Wireless internet speed?

[Ryan_V]

I'm finally looking at going high speed. the only thing besides expensive satellite is wireless. I have 2 options, 128k and 512k. I'm used to seeing Mbps. I currently have dial up, how would 128k and 512k compare to dial up, and how many Mbps would they compare to??

Thanks!!

[LMITOUT]

Dial up is around 48-50k.

[CJH]

Go 512k.

[fishorgolf]

go 512k you will never regret if. Have you ever hear someone complain that there internet speeds were TO fast.

[SpecialK]

Go with the 512k. To answer your question about the speed relationship, 1 mbs is 1024k so 512k is half a mbs. You will notice a huge difference though even if you go with the 128.

[Chef]

How much is the cost per month for this wireless service and do they offer some kind of service level agreement that doesn't leave you holding the bag if the service stinks?

Make sure you protect yourself when signing a contract, especially if this wireless provider is new to your area. If they don't get enough people signed-up, they might pull the plug on you. Don't be a guinea pig for an un-tested service.

[upnorth]

128k would be better than dial up but with todays web pages it will still seem slow. Go with the 512k, a few more $$ but I really don't think you will regret it.

[midwesthunter]

512k for sure.

[MuleShack]

I'm finally looking at going high speed. the only thing besides expensive satellite is wireless. I have 2 options, 128k and 512k. I'm used to seeing Mbps. I currently have dial up, how would 128k and 512k compare to dial up, and how many Mbps would they compare to??

Thanks!!

Cant you get DSL from your phone company? You might be able to get 1Mbps from them if they offer the service, then hook it up to a wireless router.

Also what are they charging for the 2 different speeds??? just curious is all.

[Ryan_V]

Mule...nope, can't get any dsl. I'm out in the country, not in a development or lake, so no one has run the service to us farmers!!! the 128 is $40 and the 512 is $50. Gonna make the call this week and get it set up.

[jeffreyd]

heck you could probably buy an air card for that per month and make it mobile along with faster connection

[LakeoftheWoods]

Mule...nope, can't get any dsl. I'm out in the country, not in a development or lake, so no one has run the service to us farmers!!! the 128 is $40 and the 512 is $50. Gonna make the call this week and get it set up.

Are you sure? Do you have a phone line where you want your service?

I live out in a rural area near Lake of the woods, and I can get DSL through my phone company. it plugs right into the phone jack. (not dialup)

[Ryan_V]

Originally Posted By: Ryan_V

Mule...nope, can't get any dsl. I'm out in the country, not in a development or lake, so no one has run the service to us farmers!!! the 128 is $40 and the 512 is $50. Gonna make the call this week and get it set up.

Are you sure? Do you have a phone line where you want your service?

I live out in a rural area near Lake of the woods, and I can get DSL through my phone company. it plugs right into the phone jack. (not dialup)

Yup, positive. they only brought high speed 3 miles out of town. I'm a little over 5. Believe me, I've checked!!

[Ryan_V]

heck you could probably buy an air card for that per month and make it mobile along with faster connection

How much is an air card to purchase, and how much are they for monthly service??

[jeffreyd]

if you have cell service, you can go through your provider. If not, i would do some research on them, and find the best priced one for your needs. Our travel laptop has a built in card with sprint service. Works pretty good, depending on where you are located. My wife will use it when we go to Tucson while i am driving and never looses connection etc. I used it a ton when i was at leech lake. You can buy them that just plug into the usb connection. Good luck

[MuleShack]

Originally Posted By: jeffreyd

heck you could probably buy an air card for that per month and make it mobile along with faster connection

How much is an air card to purchase, and how much are they for monthly service??

I've done a little research and most are fairly comparable with 2 pricing levels. First is like $35-45 with a cap on the data transfered for the month, then anything over that is $xx per Kb. Then there is the $60 plan that seems to be unlimited. I wasn't real serious about getting a card for my laptop so i was just browsing prices.

[Ryan_V]

I've done a little research and most are fairly comparable with 2 pricing levels. First is like $35-45 with a cap on the data transfered for the month, then anything over that is $xx per Kb. Then there is the $60 plan that seems to be unlimited. I wasn't real serious about getting a card for my laptop so i was just browsing prices.

I did some checking and a broadband card is available, but it's $60/month, but the speeds will be lots faster. Also, it has a limit of 5K/month downloads/etc...would a guy have a problem with this limit??? I don't stream music, but do purchase it for download and watch short videos. I don't want to go over that because it is expensive!!!!

[Whoaru99]

Must be 5M or 5G per month?

If the cap is truly 5M per month that's not very much data. One or two MP3s downloads would eat that up.

[SpecialK]

You can go through 5 meg in 20 mins watching videos online. Not a good option. If it's 5 gig that might be iffy.

Seeing as we are talking abouot mobile service now... Ryan are you using a laptop and expect to travel with it or are you using a desktop computer? If you have the laptop and drag it around with you everywhere the cell phone service might be an option to at least stay up with e-mails. If you have a desktop that's not going anywhere I would go with the your original plan.

It does surprise me that HutchTel (if that's your phone company) didn't drag the lines out that far. My Mom and Aunt had them and loved their service (Cable Phone and Inet all brought in on the one box).

Another thing you can do (and you may have already done it) is call your phone company and ask them if and when they expect to extend the service out to your area. You might be surprised to learn that it's on the drawing board, and if it's not, let them know that it's definitely a service you are interested in. If enough of your neighbors do it they will seriously consider investing the money to get it out there.

[Ryan_V]

Must be 5M or 5G per month?

If the cap is truly 5M per month that's not very much data. One or two MP3s downloads would eat that up.

sorry, my bad, it is 5 gb/month. is that "enough" or should i go with the slower, unlimited wireless?

[MuleShack]

This is off the sprint site:

The following table contains examples of usage estimates for some common uses. This information is intended only as a guide, as actual usage can vary widely from these estimates based on a number of factors. For example, emails will vary in size based on items attached, and songs vary in size based on length.

Type of Electronic Media Approximate File Size Approximate Volume

at 300 MB at 5GB

Email (no attachment) 3 KB 99,998 1,666,667

Word document 70 KB 4283 71,429

Web page look-up 150 KB 2003 33,333

Lowres image 500 KB 600 10,000

PowerPoint presentation 3 MB 98 1,667

Song (3 minutes) 3 MB 98 1,667

YouTube video (3 minutes) 15 MB 23 333

TV show download (30 minutes) 350 MB 0 14

Movie download 700 MB 0 7

[Whoaru99]

sorry, my bad, it is 5 gb/month. is that "enough" or should i go with the slower, unlimited wireless?

I'm guessing they have 5GB sort of set for the top end of a frequent/heavy computer user, but not for a big downloader user.

FWIW, through my connection (serves two users, one of which probably accounts for 90%), in July I had 5.374GB incoming and 403MB outgoing, and for August I had 6.124GB incoming and 519MB outgoing.

[Ryan_V]

Whoaru99.... that helps alot, thanks!! I'm thinking I'll go with wireless over the broadband card. might be slower, but I think i'd be better off. thanks again!!

[IndyEFI500]

Aircards are nice but I am not sold on them yet. I have one for work and think it is so so. I recently was riding with a guy I work with on our way to Alex on 94. I started downloading a file of about 30MB at St. Clould. It finished downloading about half an hour after we got to Alex. I know we were moving most of the time but I still thought it would be a littler better. I have seen many areas even in the TC where I have only one bar. I would have thought the coverage would be similar to what I am getting on my phone but it can be vastly different. At present, I am glad that I don't pay the bill for it. Could be the carrier ( the big V one). If the wireless in Hutch is similar to Brainerd, it is pretty good. A friend of mine there has it and it impresses even me. One other thought is that some companies let you tether off of your phone. I know my company is switching to that but might require a fancier phone than you want. Amazes how far we have come since my first computer in 1989.