wifi: pilot vs ta

I used them all and it's a coin toss between TA and Pilot. They both had their share of nonworking wifi. I run across like five TA's and 7 Pilot's that didn't work. But there are many that work good.

It's the same company that provides for them all. I forget the name now. But that company has been bought out twice I know of. This last go around they seem to be putting an effort forward to fix everything. The previous companies never did any maintenance.

Many router/modems will kick in a thunderstorm. The truck stop manager are clueless and "Oh well" attitude. I've taught three of them how to reset the equipment. A three year old can do it.

I never cared much for Flying J, but they always had the best wifi of them all. Now that they are combined with Pilot, that is probably your best bet.

Just look for the antenna when you get to a truck stop and try to park close for the best performance. I have a little portable wifi finder on my key chain. It's handy as it gives you signal strength. But for $20 a month truck stop wifi is not bad.

Walmart has Virgin Mobile Broadband for $50 month unlimited usage. It runs on the Sprint network. You can buy a USB or MIFI card. You can buy the mifi card which allows up to 6 laptops and sell usage to your neighboring trucks.

 

I fuel almost exclusively at Pilot/Flying J. There are pretty much our only authorized fuel stops. With that, half the time my routes are planned with fueling and stopping at these in mind. So since I'm there stopping, fueling, showering, etc. I buy the 19 dollar a month plan, just can't commit myself to the year long deal, seen to many deals like Idleair, Park & View, etc go belly up, along with drivers cash.
I fuel up enough that if I could use my points to pay for it, they would, so its pretty much free, I pay for the internet, use the points for grub and stuff, so its a wash.
I have a netbook that I jack around the internet with, nothing such as banking or the like, limit the personal info, good firewall, that way don't have much worries about who's watching so much.

 

The company that the pilots and hooks use is "Wandering wifi". Suspect Ta/Petro use the same.

 

Yeah, that's it pan. They use to have another name a long time ago. I believe they even handled the IdleAire accounts too.

And like Mustang said, it's more convenient to do your business where you fuel.

 

I also use my Verizon android smartphone, with unlimited data, tethered to my laptop with the PDANET app. My laptop gets faster downloads then my phone, using my phone!

I wanted to pay for the data plan for tethering, but they said it was not supported, so I am getting it for no additional charge!

MIkeeee

 

http://junefabrics.com/android/

PDAnet.

I "updated" my USB modem firmware and surprise surprise it got slow. PDAnet 3.0 also has a setting where it hides that you are tethered so you don't have to pay another $20 a month for services built into the phone that you already pay for.

 

Pilot/Flying J, Ta/Petro, and Loves all use Wandering Wifi. Performance is hit or miss, depending on the location. Some of the truckstops out in middle of nowhere, Wandering Wifi simply uses an aircard and everyone shares one connection. On the other hand, if they have a good broadband provider in the area, they'll use that, and everyone will get a decent connection. You can't use your credit at the different truckstops. If you pay for the TA wifi, you can't use it at a Pilot, even though it's the same company.

Your best bet is to get an aircard, or a phone with tethering. Personally, I have both through Virgin Mobile, it's cheap unlimited, but coverage isn't as good as it could be, but it's good enough for me. If money is no object, and you want the best unlimited service, google Millenicom. They have unlimited coverage on the Verizon network for $70 a month.

I do use the truckstp wifi at times, if I'm laid over on a 34 hour reset, and I know it's faster than my aircard. But I'll use the $4.79 24 hour plan in those cases.

 

wow ive had nothing but problems with f/j always got knocked off
and very slow no mater where i parked anyway my fuel stps have changed now its t/a petro or loves i have had really good luck with t/a and loves i dont do petro so i dont know bout them im not very tech savy but i think it has alot to do with the antena at the trk/stp???
but i too hate to be stuck with having to try to get to one trk/stp allthough like the other guy i dont use it much on my 10 on my 34 though yes i though about verizion but i couldnt really justify $80
would be nice to have though when u get stuck at customer

 

your way better off with Verizon Wifi, but if you really want truck stop wifi I'd go with Pilot ONLY because there are more pilots then TA/Petros and i stay at more of them......

I used to do the truck stop wifi thing, then i got the verizon wifi I'll never go without it again!






American Trucker

 

Have to agree about the Verizon. Had att before and they were pretty worthless. If the trk stops were willing to spend a little more money, and spread their antennas out tho.........