Set up my Verizon national-access wireless-internet plan today

[MicroBob]

I'm pretty sure you would have to update your wireless card.

Although I'm not sure what Direcway is...but to have the digital-cellular signal I think you need the special card.

[MicroBob]

I'll check out Best Buy and see.

The guy said that it wouldn't ship out until Tuesday. So perhaps I would be able to cancel the order if I got it cheaperr.


Thanks for the tip.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]

do you have any idea what kind of bandwidth this gets?

[/ QUOTE ]


I'll be honest that I don't know my way around the speed-lingo very well.
Somebody else can tell me if these speeds are decent are not.

TDarko indicated (and a couple others I believe) indicated that what they were getting was pretty decent.


"NationalAccess is capable of data speeds bursting up to 144 kbps, delivering average speeds up to 60 to 80 kbps. Speed claim based on our network tests with 5 MB FTP data files, without compression. Actual throughput speed and coverage vary."

"BroadbandAccess offers typical download speed of 300-500 KBPS capable of reaching speeds up to 2 MPBS.

BBA Speed Disclaimer: Because of the difference in upload speeds, we do not recommend using Verizon Wirelss BroadbandAccess for video conferencing or other applications that require faster upload speeds."


Verizon NationalAccess link

[Voltron87]

[ QUOTE ]
I have had this service for 9 months or so. In Dallas-Fort Worth which is one of the EVDO broadband cities. I get anywhere from 100kbps to 500kbps depending on location. I haven't tried it anywhere where I've had to drop down to the 1xRTT service which should be 70-90kbps.

I'm very pleased with this service. It is high bandwidth but has fairly high latency. 200-300ms pings to most places.

[/ QUOTE ]

what exactly is latency?

i live in nyc, so thats the only place id need high speed. when i travel i just need poker/surfing. probably would work for me.

[MicroBob]

I would be willing to bet it would work great for you.

Unless you really need to rely on super high-speed stuff I think it would work fine.

As I mentioned in the original-post....you get a 15-day trial period to test it out.
Obviously I could run into more problems after the 15 days (like experiencing more frequent drop-outs) and will be less-than-thrilled that I'm stuck with it for 2 years (or I can cancel the plan for $175 I believe) but I'm going for it anyway.
I suspect it will suit my needs just fine..and you only live once.

[Mendacious]

I have it an use it in Miami. I've experienced virtually no drop outs using it for hours on end-- even while driving from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale (I know-- not very safe). Not necessarily the greatest for loading web pages quickly, but for multi-tabling it works beautifully, even with low signal. It pays for itself.

[JRussell]

[ QUOTE ]
If I like it enough after the 15-day trial-period then I will be cancelling my stupid dial-up service and just using it as my primary (and also using my WiFi card when in such an area).

[/ QUOTE ]

The Verizon cellular card I have (sounds like the same one you have) also works as a standard wi-fi card too. It automatically detects and uses the fastest/strongest signal available.

Another nice feature is that you can just change the plan over to a Verizon cell phone if you decide you don't want/like it. This way you're not really stuck with the cellular internet for the entire 2 year contract.

[MicroBob]

Holy crap...not only unsafe while driving...but moreso with those idiot Florida drivers from miami to Ft. Lauderdale.

My GF's best friend lives down there and just had her car totalled last week (and she wasn't even surfing the internet while she was driving).
Think she was on the turnpike or I-95 or somewhere.

Dude, seriously. Take it easy with that surfing-and-driving.
On a highway in the middle-of-nowhere-Nebraska or something would be one thing.
But between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale?? Not good!!!

[awr000]

Latency in basic terms means how long it takes to get a response (not the offical definition...network gurus please be gentle) for poker and surfing it shoulnd't matter unless it gets really high (1 second or more) for the most part it won't matter to you unless your playing FPS games or some MMORPG's.

[MicroBob]

300ms or less is going to be plenty fast-enough for internet-poker.

Actually...even 700ms ping will be acceptable for the most part...and that would be REALLY slow...like if you are downloading a couple web-pages on your dial-up line or something.


The lobby and tables at true-poker will show you your latency in ms (milli-seconds, 1000ms = 1 second).

I'm familiar with ms, latency and ping-time from my days on the Internet Chess Club (you were supposed to 'ping' your latency to ensure that you had a decent connection..especially if you were playing a speed-chess game for example)