Mobile Data Questions

[Nick Parker]

Ok, one last thread for me and i'll hush for the year. :D


Im curious about the data plans offered by the various carriers and am looking to invest in it for the 2008 season. However, I have a few concerns...

1) Just exactly how much is "unlimited? I've read Verizons "terms" and they say anything over 5GB a month is unauthorized. Now, I will be running Gr3 and GR2AE (not at the same time of course) and do not want to foot a cancelantion fee. I can't seem to find anyone else's terms on use like Alltel or Sprint.....

2) What are the exact speeds everyone is getting? Im looking into this for another reason as I am leaving the STL region and moving back home to the So. ILL region and would probally try to use this connection as my main "high speed" option. (Most parts around there are far from getting broadband outside of a DSL setup) All I care about is radar data, looking at verious webpages, and of course email.

Any replies with experience on this stuff would sure be appreciated.

Nick

[Andrew Revering]

The Sprint unlimited data plan with data card will fulfill all your needs without any worries.

You can (without worry) use a sprint data card, get a router for the card and share the connection between all your computers in your home as full time internet if you want. Many people do this. The thing to worry about is if you download a lot of MP3s or videos or things of that nature. That would be the only concern.

Speed is very nice. Downloads are comparable to DSL, and uploads are 2-3 times that of your typical cable upload speed. This is in EVDO Rev A area, which would cover all the area you're talking about.

Cost is $59 a month.

[Mark Sudduth]

Agreed, Sprint is the way to go. I have used them since 2001 and like their coverage and their speeds very much. Also, WiMax is coming out not too far down the road and that will be a huge leap in speed, but for now, Sprint EVDO Rev A is perfect for storm chasers within their (Sprint's) coverage areas.

[David Mikulec]

Throwing this out as an FYI alternative; AT&T now offers Unlimited MediaNet with their GoPhone prepaid PayAsYouGo service. I use it with an LG CU500V (along with GRLvl3 & Spotter Network client on the laptop) that I purchased separately. Works like a charm on the road.

[Nick Parker]

I worry a bit about Sprint. Some people around here say that they can't get much signal when they are away from the interstates.

Also, I just noticed today that Verizon is up to something. I was driving through an area that just recently got a new tower (out in the middle of nowhere) and was picking up an EVDO signal. Since then, i've noticed multiple other places (Cape Giradeau, north on I-55 all the way to Perryville) with Evdo signal. Hopefully they will be doing all the towers around here that way shortly. Verizon seems to have a "monopoly" in these parts. Ah well....

Thanks!

Nick

[David Drummond]

I worry a bit about Sprint. Some people around here say that they can't get much signal when they are away from the interstates.

Also, I just noticed today that Verizon is up to something. I was driving through an area that just recently got a new tower (out in the middle of nowhere) and was picking up an EVDO signal. Since then, i've noticed multiple other places (Cape Giradeau, north on I-55 all the way to Perryville) with Evdo signal. Hopefully they will be doing all the towers around here that way shortly. Verizon seems to have a "monopoly" in these parts. Ah well....

Thanks!

Nick

That surprises me since I've been getting signal with Sprint (either Sprint or roaming data) in some of the most rural areas of the plains this season. Of course the really rural stuff is regular CDMA and not EVDO, but it's still data on the road.

[Andrew Revering]

Sprint has contracts with Verizon and AllTel. So if you have good verizon coverage but not such with sprint subscriptions, my guess is people aren't updating their PRL regularly. You should have coverage identical by either provider.

[Dan Cook]

I'm thinking of using this service when I go on my chase vacation in May:

http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/602/61/

[Brett Adair]

Sprint has contracts with Verizon and AllTel. So if you have good verizon coverage but not such with sprint subscriptions, my guess is people aren't updating their PRL regularly. You should have coverage identical by either provider.

Call me dumb, but what is PRL? Also, who does AT&T have contracts with? I had pretty good reception in KS with AT&T and T-Mobile this past may.

[Mark Sudduth]

Yes, the roaming agreements expand the Sprint network vastly. As an example, along the NC Outer Banks, there has never been a good wireless data signal available from Sprint until this season- now it is everywhere, even down to Hatteras. Anyhow, if you look at this link:

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/evdoEnterZip.jsp

It shows pretty good coverage maps by city area. Notice the light green areas- that is the digital roaming which should give you at least decent (early 3G) data speeds as opposed to none at all. When I was out in late April in TX, OK and KS, my Sprint card worked very well everywhere I went including the Nickerson event, although I arrived AFTER the tornado and right at sunset...none the less, it worked as well as I could have expected. Check out that coverage map as it will give you a very good idea of where you can expect mobile data with Sprint.

[Mick McGuire]

I've used Alltel for a couple of seasons with most of my time spent in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. A brief trip into the OK panhandle area and into S. Dakota without any problems. When I signed up with Alltel, the plan was $59/mo for unlimited data. As far as I can tell, unlimited=unlimited and I have downloaded data for several days in a row using GR2 and GR3 and surfing the web. The speed is sufficient and I know several others who use Alltel without any problems. Hope that helps.

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

I have a new plan for next year to save atleast $100 on my mobile data over the chase season. I use Alltel's phone as modem through my Samsung U-520. It is normally $25 a month, but during October I would call them up and turn it on, chase, then turn it off online the next day and it would come out to $1.61 for one day of unlimited use. That is a hard deal to beat, only downside there is no data coverage across NW OK . It is decent speed across most of OK and northern TX Panhandle, but it uses EVDO around Lubbock and also across most of KS. I doubt there is a cheaper way to get mobile data anywhere.

[Tyler_Costantini]

I used sprint for a few years and had issues with the coverage so I switched to a at&t (cingular at the time 2005) data card the speeds may not be as fast in some places but i have used it all over the plains from Texas to Iowa and it has worked well. along interstates and in decent cities it is fast ~1mbit.


I also have a motorola razr I tether from time to time and it works well at&t as well. I have been wanting to try sprint now that they roam to alltel < i think

A friend of mine and chase buddy used a sprint palm and gets more or less the same coverage that I do.

We are both using high gain external antennas with the cards / phones / palm.

[Andrew Revering]

I'm thinking of using this service when I go on my chase vacation in May:

http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/602/61/

$200 a week? You're almost better off getting a card for half a season, canceling and paying the early termination fee.

In 2008 Sprint is changing a lot of their 'rules'. One is that cancellations will be prorated so your cancellation fee isn't as bad. They are coming out with a bunch of incentives so people aren't so afraid to sign up for service and then leave. They said in their press release they want to make it easier for people to change plans or terminate plans with the idea that having that option will get more customers to have trust with Sprint. They also are rolling out a lot of incentives for long term customers.

[Andrew Revering]

Call me dumb, but what is PRL? Also, who does AT&T have contracts with? I had pretty good reception in KS with AT&T and T-Mobile this past may.

PRL is Priority Roaming List. It's a firmware update that gives your device the latest list of roaming partners. Without an updated version its possible that you may have a data tower next to you at full strength, but you'll get no bars because your device doesn't know it can use that tower.

AT&T basically has no partners. The only GSM companies that I'm aware of are AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a 'relative' joke in coverage area, so without good investment in putting up their own towers, expansion by GSM networks is going to take longer than CDMA (sprint, alltel, verizon).

[Andrew Revering]

I'll add that you have to look at the strength of the company as well. Financially speaking, right now AllTel is doing the best on the market compared to Sprint and Verizon. I'm not sure about net worth, but I'm betting AllTel is the frontrunner for any progress in the short term. I say that being a Sprint fan personally.

AT&T is a giant. They were the first and therefore are well established. Their technology is the leader worldwide, but it's not in the U.S. They are alone in the GSM market (sans T-Mobile), which may be good or bad for AT&T. They have a huge footprint but few partners in technology.

So I guess it boils down to who has good coverage. ...and actually I think in the last 2 years it's gotten to the point that nobody has 'bad' coverage. Even T-Mobile will roam freely on the old Cingular network (assumably all of AT&T's branded network now). We've beaten to death the CDMA group works together, so really I don't know that any provider would be bad.

Anyone you talk to on various providers say they get good coverage with their network. So price, your personal preference, and your own local coverage perhaps with voice would be the deciding factors.

I'm sure at some point you'll have AT&T on one side of the coin and the other side would be whoever buys the CDMA competitors out... right now I'm guessing that's going to be Alltel.

[Dan Cook]

$200 a week? You're almost better off getting a card for half a season, canceling and paying the early termination fee.



Normally I wouldn't use this service if I was going out for more than a few weeks but I'm only out there for around 9-10 days so I think this would be better for me.

[Brett Adair]

Well, looking at the Sprint coverage map I don't know if it would be worth it to get data from sprint or not being in the southeast. I don't really need EVDO, but could use it. If I decided to buy a card could I get data without signing some kind of contract? Just to temporarily turn on and off when I needed it?


EDIT: Also, these firmware revisions that you mention....I assume the software updates are only available for a phone correct? If I bought a card this wouldn't help me would it or would I still be able to use there new roaming partners?

[Andrew Revering]

Normally I wouldn't use this service if I was going out for more than a few weeks but I'm only out there for around 9-10 days so I think this would be better for me.

That makes sense. If you were to get a cell contract you'd pay the $59 for the month + probably $150 (or maybe its $300) for a termination fee, plus the cost of the card itself, so thats at least $210 plus the cost of the card.

[Andrew Revering]

If I decided to buy a card could I get data without signing some kind of contract? Just to temporarily turn on and off when I needed it?

No, I don't think they offer anything without a contract. Someone can maybe speak for Alltel. I think you can turn that on and off at a prorated amount if you have a voice plan and are tethering. Maybe you can do that with sprint too, I don't know. But not with their data cards.

I assume the software updates are only available for a phone correct? If I bought a card this wouldn't help me would it or would I still be able to use there new roaming partners?

No, PRLs are for any cellular device, phone or card. You can more easily manually update the PRL for your data card than you can for your phone. You're at the slow mercy of your provider for phone PRL updates by dialing customer service and requesting a PRL update. But for your data card you can download the latest updates from the cellular underground and update it yourself, months before the automated updates that the software will do for you.

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brett Adair http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?p=155240#post155240)
If I decided to buy a card could I get data without signing some kind of contract? Just to temporarily turn on and off when I needed it?


No, I don't think they offer anything without a contract. Someone can maybe speak for Alltel. I think you can turn that on and off at a prorated amount if you have a voice plan and are tethering. Maybe you can do that with sprint too, I don't know. But not with their data cards.

I have a voice plan with Alltel and turn tethering for my phone on and off as I please with no extra charges. I turned it on and off atleast 4 times over the past 2 months and I only received charges for the days I had it turned on, so about a $1.61 for a 24 hour period. As long as they dont start charging me to do that, it could be the cheapest deal around.

[Dave Schliepp]

I had alltel with the tether to my cell phone, but didn't find it all that reliable. Last year I picked up the KPC680 ExpressCardTM and have had really good luck with it so far, and I see shortly they will be offering an external antenna for it as well. As someone else mentioned above it's $59.99/month. So far I've only chased in WI with it, but will give it a good test when I head to the plains this spring.

[Kirsten Thorpe]

While it's true that CDMA carriers - Sprint, Verizon and Alltel have some roaming agreements in place, that does not mean that coverage on every carrier is the same. You can roam on all of those carriers at 1xRTT (144 kbps max on up and download), but as a Sprint customer, you can not roam at EVDO speeds on Verizon, and vice versa. The one beneficial EVDO roaming agreement is between Sprint and Alltel, but Verizon and Sprint do NOT have roaming agreements to share EVDO.

In addition, some carriers have agreements in place with smaller cell carriers that do not extend to all other large carriers. For example, if Verizon has a roaming agreement in place with SmallCellCo X and Sprint does not have that same agreement with them, when a Sprint customer comes into SmallCellCo X's coverage area, they will not be able to roam on their towers just because they have some kind of roaming agreement with Verizon.

The point is, all carriers coverage is not equal.

So, to Nick Parker, if Verizon really does have stronger EVDO coverage in your area, you may want to stick with them. Their terms of service now say that you can use up to 5GB of data transfer per month - once you go over that though, they could throttle your speeds down to about 200 kbps. While this can be annoying to keep an eye on, 5GB is really quite a lot, and it might be worth it to have consistent EVDO signal, rather than just roaming at 1xRTT.

[Gordon Spencer]

Sprint and Alltel have an EVDO roaming agreement . So if using one of those carriers you will get EVDO speeds on either of thier networks . They each have 1xrtt roaming agreements with Verizon ( much slower) . I am told there will be an EVDO roaming agreement between Alltel and Verizon shortly . With All that said the best option would be Alltel if available to you as with thier roaming agreements you would have the most access to EVDO high speed connections

While it's true that CDMA carriers - Sprint, Verizon and Alltel have some roaming agreements in place, that does not mean that coverage on every carrier is the same. You can roam on all of those carriers at 1xRTT (144 kbps max on up and download), but as a Sprint customer, you can not roam at EVDO speeds on Verizon, and vice versa. The one beneficial EVDO roaming agreement is between Sprint and Alltel, but Verizon and Sprint do NOT have roaming agreements to share EVDO.

In addition, some carriers have agreements in place with smaller cell carriers that do not extend to all other large carriers. For example, if Verizon has a roaming agreement in place with SmallCellCo X and Sprint does not have that same agreement with them, when a Sprint customer comes into SmallCellCo X's coverage area, they will not be able to roam on their towers just because they have some kind of roaming agreement with Verizon.

The point is, all carriers coverage is not equal.

So, to Nick Parker, if Verizon really does have stronger EVDO coverage in your area, you may want to stick with them. Their terms of service now say that you can use up to 5GB of data transfer per month - once you go over that though, they could throttle your speeds down to about 200 kbps. While this can be annoying to keep an eye on, 5GB is really quite a lot, and it might be worth it to have consistent EVDO signal, rather than just roaming at 1xRTT.

[Nick Parker]

Thanks for the great info all. I'll be going with Verizon. I already get a discount through my pop for being a IDOT worker (10%) so I can actually save a bit over the rest. Got to love being 22, living on my own, and still on the folks phone bill... LMAO. Ah well, I love that discount a little too much.

Thanks again!

Nick

[Gerard Jebaily]

Ive been lucky to get away with AMAZING data plans for the 2005-07 chase seasons. Ive gotten by with using my sprint sanyo 7300 phone connected thru USB using Snap Dialer software. Since 05, Sprint has given me unlimited data for 10$ a month. Thats unbeatable if ur a college student. They havent known or really cared that Ive been using my phone as a modem. Unfortunately my phone bit the dust and when I attempted to upgrade to a new phone, i had to sign a new contract which I lost my wonderful data plan. Now they want me to pay 50$ a month and sign a 2 year contract. Now im looking up the cheapest option to provide decent data coverage for next season. Any good suggestions, Id be much appreicative.

[Ryan McGinnis]

Ive been lucky to get away with AMAZING data plans for the 2005-07 chase seasons. Ive gotten by with using my sprint sanyo 7300 phone connected thru USB using Snap Dialer software. Since 05, Sprint has given me unlimited data for 10$ a month. Thats unbeatable if ur a college student. They havent known or really cared that Ive been using my phone as a modem. Unfortunately my phone bit the dust and when I attempted to upgrade to a new phone, i had to sign a new contract which I lost my wonderful data plan. Now they want me to pay 50$ a month and sign a 2 year contract. Now im looking up the cheapest option to provide decent data coverage for next season. Any good suggestions, Id be much appreicative.

Why not just buy a replacement phone (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=sanyo+7300+sprint&category0=) just like your old one? Sprint won't change your plan (or, at least, they shouldn't), and this option seems quite a bit cheaper.

[Andrew Revering]

Ryan gives good advice... the old phones don't have a way to authenticate or let Sprint know that you're using data tethered. The newer phones do have this ability, and that's how they can justify the extra cost by identifying/preventing tethering to a laptop. Older phones doing this come across on the Sprint side as "well.. maybe he's just using Vision to browse web on his phone" despite having large data transfers, they can't prove otherwise.

[Gerard Jebaily]

I already upgraded to my new phone. So unless i were to add another line with a replacement for the Sanyo 7300 would I be able to do this. However sounds like a good idea, i just need to make sure that Internet browsing will be enabled if I were to activate my phone.


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Update: Jus got off the phone with sprint. You guys are awesome! I will be able to add my old phone as another line, no extra charge, and I only have to pay 15$ more a month to add on the "vision package" to have unlimited data capability. Otherwise id jus pay 3 cents per Kilobyte. Either way, to have mobile data again for only 15 bux a month now?!?!:eek: Im thrilled!!!