I am about to purchase a wireless broadband card and service. It comes down to either Verizon or Sprint! There costs, programs, cards, terms etc are pretty much equal. I have been told that Sprint has more agreements with other carriers and can provide better coverage for wandering all over the country. Also, Sprint does not have a cap on useage. I would like to hear from people using either of these services before i lay down my money. Also, are you using an external antenna or amplifier with your card? If so, what brand and how much improvement did they make? TIA John Z
I think it's going to depend a lot on your location. I have a Verizon wireless card - PC5750 - from work. It's great around town and on interstates... places where there's decent cell phone coverage. On some non-interstate roads in fairly rural areas, the speed will occasionally drop or the signal disappears completely. Of course, this is while moving (I was the passenger, not the driver, btw!). Overall, I was impressed with it. There are some fairly nice external antennas that can be used with these cards. Here's an example www.wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProductB.php?ID=2 (http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProductB.php?ID=2). Wilson also has adapters for these antennas and cards. If signal strength becomes an issue, I'll probably try one of these.
David
Both companies supposedly offer a strong signal for my home location, so it looks like a draw there. Last year on my trip south i relied on wifi connections, and i am looking for something better and more widely available than that, especially in travels off the freeway. I know both companies are rapidly rolling out EVDO coverage as fast as they can. Do you have a feel for which one has better coverage when you get away from the big cities?
Hi John,
I use Verizon. My dad uses Sprint. Both air cards seem to work everywhere..
Good Luck
Nick-
They will both work just about everywhere, but which service will have broadband speeds more often? You're not too likely to have broadband speeds outside of major metro areas or off major highways.
I have access to a Verizon card through work and I used it on my last bus trip. When in non-broadband areas it was pretty slow even though National Access is supposed to be 128K or better.
John,
I use a Verizon package, but not the air card. I hook my laptop to the phone with a cord. I get broadband speed, my Motorola charges while I'm on line, and I can answer the phone, it just puts the internet on hold while you talk.
I went this way because the cost is the same monthly, but you don't have to sign a 2 year agreement with the large monthly charges while you are not using it. If you are going to use it a lot, the air card is probably the way to go.
It is normally $60 per month just like the air card but you can ask Verizon to set you up on a 30 day trial and they will not charge you. In fact, the last two vacations i took, I had them set me up on the trial both times for no charge other than the minutes used. Same deal on minutes, after 9 and weekends free.
On my last trip from Wisconsin to Arizona, I was only denied access once while in the boonies and my phone was roaming.
Jim
I was using a Verizon Air Card a friend was letting me "rent" while he didn't need it. I found it to be very good in town. But out at the park campgrounds, it was ok at one that was closer to town but at the park further out it was often getting one bar or less and dropping to slower than dial up or dropping out completely.
In looking around for my own air card, I found a company named Millenicom (http://www.millenicom.com/mobilebroadband/index.html). They subcontract the Sprint network (so it is the same network as Sprint users) and provide service at $50 per month with no contract. Another perk was that they have no bandwidth limit. Verizon promotes theirs as unlimited usage, but if you go over 5gb in a month, they cut the speed to nearly dial up speed. 5gb is a lot and most people won't go over it. But if you download music or video much, it can exceed it and then your up a creek.
Another interesting feature of Millenicom is that their service uses a USB card rather than a PCMCIA card. (I think you can get that with the other services, but it is not the standard promoted modem.) I put a 10' USB extension cord on it and can move it as helpful to get the strongest signal. Also, I can plug it in to my workhorse PC directly rather than network my Internet access through the laptop. There are even wireless routers available that you can use with it to create your own hotspot.
I've had the Millenicom unit for about 3 weeks and spent time at both parks and in town. I am getting 4-5 bars everywhere I've taken it, including the place that had almost no Verizon signal. So I feel comfortable in recommending Sprint or Millenicom to anyone planning to use it in areas that Sprint is established in.
One thing about Sprint (and hence Millenicom), there are large parts of the Northwest that they don't cover very well. A year and a half ago, when I brought my bus home from Seattle, I had a Sprint cell phone. I was surprised at the week signal in much of Seattle. I was even more amazed to find that I didn't have any signal at all much of the time from central Oregon to Nebraska. And I was travelling mainly on interstates and a few other major connector routes. I have no idea how Verizon does in those areas.
FWIW.
I recently purchased a Sprint aircard. I went with sprint becuse I have had a sprint phone for years and have been satisfied with it. Sprint seems to be no better or worse than the other companys. You do need to look at the coverage maps of all companys and choose the one that best serves you.
I purchased my card from the eplace, it cost $0.99 after rebates. The main reason I bought it on ebay is the monthly charge is only $49!!! for unlimited access. This seller is the only place I could find that had a monthly charge of $49. I do have a 2 year contract.
Ebay link is not working, I tried. Seller is not selling anything today.
I also like the website www.sprintusers.com
With a USB type air card I can use a USB extension cord, mine is 12 feet. I can dangle the air card out the widow and move it around to get a stronger singnal.
We use the sprint USB setup too, we've only had it for a month so really don't know much about it yet but so far it's worked great, we also bought the wilson magnetic roof antenna but haven't getten around to hooking it up yet, so far we get a strong 5 bars on the signal. The reason we went with sprint is because the coverage maps looked the best for the area's we go too.
Thanks everybody for your input. I now feel more at ease about going this route. From talking to people in my area, i am leaning towards Sprint. It seems they are pretty equal, but i have talked to people who are using Sprint around here and it works. I live in a small town of 800 people. I currently have dialup service. I do believe our phone carrier, last fall offered their version of speedy service, but it would cost too much when added to the air card service. So my plan is to select either Verizon or Sprint; cancel my current dialup, and more than likely cancel my land line phone service also. I really have not used the land line for anything other dialup for the last several years. So i would be using the air card full time.
The Millenicom is interesting, both for the lower rate and not requiring a contract. I will try to read up on that tonight.
I am running down to southern TX in a short while for a couple weeks, and i would like to take advantage of the 30 trial period. I need to find one that works good both on the road and at my house.
Thanks again everyone,,,, you all are great!
JohnZ,
If you are ever through the Abilene TX area give me a holler! 32five.66zero.463five.
Paul
I have used sprint as verizon was not available in my area, I found that sprint worked better in some areas of the west. Jerry
Has anyone tried Millienicom? I like the no contract part. Jack
Quote from: JackConrad on February 07, 2008, 04:36:56 PM
Has anyone tried Millienicom? I like the no contract part. Jack
I'm still impressed with it, for all the reasons I mentioned earlier in this thread.
Quote from: jjrbus on February 06, 2008, 01:57:27 PM
I recently purchased a Sprint aircard. I went with sprint becuse I have had a sprint phone for years and have been satisfied with it. Sprint seems to be no better or worse than the other companys. You do need to look at the coverage maps of all companys and choose the one that best serves you.
I purchased my card from the eplace, it cost $0.99 after rebates. The main reason I bought it on ebay is the monthly charge is only $49!!! for unlimited access. This seller is the only place I could find that had a monthly charge of $49. I do have a 2 year contract.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SPRINT-OVATION-U727-727U-BROADBAND-AIR-CARD-mircoSDSLOT_W0QQitemZ110220553832QQihZ001QQcategoryZ41355QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I also like the website www.sprintusers.com
I tried that Ebay link and my computer's posting a "phishing" warning?? How does my computer know this? Is there something in the link that sets off the filters? It does the same thing on some other Ebay sights.
These new Vista computers do some weird stuff.
Plan to get one of the aircards before the season starts.
Reckon Verizon would have a 'demo' unit? Do they let you fly it buy it and sign a contract?
How does the speed of aircards compare to Roadrunner?
Ya'll keep posting what works best!
Best, JR
JR,
The aircards are quite a bit slower than RoadRunner. What I notice, more than the speed difference, is the latency. There's a bit more of a delay when browsing, but it's not bad. I'm just spoiled - RoadRunner at home and multiple T1's at work! ;D I was offered the same discount for a personal card that we get at work from Verizon (no fee for the cards, no contract, and $48/ month). It's just not worth it since I can already use the work card.
Personally, I wouldn't get the USB aircard. I don't like having all that crap attached to my computer. I realize they can be moved around for a better signal, but with an external antenna, for the times it's needed, that shouldn't be an issue. Plus, I use my card other places besides the bus where having anything else attached is annoying.
David
I ordered Millenicom today. I expect to have the card here Monday. I searched and read up on them a lot last night. Very VERY high marks for their tech and customer support teams. I called them last night at 11:15 pm. What a shock! I got to talk to a live person,,, and best of all he spoke perfect English! None of that feeling my call had somehow been routed to Bombay! We talked for a bit and he felt their service is even better than Sprint. When i asked him how that could be, he said they have agreements with others in addition to Sprint. Due to their multiple companies they work with, they also have a lot of redundancy in many areas. So not only do you save 10.00 a month on the service, you also save about 8 or 9 bucks on the additional fees and taxes! No contract, it is on a month by month deal! I mean, this looks like a no brainer to me. I think both Sprint and Verizon have the best coverage (except for Millenicom), but i have read lots of negative things about having to deal with both of them. This is not to say they are any worse than than other big business in our country in 2008. But this is too say that i think Millenicom is out to show everyone, you can still do business the old fashioned way. It is worth your time to take a look if you are looking for new service, or your Sprint/Verizon contract is coming up soon. Just an example - when i signed up today, i opted for next day delivery for an extra 20.00 since i am leaving soon and wanted to get it in time to cancel my old dialup service. I got a phone call from them telling me he had checked with the post office and found out that it actually would take two days to get here, arriving on Sat. He told me if i wanted, he could send it priority mail, it would get here on Mon, and would cost me nothing extra! I am kinda thinking Sprint/Verizon would have just not had the time or desire to do that for a customer,,, they would have just kept my 20.00.
Thanks David. I figured as much. My RR zips right along.
Oh well. I'll just have to learn to live a little slower! ???
Got a good EVDO signal here. Thought about replacing the RR with an aircard. Don't believe we'll do that. The aircard would cause issues that I cannot resolve with our home wireless network anyway.
Might consider the Millenicom card too...buy it for 4 or 5 months and terminate during the winter months.
JR
Paul, thanks for the invite. I am not sure of our final approach path yet, but if we get close, i will give you a shout.
HiTechRedneck, have you used the built in GPS on your Millenicom much yet. Am wondering how helpful it is to find gas, restaurants, etc.
Quote from: John Z on February 07, 2008, 08:33:08 PM
HiTechRedneck, have you used the built in GPS on your Millenicom much yet. Am wondering how helpful it is to find gas, restaurants, etc.
Haven't done much with that part yet. But in the limited playing around with that feature that I did do, it seems to be right on the ball. It has a link to MSN's GPS based directories and maps. The lookups I tried were right on the money. And the map zoomed in so close on our position that if the photos were in real time, I probably could have read the number on the roof of the bus. ;D
As for connection speed, I've done several large downloads now and have hit around 1Mbps each time. Upload seem pretty fast too, but I haven't measured upload speed yet so I don't know exactly how fast. I am just amazed at some of the locations I have gotten 5 bars.
As for the awkward factor of the USB card that David was concerned about, when the cord is undesirable, it plugs directly into the laptop's USB socket and doesn't pose much more of an obstacle than a PCMCIA card modem. (in my opinion anyway) The cord is just something extra I implemented to get the absolute most signal possible.
HTRn, that sounds good to me! And i agree, it is no problem for me to use the USB card rather than one of the others. From all the reading and talking i have done, it seems the most prevelant. Plus i plan on using this card at home for my service too, so the USB gives me the most portability.
Great to hear you have been happy with the signals you are getting. I stopped at a business that does all the police/sheriff/fire vehicles systems today to look at antennas. The cute little 3" guy gave a 1 db gain. Mag (on a aluminum GM) mount was about 3 db. The wilson trucker 5 - 6 db. The signal booster kits they had were all the way up to 30 - 40 db gain! I do not have a feel for what the gain amounts do to performance. How many db does it take to improve your reception 50%? Can anyone explain this?
Regardless, i will make this trip without an antenna and just use the built in one. Hopefully i won't need to go this route. But if i did need too, i would prefer the shorty antenna with the booster kit, but that is the most spendy way to go also,,, but i really like the idea of not being able to see the antenna!
Quote from: John Z on February 07, 2008, 09:17:48 PM
HTRn, that sounds good to me! And i agree, it is no problem for me to use the USB card rather than one of the others. I do not have a feel for what the gain amounts do to performance. How many db does it take to improve your reception 50%? Can anyone explain this?
Based on my experience: With the Millenicom card I have been getting 5 bars all around here at -85db right now and just did a download at 1Mbps. But when I was using the Verizon card, a signal strength of -86db was about as good as it would get and that generated acceptable speeds around 600Kbps (it hadn't been upgraded to their highest speed plan, so that was about it's top potential speed) . By -96db (showing 1-2 bars) it was getting pretty slow, comparable to dial up. At -100db it was useless, no bars. So a span of 15db can make the difference between good and useless.
Technical explanation: The Decibel Defined (http://sss-mag.com/db.html)
QuoteThe following table helps to indicate the order of magnitude associated with dB:
1 dB attenuation means that 0.79 of the input power survives
3 dB attenuation means that 0.50 of the input power survives
10 dB attenuation means that 0.1 of the input power survives
20 dB attenuation means that 0.01 of the input power survives
30 dB attenuation means that 0.001 of the input power survives
40 dB attenuation means that 0.0001 of the input power survives
Based on the table, a -100db signal has only 5% of the strength of a -85db signal.
A 1db gain antenna would add about 20% more signal strength. 3db would be about a 50% gain. I would think the 30-40db gain amps should only be needed when a person is going to be way outside of the normal coverage areas.
I have two Verizon accounts, one for the phone and one for the aircard. Here in Central Florida....they both $uck!
At home in NC Verizon is the only coverage in the mountains so I'm stuck with that until the contract runs out this spring. The aircard does a reasonable job but it ain't what told me (now ain't that new) it would do.
Somehow I can't help feel that I was sold a bill of goods by Verizon and I could have handled both situations with one account and one phone. If it turns out that I'm right they'll wait until hell freees over before I spend another dollar with them.
Bob
About 4 year ago I cancel my land line & start to use T-mobile that was faster then the land line cie, last year I switch to sprint, use it from Fl to East end of Qc, & even got broadband speed in the bonnies(few place) & get broadband speed everywere I go in Florida. Having a steel siding at home I use a yaki antenna & get 100% signal. My vote to Sprints. Bought from 3Gstore.com.
PC card sierra 595, moving it between 2 laptop.
wrench
I'm posting this while riding down US 74 West. It's pretty rural here. I've got got full signal, but I see towers every so often that are probably for cell / data transmission or retransmission. I'll likely have a good signal 'til we get close to the SC-GA border near Lake Russel. I'll probably have maybe 7 minutes of no signal on this 6 hour drive. Needless to say, I'm very impressed and happy with my Verizon card! We tested these extensively in our area (and outside our area) before getting them. We tried Sprint, AT&T, Alltel, and Verizon. Verizon had the best deal for us and the best performance. I'd definitely try to take what ever you're considering for a 'test drive' for 30 days or so before signing any sort of contract.
David
Hi David. That sounds great! I am really looking forward to putting Millenicom to the test. The card should be here Monday. And they too have a 30 day trial period, but from all the responses here, i am sure i will be happy with it. I have lived with dialup forever, so any thing will seem blazing fast to me. I have heard that Verizon and Sprint share their towers, and Sprint is one of the companies that Millenicom uses, so my results should be pretty much the same as yours. Are you using an external antenna with yours?
I bought a Sprint aircard, if I had known about Millenicom that is what I would have bought. I hate these companys and thier two year contracts. I've had a sprint phone for 7 years, so I no longer have a contract. I will not take there "free" upgrade phones that they want to give me for being a loyal customer. They will extend my contract for 2 years on acceptance. If I am such a loyal customer why do they want to handcuff me to thier company?
I do not have a laptop so the USB type aircard works best for me, If I had a laptop I might think differently.
Well, I just purchased a Millenicom wireless broadband thingy. They do not sell the external antennas, but referred me to www.3gstore.com They said not to buy an external antenna until I try it, that I probably will not need it. 3G Store sells several external antennas as well as wireless routers if someone want to run more than 1 computer off the wireless broadband thingy. Although Millenicom is based in Portland, Oregon, they said mine would be shipped from Orlando. I should have it tomorrow or Monday. Can't wait. I am presently sitting in a 45' MCI in Jacksonville, FL using my cell phone. I just checked my connection speed. 129/72. Jack
jjrbus, it is just like the way magazine companies reward you for years of being a loyal reader/subscriber. They will offer the longtime customer a renewal for 23.00, and offer the same mag to a new customer for 14.00! I understand the need to attract new customers, but i think you need to take care of your existing customer base too. Reading the fantastic reviews about Millenicom's serv depts really sold me ( well that and no contract and not taxes or fees).
Jack, i will be very interested in your speeds when you get the new card. Let us know how it works.
Jack, if you have read much of the forums on wireless broadband i am sure you have visitied the forums hosted by 3Gstore. I find it curious that they do not allow any posts concerning Millenicom!!! Yet Millenicom sends customers to them. I asked the Millenicom tech about that, saying i thought it said alot about Millenicom. He simply said "we can appreicate another business for what they do well."
If you decide to go the antenna route, but the adapter cable for the CDU 680 (the air card from Millenicom) from 3Gstore. So far they are the only place i have found that have one. They are 13.00. Then you can go to Radio Shack or online and buy your own Wilson Trucker or whatever antenna you like. Saves a few more bucks that way.
I would definitely suggest trying a USB extension cord before going with an antenna cord. The best of antenna cords have a significant signal loss when dealing with low power signals. However, there is no loss with the USB cord. You can then just position the whole modem card for best signal.
Another neat little inclusion in the Millenicom package is a nifty little USB pigtail that allows it to plug in to two USB ports simultaneously for more power when needed. They suggest it for very weak signal areas where the card needs more power. But since I have plenty of available USB ports, I just leave it plugged in that way.
Maybe Jack and I can do a side by side comparison of Sprint and Millenicom.
Quote from: jjrbus on February 08, 2008, 11:57:34 AM
Maybe Jack and I can do a side by side comparison of Sprint and Millenicom.
Jim,
I like that idea, I will give you a call when I get my Millenicom.
Even though we have a Datastorm, I continue to follow this technology as either a backup or replacement. This thread contains great information.
I have been trying to learn more about cell phone antennas (currently spending a week in an area that has almost no cell signal) and ran across a great site for you EVDO folks: http://www.evdoforums.com/. It is a pretty "techie" site, but has lots of good information.
Lots of the posts on that site have signal strength information in db. I assume they get that from the EVDO software rather than from some sort of meter.
Also, has anyone tried the AT&T EDGE network?
Jim
Hi Jim. That forum i believe is hosted by 3gstore who sells Sprint and Verizon. They have a lot of product albeit a bit expensive; but they are a good source for info. Since Millenicom is direct competition for them, they delete all posts almost immediately that mention them. And yet as mentioned. Millenicom sends people to them! I found lots of uncensored forums for wireless broadband.
Package from Millenicom arrived today. Sat down with a sandwich, glass of milk, and the instuction booklet. 11 minutes later i was fed and online. This is nice for a guy who has lived with dialup until today! I find myself just sitting here waiting for the screens to change, and then realizing they had already changed!!!
Jack, has your modem arrived yet? Anxious to hear what you think.
Quote from: John Z on February 11, 2008, 11:07:19 AM
Package from Millenicom arrived today. Sat down with a sandwich, glass of milk, and the instuction booklet. 11 minutes later i was fed and online. This is nice for a guy who has lived with dialup until today! I find myself just sitting here waiting for the screens to change, and then realizing they had already changed!!!
Jack, has your modem arrived yet? Anxious to hear what you think.
Hey John Z,
Glad you made a quick connection. How about do a speed test here... http://www.bandwidthplace.com/ (http://www.bandwidthplace.com/) and post your results. The test may take up to one minute, and averages up and down speeds.
My T1 wireless usually gives me a 1.22Mbps connection, but may vary due to high useage.
Jay
87 SaftLiner
Quote from: rv_safetyman on February 09, 2008, 07:55:52 AM
Also, has anyone tried the AT&T EDGE network?
Jim
Jim,
I Bluetooth teathered my Dell E1705 laptop to my Nokia cell through the AT&T EDGE network, and got speeds ranging from 30k all the way up to 319k. As long as you're not in a hurry or need to d/l large files, it's OK, but 3G would be much faster.
Jay
87 SaftLiner
Quote from: John Z on February 11, 2008, 11:07:19 AM
Package from Millenicom arrived today. Sat down with a sandwich, glass of milk, and the instuction booklet. 11 minutes later i was fed and online. This is nice for a guy who has lived with dialup until today! I find myself just sitting here waiting for the screens to change, and then realizing they had already changed!!!
Jack, has your modem arrived yet? Anxious to hear what you think.
.
It just arrived, I am in the process of installing it now. I will report later. Jack
As TomCat noted, there are variances in reading due to other users of the the network resources serving your connection. There are also many other Internet related factors that can effect speed at any given moment. And the load of the server being hit for the speed test has an impact. So any numerical testing for comparison needs to be done several times at different times of day. Also, if possible, test from multiple test servers.
As an example, I downloaded a large file, about 78MB, a few days ago at about 1Mbs (mega bit per second). I just used the test link TomCat provided and got a disappointing reading of 224Kbs (kilo bit per second), ran it again and got an also disappointing 250Kbs. So I downloaded a large file from Adobe and it downloaded 132MB at a speed of 500Kbs. As soon as that download completed, I ran the linked speed test again and got a mere 157Kbs. I ran the test again with a different speed test site and got 461 Kbs. I will test again this evening and it should be faster due to decreased network load in the evenings.
There are many possible reasons a specific speed test can be so much lower. The download server could be under a heavy load and unable to deliver the download file at sufficient speed. The Internet routing path between my connection and their server could have been overloaded or be having some problems. The list of possible causes goes on. The bottom line is it takes several tests at different times of day and from different sources to get avg/min/max numbers for a good comparison.
I thought I would post an assortment of speed test results and their sources:
| Source | Download | Upload |
| http://www.bandwidthplace.com/ | 250Kbs | n/a |
| http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ | 461Kbs | 449Kbs |
| http://www.speedtest.net/ | 893Kbs | 244Kbs |
| http://performance.toast.net | 464Kbs | 409Kbs |
| http://www.testmy.net/tools/test/d_load.php | 513Kbs | n/a |
So my average download speed in the late afternoon was 516Kbs and upload was 367Kbs.
I will test again tonight and post that.
I just installed the Millenicom wireless broadband in my laptop. Using the short USB cable that is supposed to increase power, I did a speed test on speedtest.net. Download speed was 802K. This is compared to 129K using my cell phone. Although not as fast as our DSL, it should be a big improvement when traveling. Next week it will get a better test as we will camping in the middle of some orange groves 15 miles from even the smallest town. Jack
I did a test on the millenicom tonight and my results are slower than yours Jack. Mine was 325 and 69. But it is such a big improvement over the dialup i was used to. Where does one go to read up on tweaking my pc to run faster? I will soon be testing the modem from northern Minnesota to the southern tip of TX. Should be interesting.
Quote from: John Z on February 11, 2008, 05:07:52 PM
Where does one go to read up on tweaking my pc to run faster?
Do you mean:
- How to increase the communication's speed over the Internet connection.
- Clean up the software side to restore perfomance that has been lost over time.
- Hardware improvements
- Overclocking the CPU to increase processing speed.
I am not knowledgeable enough to know what i am asking for. How about we start with the simplest and more basic things to chk. BTW HTR, thanks for mentioning the Millenicom in the first place!
These are my test results for around 10pm EST.
| Source | Download | Upload |
| http://www.bandwidthplace.com/ | 194Kbs | n/a |
| http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ | 852Kbs | 466Kbs |
| http://www.speedtest.net/ | 1055Kbs | 517Kbs |
| http://performance.toast.net | 875Kbs | 494Kbs |
| http://www.testmy.net/tools/test/d_load.php | 991Kbs | 498Kbs |
Average download speed this time 686Kbs and upload 494Kbs. Removing the results from bandwidthplace.com because their results are so far off from the all the others, my average download results were 943Kbs.
Doing the same for my earlier results gives an average download result of 583Kbs. This demonstrates the variance caused by network load. During the day many more business users are active (same reason the cell companies are so generous with night and weekend minutes). With more users sharing the network resources, network capacity is split over more users.
Quote from: John Z on February 11, 2008, 06:58:42 PM
I am not knowledgeable enough to know what i am asking for. How about we start with the simplest and more basic things to chk. BTW HTR, thanks for mentioning the Millenicom in the first place!
Glad to help. Too bad there isn't a way for me to get the $20 referral credit from them for each person that signs up as a result of this thread. I would probably end up with free internet all year. ;D But, I don't want to come across to anyone like I am doing this for personal gain. I just hope it helps some busnuts enjoy Internet access more while also enjoying their buses.
As for the computer issues. If your computer has slowed down a lot since it was new try these things:
(note: these directions presume Windows XP)
- Go to My Computer, right click your hard drive(s) (typically the C drive if you have just one), choose Properties. On the General Tab, click Disk Cleanup and follow it's recommendations. (if you haven't done this lately, it may take a while, just let it run.)
- Also in the Properties box, go to the Tools tab, in the Error Checking area click Check Now, in the resulting dialog, click once in each of the two check boxes and then click Start. It will seem to start and then tell you that it can't and ask you if you want to schedule it to run at next reboot. Click yes. Close everything and then reboot your computer.
- Also in the Properties box, go to the Tools tab, click Defragment Now, on the resulting dialog, click Defragment
- Right click on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop and choose Internet Options (if there isn't an icon on your desktop, open Internet Explorer and select Internet Options from the Tools menu.) On the General tab, in the Browsing History section, click Delete. In the resulting dialog, in the Temporary Internet Files, click Delete Files. (If you haven't done this lately, this will take quite a while.)
- If you do these things and it still seems slow, run a full virus scan, first making sure its definitions are up to date. If your anti virus software doesn't include anti spyware, then download the free version of AdAware (just google it) and run it.
These are just some of the most common issues that slow a computer down. There are many variables that affect the advice, so if you try those steps and it still seems slow, let me know and we'll arrange to chat on Yahoo and I'll see what I can advise.
Thanks HTR for the tune up tips. I have to have my bus at a shop that is 30 miles from here, tomorrow at 8:00 for a front end alignment. I just went out and plugged in the block htr, cuz i am to lazy to get up at 4 in the morning to plug it in. Anyway, it is too late for me to start on this tonight, but perhaps tomorrow night i will run these.