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- dagfooyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would assume that you could get the card activated at your cell phone dealer who's providing the service. They'd be stupid not to...
This sounds pretty cool. If I was ten people instead of one I'd probably switch to this plan for all my internet needs. - altcountryman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lotsa ho's charge for teh wi fi, but it's on the company's tab, and they are happy to pay the $9.99 to squeeze a few more e-mails out of me and the other wage slaves.
- syuusuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1its called EVDO
- Yankees368, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This NYtimes article is old and re-used. I remember talking about this over a year ago. And fi you want something like this, just connect over Bluetooth to your Sprint EVDO phone!
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/northeastern-us-wireless-forum/10233-using-verizon-high-speed-3g-network.html?highlight=The+Junxion+box - FreakTrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Easier to pay 10 bucks for a connection in a motel, bring a router to broadcast the connection, and charge everyone 2-3 bucks if they want to use it. made 25 bucks last time i did that."
And when your staying at a relative's/friend's house, and there neighbors don't have open networks? Or if the service is unavailable at your hotel? - FreakTrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"So, if I do not use windows I'm not allowed to eat at the grown-up table???"
"It's also the only model that when used with Sprint or Verizon cards, automatically configures itself; you can skip the setup steps involving the Ethernet cable and Web browser. You literally plug the thing in, insert the card, and start surfing. That feature, and its super-clear browser-based Web setup page, makes the Phoebus the simplicity champion."
Also, I doubt there are any cards out there that would allow you to connect with a nix system, however not let you activate the card. - fuzzweed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0brilliant. not. So to make it pay you share a 400kb connection with 10 people. It would be quicker to post a letter by that point.....
- Ludwig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Alternatively, use your cellphone to get online and then set your laptop up to broadcast a wireless signal and share the connection.
- kazsymonds, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use a pcmcia card provided by Vodafone when im away from home, when it can connect to the 3g Network i get data at 384Kb/s or if 3g isnt available it uses GPRS at the astonishing speed of 55K!
Quite expensive though (bout £2 per MB) so i wouldnt recommend. I think we may be on the verge of bridging the Cellular and landline networks though! - davidswelt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No digg.
Last time I checked, 3G was terribly expensive - if you get a picture in your e-mail, you'll easily end up paying more than those exhorbitant hotel rates.
If I understand this right - and the article isn't really clear - this is just a portable wireless base station with a PCMCIA socket (or similar) that can handle a 3G laptop card.
I could as well just plug the 3G card into my laptop, can't I? There are plenty of GSM PCMCIA cards, so I guess 3G cards would exist, too.
Or did I totally misunderstand this article? - vize, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Its called an EVDO router. I remember reading about it a few months back on engadget.
- gamabunta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Easier to pay 10 bucks for a connection in a motel, bring a router to broadcast the connection, and charge everyone 2-3 bucks if they want to use it. made 25 bucks last time i did that.
- Tripmoneyuk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wouldn't worry too much about the Nix systems..
They'll probably just replace the units operating system straight out with a port of Linux & let anyone use it ;)
They've already done that with normal wifi routers, so why not? - SpacemanSpiff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's a nice concept, but the article chooses a poor angle by offering this as an alternative to paid access at a hotel. Most hotels are $10-$20 a day and require no additional equipment. This device alone costs $600 plus a wireless subscription.
The only place I see this thing working is in a neighborhood that can't get DSL or cable and everybody shares the cost. That, however, is in violation of the wireless subscription as stated at the end of the article. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Yeah, I'm going to pull out a big "Hot Spot in a Box" while I'm in a taxi, put the PCMCIA card in it, then get out my laptop, turn that on, then go online"
You don't get it, the PCMCIA card can be used in a laptop without the router. But if you are with some friends and want to share your connection, you use the router. - Yanks2435, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Mousky: same here, pretty much all hotels use free wifi now, and have a free hard line as well. Just this past weekend I was at a Best Western in PA and we hooked up a router and played Live on an Xbox. Good stuff.
- jpresto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They've just released a reasonably priced one (Kyrocera KR1 @ $200) so somewhat relevant. Probably not so much for the NYT crowd.
It does have its uses - I use it as a backup for customers with broadband outages - but I can't imagine anyone using it in lieu of a PCMCIA card. It's an external box that needs power. As mentioned above, you'd use a BT phone first. - Step1Mark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0cool stuff but the price needs to come down first
- starsoldier, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anyone remember Stompbox?
http://www.stompboxnetworks.com/ - jmbull, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0most hotels offer free wifi... maybe you guys are just staying at motels...
- vlekk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0diggs linking to articles that require registration should be illegal!
Thumbs down. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Or did I totally misunderstand this article?"
Yes, you did.
You don't install a router for one computer. You use the router to share the connection among a bunch of them.
That's what you can do here. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0man what hotels do you guys stay in, the only time I have ever paid for broadband access in a hotel was an extended stay hotel, and it was $2.99 for the entire stay, everywhere else I have stayed had free broadband access. You guys are getting ripped
- yarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Rogers telecommunications here in Canada is supposed to be testing this service out soon. No word yet on exactly where, but the "official" word from the higher-ups say it'll be rolled out in Ontario first.
...go figure.
They're planning on selling it through the "security through obscurity" bit, because _obviously_ - nobody has any telecommunications equipment to sniff data off cellular networks... - DJMajickman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hmmMMmm $10-24 a night extra for wireless access at a hotel or $60 a month for something that you only use for 3 days a month if that. Or you could always buy a wireless router, set the security up on it, and plug it into the wall jack in your hotel room.
- Polaris75, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Cool concept, retarded article ... "With those PC cards, you can go online anywhere there's a cellular signal: in a taxi, on a bus, in a waiting room or wherever." ... Yeah, I'm going to pull out a big "Hot Spot in a Box" while I'm in a taxi, put the PCMCIA card in it, then get out my laptop, turn that on, then go online ... That way I can share the wireless connection with all the cars around me! (?????) ... NO! I'm going to put the bloody PCMCIA card IN my laptop since I'm going to be the only one using the wireless in the taxi!
Cool concept though for other uses ... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You can make one of these
- davidswelt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lyph:
>You don't install a router for one computer. You use the router to share the connection among a
> bunch of them.
> That's what you can do here.
Well I did understand that - I mean, it's a wireless router after all.
But what's so innovative about that? I mean, use any portable base station, plug it into your laptop that has dial-up or a 3G or GPRS card, and off you go.
Or, on my laptop, I select "Sharing" and click on "Share my Internet Connection" and it'll share the wealth using NAT and DHCP using the built-in Airport card. Dead easy, works all the time. Comes with the OS. It's been there for years. - mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hotels charge for wi-fi? Any hotel I have stayed in the past two years that has wi-fi does not charge for wi-fi.
- solarpowered, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"plug in anywhere?"
Wrong, it's only where there's cellular access, and data mode at that.
"Everywhere" includes where I am, and there's no cell/data coverage where I am. - davidswelt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think I'm slowly getting the hype here.
3G has already been rolled out in many European states. In Germany, e.g., the government auctioned of 3G frequencies (it's called UMTS there) for >100 Billion Euro (!). 3G phones are available now, at least in Ger, Aus, and UK. The problem is that most tarriffs seem to charge by volume or in volume buckets, and the charges are rather high. (The same applies to GPRS.)
Usually they advertised 3G as a network for "mobile video-phones". To many people including me it was quite clear that if people were interested to use video telephony like that, they wouldn't be willing to pay so much more for it.
Any Japanese readers here? I'm sure they would have 3G there, too.
So don't get too excited over 3G - it's an old hat. - nogami, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My cell provider charges $0.03/kb (~$31/mb) for GPRS data . I don't think I'd be doing this any time soon...
- JayWright, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$600 plus $60 a month for a service you might use occasionally when traveling? No thanks! I'll just keep stealing wifi from my neighbor instead...
- tidejwe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0so umm...why pay for a router when you can stick the card into your laptop with a direct connection, and then create a passworded adhoc to share it only with those you trust/want to? Works out virtually the same but saves you money and gives you a direct connection...
- ndub, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0lame. how do so many people digg this article but miss the boat on my "buy a rocket launcher legally online" post! =)
- Neonlights, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So... Its 50 dollars a month for the service through Verizon, the box is however much, and your allowed to share your already less than amazing speed connection with the leaches that pay nothing....??? gay article no digg.
- wwwdeveloper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No digg - If you read the User agreement for these 3G services that charge $60+ a month they are pretty straight forward in saying that you CAN'T download music, videos, large files, or share the connection with other PCs.
- pixelwerx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"$60 a month is a lot more palatable when 10 or 20 of you are sharing it."
It's a great idea, but I'm quite certain this would violate every wireless provider's terms of service and could possibly subject users to theft of service charges. - weevilgenius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As mentioned above, there are much more interesting (to me at least) homebrew versions. I built a Stompbox (http://www.stompboxnetworks.com/) using a Soekris (http://www.soekris.com/) box and a Sierra PC 5220 EVDO card with service by Verizon for about $300. Works like a charm, and lots of feature options, since you have full OS control.
- YellowBook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I code in C#/ASP.NET (at work) and PHP (at home.) I like both for different reasons but until Windows hosting is anywhere near as cheap as Linux hosting, my personal projects will continue to be in PHP.
- Cam_86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Its a cool concept, but i doubt the phone companies will back this for there normal customers... Unless they shell out more then 60$ that is.
Here in canada, the rates are outrageous. The pc card itself is nearly 400$, and the planes are awful. Starter plan is 15$(sounds reasonable) but its got a limit of 1.5megs a month, with an additional 21$ for every meg downloaded past that. The most expensive plan is 100$, and its got a limit of 100 megs a month....
Until the service gets cheaper in canada, and actually looks like a viable alternative to wifi(again, something i think the phone companies will try to stop) i think I'll just stick with connecting to other peoples networks. - jrsmith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cheaper hotels have free wifi... I stayed at a La Quinta and had a nice free WiFi connection... Then I stayed at doubletree (which is part of hilton hotels) and paid $9.95, then a couple of nights later I stayed at a hilton and paid $12.95 a day for internet and it was the same system as doubletree (hhonors). So you see, the $75 room at the La Quinta had a free connection and the $225 suite at the hilton was $12.95... Of course, assuming your wifi card has the capability, if you can get the MAC address of another computer using the network you can set a locally administered MAC address on your system and possibly gain access that way, I think if they are using it at the time that you try it then either they will lose connectivity or you will because I assume the IP address is linked to the MAC address.
- Spaztic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use EVDO on my phone. I get over 2mb down!
- terafunker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Looks like something that will change the way we all access and use the Internet in the not-so-distant future; for now, it's a bit complicated and expensive....but someday.
- lightandshadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can already do this with my Powerbook and EvDO using the internet sharing features in OS X and built-in Airport card.
My powerbook shows up as a infrastructure wireless network, which anyone can join (unless I turn on WPA) and connect to the net though my EvDO connection. Comes in handy for meetings in off-site locations or areas without Wi-Fi access. - kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0 If you have sprint or Verizon you can just buy a pcmcia card thats goes into your laptop and connects to the internet through that. I would not need a router at that point.
- Hoohoonick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So in conclusion, this is only a tool for if your computer has built-in wifi but not a (free) pcmcia slot.
- zarlwilliam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0id use a Sprint EVDO enabled cell phone... get the SERO plan which includes unlimited vision, 500+ min a month for $30 a month(youre not beating that deal)... unlock the phones NAI security.. you now have an amazing cell phone service AND and highspeed mobile wifi hotspot. Can't beat that for $30 a month... :P
keep it real - wa3yri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For $60/Month, you can stay in more upscale hotels that already have free wifi!
- aluminumpork, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Orrr stay at a hotel which offers free Internet Access. I work for a management company that manages many hotels (Hampton/Hiltons, Comfort Inn, AmericInn, Country Inn, etc etc) and all of our hotels offer free Internet Access.
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