Help please - wireless internet/email, next stage

I am hoping someone can help this technology challenged chick! []

It looks as if we are going to have to rough it for a couple of months at the end of this year while our house is getting to liveable stage, and the one limiting factor is that I need to have internet/email connnection during this time for work.

Is wireless an option, either to laptop or to a PC? I know absolutely nothing about how it works/where it is available/what sort of service you get/what it costs. My biggest concern is reliability - I had a Ihug satellite system a few years back and it was a pain in the butt esp during rain fade, and slow as [V]

Can someone explain in simple words a bit of the above?

While you're waiting for a reply have you tried a search, I'm sure I asked a similar question a while ago!

But I can't be sure!! :-0

Hi Tigger,

Swaggie has recently started using a Wireless Data Card from Telecom and it seems to be doing the job really well for her. Further details in this thread:

www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25475

If this sounds like what you are looking for, here are some comments and pictures from the original thread where we thrashed out the options for Swaggie:



All laptops have a slot which can accommodate plug-in cards. Usually it is on the side and can accommodate cellular data cards, wireless network cards, bluetooth cards, modem cards etc, etc.

The latest laptops have a new type of card called Express Card. The older and still more common standard is called PCMCIA or Cardbus. Both types of data cards are available for Telecom's Cellular Data network.

Another option is to buy a USB Data Card like this one:



This type of card has the advantage that it will work with any type of laptop as well as any desktop PC. However, it's not as robust as the laptop-only data cards due to the swivelling connector thingy.

If you are looking for a data card primarily for on-road use, it's best to go for the laptop-only types because they will be in and out of your laptop a lot, and there are no flimsy plastic pieces to get broken.

The beauty of a Data Card is that you can always use it afterwards when you go on holiday, so it won't be redundant after your house is built. I find it very handy when we go to Whangarei for a big shopping expedition. I can pull out my laptop and check on e-mails while Inger is in the Supermarket

Grant - What, you're not in there with her, selecting the finest smoked salmons and fruit cheeses? Lifting the heavy cases of exotic red wines? Ensuring you get only the best in stuffed olives and delicate pickled eel's feet? How could you?

Tigger - what do your new neighbours have? Do they have Broadband? Could you approach them and ask if they would share, and you cough up a little $$$/wine/meats? If within 100m, it would be via a Wifi router and antenna (which you can temporarily supply, and will only cost under $200). Only drawback is that you are dependant.

quote:Originally posted by wyseyes

Tigger - what do your new neighbours have? Do they have Broadband? Could you approach them and ask if they would share, and you cough up a little $$$/wine/meats? If within 100m, it would be via a Wifi router and antenna (which you can temporarily supply, and will only cost under $200). Only drawback is that you are dependant.

Okay, now that is verging on the edge of my understanding...so that means that I could 'poach' their broadband using a wireless system? What do you mean by dependant?

Watch out though, people have been in big trouble for nicking other peoples BB in the UK.....

Uh, we like to call it "Making efficient use of available network resources".

Basically you would tap into their Broadband (with their approval), install a temporary wireless Wifi transmitter, and aim the antenna towards your spot. At your end you fire up your wireless receiver in the laptop (or desktop), and you're off and surfing. A password on the transmmitter means you don't get leaches poaching from their cars.

I had a neighbour who paid me $10 a month so he could use my wireless broadband to make skype calls to his family in Poland. He found it far better than the $10 dialup jerky calls he had before. Then we moved house.

Dependant is when they turn off their modem, and you start cursing. Especially when that file you really needed was 98% complete.

So...if I wanted to go wireless all on my lonesome without relying on neighbours...do you have to be in range of a tower or something? How does it work please?

Okay, just checked with Telecom re this and yes, it looks like mobile wireless to a laptop is what is going to work best for my circumstances - and yet we are still marginal out there for coverage (even though mobile phones work fine there) so might be at little more than dial up speeds [xx(]

Price quoted was $429 for the card, and $59.95 per GB per month, with $10 per GB extra per month, and if you go over that 2GB, each MB gets charged at 50c...

Grant, just off to check on the thread you posted re Swaggie...[]

Wyseyes, I think I'll look at my own connection, that sounds too frustrating to consider, being reliant on neighbours!

We were looking at getting a laptop anyway, so this just speeds us up a bit...

Good grief that sounds expensive.... Hope it's fast! Do you have to use telecom????

Tiggs, this is what I've been struggling with too. Definitely the wireless mobile option from Telecom is the cheapest of all of them and the easiest (apart from that $429 data card charge). The card just plugs into a USB port on your laptop or desktop PC.

I'm signing up (as it's the least expensive broadband option for me) so I'll pay less for the data card ($129 or something like that).

It's not full speed broadband, as it depends on how well you get mobile coverage in your area.

What I really wanted to use was the Compass Communication system, which relies on a "line of sight" dish (that is, the dish must be on a pole or on your roof with no trees, branches etc in between it and the transmitter) - for that I would have got wireless broadband plus a phone line for just $60 a month, plus their installation was only $250 (versus $700 for Telecom's version). Sadly, while you can clearly see the transmitter from my roof, it appears I'm just outside its range:()

The new satellite companies offering broadband sadly charge an arm and a leg for the monthly account. The cheapest plan I found was $160 a month and if I was running a business I could justify that, but for home use it was way too much.

quote:Originally posted by Pumpkingirl

I'm signing up (as it's the least expensive broadband option for me) so I'll pay less for the data card ($129 or something like that).

That's the 24 month contract? How much is it per month and for how many GB?

Apparently our block is right on the edge of really good coverage, so if worst comes to worst I'll throw it in the car and drive down the road to download big files!

quote:Originally posted by tigger

...we are still marginal out there for coverage (even though mobile phones work fine there) so might be at little more than dial up speeds [xx(]

If that's the case, you will get what they call "1X" speed Tigger.

This is about 120kbps download and about 50kbps upload. So the download speed is at least 3x faster than dial-up and it is extremely reliable, not like the old iHUG Ultra setup [xx(]

quote:Originally posted by Pumpkingirl

The new satellite companies offering broadband sadly charge an arm and a leg for the monthly account. The cheapest plan I found was $160 a month and if I was running a business I could justify that, but for home use it was way too much.

Did you try Wireless Nation PG [?]

www.wirelessnation.co.nz/services_takeoff_home.php

Their plans start from $57 per month with $20 extra for the phone service. Others have said they are not very responsive to e-mails, so it might pay to phone them and post back here the result.

quote:Originally posted by tigger

That's the 24 month contract? How much is it per month and for how many GB?

Here's the relevant info:

Mobile Broadband 1GB+ $49.95 per month + GST

1GB extra usage for $10 + GST extra
+ Excess Usage beyond 2GB 50c + GST per MB
Term 24 months

You get a substantial discount on the Data Card if you sign up for the 24-month contract, and the per-month subscription is cheaper as well.

1GB+ is the plan I use when I am using it every day. 1GB has usually been sufficient and occasionally I have gone into part of the second GB, but never more than about 1.3GB total.

When I'm only using the Data Card occasionally, I switch to the Mobile Broadband Flexi plan which costs $10 + GST per month and then $1 + GST per MB on top of that for my usage. This plan is the best if I only use the card 2 or 3 days per month, otherwise 1GB+ is the best plan.

I would suggest signing up for a 24-month contract on Mobile Broadband Flexi:

Cost of Data Card
Open term $429.00
24 month term $219.00

A great saving as you can see

Telecom will then switch you to the 1GB+ plan at no charge whenever you want it, and back to Flexi at no charge.

Whereas if you sign up for 1GB+ on a 24-month contract, you pay only $199 + GST for the Data Card (a $20 + GST saving), but then if you want to downgrade to the Flexi plan, it will cost $100 + GST for a "downgrade charge".

It's all very tricky, but Ben at Telecom has been very helpful to me and Swaggie in catering for our needs. I'm sure he can sort you out with the best plan too Tigger

Here is the original Telecom web page with all the info. if you can make head or tail of it:

www.telecom.co.nz/content/0,6845,202032-200518,00.html#standard