mobile internet and laptop

[Bubu]

Hi,

I might be travelling for a month and wish to sync up my laptop to play. I have been looking at different wireless companies. Verizon has nice broadband access ($80 a month one year contract), while others seem to have GPRS (56kbit).

Questions :

1) Does poker play well over "dialup speeds" ? (56kbit GPRS ?)

2) Do any companies have month by month data subscription plans ? I don't really want to sign up for a year of anything ! Right now I just have T-mobile cell phone.

3) My laptop has wifi. Could someone recomment a nice link which has hotspots marked for all the different companies (and the free ones as well ?).

A big chunk of my travels might revolve around Vegas/AC. Any tips on getting free internet there ?


Thanks !


Bubu

[BusterStacks]

Poker plays fine over 56k. Last time I checked T-mobile had unlimited mobile internet for like $20.

[MicroBob]

Poker plays fine over 56k as buster said.


Wi-fi is really all you need.
There is a decent sized list of wi-fi hot-spots at jiwire.com
many of these places are free.


There will also be places with free internet that aren't on jiwire. I'm at one of them now in fact. Drinking coffee on the outdoor deck of an internet-coffee place while officially 'working'. Not too shabby.

It is totally free access. Just turn on the computer and I'm connected via my wi-fi card.
Such places would be especially popular near college campuses I would guess.

I have not paid for any plan or anything like that and likely wouldn't as there are plenty of free places around to keep me happy.


You can also buy a little card at BestBuy or Comp-USA where you can check to see if there's any Wi-fi signal in an area. Much easier than turning on your computer to check for a signal. Of course...some of these signals will be encrypter and/or password protected and thus will be unavailable for you to use...but the little key-chain/card to check for a signal is still kind of handy imo.


Just saw that you are primarily going to Vegas and AC. I would have to think there are plenty of free wi-fi hotspots in those areas. Check on jiwire just to see a few of them (as I said...many more places have free wi-fi that aren't listed on jiwire).

[LinusKS]

I had TMobile before I moved to Verizon.

TMobile sucked ass. It was ridiculously slow, and routinely dropped me when I was playing from home (which - granted - is in the middle of nowhere). And when I called to cancel, they informed me there was a $200 cancellation fee, which nobody had ever told me about, and which I did not - and would not - have agreed to.

I've been very happy with Verizon. It's expensive, but for me at least it's a wash, since I no longer need a home phone ($50) or dial-up service (20), and I was planning on getting broadband at work anyway.

[wdbaker]

I agree,
I have both a verizon pc card and a wifi card, there is something very liberating about being out on the open road and can play anywhere you go.

If there is no wifi like at the hotel or whatever, just fire up the verizon card, it's a flat $80 per month and the cards were going for $50 a piece with a $150 rebate last I knew and my rebate came back in record time.

I run 4 tables at a time have no problem whatsoever, just make sure you have a good signal.

I put an adapter in the car for DC to AC electricity so can even play in the car, wouldn't recommend it though if your moving in and out of dead zones but great if lost or looking for that casino or golf course you heard about.

wifi is mostly for home network and the few coffee shops that have it for free, most charge though like Borders, Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks and the like...

I have yet to get dropped in a game in a good signal area

You just need to decide if your making enough to make it worth it

One Street at a Time
wdbaker Denver, Co

[Bubu]

Thanks for the responses. Any tips on how to sign up with the phonce companies. They all seem to want a year or $175 early cancellation fee.

Bubu

[Bubu]

As far as Wi-fi is concerned. What precautions do you take when you using a free hotspot (say in a coffeshop) - after all you are transmitting in the clear, and I would like to keep my passwords and poker account stuff private. Is it same to assume that all the private services (say T_mobile or AT&T wifi subscriptions) are encoded ?

Bubu

[wdbaker]

i could be wrong but i believe that any signal that goes through the air can be captured and read, unless it is sent by way of SSL(https://), VPN(tunneling) etc...

most of the time when you use your userid & password it is encrypted but for instance your e-mail is not unless your service allows for that as an option like yahoo.

got to go, not good to type while driving

can't get out of the early term penalties

one street at a time
wdbaker around flagstaff right now

[FishHooks]

you know your addicted to poker/2+2 when you're surfing the site WHILE DRIVING, not that there is anything wrong with being addicted, just the driving thing lol

[Bubu]

hardcore.