Has anyone used a wireless aircard?

[kdibattista]

Not sure if that's the right term but when I was shopping for a new laptop I asked about wireless connection when I was on vacation. I was told that I could get an aircard for my laptop and it would work wirelessly using the cell phone towers. Has anyone used one? DH has a Nextel/Sprint phone and I have TMobile.

Just curious if that's accurate or not. I found something on the Sprint site but I can't tell if it's what I think it is

http://mobilebusiness.sprint.com/px500/?id9=SEM

 

[horseshowmom]

I have that for my laptop. Mine is through Cingular.

I have been very pleased with it but will say that it has the same shortfalls as cell phones. If your cell phone doesn't work somewhere, your laptop probably won't pick up the internet in that location either. If you have very good cell coverage, then it should work great.

 

[AllyandJack]

I've been looking into this, too.

I've been kicking around whether to just a phone with Internet access, too (like the Treo). I know it's not the same as having the laptop, but while I'm on vacation/taking a road trip, etc., I wonder if it would be sufficient.

I hope people have some insight!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I have used both the wireless card AND my Treo quite a bit on the road.

The wireless cards (we had ones from Sprint but don't have them now that we are with Verizon) are great but as the PP said they have the same downfalls as a cell phone. The connection is usually a tad faster then a dial-up connection and you can use them anywhere you get a cell phone signal.

I am on my 3rd Treo and had 2 Ipaqs before that (bit rough on PDAs I guess - lol) and find that the online connection on my Treo is almost as fast as a wireless card on my laptop.

There is a free download called PDANet where you can use the hotsync cable or the bluetooth connection on your laptop and use your PDA as a modem. I do this on car trips quite a bit so I can have the full size keyboard of my laptop. The only downside is that I can't be on the phone on a call and online at the same time.

At WDW I have been able to use the PDANet with the Treo at most resorts but I have to make sure I have a good cell signal inside the room. I didnt have any problems at Pop getting a good signal but at OKW I had just one spot in the room (by the porch door) where I could get 1 bar.

Hope that helped!