Both Sprint and Earthlink have

"air" cards that allow you to go wireless provided you are in their service area.   The service is about $50/mo I think and then you have to buy the card.  I think the card is about $200, but they have deals sometimes where if you commit to 1 or 2 years that you get the card for free.   You can probably go to the websites of both companies to check to see if you have service in your area.  

We also have a service in my area called Clearwire.  They have a modem that you plug into an outlet and you can take it and plug it in and get service anywhere within range.  They have different levels of service, similar to DSL, where the faster the download the more the $$.  I think the cheapest package is $25/mo.   They may have the same service under a different name in other areas. 

• I've got a stupid question about wireless internet providers. SM - QALady
  • can also use your cell phone but it's rare - it'shurricaneseason
  • Both Sprint and Earthlink have - me
  • Unless there is a network to connect to, you're out of luck. - sm
    • Okay, I guess I'm wondering about a cellular modem card for my laptop. SM - QALady
      • Verizon has one, but you have to have - old_MT

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access numbers.   I use Earthlink DSL and I get 20 hours of dial-up every month included.  I travel a lot and it comes in handy.   I was once in an area that didn't have a local number and used AOL and I had so many problems with it I had to swipe my hard drive.  PeoplePC and Netzero I think are just dial-up, though they are supposed to have lots of local numbers. 

Some transcription companies will not allow you to have AOL for work purposes, so you might want to check with your company before changing. 

You can still use Outlook with other ISPs. 

About 180 EarthLink employees in Atlanta will lose their jobs as the Internet provider completes a move to outsource customer service and technical support telephone lines.

EarthLink cut 1,300 call center employees in 2003 and another 1,300 in 2004 as it began farming out the work to call centers in India and the Philippines.

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The latest cuts eliminate the use of EarthLink employees to handle customer calls, said spokesman Dan Greenfield.

The job cuts will take place between August and September. Greenfield said EarthLink would provide severance pay based on seniority as well as assistance in finding new jobs.

EarthLink will be left with 1,020 employees in Atlanta and 1,800 nationally.

Using overseas call centers instead of American employees saves money, the company said.

When the plan to use outside vendors was first announced, Garry Betty, EarthLink's chief executive, said the company was "making hard decisions that are necessary to ensure the ongoing viability of our company."

On Monday, Greenfield said that the latest cuts were needed "to allow us to compete in a very dynamic marketplace."

The overseas call centers handle both customer service and technical support questions.

and they have files for know spam and suspected spam.  You can fix it where you don't get ANY e-mails except for people in your address book and then if someone not in your book wants to e-mail you they get an e-mail asking to submit a request.  You can approve/disapprove any request.   I don't use this option because lots of times worms/viruses will attach themselves to  your addy book.  I've never had it happen but know lots who have.

I do use suspected spam and so far the past 2 weeks it has caught 1569 spam e-mails, but it has left through probably 150 week.   I used to have an unmoderated yahoo group and it would get spam posts so it got blocked, but most of it wasn't spam. 

My Sprint USB card is in my husband's PC, connected to a Linksys router and then to mine with Ethernet cables. You just have to run the internet connection sharing wizard on XP. I've been using this for almost 2 weeks now and absolutely love it. Also, Verizon has a cap on how much bandwidth you can use each month (5 GB) and you have to pay for overages. Sprint has unlimited usage for the same amount per month ($60). If you have any questions about it, I can give you the website where I purchased my equipment. My e-mail is pixie.chick@earthlink.net.

I don't mean to hijack the OP question, but you mentioned you use a PC card for your Internet since you live in the country. I too live in the country and do not even have cable available - only dial-up.

I recently purchased a laptop and it only came with an ExpressCard slot (which it is my understanding that laptops in the future will be built with these and not PC slots). The ExpressCards have not hit the local Verizon or Sprint stores yet but I hear they are to soon and I plan to try one. I hope to be able to drop my dial-up ISP and just use my laptop for my on-line job. I also have my own local account where I pick up tapes and deliver their transcription and I can continue to use my regular PC for that work if I choose to.

Anyway, I would really appreciate knowing how you like your "card" for connecting to the Internet and how well it works out for you. Do you know if Verizon or Sprint has more coverage area? Have you traveled much with yours to see if you are able to get connections? How reliable has this been and how fast of a connection rate do you get on average?

I sure would appreciate any info you could share regarding this. Thanks so much.

Sandi

Hi to everyone!

Is anyone out there using the wireless broadband, like Sprint or Verizon (not so unlimited)?  I am currently using Verizon and have now found out the unlimited is not so.  I have ordered Sprint and the USB modem will be here in a few days, but am now paranoid about 0ver-Use on that!

I just moved to a house in the country, with no DSL, no cable and am unsure about Wild Blue for satellite because of the start up cost and then not being satisfied.

Any country living transcriptionists out there with advice?  I am in northern CA.

Thanks for any help!

a map on their website showing coverage area.  I haven't used a broadband card yet.   I know someone who used a Verizon air card and they said they were able to get service everywhere they went.  They were on the west coast, where it seems more reasonable that there would be a wider range of service.   You can check Verizon's website for coverage area too.  Another option may be for you to get dial-up at your mother's house.   You can get People PC for $10.95/month, but I don't know if they require a contract.   If none of the big ISPs have a local number you can get service through a small local provider and they usually do not require a contract.  I have traveled extensively and have spent several weeks in some places where dial-up was the only available option at the time and even though I had an ISP they did not have local service.  

Another option is to try the free trials with various ISPs if they have service in your mom's area.   There is no charge is you cancel before trial period is up.