Need Internet Solution ASAP!

[Tbone]

Uh oh...I did some research on this wi-fi internet I'm gonna be connected to at Roanoke:

http://www.roanokewifi.com

Most noticeable is 802.11b speed and...and...120 minute limit per day. There's no cable where I am staying...the downtown area has just never had cables running to them, so I can't get cable installed or anything crazy like that. The only option I'm seeing at the moment is getting cell phone internet, but are there any that actually produce decent speeds or is it like 56k all over again?

NTELOS seems to be the cheapest, but I don't know if you can hijack their data plan and make the phone a modem or not.

There's also other things like Helio and T-Mobile...I haven't been able to put together anything good, though. Grr...

[Ash]

Sprint cellular card Merlin S620 series by far the best mobile option out there in my opinion.

[Sared]

What Yotogi said. Also, I have a lot of corporate guests harp on their Verizon wireless access a lot.

[Lithium]

There is satellite internet or their use to be... requires a phone line or something to send the data but it is faster than 56k I believe.

[Tbone]

From what I hear, Satellite is uber expensive and the ping is crazy bad. All of these mobile broadband plans seem to be expensive and I don't think Roanoke has the kind of coverage in most of them for the decent speeds...I guess I'll just have to assess the situation when I get there.

[Pirus]

tbone try dlsreports.com you can type in the address and it will give you just about every broadband possibility in the area if there is any ... (not just dsl).  If there is dsl or cable in the area it will find it.... Beats having to go to every single service provider and checking.

[Avzeke (Khr0n1k)]

Yeah, this what I heard, but satalite is uber laggy cause it can only send then recieve it cant do both at the same time, that may be a n00b explanation but i think a n00b told me this.

[Tbone]

Well, I made it to Roanoke. In my room there is absolutely NO internet connection. I called my friend and he told me I could  find a connection on the kitchen window sill, so guess where I am. It's a pretty public place and right now I'm getting a couple of odd stares, so, yeah...sucks. I connected to some open linksys connection, so the good news is that if it does stay up I can get unlimited time instead of the 120 thing. I'll try to keep you updated.

[Lithium]

I *think* you need a Wireless Access Point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_access_point

I might be wrong but what these do is take a wireless signal and boost it? Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

[Ash]

Think of a wireless access point as business version of your home wi-fi box (the one with the antenna) but instead of having computers (or laptops) connected wirelessly to it, you have multiple wireless routers connected to it.  Basically a WAP is used for connecting whole offices over a wireless network, not just one or two computers and there is no "amplification" at either end.  For that you would need something like a wireless repeater or a signal booster. and WAP doesn't do that.

[Jeyk]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6683314&st=linksys+range+expander&type=product&id=1083711426745

[Tbone]

This window sill is really fickle. Mehhh