Commitment to traveling

[BirdbyBird]

I took the plunge today and purchased my Verizon aircard.....! I knew that I wanted it by next month when I took off for the GTG and Ohio Rally. What is an extra month! Am looking forward to being able to choose boondocking and COE campgrounds and still having access to e-mail some of the time! I know that there will still be times I am out of reach but far, far less! Cedar, you were a role model. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm worth it! Weeeee, and down the road I go. Of course now some people will expect pictures more often, sigh....... I'll still try to make excuses for why I haven't posted something.....it just won't be believed......

I am going tomorrow to the nursing home so that I can show my 88 yr old Step mother the pictures my DS posted on Facebook of his recent vacation to Africa! She never kept up with the changes in technology and finds it all magic! I always wished she had tried so that she could have stayed more connected to her family members that are scattered. Oh, well

[mitch5252]

..

Since I moved to TN, I am far removed from state-of-the-art technology. Ah, and to think I used to buy a new computer every 6 months...but I digress...

What determines your ability to get online with a Verizon aircard while, say, boondocking?

Cost? And any plan for pay-as-you-go (like our cell phone, since we live in a no-coverage area)???

Thanks.

[Cedar518]

Way to GO, girl! I paid for the card,.... then the $35 startup fee,..... now it's just month to month. I can discontinue any time. I will do that after Columbus Day weekend. Then not start up again until Memorial Day weekend. Cost is approx $59 month.

Whether or not it will work depends on the cell towers. We have so few here in the Adirondacks due to the Adirondack Park Agency which is reglulatory,.... to keep the park "forever wild". grrrrr...... They are now putting cell towers along the interstate,..but they look like pine trees. We call them "franken-pines".

I'm glad I have mine now. Even though I don't have a strong signal here at this bluegrass festival. You will enjoy it.

[BirdbyBird]

It works within the Verizon network which isn't everywhere but is more places than free WIFI You just plug it into the USB port of your laptop and get connected. Very easy. Cost runs $60/month. I was waiting until I thought I would be traveling frequently enough to warrant the cost. It will also allow me to connect to banking and e-mail to demonstrate to Step mother how it is that I can assist her with financial stuff and communication with her daughter in NYC. She keeps thinking $$$ of long distance phone calls..... The cell phone and the e-mail are not something she grasps though we refer to them all the time as in...here let me call Libby on the cell phone and you can ask her right now !!!!

That and the WIFI we have set up in the house...(and I pay for ) comes out of my husband's office area, covers the living room and the kitchen area but often is too weak to connect from my office area in the back....so I find myself sitting in the kitchen and cluttering up two areas instead of just the office desk..... not that I might leave clutter behind....... This way I will be able to escape the sound of the TV in the living room a little more and sit at my desk in the back more often. I like that.

[retiredhappy]

The other good thing about using an aircard over wifi is that is it more secure than an "open" wifi at an RV park if you do online banking, bill paying, etc. I LOVE my verizon aircard - i can pull over at a reststop and get on the internet. Nice if I need map, directions, phone number of park up ahead. Really freeing.

[mitch5252]

..

So, the aircard gets you to the internet based on cell towers, so reception (coverage area) is the same as a cell phone? That's the part I don't understand. I get the part about it being more secure, though.

..

[sunshinecruiserTN]

Hey girls, I just purchased an antenna from Verizon that plugs into my USB aircard modem and then the antenna suctions to the window for hopefully better coverage. When I visit my friend my reception with my aircard sucks so this weekend I'll test it out and let you know how it does. Should give me a boost and if it does from her house, I feel confident it will from anywhere.

Tina you will love it. I have been very pleased for the most part. It's worth it to me.

[VickieP]

When I ordered my laptop I had them install an AT&T aircard in it, so I don't have to have this thing sticking out of the side. All I have to do is switch from the network to the aircard or slide a button on the side that is the wifi catcher. I'm just learning these things since I got my laptop. We used to have Verizon cell phones, but didn't appreciate the customer service when we went to renew our 2 year contract after 4 years, so we changed to AT&T and actually have better service/more bars these past 2 years, just renewed and got me an AT&T Karma phone, cute little thing!

[snowball]

I love my verizon air card!!!! I can be on it for as long as i desire and do the things on the internet that I was used to doing.
Been very few places that I haven't been able to get on the internet
sheila

[avalen]

I have one question about that verizon aircard,
that $59 fee.. does that include the internet account? In other words, if I get my
laptop (lets say christmas present) and the aircard, will I then be verizon.com and
can dump my aol.com? I'm paying 17 something for aol and 22 something for the
dial up, seems to me it would be worth the extra $15 bucks a month if it worked
that way.

[rvgrammy1953]

We've had our Verizon air card account ever since they came out with it... Have been to AR, TX, MS, FL, GA,NC, SC, VA, MD, PA, & NY and have had internet in all place....even places where the cell phone signal has been really Iffy, like here at our homebase...(no cell phone signal, but we get out on the air card with an external antenna.)....of course, the air card has been updated a couple of times when they update the service....We love it!!!! Now, yes, there are times because of the tower issues, things get a little slow, or they time out, but can live with that.....and when there is wifi the system will give you the option of using it....but we stick to the air card.....on the $60/month plan....and have never been charge over usage....my understanding is that unless you are downloading lots of music or lots of movies, you won't be charged over usage....

Okay, that's our experience....won't leave home without it!!!

BTW.....we also have a router for our air card....and Verizon air card works at the site of the PA GTG.....

[bluepinecones]

Tina: Congrats on the new card. From other comments, you will likely find it a good investment. I don't have one yet but perhaps you can serve as my inspiration, as Cedar did for you.

Ava: Why are you paying for aol? They offer free e-mail so you can have a non-paying account and still keep your e-mail address. I dropped my paid account several years ago and the only difference I've noticed is that one can no longer get on-line support (think I only used that once anyway and had the account more than 15 years). There may be a few other differences but it is worth looking into the differences with potential to save the $17 something per month.

To all: If you do your banking on-line, please be sure someone else can get to your passwords should something happen to you. My sister's husband did all bill paying/banking on -line as he traveled a lot with work. Sister not computer literate; no idea even what password is much less his. It has been a nightmare for me trying to figure out what bills are/how to pay, etc. Everybody needs a back up for this!

[sunshinecruiserTN]

Great advice, Sarah.

[carold]

We love our Verizon aircard. Don't have an additional antenna, but have on occasions gotten internet even when we don't have phone coverage. We think it's because Verizon might partner with Vodaphone for data but not cell coverage. That's just one possibility. We use gmail which is free as is Google. It's great to have internet access and has been worth every penny. Sometimes the wifi is too far from our site to pick up or trees in the way and then you have to find an area that has connection. Have fun checking it all out. carold

[MsBHaven]

Congrats on the aircard Tina. I cancelled our home cable Internet when we moved into our MH full-time (still in the driveway) and got an aircard. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. It isn't as good as cable was, but having use of it while on the road is wonderful. It's pretty cool driving down the road and being on the Internet (I'm the passenger). So far, I don't seem to have any problem with going over the alloted usage - but I use my iPhone for a lot of my Internet usage.

I'm waiting on more info from Carolyn about her new antenna. I think we'll need that when we get on the road full-time.

Just made my reservation for Gypsy Journal rally -- see you in Ohio Tina.