Cellular modem dongles?

[BuzzKillington]

My girlfriend moved to a place where major internet companies do not provide service. Odd because there's a casino right around the corner but ya...

I was looking into cellular modems and they're pretty damn expensive. $60 per month for "bursts up to 3.1mbps." That probably means they average around half that throughout the day.

Cricket offers "unlimited" 3G for $40 per month but they don't specify DL/UL speeds anywhere which makes me a little leery but there's no 2 year contract like every other cellular service.

Every provider seems to have solid coverage for our area so it really boils down to cost vs speed.

Anyone have any experience with these things?

[Zephik]

I've used Cricket before and I'm in the best possible area for their service and my experience with them was horrible. They're cheap for a reason that's for sure.

I then switched to Verizon, it was a much better experience but the price was just blahhhh for what you get. Although, if its your only option, then not much you can do about it.

I used to live on a mountain where there was no internet service except through satellite. The equipment is expensive but the service was pretty good. Might be worth looking into at the very least.

As for cell phones with internet, Verizon offers a "texting only plan" which has unlimited everything except calling for $35 a month and $45 for smart phones. If she doesn't need calling, maybe she could get a smart phone? or... maybe use her phone as a modem. I think they charge for that, but I'm not sure how much. $10-$15 I think.

[blueonblack]

I live in a rural area and for years satellite and dialup were our only options. Earlier this year we got Sprint cellular service for our phone and internet also. It's pricey, $60 a month with a 5GB data limit, but the speed is obviously WAY better than dialup, we average 1100kbps download and 400 upload. Slow as a toothache to most modern users I know, but it's HUGE coming off of dialup. Service is excellent, no outages, and we've yet to hit that 5GB limit. I bought a Cradlepoint mobile hotspot also. We plug the cellular modem into it and it broadcasts the signal so the wife and I can both access it wirelessly. We live in a low area, so I mounted a cellular antenna on my roof and ran a cable down into the house and plugged into the modem. We're happy with it, and it's handy for travel also.

[slaveofconvention]

I use a 3 mobile broadband key here in the UK when I'm at work and away from my 10mb cable connection at home, and it's usable but I don't consider it to be broadband by any stretch of the imagination... Just checked today's stats and it claims it got a peak download today of 2102.7kbps but it often feels not much better than dialup. They're a useful temporary solution but I don't know if I'd want to rely on it 24/7 as my only source of the net. It is supposed to be a 3.6mb connection but bear in mind, this is in the UK - we're supposed to have one of the best 3G networks but I can't say how it'll compare directly to the service where you are....

[Bopher]

This is something I was thinking for if I could ever get a carpc (http://www.amazon.com/Autonet-Mobile-KT-ANMRTR-01Automotive-Wi-Fi-Router/dp/B002ACP27W) running in my cars. Its expensive to start and requires 1 year contract but its suppose to be better then Cellular connections. Reviews are good from what I saw. Maybe something to browse though. Thout it might help.