Cell Phone Service as High Speed Internet Link? 461
Gorm the DBA asks: "I live out in the boonies, where Cable is just another word for what the telegraph guy delivers and the nearest Central Office is over 27,000 feet away, so DSL is at best a (fat) Pipe Dream, and dialup speeds top out at 17,700baud on a good day. Currently we have satellite internet via DirecWay, but it's expensive ($60/month) and VPNlike applications are not supported, never mind gaming (high latency), which reduces it's utility dramatically. At the same time, I've been looking at getting a new cell phone. I see that Sprint, Cingular, and others all have cards that you can plug into your computer and use the cellular network to get data. The claim is 'wireless online surfing as fast as DSL'. I've confirmed I'm in the coverage areas, but is this really as good as they're making it sound? It's pricey ($79.99/month, plus the cost of the card), but it would be portable as well. Does anybody have experience with this sort of technology? Is it ready for prime time? Does it really work? Is it worth it? Is the internet access real, or a filtered 'You get what we want you to get' sort of thing?"
Probably not... (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, I understand that might not be an option. I spent the late 80's and early 90's at Loring Air Force Base, in northern Maine. Most of the POP's for the services I used were in southern Maine. I spent obscene amounts of money connecting. And yes, we were on Milnet, but I was in the Civil Engineering Squadron, and we had a 9600 baud connection through a Wang VS. I did manage to download Linux onto 5-1/4 floppies, but I digress.
High Gain Wireless Antenna? (Score:2, Interesting)
Cell phone and accoustic modem. (Score:1, Interesting)
See if you can get a Wireless connect built (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Rule of thumb: Wired Wireless (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Rule of thumb: Wired Wireless (Score:4, Interesting)
In many cases, this is because of regulatory reasons, and not technical/logistical ones. Cellular providers can move more quickly than a bureaucratically-entrenched state-monopoly PTT.
Re:Rule of thumb: Wired Wireless (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Rule of thumb: Wired Wireless (Score:4, Interesting)