OT Maybe? Cellular Modems & Service

Virgin Mobile's Broadband2Go. You'll have to buy the laptop dongle from them, and then buy your access in blocks. It's a pay-as-you-go plan, so you can buy it only when you want to use it.

I think the first place to start is to determine where you're going to use it and need the service. In many cases, if the coverage is good or even available at all in the area can be the critical issue.

That's an excellent point, one I hadn't thought of. Thanks for bringing it up. There are other pay-as-you-go providers who offer this service, so the OP ought to do a little google-fu and figure out what provider is most likely going to meet his needs.

Think wireless modem & Starbucks.

Most hotels and airports give free service. You would not want to do important stuff like banking on them for security reasons of course.

Actually there is no need to worry! Online banking websites encrypt the data from your browser to the banks server.

All the major carriers offer some sort of pay-as-you-go data plan.

The only problem is, the data blocks you buy are "use it or lose it." You have X days to use the data block, depending on the size you purchased.

With pay-as-you-go cell phones you buy the minutes and they're good, period. You can buy 60 minutes of airtime, use the phone for 5 minutes, come back a year later, and the 55 minutes are still there.

If there was a data plan like that, I'd be all over it.

Why would you need a wireless modem if you were in a Starbucks?

Except that would be the worst choice for a lot of areas since it only uses Sprints network. Sprint is a little better than tmobile but not spectacular. And in some areas say where I live they only deployed 3G on a few core cells and everything else is still 1X speed.

It costs them money to carry you as a customer, so what you want isn't likely. However, PagePlus is close. They require that you purchase minutes every three months but all minutes roll over. They're on the Verizon network, so the coverage is good, too. I'm four years into my two year contract on Verizon. I may switch to PagePlus. It would save me money almost every month.

Sorry, I wasn't following the thread. The PP deal above is for voice.

The cell operators are really competitive on minutes but they know data is their future.

It seems a few days of pay as you go will buy a month of service.

I used to have an aircard and a smartphone. I turned the aircard off when I got the my latest smartphone. I almost never use the notebook anymore because I can do almost everything on the smartphone. If I do I can tether from the smartphone and the smartphone data plan is 50% of the aircard dataplan.

I don't know. I've only been in a Starbucks twice in my life. They don't serve Folger's instant coffee.

At least you are consistent. You never convey useful or accurate information so why change?

My twice-in-a-lifetime trips to Starbucks is accurate. Perhaps you have an example of a less-than-accurate post. If not, I'll assume you're just being a pest.

Art Todesco wrote in news:j71ga9$fo0$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

You should discuss this with your cell-phone provider.

You may be thinking of an "air card". Your cell-phone provider can supply those. I've had one for years (currently a USB Sierra Wireless Compass

Plans obviously vary by provider, but with my plan there is a $60/mo basic charge, then it's by megabyte after that. Work pays for it, so I have no idea what my monthly bill is. I do know that once I "disconnect", the MB charges stop.

I need wireless access anywhere, and am often in areas with no Starbucks- style "free" wireless, so my air-card is essential to my work.

If it is possible for you to be in range of the very many Starbucks-style free wireless access-points available these days, it would probably be advisable to just use those and not pay extra for an air-card.

Here's a tip: Go around with your laptop, anywhere you wish, and periodically refresh the wireless-network list. You may be very surprised to find quite a lot of wireless networks that will allow you to connect to them, some of them completely unsecured.

How about all of them? Perhaps you have one that conveys useful or accurate information that I may have missed?

How about all of them?