Internet Access on the Road

OK OK OK So after posting the thread I then did a search and sure enough I found a lot of the info I was seeking, but I still would like to hear from any one that uses there laptop on the road, with regards to which provider gives the best coverage and value for $$$'s

Hi Nuboy

We have used CDMA through a Kyocera phone that gives a burst speed up to 163K but still is effectively dialup speed. The soon to be defunct CDMA network is good if you are doing the outside lap of Australia on the bitumen but not so good in the good places where we tend to go like the deserts. Hence we now have only Sat/CDMA Qualcomm that is useless for data. Telstra have a monoploy on the fast X1 -RTT technology which is the only way to go with CDMA.

A sneaky plan with Telstra is to go with their data only $29 or $49 a month, no contract plan with a voice contract and you can still make voice calls. Data is charged in 15 minutes lots though. Some but very few have wireless hotspots like the cities. Some places will let connect through Ethernet to their broadband. (What will be installed in the new pub at Mt Dare!!

Hope this assists and enjoy your travels.

Regards
Ian@Mt Dare

Howdy Nuboy,

A couple of my friends have those wireless internet adapters by unwired. They seem to like them, but they are in Sydney, where I guess the coverage is pretty good.

Bigpond have hotspots everywhere as well - I think most McDonalds are enabled, for example. If it is just to check your emails and stuff, could be the way to go.

The fact that you have a wireless card, combined with the fact there are a lot of unsecured wireless ADSL and Cavle connections out there, could suggest you give that a try, although it is probably illegal....

Cheers,

Chump

Hello nuboy

I'm currently in Hervey Bay having done a bit of a tour around FNQ. I run a laptop but have no connections via CDMA or GSM and quite frankly I don't need one at this point in time as I don't camp in remote locations. There's Internet Cafe's everywhere I've been including the Karumba Point Tourtist Park. Some places have a place where you can plug in you laptop, or if that's not available then use one of their desktop ouitfits. I find that adequate for my needs. I have found if you look around any town there's internet available somewhere, quite often a library.

For example, I'm currently sitting in the Happy Wanderers Tourist Village and using their Hotspot at a cost of $8 for 24 hours access. In Cooktown the caravan park and internet access at $2 for 20 minutes.

What I do is prepare what I need to send out then copy and paste it into the e-mail to save time.
Tom

I'm with nuboy - totally confused! There is no really clear answer here -

Dell laptop with wireless capability - what do I go for?

What is the coverage like in remote areas?

Anyone been there done this?

To try an answer in a nutshell:

wireless enabled laptops/pda etc will work at a 'hot-spot' - somewhere someone's installed a wireless hotspot plugged in to broadband, in essentially the same way you'd create a wireless home or office network. Fast, and depending on where you are may require payment/logon details from owner. The range is generally pretty limited - say 20m or thereabouts. Locations are a bit of a gamble - I'm not sure how you reliably find hotspots.

Next option is to access the net via a mobile phone network. Coverage is the same as mobile phone coverage, and therefore at present CDMA will afford the greatest area coverage. I believe CDMA is also now has the faster speed (1x in most areas which roughly equals good dial up speed, for memory. Capital cities have infrastructure which will give broadband speeds). Some phones will let you use them as the modem, otherwise you can get a specific modem (pcmcia card or usb) to access the cdma network.
Experience tells me that it is an expensive way to access the net. Fine for email, but a killer if you're surfing the net. I use a usb gadget called the mini mox, and would rather have the card - less bits floating loose. I now only use it for email access when away from home.

If you're important enough to need web access beyond cdma coverage areas, satellite is the only way. That's beyond my experience, but I believe the globalstar handsets are data capable. No idea about speed, but at least you know you'll get coverage virtually everywhere.

There is a handset (possibly the globalstar) which is cdma+satellite. Accesses cdma network when in range, kicks to satellite when you're out of cdma coverage. It would be worth looking in to whether this has data capability if you're particularly keen on australia wide internet access.

If you're planning on using your laptop's wireless capability only, try
www.freewifi.com.au/index.htm
to find hotspots (or google), though I don't imagine either would necessarily be comprehensive.

A large nutshell I'm afraid, but hopefully it's been helpful in a broad fashion.
Cheers,
John

ive actually been looking into this myself lately, apparently the new network that is replacing cdma will roll out by the end of the year and will be much faster than cdma (according to telstra). I also read an independant review in a PC mag that compared all the players and said telstra is the way to go abd has the best coverage.

Telstra also claim that the cdma network reaches 98% of the population.

Apparently their will be some new plan options rolling out for telstra soon too and you will be able to change your plan once a month at no extra charge

Hope that helps

Gooday, We have Mini Max from Telstra, work on CDMA network, so give wide coverage, they will also give you B/Band speed in certain cities where it is available. Think they are still on offer just plugs into your USB port. We bought ours out right , $500 then we can turn it on & off as we like , minimum of a month each time, or you sign a 24month contract & they give it to you but you are locked in for this time at $50-00 a month for 20 hours connection time, when you connect it is timed in 5 minute blocks. Can get a $30-00 plan for 10 hours if you own it.
Go to a site called noboundaries, the people there have all the info & can get many questions answered, they even hire them if you only want for short time.
Hope this helps.
cheers,
Boroma604.

A little bit of UPDATE:- Purchased a Telstra Wireless Card $299 inclusive of a 12 month contract @ $29 per Month, as seen on that TV ad. (dont know what they had to sing about ?)
Once installed the signal strength in down town (Warnbro WA) only 25K's out from CBD (Perth) was really quite marginal. I Contacted Telstra Tech Support and was told maybee I should go out and purchase an external arial + connector for around $100 which might improve my signal strength. Well I thought if this thing is this good 25K's out how's it going to perform 100 or 1000K's down the line ???? Thankfully they have a 10 day return policy which I par-took off. I will now rely on Macca's, internet cafes and the odd phone line connection at least untill the Technology has had a chance to improve. A crate of carrier pidgens maybe the go if any body has some for sale ?
Thanks for advice received
Regards Nuboy