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Internet Access

A

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
We can't get any type of HS internet at home other than satellite ($$$ + slow) and via our cell phone provider. No cable, DSL or anything else is available in our area.

I am currently investigating the cell phone method. You get a little USB "thumb drive" looking unit which is the transceiver. Pug it in and go, is the theory.

What I would like to do is get a "router" type of thing that I can plug this USB device into which will convert the signal to ethernet for the desktop and 'hot spot' wireless for my laptops, then being able to share this connection without leaving the desktop on all the time as a server. The cell company offers one of these units for $250 (!) so, needless to say I'm looking elsewhere.

Have any of you tech guys ever heard of such a thing as this? Best Buy had nothing for me, even the geek-weenie just gave me the deer in the headlight look.
 
Doc

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I upgraded from dial up to an air card from At&T. The air card worked so much better than dial up as long as you have a cell signal. Even though my phone signal will fade in and out when I'm talking at home, the air card never seemed to experience the same problem. It stayed connected just fine. Once in awhile it would take longer to draw a page but even high speed internet does that.

I have not seen the routers / converter you asked about. However I have wired to computers together with a null modem cable so that both could share the air card for internet use. Worked like a charm.
 
Big Dog

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Seems like the perfect solution to me, even the price isn't bad for a decent internet connection. Our air card worked just fine until it flew off the roof and the new one works better ............... :rolf2:
 
jwstewar

jwstewar

Active member
Don't know why I didn't think of this before. Use Internet Connection Sharing. I used to this all of the time back in the 98/ME days on dial-up. Essentially you plug the air card into the one computer and then also connect it to a regular cheap network hub/switch. You then configure other computers to talk to the network through this computer. Here is a brief connection of how to do it w/ Vista and XP computers. ICS

Do a search for Internet Connection Sharing and you'll get more hits than you can imagine.
 
thcri

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
With the Air Card you have to be careful. Some towers don't support the higher speeds. IE here in Rochester at best I get about a 112k line. If I drive to Minneapolis I can get speeds up to about 3 meg with the same card even having less reception. So if your going to set it up at home check with the different providers to see who has the best tower.


murph
 
rback33

rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
Av8r3400 said:
We can't get any type of HS internet at home other than satellite ($$$ + slow) and via our cell phone provider. No cable, DSL or anything else is available in our area.

I am currently investigating the cell phone method. You get a little USB "thumb drive" looking unit which is the transceiver. Pug it in and go, is the theory.

What I would like to do is get a "router" type of thing that I can plug this USB device into which will convert the signal to ethernet for the desktop and 'hot spot' wireless for my laptops, then being able to share this connection without leaving the desktop on all the time as a server. The cell company offers one of these units for $250 (!) so, needless to say I'm looking elsewhere.

Have any of you tech guys ever heard of such a thing as this? Best Buy had nothing for me, even the geek-weenie just gave me the deer in the headlight look.
Click to expand...

I understand the $$$ part of the satellite worries, but it's NOT slow. Granted... the wife and I are on the "middle of the road" package if you will, but it's NOT slow. It's one of the best things we have ever done. We have Hughes net and love it. As much time as we spend surfing at night, it is well worth the $$ we spend each month. Here is the thread I started when we made the decision this year. It was started based on router suggestions, but it covers the gamut of the topic.

http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=16959
 
A

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
jwstewar said:
Don't know why I didn't think of this before. Use Internet Connection Sharing. I used to this all of the time back in the 98/ME days on dial-up. Essentially you plug the air card into the one computer and then also connect it to a regular cheap network hub/switch. You then configure other computers to talk to the network through this computer. Here is a brief connection of how to do it w/ Vista and XP computers. ICS

Do a search for Internet Connection Sharing and you'll get more hits than you can imagine.
Click to expand...

I could do this with my current (wireless) router, but I don't want to leave my desk top running all the time as a 'server'. The router-unit that Alltel is offering will stand alone with out hosting through another computer.
 
jwstewar

jwstewar

Active member
Av8r3400 said:
I could do this with my current (wireless) router, but I don't want to leave my desk top running all the time as a 'server'. The router-unit that Alltel is offering will stand alone with out hosting through another computer.
Click to expand...

There you go putting stipulations on it.:mrgreen:

You mean everyone isn't like us and leave the computer running 24/7?:blink::dizzy::hide::mrgreen:
 
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