Flyingj communications WiFi Extender (dissapointed)

I just bought a "WiFi Extender" from the Flyingj e-store and it was not at all what I expected.


First, it's about the size of a 12 pack -which was a lot larger than what it appeared when advertised. I'm not sure where I could exactly fit it inside my truck?

And second, it only works for the flyingj network. It can however be configured to the corresponding SSID of any given ISP but, you would need to know this before hand. I played with it a bit while at home and found this somewhat difficult to do if you are seeking out an unknown open connection. It's just not at all what I hoped it would be. I sent it back today and was told it would take 6-8 weeks to get my refund put back onto my visa card.

They are giving away 6 free months of connection with the purchase of one of these so, if you surf flyingj's service often it could be worth it.

Flying J had no problems with me returning it along the lines of it "not meeting my needs". I told them I would have paid more attention to the fine print except that there is no fine print on the web page that advertises this thing. I encouraged them to be more specific about the size and functionality of this unit.

I hope this post will help anyone else also thinking about the flyingj WiFi Extender or a.k.a. HotSpot Extender.

Cheers, -The Breeze

 

I never considered free wifi web browsing a risk since I'm not doing things like trading stocks, making ebay purchases or submitting online loan applications while connected to an open hotspot. I assume that my email account could easily be breached but the one I use on the road is a secondary address that receives mail automatically filtered and forwarded from a primary gmail account.

This being my case for in cab web browsing, I always found it hard to justify 60dollars a month for an air card.

I did however give in and finally bought a paid connection but I found a way to get broadband service at a dicounted rate. What I did was bought a used smartphone off ebay (while at home) and upgraded my cell service for an extra 25dollars a month. It works well for the internet connection. Comparable to an 'air-card' it plugs into a USB port on my laptop and it's very fast and everything but the phone sucks for talking on. The relationship it has with my bluetooth is very bad. They don't like oneanother at all and I miss the voice command features on my old phone.

It's a Palm Treo like this one:


Since I bought the phone used, I'm not bound to any contract obligations and so I'm about to toss this thing in the bin and start all over again. Now if I can find another smart-phone that is good for both talking on and data connecting, for only 25 extra dollars a month I think this is still a good way to go.