I purchased 2 dell XPS laptops around Christmas and had the ATT mobile card installed at the factory on both units. I only activated 1 though figuring I would be able to network the 2 laptops together and "split" the signal. This did not work.

ATT did claim to have unlimited usage for 60.00 per month but did mention they have 2 types of towers. 1 which supports data transfers and 1 that supports only voice calls as in a cell phone. I found this to be true in several locations when I was able to use my ATT cell phone but could not use the broadband connection in my laptop.

The ATT card lost connectivity pretty regular on my cross country trip from PA to CA and back and was very frustrating. My wife decided to purchase an air card through Verizon and we ran these 2 systems head to head for a week. Conclusion; Verizon beat ATT hands down for connectivity, length of connections, and speed of downloads. Based upon this I deactivated my ATT subscription and are using the Verizon air card exclusively.

We use the air card for several hours per day switching the card from 1 laptop to the other and have been charged (so far anyway) the 60.00 monthly fee plus the 39.00 activation fee.

As another poster pointed out though Verizon does drop out in sections of Arizona and New Mexico but it held on longer then ATT did.

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Knowledge is Power

Hello everyone,

I have decided to go with the Sprint AirCard® 595U (Sprint Mobile Broadband USB Modem) by Sierra Wireless with features: Web, email capable, GPS enabled with the evolution to EV-DO Revision A. You plug the modem into your USB port.

Average download speeds of 600 kbps - 1.4 Mbps and average upload speeds of 350 - 500 kbps, to receive this speed I will need to purchase the service 1xEV-DO Rev.A (Sprint Power Vision) I will be able to e-mail with large attachments, digital imaging,video/audio streaming and rich messaging

Designed for Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X, Security employs CDMA wireless authentication and identification wireles authentication and identification system for top-notch security. High performance built-in antenna.

Through February 15th, 2008: Regular price $229.99, Instant savings $150.00 and Mail-in Rebate $50.00 totaly price is $29.99, but it requires 2 years Agreement. The One-Time Charge is $79.99 will need to send in the 50.00 rebate which usually takes 5-7 weeks to get the credit. The monthly fee is $59.99 for unlimited MB. There could be a $36.00 activation fee, I'm still checking on this fee.

Total cost 79.99+59.99+36.00= $175.98

Im purchasing this card because I belive this will be the best broadband air card to use connecting to the internet while trucking OTR and once I purchase a Slingbox for viewing TV on my laptop. The Slingbox Pro will cost me around $229.00.

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. Feel free to continue for information purposes.

rdman

On sprint internet can u download anything u want without worrying about usage?

I am using Verizon. It got used on the road for the first time the other day on a trip down to South Florida. The entire way my girlfriend was surfing the net with amazing speeds. I absolutely recommend Verizon to anybody.

I have Sprint. It's ok, but there are many places where you don't get broadband speed. The major cities are ok, and some states are good. Out west is hit or miss.

Usage is unlimited with mine.

I have Nextel, too, so they gave me a break on the price of the card.

Looking forward to hearing how it works for you.

Question for anyone... Someone said that Sprint doesn't work too well in Arizona & NM... Is Verizon better? ..or is coverage equally bad in the southwest?

Thanks,
HG

[quote=truckin916;341423]If I'm in a 3G network it's best and if I'm in an E network it works but it's much slower.
quote]

Does anyone know if there are a lot of 3G networks out there? Would the phone co. know where the 3G areas are?

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I dont know
but I've been told
if you keep on dancing
you'll never grow old
...

The biggest difference between Sprint and Verizon is Sprint offers unlimited usage for streaming video "unlimited" Verizon has unlimited usage but the streaming capabilities is 5G a month anything over that you could be charged extra.

The main reason I selected Sprint was the unlimited streaming capability for using Slingbox for viewing TV from my home cable connection on my laptop anywhere in the nation. Both cards have there limitation, I haved talked to owners of both and most agree the reception is favorable in most places, if you plan on just surfing the web and sending e-mail and do the basic functions then Verizon would work fine, but if you plan on doing alot of gaming, TV uploading Streaming functionality then Sprint would be a better choice with it's unlimted streaming.

I spoke to someone who used it in NM said it worked fine, not sure about AZ.

Take care
Rdman

Thanks, RD.

Went to the Sprint website and under plans, they have two choices:
Any idea how much "40 MB" might equate to usage in layman's terms? For example... watching one movie would be.... how many MB ? It also says "data usage w/out a plan is 3 cents/KB."

I also went to the Verizon website and saw this:Wow!

Can someone with a Verizon AirCard can give us an idea what your final monthly bill is after they add all of the above to it?