[ale] Linux supported air card works!

[Jim Kinney]

Yay! I'm glad to hear it's working well for you. I have had no problem with
the USB gizmo I got from Verizon either. The new NetworkManger stuff in
Fedora9 and 10 are super easy for use with cell modems. All I had to do was
put in my number at conection-address and it was off to the races. I have used
the dual USB cable to provide extra power when the cell signal is weak.
Luckily my laptop has 3 USB ports.

Now if my Treo 650 worked as well....

And yes, Verizon spends all of their customer service training budget on
their nerd w/glasses ads.

On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 9:02 PM, Jim Lynch <ale_nospam at fayettedigital.com>wrote:

> I have been using a Verizon aircard for a while now with mixed results.
> It suffered from frequent disconnects, poor performance and occasional
> drops.  While it wasn't great, it worked better than nothing.  A couple
> of months ago I was speaking with a customer service rep about my
> frustration with the frequently disconnects and she suggested I sign up
> for the "Broadband" service which was faster and didn't cost any more.
> Oh and incidentally I could get a new pcmcia aircard which would take
> advantage of the faster service if I wanted.  I was unimpressed with the
> new "Broadband" service I upgraded to wrt speed, bit it was a bit more
> reliable, not a lot however.
>
> I recently traveled to Orlando and found I had left the aircard at
> home.  I needed internet access while there and decided to check out the
> new aircard the lady mentioned.  I went to a Verizon store and talked
> with the guy there.  English was his second language, as it was for all
> the clerks in that store (Kissimmee).  I was the only one speaking
> English in the entire place.  But I regress.
>
> So he didn't seem to think that I'd see much improvement in speed and
> asked another clerk about it and they agreed.  They said something about
> Rev A being a bit faster.  I have no idea what Rev A is.
>
> But since I needed access and the cost was $50 with a $50 rebate for an
> extended 2 year contract, I decided that wasn't a problem.
>
> I have to tell you that was the best $50/2 year commitment I ever made.
> I was able to connect and communicate at very respectable speeds all
> week with no drops, no problems what so ever.
>
> I subsequently took the laptop to my boat which is located at a marina
> on St. Simons Island and where communications is usually seriously
> compromised.  It again performed flawlessly and with far better speed
> than at any time before.  Nary a disconnect.
>
> As  a note,  I chose Verizon for both my wireless data connection and my
> cell phone provider because I do use the boat to cruise up and down the
> coast.  Cruisers in that area report that Verizon has the best coverage
> of that area.  I don't necessarily think their customer service is
> exceptional or even very good.  But coverage is pretty important, IMHO.
> I do have both VHF and HF onboard so I have multiple communications
> backup, but safety at sea can never be too much.
>
> Oh and thanks to (I think) Jim Kinney for the original pointer to the
> wvdial parameters that made it work on Linux.
>
> Jim.
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>



-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
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