Laptop?

I can tell you from experience that "tethering" is effective..........SLOW AS HELL but effective. Like getting a 28k dial-up connection. If you plan on doing much more than reading an occasional email, you will have a very long wait.
I regularly get 250k (or better, often MUCH better) with my Sprint card.

 

I like the tethering, and no it isn't slow, depending on the wireless service available in the area, which was why I switched to Verizon. It isn't quite as quick as good wi-fi service at a truckstop, but in many places it is better than being in the back row. I stopped buying wi-fi as I didn't really need it anymore. Yes if you are in the boonies and do not have great service, it can be as slow as the old dial up, but those places are getting fewer all the time.

 

What I'd like to find is a good antenna to bring in the signal. I get stuck in some places where the speed is constantly switching because of wavering signal strength. Drives me up the wall since it resets the connection every time the speed changes.

 

Tethering speed depends on the phone, and the phone company. Sprint and Verizon have the better networks. Sprint discourages tethering, so if you do it, you are probably going to be doing it in a way that breaks the terms of service, and they have no tethering plan. Verizon and AT&T both have tethering plans, and they cost as much as the broadband card plan, $60 for 5 gigs. To do it, you need a 3g capable phone. The advantage to tethering is if you have an existing voice account, you can add the tethering plan without getting hung up in a 2 year agreement.

My AT&T phone, when in a 3g area, and connected to my laptop through USB, is actually faster than my Sprint card. Another advantage of tethering with AT&T instead of buying a broadband card is the tethering plan replaces your phones existing $20 unlimited data plan if you have one, and if you have a Smart phone through them, you probably do, so the net increase is only $40. They are still dragging their feet on the iPhone, but just about every other 3g capable phone they offered can be tethered.

Verizon looks interesting. In researching for this post, I found they have tethering plans for as little as $15 and as high as $50, I guess it depends on which phone you have. Too bad I'm still under contract with AT&T.


Here is a great guide to tethering, if the moderator approves the link. http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2706/63/

 

Tell you what, I just signed up with Verizon for their 5gig a month broadband and it's pretty terrific. I compared speeds and availability and nobody came close on the data side. I've got an Iphone (AT&T) for my voice. I also got a Gateway netbook for $149 after rebate. Sweet little 'puter that has decent battery life. 160gig hard drive and 3usb ports. I plugged in an external CD/DVD Rom to load programs and have a wireless usb mouse. From this little netbook I have connected an HP all in one machine that allows me to scan receipts and print stuff on the road. Can also scan BOL's and attach them to emails to brokers so payment get's on it's way faster. Pretty sweet setup if you ask me!

 

Buying a Macbook would be a thorough waste of money. If you have money to burn I would buy a Toughbook - also arguably throwing away money but then you're spending money on something tangible/useful, not just a name. Spill-resistant keyboards, shock-resistant hard drives, daylight-readable screens, etc.

 

I have a 17" Toshiba, that I also use as my DVD player and TV (I have a USB video in card) Not quite as powerful as I would like it, but that's because I have the AMD chip not the intel unit. 3gigs of ram, 250 gigs of HD space. Not bad for the price. I also have a Toshiba netbook, which while being super small is nice for hauling around with me. Upgraded it to 2 gigs of ram and it runs just fine.

So it depends on how much of a nerd you are. Next tax season, I'm going to get another Toshiba 17 inch laptop, with a nice intel chip and video card for games.

Been thinking about getting a Wilson kit to test out myself.

 

I was thinking about that one but someone posted that they had one and it made no difference. I don't really want to spend $70 to find out it sucks.

 

I'm talking about the booster as well.

 

I haven't even seen the booster on the shelf. It'd be nice if it works. I'm sitting here with full signal and it still switches speeds every so often.