RV 12v and 110...

But it sounds like if you have Verizon or Sprint (maybe others) you don't need WIFI -- long as you have the power (inverter, or shore-power) and an air card, you got internet without WIFI ... and can sit in you rig ... long as you have cell signal.

Unless I'm reading all these posts inaccurately - WIFI is free, air card is 'pay a month" -- BTW, how much is the 'pay a month' fee ... and how much is the air card. Are there better quality, or one size fits all?

Lots of folks are not familiar with inverters and their function. Here - www.donrowe.com/inverters/inverter_faq.html - you will find some great basic information. Here - cgi.ebay.com/12-volt-DC-AC-500-Watt-Powe..._trksid=p3286.c0.m14 - I've found a nice 500 watt on eBay with some nice pictures and usage notations.

FastEagle

44
Yes , WIFI is free and air cards charge.
Now some info.
Where WIFI is free in a lot of places, they are starting to charge for it in more and more places. Truck stops used to advertise "Free WIFI" but they are now charging by the hour or monthly plans. Military Exchanges have WIFI hot spots at a lot of their food courts "for a fee". Usually the libraries are still free and you can receive a signal sitting near by.
In a nutshell, Free WIFI is getting to be a thing of the past unless you want to sit in a restaurant or coffee house and then more and more are selling hourly or monthly packages.
Air cards are a very convienient way to go and the prices are comming down. Ntellos is provinding an air card for a monthly charge of $29.00 unlimited usage, and they are expected to be broadband within the next couple weeks. Right now they are just at dial up speeds. Alltell, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are basicially broadband right now (Verizon and Sprint for sure) and offer their plans at $59.00 / month.
Bottom line.
WIFI can still be found for free in a lot of places, but is slowly going to pay per play.
Air cards offer personal use anywhere (almost without exception) at moderate cost.
If all you want is to access internet to check email and look up something, , the cheaper air cards will do the trick just about anywhere you have cell coverage.
If you use the internet alot, go for the air cards for sure, and surf in your easychair.
Frank

Frank and FE -- I would do the internet much more than the TV for sure ... so my main interest is the ability to use web access. I've seen the WIFI go from free to pay in various places, as does everything that starts out free and then a vendor finds out that people actually USE the free service. I can remember when Internet was free and available only through university mainframes - and all one had to do was dial-in and have a good memory for a string of numbers and letters as long as my .... but that was years ago.

Seems to me some of the bases have it as well -- and you can sign up online for the signal, pay a fee online, and get the service -- seems like Pensacola has it, for one anyway. And interesting enough, when I signed up for a week ($14 I think) then moved out in a few days, and when I arrived at another base hundreds of miles away (can't remember where exactly now) but when I went online again, the same vendor page popped up and I got to use the remaining time -- which did surprise me. So one vendor might be at various bases in the south -- I know it was somewhere along the Gulf Coast -- but I bounce around so much I can't remember exactly which bases now.

Seems to me some of the bases have it as well -- and you can sign up online for the signal, pay a fee online, and get the service -- seems like Pensacola has it, for one anyway. And interesting enough, when I signed up for a week ($14 I think) then moved out in a few days, and when I arrived at another base hundreds of miles away (can't remember where exactly now) but when I went online again, the same vendor page popped up and I got to use the remaining time -- which did surprise me. So one vendor might be at various bases in the south -- I know it was somewhere along the Gulf Coast -- but I bounce around so much I can't remember exactly which bases now.

I found all the Florida Naval Bases used the same vendor for WiFi. It was a bit expensive and I found that there was usually always somewhere on base that we could get free WiFi. At NAS Jacksonville I could drive over to the Enlisted Recreation Center and sit in my car and pick up their WiFi signal.

Seeme to me I recall $7 one day, $14 a week, and $21 a month ... which isn't too bad if you can get it all the time when you need it. But then, you need to be in range of the towers, so it's not like an air card where it goes with you.

But it sounds like on this road trip, I can get internet pretty easily, and that's what I need to do banking and pay bills, and email with family -- so that's good. I'd wanna do TV too, sometime, but it seems lots more complex than internet ... and has this big antennas I'd hve to store in my mini-rig. so that miiight wait ... will do the air card though ... does that just plug-in, like a USB port, like the wireless mouse.

I've had sprint for years, and unless Verizonis much better, would probably stick ... what does anyone say about the services -- Versizon seems top, and Sprint too -- but I've heard some issues with Sprint sometimes.