Alternative to Aircards

gumby · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:33 am Post subject: Alternative to Aircards

One of Alltels technical reps let me know of an alternative method to connect if you have a desktop or laptop without the PCMIA slot. You can use one of their "Smartphones" with a cable kit to connect through a USB port. Its also actually cheaper in the long run because they charge only $25/month to add the data service to one of these phones. If you dont want to tie up your cell phone while online you just add a line to your existing account for $9.99/month, for a total of$34.99/mo. When you open the new account that makes you eligible to buy a phone at discount. The RAZR and the Motorola E815 each work. The RAZR can be bought for $100 and the E815 for $80. The E815 is supposed to get better reception. The cable and software are packaged together at $60 so upfront it costs a bit more than one of the PCMIA cards. It isnt as elegant as a card that fits in a slot because you have a phone tethered to your PC with a 4 ft. cord but you can figure out a way to use the belt clip on the phone to attach it to your desk or laptop.

breethon · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

I ordered my cable last night. It seems the V710 from Motorolla is compatible as well for data service. I did confirm that the cost of unlimited data is only $25/mo. The cable to connect the phone is $55 after taxes - it is the same cable for the E815 model.

breethon · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 12

I spoke too soon. While the V710 is compatible with the Mobile Link, it is not compatible with EVDO. It seems the phone was released prior to EVDO. So, I was only able to obtain ~ 100kbps download & 60kbps speeds in my upload. Sorry if I mislead anyone. I added a line and got my E815 now (which uses the same cable) and am getting EVDO speeds now. If I could only keep my connection for more than an hour or two.....

AccurateTech · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 10:02 pm Post subject: Speed - phone vs. aircard

Hi!

Can I get the same speed with a phone as with the KPC650 aircard on Alltel, or will the phone always have a disadvantage? How much? I sure like the cost savings of the phone route!

Best reccomended phone - any help sure appreciated and valuable to others, I am sure!

Thanks!
_________________
Tim

gumby · Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:42 pm Post subject: Smart phones

Speeds should not depend on whether you are using a phone or aircard. The Alltel tech I spoke to said the cards are basically a cell phone without a display, battery or keypad on a card with the PC card contacts. If you are in a weak reception area the speed you see should depend more on signal strength. In this situation the cell phone probably gets a little better reception than the aircard with only its internal antenna because you can extend the antenna and place the phone near a window rather than having it burried inside your laptop or PC. Also an aircard gets its power from the PC which I assume will put more strain on the power supply and generate more heat inside the case. It will also drain the laptops battery quicker when using them unplugged. With the cell phone there is less load on the laptops internal power supply, but you have to be sure to keep the battery charged or deal with an extra cord.

According to the salesman at the nearby Alltel store the Motorola E815 and the Razor (Model 3Ci, I think) are the only phones they had in the store that worked with EDVO. You might ask at your nearest store or call Alltel to find out if any others are available yet. Of the two I mentioned here the E815 is supposed to get better reception, but is bulkier. The Razor costs $20 more but may be more convenient to carry or position.

The cords can definately be a disadvantage to the cell phone since you have a laptop power cord and a cell phone power cord to plug in as well as a data cord between the two. You also need a good spot to set up the phone. Its not as bad as it sounds though, mostly I keep my data cord coiled up and use the E815's belt clip to clip over the cord's USB plug where it goes into the side of my laptop. As long as I'm not moving the laptop around much it works pretty well and I can see the phone's display to keep an eye on battery charge and connection status alongside the laptops keyboard rather than have to bring up the connection window on the PC screen. I also wrapped the phone and laptop power cords together with a spiral cord wrap, then plugged them both into a surge supressor so it is more convenient to deal with the two power cords. I can plug or unplug both at the same time and not have a tangle of cords.