Verizon Air Card

[Colliemom]

I noticed that some of you ladies use a Verizon Air card when you travel. Just exactlly what is it? I have been wired to desktops over the years and am just now getting into the laptop thing. I assumed that if a campground or wherever had WiFi, you could just go on line. Do you need special cards for some places?

[rvgrammy1953]

Sue,
An "air card' working with your laptop, will get you access to the internet as long as you can get a cell signal...We've had ours with Verizon for over 5 years...instead of going into all the pros and cons, etc....you can search here for threads on this subject...I believe there are a few....

[Liz]

And check out Beth's latest blog entry for the new type of Verizon Aircard, MiFi, thingy she just got.

[BirdbyBird]

Having your own air card provides more security than using a public WIFI, especially if you are doing personal banking, etc....unless you have other security filters built in somehow.

[Colliemom]

I see. Learn somethng new everyday. Have to check into that. One of my coworkers came by today to give me some fresh eggs from her chickens and she showed me her new Blackberry. Once they get the hang of it, they are going to stop land line and internet service to their house.
You can't keep up with technology. I've been happy with desktops computers for years and haven't had much use for a laptop. But that's changing now, so I'm making the switch. Thanks for the info and I wil lcheck out Beth's blog.

[avalen]

Sue,
I just got my verizon air card recently and I put it on my regular desk top computer.
Someday I'll have a laptop but for now its not in the budget. My desk top computer
works fine. No blackberry for me, the screens are too hard to read in the light and
way too small. Had a guy at work bring in his little netbook and I played with it
to see if I like it, logged into some of my familiar sights and that too was too
small for my liking but lots of folks really like that smaller version of a laptop.
I just don't have very good vision and a 15 inch screen at least suits my needs.
But, back to the aircard, I'm loving mine, and the model I have works internationally.
It plugs into my usb port and I can take it off and use it on another computer if I
need to.

[Colliemom]

My desktop is wired into my cable companies service and at the moment my new laptop is not on anything. It's got the new Windows 7 in it and I want to learn a bit about that beforeI I go on line with it, plus I have to get my router hooked up, or try to anyway. My current desktop is about 7 years old and little by little it's starting to act up once in awhile. Plus the keys on my keyboard are getting sticky which is why my posts have so many typos.
I hadn't really planned on getting a laptop this early, was going to wait till fall. But Staples had a great buy on a 17 inch screen HP, that I took advantage of it. With the instant rebate, plus the mail in rebate, I was able to get $150 off the regular price.
I have no desire for a Blackberry right now either. Just a regular cell phone will do, but even that hasn't been high on my list. My truck is equipped with OnStar and that has a built in phone, so I'm covered there. I get very few phone calls her as is.

[Bethers]

I was tethering my Blackberry to my computer for service. But switched to the aircard and switched from AT&T to Verizon. Hate to knock AT&T cuz they did good by me for 5 years, but their data is no longer as many places as Verizon. Well, yes it is, but they are no longer calling all of it "home" which leads me to believe they'll be charging soon for roaming on their data cards and tethering. Like Liz said, I have more info on my blog.

I LOVE my new MIFI - and it's secure both when connected directly or when I use it as a WiFi connection.

[VickieP]

When I had my Dell laptop built, I had them put the AT&T aircard internal, that way I don't have to worry about it. If I ever decide to go with another provider I can just plug it in like everyone else does.