Best mobile Internet options for expediters

zenrider · May 26, 2011

Hi guys,
I want to know what most of the drivers out here use for Internet in their trucks?
From my research I have found that most of the major providers, such as Verizon and AT&T, they do not offer unlimited data plans. What they do offer is 5gb plans for around $50 a month.
I know 5gb is not enough, especially if you watch any videos on the net.

paullud · May 26, 2011

Virgin Mobile has one that is unlimited for $40 per month BUT you can only roam off of Sprint's towers. You will want to look at a map of Sprint's actual coverage and not what they usually show which includes their roaming partners. I just tether my Droid using PDA Net which gives me unlimited for a one time purchase price of less than $20.

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Rocketman · May 26, 2011

I had AT&T until a few months ago and I now have Verizon. Verizon's 3g coverage area is very good and beats AT&T really, really bad. I wouldn't consider anything else. Verizon also has a 10gb plan for $80/mo.

paullud · May 26, 2011

I had AT&T for 8 years and I don't know why I stayed considering the problems I had. I have had Verizon for almost a year and a half now and I am very happy.

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paullud · May 26, 2011

Verizon's new data plans work better than the old ones for people that may go over the allowance. They charge $10 per GB instead of the .05 per MB that they used to, which could be good or bad because now going over by 2 or 3 GB is more affordable, but if you go over the allowance by 50 MB the old one's are a little cheaper.

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zenrider · May 26, 2011

paullud said:
Virgin Mobile has one that is unlimited for $40 per month BUT you can only roam off of Sprint's towers. You will want to look at a map of Sprint's actual coverage and not what they usually show which includes their roaming partners. I just tether my Droid using PDA Net which gives me unlimited for a one time purchase price of less than $20.

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What Android are you using and what carrier?

Monty · May 26, 2011

My solution is:

Verizon Wireless - Mobile Broadband - Products

And when I connect to it, I notice a lot of other mi-fi's in the area aslo.

$80.00 a month, 10 gig limit

And it allows connection "hotspots" for no charge, i.e., McDonalds, etc ...

http://support.vzw.com/clc/faqs/VZAccess/verizon_wifi.html#item7

RoadKing06 · May 27, 2011

I have Sprint unlimited everything with the hotspot. Epic Android. Really like it.

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paullud · May 27, 2011

zenrider said:
What Android are you using and what carrier?

I have Verizon, I just switched back to the first Motorola Droid and my wife uses an HTC Incredible but PDA Net will work on any Android phone since you are getting it from the market place. There is even a free PDA Net version you can get to try it out.

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Turtle · May 27, 2011

I also have Verizon, the original Motorola Droid still, and recently upgraded to a 4G aircard. I also tether with Pdanet like crazy.

Search the net for the articles, and you'll see that Verizon has said the unlimited data plans on the phone are going bye-bye very soon.

In addition, Verizon and others are beginning to crack down on the tethering apparent like Pdanet. Beginning in April 2011 all the tethering apps are gone from the Android Marketplace thanks to the pressure placed on Google from the carriers.

Go to the Marketplace and do a search for "pdanet" and in place of the app you will find an important readme file from June Fabrics. It explains why you no longer get app updates from the Marketplace, and why you need to do the updates from the computer side. There gave been at least one update to Pdanet since April, namely one that lets you hide Pdanet from the carrier. If you do the Twitter thing, subscribe to the June Fabrics Twitter feed, or make it a habbit once or twice a month to visit the Web site.

I mention this in case there are those who think they can get a Droid, tether with Pdanet, and just go crazy with an unlimited phone data plan, cuz those days are rapidly coming to an end.

jimby82 · May 27, 2011

We just bought a Xoom tablet from Verizon. It is can act as a mobile hotspot and we are trying the 10Gb / mo. Data plan. So far so good. Upgradable to the 4G LTE network. Also Wi-Fi capable so we don't have to burn the wireless minutes. Already have a Droid X, and it can act as a hotspot also, but decided to use the hotspot in the Xoom. Let the phone be a phone. Share the data plan between the tablet and the laptop.

We just got back from taking my son down to Disney World for an internship. Worked really well all the way down and back on I-75. (we live in northwest Ohio) The table itself is really handy, and is much easier to lug around than the laptop. Still miss the larger keyboard, but there are wireless ones available. Will probably get one for myself, but the wife likes the touch screen.

Very useful for keeping track of the weather and finding cheap gas. Google maps and the GPS functions are very useful and I can really see how they will benificial when we start driving in a month or two. Turned on the satellite layer in maps as we were coming through Atlanta on Wednesday during rush hour. Adds a whole different feel to the GPS function.

We downloaded several apps, used the GPS and the internet quite a bit down and back. So far (6 days), we have used about 550mb. No movie downloads. Worked everywhere we tried to use it with no problems so far.

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purgoose10 · May 27, 2011

I have Verizon unlimited and I also up until yesterday had Sprint Transportation GPS package. I gave them $300 and opted out and will never use Sprint again. Carrier pigeons are better. I now use the Verizon for everything.
GM has a hot spot available for they're new 11 models good to 150' around the vehicle. It's also supposed to available to buy for 10 and 11 models shortly. Don't know more than that.

zenrider · May 27, 2011

purgoose10 said:
I have Verizon unlimited and I also up until yesterday had Sprint Transportation GPS package. I gave them $300 and opted out and will never use Sprint again. Carrier pigeons are better. I now use the Verizon for everything.
GM has a hot spot available for they're new 11 models good to 150' around the vehicle. It's also supposed to available to buy for 10 and 11 models shortly. Don't know more than that.

How did you get an unlimited data plan? I could not find any plans like that on verizonwireless.com

Turtle · May 27, 2011

zenrider said:
How did you get an unlimited data plan? I could not find any plans like that on verizonwireless.com

It's the smartphone data plans which are unlimited, at least for now. None of the mobile broadband (aircard) plans are unlimited.

teamjdw · May 27, 2011

Loving my new I-pad2 using our sprint Mifi.

tbubster · May 27, 2011

i have a tmobile smart phone unlimited data i use the hot spot to hook up laptop it cost an extra 10 bucks a month but its worth it works good so far

Refer Hauler · May 28, 2011

I have used Verizon for many years. I think the coverage area they offer is worth any additional expence (this a write off anyway) Up till last month I used a Verizon aircard with the laptop. Now I only use the Verizon IPhone get dispatch,logs and email all on a single program which I am testing for my carrier.