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(More customer reviews)Living out in the sticks, dialup internet access was what I had to live with for ages. When Verizon added a tower that improved my cell phone coverage, I started wondering if it was an option for my PC as well. I'm not an early adopter of new technology and waited until neighbors had tried various options before I was willing to try this service. I've been using an extra phone line for the computer, the removal of which will save me half what this service costs monthly. Still it's an extra thirty bucks, so it has to be worth it to me.
Some neighbors are using the satellite service but aren't completely satisfied. The only negative comment I got about this little modem and the service was that there is a limit on how much access you get--5 gig/mo--which means you won't be downloading movies or playing internet games much, if at all. Since this isn't an issue for me, I decided to give it a try.
It is definitely faster than dialup access even at the fastest dialup modem speed. I use AOL and the TCP/IP connect is about 3-5 times faster, then all that stuff they display loads much faster as well and I can go about my business without waiting for more than a few seconds. That said, the transfer rate doesn't compare with the Comcast speed of my daughter's setup in town. This service is faster than dialup, but not 'blinding' by any means. As an example, in the past when I tried to download something, I noted the transfer rate on dialup was something like 4-6k per second. Sigh!! Things took forever and sometimes wouldn't download at all. I downloaded the update for my Kindle last night with this little modem and noted 50k/sec transfer rate. Certainly a lot better.
The speed does seem to depend on 'how crowded the air waves' are (or however you'd say that in technospeak :) and how many bars you get. I've found the number of bars is the same as what I get on my Verizon cell phone. Where my desktop PC is located, it varies from 0 to 2. I have ordered the antenna in hopes of boosting that.
Installing the little modem is as easy as running the CD installation disk that comes with it and then plugging the modem into a USB port when prompted to do so. It also comes with a cable in case you want to plug into a port on the back of a desktop PC and set the modem somewhere with easier access. You can leave the modem attached all the time if you want. It turns off when you turn the PC off. When on, it flashes a blue light, which means it's ready to pick up a signal. To connect your computer to the broadband service, you use the modem software (push the 'connect' button), which to me, seems to be equivalent to turning your cell phone on (the modem has a phone number). It is then ready for you to 'make a call', i.e. connect to the internet using some software such as Internet Explorer or AOL.
You can leave the modem connected all day like you would leave your cell phone on and not affect the data limit since that only happens when you are connected to and using the internet. If you use the internet with your cell phone, you know there is a data limit with it as well. This is sort of the same thing.
The modem software will show you what your usage is each time you connect so you're aware of what you've used so far. Sending emails, Facebook updates, photos, etc uses part of your allocation, as well as downloading files, photos, etc. Various internet screen refresh activities uses some. Watching streaming video or playing games uses a lot. Listening to internet radio uses enough that you probably won't want to do that all the time. For me, after 5 days of email, Facebook postings, attempting to watch some short videos and listening to the AOL radio one day just to see what impact it would have, plus downloading the Kindle software update, posting a few Amazon reviews, and the like, I've used about 225mg, or about 50mg a day, so I should be able to stay within the limit easily with no change to my regular internet activities.
I still cannot really watch streaming videos such as those on YouTube with my 1-2 bar connectivity, without breaks while it reloads the next bit. Even though it reloads faster than before, I have to want to see it pretty badly to put up with that.
One concern: This morning there seemed to be a problem with the modem connecting to Verizon. It was resolved within half an hour and it is Black Friday, which may or may not have anything to do with it. I will update if that happens again, but otherwise it has connected fast and remained connected without problem.
Bottom line: It is definitely better than dialup--for me about 5 times faster. That's not seriously fast, but acceptable and worth the extra money to me, especially since I don't have any options other than satellite which is affected by weather, trees, and costs more as well.
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