Friday, June 17, 2011
New aircard
We made the decision to upgrade to the Verizon 4g aircard USB551L. We know that 4g is not everywhere, but it is here in Lafayette. They also claim that even with 3g service the card will provide higher more reliable service. Well, so far this has been a nightmare. I spent the better part of an afternoon trying to get the first aircard they sold me to work. I will say....I was working with the store manager and he stuck with it till we had a solution.....a replacement card. Took that back home and we are still having issues. I did realize that I needed to upgrade the verizon software.....which I did....and did notice some improvement. Still, we have issues. The thing goes dormant at the drop of a hat......that is suppose to be a temporary condition......as soon as it senses activity is should awaken itself.....it doesn't always follow through. Many times I have to disconnect and then re-connect manually. We also have problems at start up.....sometimes it will show it is connected and it is not. Again I have to disconnect and re-connect until it actually starts working. Don't you just love technology? I'm guessing I will be returning to the verizon store tomorrow for another long session. I'm really not sure what our solution is here. I'm starting to wonder if the card and software are truly compatible with our Mac operating system. Of course, no one at the Verizon store has a clue about Macs. In fact, we had to go through 5 techs on the phone before we found someone at the "support center" that had a clue of the mac operating system. I guess the most confusing part for me is "what" the actual problem is......is it the card.....the software.....or the signal itself.
I will say when it does work.....I love it....the speed is fabulous! So, anybody out there in blogland that has any suggestions.....I'm listening!!
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No solutions, but following along to learn the result. We're still living in a sticks and bricks and have internet through our cable company, but will likely be using a Verizon aircard when we start fulltiming as we will need phone service then as well. For now, we purchased the Millenicom aircard (20 GB data package) for use when we're on the road, and so far, we're loving it. The package we purchased uses the Verizon network, so we have had excellent coverage. Had no problems getting it to work on the MAC computers (or the Windows partition on my MAC laptop).
ReplyDeleteI have the new Verizon Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH-LC11, and at first I had problems, too. They sent me a new one and I returned the original. Still didn't work. Went to the Verizon store and exchanged batteries, and now it's much better. I have the 10G plan for $80/mo, and am right near the limit. But, it IS only $10 for each additional G, so... I spend a lot of time on my computer.
ReplyDeleteWith this unit I can have my printer work with my laptop, so it is a hotspot for me.
I hope you are able to work it out, it would be hard to be a fulltimer without Internet service.
Some Verizon stores understand the Mac very well, especially if the techs have one of their own.
ReplyDeleteMy advice is that if you are on your second one and it doesn't work properly, take it back and get something else. Have you used the Verizon MiFi? I find it far superior to the aircard I had before that, but of course it isn't foolproof either. Good luck.
No advice for you but appreciated your post. We are not full-timers but I HATE being without internet when we do travel. We are still trying to find a solution so I'll be watching to see what you figure out.
ReplyDeleteWe switched from our 3G Verizon air card to a Mifi set up this past winter & so far so good. We had to go to that 10 Gig plan as well because we could never keep things under 5 Gigs. I have heard about this 4G stuff but am just not real familiar with it.
ReplyDeleteWe have the Verizon 4G Mifi with 10G and it is no problem so far. FAST as can be but we do not have a MAC so I am not sure if that is your problem. Hope you solve your issues!
ReplyDeleteHave fun
Donna
Right now I am using the 3G WI FI on my smart phone, it works faster than my Verizon air card. I may just give up the air card all together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a 'crash test dummy' (lol) on the 4G aircards!! Someone has to try these things out and get the kinks worked out before the rest of us dive in the pool.
ReplyDeleteHope you get it squared away soon!