Wireless Internet Cards

Wireless Internet Cards

So just what are wireless internet cards, dongles or aircards as they are called? All of these titles and a couple of others refer to the hardware that is required in order to get your laptop or tablet on the Internet through a cellular provider. Most of us are familiar with the WiFi we use at coffee shops and book stores to surf the net, but wireless internet cards take you to the next level and actually let you take your computing wherever you may want to be. The beach, park, restaurant or even your next family gathering it makes no difference as long as you have a cell signal you’re more than likely good to surf.

Of course just to make it difficult these wireless Internet cards are put out in a number of shapes, sizes and flavors, not to mention 3G and 4G connection speeds.  On this page we will take a look at the different types of aircards/wireless Internet cards that are presently available and try to clear up any confusion you may have.  Let’s get started so you can see if a new wireless Internet card is in your future.

Aircards come in for basic varieties USB plugins, hotspots, express cards and built in wireless transmitters.  We’ll start off with USB plugins and work our way from there.

USB plugin devices:

These devices are rapidly becoming one of the two most recognizable wireless Internet cards available on the market today.  The USB plugin basically resembles an oversize flash drive and when plugged in to your laptop or tablet immediately sets up housekeeping by downloading and installing its management software.  It’s not much more difficult than that, once the software is active you can dial in and start surfing the web.  These devices also come with the ability to act as a flash drive as well with a slot for an SDHC memory card being provided.

You’ll want to pay particular attention as to whether or not you’re USB modem is 4G compatible, since 4G is the wave of the future you might as well be in front of the wave.

Mobile Hotspot Modems:

Mobile hotspot modems are the second device that is rapidly taking over the market.  A mobile hotspot modem basically does the same thing the USB modem does, but with a twist.  That twist is not only can you get yourself on the Internet via the modem; you can also get up to four of your friends on there with you.  The hotspot modem is a WiFi device that allows your friends or other WiFi enabled devices to access it.  Once accessed, your friends or these devices can also share your Internet connection.  Of course the more friends or devices you have attached the slower things are going to be for you.

Express card modems:

Express card modems are less familiar than the above mentioned modems.  These cards are strictly designed for use on laptops and fit into the long rectangular slot on the side of a laptop.  This type of modem is used primarily used by Sprint Nextel wireless and not by other mobile broadband providers.

Built in mobile broadband devices:

These devices come already built into your new laptop or tablet and really require very little for you to do.  By far the most popular and famous tablet with built in mobile broadband is the iPad, but many other manufacturers are seizing upon the popularity of tablets to bring their own versions to the market.  These internet ready tablets and laptops are generally purchased from the mobile broadband provider at a steep discount along with a data plan to support Internet access and all with a 2 year contract.  These can be a great deal if you intend to stay with the same provider for a long period of time, but if you intend the switch providers and still want to use your laptop on the net then you’ll have to purchase one of the other modems mentioned above.

Locked vs.  Unlocked mobile broadband modems:

Every wireless Internet card you purchase from a mobile broadband provider will be locked.  This simply means that it can only be used with that provider, so if you decide that T-Mobile has just come up with a better plan than Verizon then you will be buying T-Mobile’s modem when you switch.  That is of course unless you buy an unlocked modem!  These modems by definition are not provider dependent and can be used on any cell network on which you have a data plan, simply insert your sim card.

Unlocked wireless Internet cards can be a great consideration if you’re an occasional user of mobile broadband and don’t want to carry a two year contract because you got a big discount on the providers locked modem.

So there you have some of the basics and particulars of wireless Internet modems and we hope it has cleared up some your questions.  Remember to always shop carefully for your new data plan and devices because things are changing so fast in the wireless industry that is extremely difficult to track all the changes taking place and things change daily.