[Tfug] Connectivity out in Gates Pass?

[Jim March]

On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 2:28 PM, Christopher Robbins <robbinsc at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Well, subject line says it all.  Setting up some hardware for a friend
> in Gates Pass, but he has no idea about internet access out there.  No
> land-line or cable.  I remember rumblings about Sprint broadband killing
> service earlier in the month, but I don't remember anything else...
>
> Anyone have any recommendations?
>
> Thanks!
>
>      - Chris


If he can afford $60/month and you have cellular access, I'd be willing to
come out with my Verizon USB cellphone critter and see how it performs.
Right now, sitting near the corner of Broadway and Campbell, I'm getting
2500kbps down and 258kbps up per http://speedtest.net - that's actually
better than a lot of lower-end DSL setups.  Ping time sucks for gaming
though, it' can run as high as 300ms.

Initial hardware costs are dirt cheap, it's the $60/month that's a killer.
The device I'm using is the USB720 by I think Novatel; I've got it working
with a simple wvdial script so it should work with any distro with kernel
2.6.20 or later with no serial kernel patches.  Stability is excellent.  The
USB device comes with a 3ft cable so you can route the critter up higher;
the cable also allows you to draw data from one USB2.0 port and power from
another for weak-signal areas.

Avoid the "airprime" devices like the plague; they have onboard Windows
drivers in ROM which is set up to look like a CD drive to the OS.  Which
means Linux chokes hard on using it as a modem.  There are kernel patches to
get around this but the patch set has to be applied for every kernel update,
a major pain in the keister.

I've also had success getting the USB720 authorized the first time via the
Windows software for same running under VirtualBox and WinXP.

What else...

HEY, I just remembered, I have that PCMCIA Verizon modem I used to use.
It's not as fast as the new USB critter (max down around 1,200kbps, max up
around 125) but I've also got the inline signal booster for it and dual
external antennas.  THAT bad boy ought to scoop up a usable broadband-level
signal from way the hell out there.  With a $10 adapter cable, the inline
power-booster could be used with a USB720 device...

If the client is a laptopper, he might like the fact that these
Verizon-based critters can be used elsewhere besides home...

Just a thought?

Jim
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