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Here’s a great question we saw the other day “Are there any prepaid mobile broadband cards in the US?”
And the short answer to this is yes. Prepaid mobile broadband cards are becoming more popular as a way to limit your cost associated with accessing the Internet. This mode of obtaining mobile broadband is a great way to go if you only need Internet access occasionally while you travel.
The air card itself you will have to buy and it’s up to you whether you buy one from your provider or buy an unlocked card on the Internet. If you buy an unlocked version simply insert the sim card you obtain from your provider and insert it in the modem.
Most of the major providers such as T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and Virgin all offer some type of prepaid mobile broadband plan. Just be careful to read the fine print and be clear on any overages that may be charged when you exceed your limit as opposed to just shutting you down. Generally though on prepaid plans when use your limit you don’t get more until you pay for it.
We had this question asked the other day” Why is There a 5GB Usage Limit Per Month on All Broadband Cards?”
Well and the word all seems like an overly broad statement. Not all broadband cards have a 5 GB usage limit on them. As a matter fact Sprint, Clearwire and Virgin all have a unlimited plans available, but be careful you may be throttled back to 2G speeds if you exceed 5 GB on these plans.
Verizon on the other hand has a 10 GB plan available, but all of their plans have overage fees attached. With AT&T it is true that the highest plan they offer is 5 GB and this can have a overage charges attached to it as well. T-Mobile on the other hand offers a 10GB plan and there are no overages that are attached to it, they simply dial back your speed to 2G when you exceed your limit.
The 5 GB limit itself was implemented as a way to make sure everybody has access. As more and more devices come on the market such as smart phones, tablets and laptops the airwaves will get extremely crowded. Major cities are expected to experience data congestion (sort of like grid lock for data packets) in the very near future, so don’t expect very many unlimited plans anytime soon.
So you see there are many options out there. To find out more about mobile broadband plans simply click here: Wireless Data plans
Here’s an interesting question ” Is it safe to use an air card on an airplane ?”
Whether it’s safe or not really is a moot point since airlines fly at heights and speeds that will make using an air card a futile attempt at best. I know Verizon, AT&T and the rest say they have the best coverage, but even this is beyond them at the present time.
You can still use it until the Fasten Seat Belt sign comes on or the flight attendant wrestles it out of your hand, which ever comes first. Just try no to get tasered by the Air Marshall.
A person asked a question the other day “What is the best air card and can I use it on different laptops?” Actually it’s two questions, so let’s answer the easy one first.
As far as being able to use an air card on different laptops the answer would be yes you can. You see the air card really doesn’t care what machine you plug it into its pretty much hardware agnostic and will perform well even if you plug it into a desktop unit. Once plugged in the installer will run and download the client software to whatever machine it is plugged into.
Now for the first question that was asked “What is the best air card?” And of course the answer is it depends. I know not much help, but it really does depend on several factors. Those factors being are you looking for 3G or 4G speeds, who is your provider and what does your data plan look like?
Most of the air cards perform well with all things being equal the problem is all things are not equal. Your area might be better served signal wise by Verizon than Sprint and if you go 5 miles to the south T-Mobile might provide a better signal than Verizon, ask your neighbors about their cell phone reception. If they are getting 4 bars you can be pretty sure that your signal will be good as well, while your at home with it at least.
Data plans are also major consideration and since these very widely it is best to really do your homework. This because one provider may charge you 5¢ a megabyte if you go over your data usage limit while another will simply throttle back your connection and make it slower. Slower may be aggravating, but it is definitely cheaper! Data per month limits also vary by provider.
Another question you might want to ask yourself is “Do I want to carry a two year contract or pay full boat for the air card and go month to month?” This can be an important consideration especially with the plans changing their makeup on a monthly basis, so the plan you buy now may not be the best deal in six months. Think twice before locking into a two year contract, after all with the average air card going for around $199 from the provider your selling your freedom for the princely sum of $8.29 a month. Some providers don’t give you a choice.
Please let us know what you think in the comments section below.
One question that keeps coming up again and again is “How do I get my Xbox live to work with my air card?” It’s not all at complicated, but before doing it there is one major warning of like a put out in front of you and that’s to make sure you keep a good eye on your data usage. Nobody wants to get a huge bill at the end of the month for overages when you are just playing games.
The video below shows how to go about setting up a laptop with an air card so that you can use your Xbox live or just about any game console with it. The one thing that isn’t really clear, in my opinion, is setting up of the network bridge. Below the video you will see a set of steps to set up a network bridge for Windows 7. A network bridge is nothing more than you telling the computer that everything that comes over one network is to be sent to the other and vice versa.
Network bridge setup in Windows 7.
In your Network Sharing Center with your air card connection up and running click on “Change adapter settings”.
Now while you are pressing the control key down click on both your local area network and your air card connection and then right click.
When the menu comes up you should be presented with a network bridge option, all you have to do is click on it and it will automatically set up the bridge.
Mobile Broadband – Google News
