number of people on a tower at a particular time. you might be real slow now, but in an hour be a lot faster. also location, signal strength plays into it.

 

[rdoiron]

I've been using the Rogers Rocket Hub (its an Ericsson W35 HSPA modem) which gives you a general purpose phone line, broadband internet connection and local WIFI. It has worked as advertised for the first few months but with the proliferation of the new iPhone 4g and the new Android based phones, the cell towers are now over subscribed. I have an external yagi antenna so I've always got full signal but in the evenings the throughput drops so low that most web sites time out. Forget about cranking up the VPN and connecting in to the office. Ping times are in the 10 second range or simply time out.

Rogers does not appear to have planned their data backhaul correctly taking into account the impact that all those smart phone would have. At least that's the story I see in Kemptville area.

I'm now waiting for Bell to string cable along my 1200 foot driveway and give me a land line with dsl.

So much for my "adventure" with cutting the copper...

 

[Ken45101]

BTW,, I have now noticed that speedtest allows you the option to specify if you want the results in kb, KB, mb or MB.

Ken

 

[wjoerob]

I just got the Virgin Mobile plan with MiFi. $40/mo., unlimited usage, and the MiFi device was $149. Speeds are not all that great so far, but got to be better than CenturyLink's DSL. We live 26,000+ ft. out from the central service point. Technician told us we should never have been sold the service, since signal drops off exponentially after 19,000 ft. Yet this service had been at least fair up until the last 2-3 months. Then it dropped down below dial-up speeds. We had tried WildBlue satellite previously, and were very unhappy with usage limits-vs.-cost. I have 3 kids in college living with us, plus a high school senior, and wife and I both use computer for work. The "unlimited" part really appealed to me, and no contract is even better.

 

[thatguy]

We are closing in on our first month with the Virgin Mobile MIFI we like it a lot.. We average about +800kbs downloads and +/-300kbs uploads.. At times we get closer to 1.4 mbs downloads though..

My only complaint is that at times the tower we use gets overloaded and we drop out of 3G coverage into 1xrtt (2 to 3x dial up speeds).. Usually it goes back into 3g (EVDO) within 5 minutes.. I am pretty sure its due to Sprint customers taking priority over VM customers..

What sort of speeds are you getting? how many bars do you have? The Wilson Electronics 'Sleek' may help get you a stronger signal if your coverage is marginal. it DID NOT help with us dropping into 1xrtt though, so i returned the one i bought.

I just got the Virgin Mobile plan with MiFi. $40/mo., unlimited usage, and the MiFi device was $149. Speeds are not all that great so far, but got to be better than CenturyLink's DSL. We live 26,000+ ft. out from the central service point. Technician told us we should never have been sold the service, since signal drops off exponentially after 19,000 ft. Yet this service had been at least fair up until the last 2-3 months. Then it dropped down below dial-up speeds. We had tried WildBlue satellite previously, and were very unhappy with usage limits-vs.-cost. I have 3 kids in college living with us, plus a high school senior, and wife and I both use computer for work. The "unlimited" part really appealed to me, and no contract is even better.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Same boat. But I just ran a test with my hughsenet and got 1.26mbps down and 183kbps up. Our cap is 425 mb in 24 hours.

since I made this post windstream has offered dsl. Already got the wireless modem from them and the service guys where here to do whatever on the pole but I think since I ordered the 12mbps they have to do additional work and wont get service til monday. Trust me, I can wait. $49 a month for 12mbps unlimited vs 425mb/24hr 1.3mbps for $80..plus the latency and the ungodliest upload speed.

 

[ragkar]

These are very informative and useful posts. Thanks guys.