Broadband for a notebook? Verizon or what. I need help.

hey i'm going to keep this short its 4am and i'm tired but.. i'd like some help and information on broadband wireless services as well as opinions i'm not always away from home but when i am its usually to a place with no or extremely congested comcast which runs maybe 2 or 3 times faster than dial up. Its usually the no internet though.

So some information and opinions would help alot, like services cost and benefits reliability and personal experience.

i live in augusta georgia. U.S.

and the notebook i have is a pavilion dv7-3188cl

also its not network related but i've had the screen black out for no reason LEDs still on but no picture and i know its not sleep or hibernate or anything.

Again i thank you guys for all the help you've given me over the years

 

no one knows anything?

 

pwillie: You should go to the different carriers sites and check there coverage maps for the area you will be using the mobile broadband in. I have a Verizon USB720 wireless modem and before I lived in a 3g area I could only get speeds about 3 times faster than dial up. Remember there is a 5g limit before they charge more per megabyte. You have 30 days to decide if it really works for what you need. I purchased before the 5gig limit so I have unlimited. I am able to get around 1.8-2.2 mbps on speedtest. I watch tv on Hulu and Fancast. I live in an apartment and found the best location for the wireless usb modem but it was not the best location for the laptop so I purchased an EVDO router and used a usb extension to place the wireless modem in the best spot for reception. The router allowed sharing of the internet. I increased the bandwidth by purchasing an antenna this allows continuis watching of my kids favorite tv shows.

 

wow thank you for the input

if anyone else has thoughts it would be apreciated and i'll look into what you said

 

Like reb1 said, it all depends on where you are going to use it.

AT&T is faster in some areas, but their coverage isn't as good. Verizon has better coverage, but speed isn't as good as AT&T in some areas.

I have a Verizon mobile broadband account as well as one with Clear (both cards are in my laptop). As you might figure, I use the Clear 4G wherever possible, equally because there is no download limit and it is about 5 times faster (2.2Mbps vs. 10-12Mpbs on Clear)

You might check and see how good Sprint's coverage is in your area as you can upgrade to 4G a lot easier that way. If I'm not mistaken, you can upgrade to 4G when it becomes available without extending your contract.

 

how would i find out if 4g is available with mine and do you mean no download limit on yours because you have the unlimited bandwidth .. i mean like how its 5gb now... and from your experience do you know how quickyly 5gb would be used up.

 

At the time I purchased my plan Verizon offered true unlimited. I never use less than 15 to 25 gig for the $59.95 monthly bill. I also purchased the monthly insurance and they replaced the modem once. It was heating up and would not stay connected for more than about 5 minutes at a time.
I am interested in the 4g but it is not available for mine or your area as far as I know at this time. I research my information at the EVDO forums http://www.evdoforums.com/
My research has shown me that even though some areas have 4g there is some problems with the hardware that still need to be worked out. Devises like the mifi and the overdrive have a very limited wifi transmission range of about 30 feet with no obstructions. There internal cell antennas are limited and there isn't any external antenna hookups. If you use a mifi or overdrive and need to hookup several devises in a house having the hardware were it will pick up a good cell signal and also having it placed where the wireless devises such as laptops, psps, and the like may be impossible. There are hardware workarounds for this. I use a mbr1000 EVDO router with my usb modem. I have a ctr350 a small EVDO router for travel. The power adapter weighs more than the router. This allows my daughter to use her laptop and my son to use his psp while we travel. There are plenty of RVers who use the wireless broadband when they are between hot spots.

 

I had the Verizon Unlimited Broadband and was very happy with it. I wanted to change my plan and was told my unlimited broadband would always be honored if I kept my original plan. I needed to change plans so they would not let me keep the unlimited. I guess at some point in time after I signed up they decided to stop offering unlimited broadband. It was faster than dial up but a little slowre than Dsl and way slower than my mediacom internet I have now.