[lug] ATT&T mobile broadband

[Rob Nagler]

Nate Duehr writes:
> Did you buy the Mini 9 already?  I hear they have a built-in AT&T wireless
> option direct from Dell available now.

I would think it is a good idea to use a USB dongle so you are not
tied to a particular vendor.  You aren't going to be using the card
all the time -- if you are, get a EVDO router.

We've used Verizon for many years now.  I made the mistake of buying
PCMCIA cards, and now we have MacBooks so we only buy USB now. :-) I'm
very happy with Verizon's broadband service.  It's available in just
about every city I visit, and penetrates quite well in difficult to
reach buildings.  When broadband isn't available, the lower speed is
acceptable.  We have used the PCMCIA cards years ago, and they worked
just fine.  I don't carry an internet-phone, just a regular cell and
my laptop.  I use the MacBook/Verizon card while driving around (and
lost b/c my navigator is confused ;-).

An aside.  Recently I was looking at deploying USB dongles on Linux in
our Freikometers (look it up ;-), but got bogged down trying to do a
deal with Sprint, which turned out to be a bureaucratic nightmare that
ended up costing us more money than if we walked into a store -- don't
ask.  As a result of this fiasco, we never actually tried the Sprint
cards. :-(

Rob