[AT] ATIS at Portland, now 'wireless'

[Ken Knierim]

On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 8:54 AM, Paul Waugh <pwaugh at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> The only place I know to get this service is through a 'cell' company. Mine
> calls it an 'aircard'. I have thought about getting this because of the
> traveling, but to me it is expensive ($60 mo. unlimited). I have talked to
> several people that use them.  Just like a cell phone they are 'selective'
> on when they work. Depending on the signal, it controls the download rate.
> As I understand, under ideal condition (like right under a tower) they have
> a respectable speed.  My experience has been, wireless is 'slow' compare to
> hard wired, and not near as reliable.
>


Wireless cards are becoming more popular and coverage is getting
better. Some use USB, and some use a PCMCIA (now called a PC slot).
They are as varied as the suppliers. Most of the cell phone companies
have an offering for them. First time I saw one that was actually
working was at the Yuma tractor auction last year, and we were rather
out in the middle of the desert. Speed wasn't great but it was a LOT
better than the old cell-phone modems of a few years back. The fact
that we were inside a steel building out in the middle of nowhere and
it was working caught my attention. Coverage will depend on the
supplier and where you are, of course, but if you are moving around a
lot, it's better than not having a connection. You're right;
hard-wired connections are a lot better but the speed can be rather
good if you are paying for higher bandwidth and have good RF coverage.

It's a new service so there are some wrinkles that are going to show
up. There will be different companies that can't make it work but
those associated with the cell companies have a fair amount of capital
to work with. And if you're trying something new, plan on paying for
the wireless part and accepting the coverage issues. I have a new cell
phone with the qwerty keyboard and mobile web. Last week (on vacation
in Montana) we were driving around. I was a passenger and saw a
landmark I wanted to know more about. Logged onto google at 60 MPH on
Highway 2, searched and found the details on the landmark and got a
moving weather radar map to see if we were going to get stormed on.
Hard to do that with DSL. Since I use the phone for business, I look
at it like a much smaller version of my desktop that I can carry on
me. Sure, there are limitations, but it's pretty handy for a lot of
things.

Ken in AZ