Yay! I'm glad to hear it's working well for you. I have had no problem with the USB gizmo I got from Verizon either. The new NetworkManger stuff in Fedora9 and 10 are super easy for use with cell modems. All I had to do was put in my number@conection-address and it was off to the races. I have used the dual USB cable to provide extra power when the cell signal is weak. Luckily my laptop has 3 USB ports.<br>
<br>Now if my Treo 650 worked as well....<br><br>And yes, Verizon spends all of their customer service training budget on their nerd w/glasses ads. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 9:02 PM, Jim Lynch <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ale_nospam@fayettedigital.com">ale_nospam@fayettedigital.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I have been using a Verizon aircard for a while now with mixed results.<br>
It suffered from frequent disconnects, poor performance and occasional<br>
drops. While it wasn't great, it worked better than nothing. A couple<br>
of months ago I was speaking with a customer service rep about my<br>
frustration with the frequently disconnects and she suggested I sign up<br>
for the "Broadband" service which was faster and didn't cost any more.<br>
Oh and incidentally I could get a new pcmcia aircard which would take<br>
advantage of the faster service if I wanted. I was unimpressed with the<br>
new "Broadband" service I upgraded to wrt speed, bit it was a bit more<br>
reliable, not a lot however.<br>
<br>
I recently traveled to Orlando and found I had left the aircard at<br>
home. I needed internet access while there and decided to check out the<br>
new aircard the lady mentioned. I went to a Verizon store and talked<br>
with the guy there. English was his second language, as it was for all<br>
the clerks in that store (Kissimmee). I was the only one speaking<br>
English in the entire place. But I regress.<br>
<br>
So he didn't seem to think that I'd see much improvement in speed and<br>
asked another clerk about it and they agreed. They said something about<br>
Rev A being a bit faster. I have no idea what Rev A is.<br>
<br>
But since I needed access and the cost was $50 with a $50 rebate for an<br>
extended 2 year contract, I decided that wasn't a problem.<br>
<br>
I have to tell you that was the best $50/2 year commitment I ever made.<br>
I was able to connect and communicate at very respectable speeds all<br>
week with no drops, no problems what so ever.<br>
<br>
I subsequently took the laptop to my boat which is located at a marina<br>
on St. Simons Island and where communications is usually seriously<br>
compromised. It again performed flawlessly and with far better speed<br>
than at any time before. Nary a disconnect.<br>
<br>
As a note, I chose Verizon for both my wireless data connection and my<br>
cell phone provider because I do use the boat to cruise up and down the<br>
coast. Cruisers in that area report that Verizon has the best coverage<br>
of that area. I don't necessarily think their customer service is<br>
exceptional or even very good. But coverage is pretty important, IMHO.<br>
I do have both VHF and HF onboard so I have multiple communications<br>
backup, but safety at sea can never be too much.<br>
<br>
Oh and thanks to (I think) Jim Kinney for the original pointer to the<br>
wvdial parameters that made it work on Linux.<br>
<br>
Jim.<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- <br>James P. Kinney III <br><br>