WiFi on the road

[Schotty]

What options are out there for WiFi on the road. I kn ow Nextel and Verizon sell PCMCIA cards that allow decent WiFI speeds for practically anywhere, but what about any other options? I am not personally that keen on pissing ~$80 away a month for WiFI service. For home and the road, that makes ~$130/mo for internet connections.

Thanks.

[Compunuts]

What a friend of mine does is use coffee shops (Isn't Starbucks everywhere? : ) and some airports also provide WiFi services. The service area is not universal so it has some gaps. But for her, it's pretty decent since she tend to only stay at Hotels and well populated areas.

The price, I do not know. I think may be around 30 bucks or something. My city was supposed to be wired for highspeed with MetroFi service but it's also not in my area. May be wardriving is an option for you. While I was having a hell of a hard time setting up my network, I got pretty much good results from my neighbor's wireless network and some business using 2wire router. I was very tempted to just return my AP, cut my cable service and just use it ( not that I DID use it for a few weeks of those services; at least not intentionally :P )

Also check Free WiFi spot listings. If where you want to go is one of those places, then you are in luck.

[Schotty]

Thanks for the FreeWiFi link. That may prove useful. But I have no issue paying, its just how much. Nextel seems the best, but its still steep for the rates.

Nextel's Link

[trickster]

This is a very long thread about free wifi from Verizon, but it is larely a hit or miss thing. Worth looking at it, though.
If your cellphone can be used as a modem and you have some free minutes, you might be able to use a dial-up provider (perhaps a cheap one or free with your home connection?)
Finally, this is not exactly what you are looking for, but it is pretty interesting nonetheless.

[coltrane]

Cingular and Sprint (who purchased Nextel) have pretty good deals, though I "think" the Cingular cards work with Linux

[gmoreno]

[quote author=coltrane link=board=14;threadid=10665;start=0#msg96153 date=1127365211]
Cingular and Sprint (who purchased Nextel) have pretty good deals, though I "think" the Cingular cards work with Linux
[/quote]

The Nokia card D311 provides linux support. No EDGE though . You could try a different card. OR you could get a bluetooth phone and connect to your linux box that way.

If you have any questions with Cingular's service let me know. You can DC me any time. (Oddly enough)

[martin]

hey Schotty.....try the bars ;D I'm in chilkoot charlies in Anchorage alaska. ;D

[Schotty]

[quote author=martin link=board=14;threadid=10665;start=0#msg96317 date=1128132738]
hey Schotty.....try the bars ;D I'm in chilkoot charlies in Anchorage alaska. ;D
[/quote]

Hmm, thats a thought.

[Compunuts]

If you come to San Francisco, Google has some limited spots they are giving access to WiFi for free. They are planning to have the whole city covered with WiFi. I don't know how good since I don't live in the City.