Internet access via a cell phone on a laptop

[jburr36]

I had a normal version phone plan with the data plan. But the data was for a very small amount, half a gig a month. So I upgraded to the unlimited data plan and began downloading patches and mods for a game I play. It was about 25 gigs worth. It worked way faster than my home line or the download speed at work.

Then I got my phone bill. Some how the two departments had a failure to communicate. I was still on my old plan of 500mb. They charge $.25 per mb over that limit. My phone bill was for $5,800.00 . They fixed it, but dang be careful when tethering your laptop, and beware what plan you have before you begin.

You got that right. When I first set up my phone as a moden years ago I made sure my plan included unlimited data. Sprint changed their plans but luckily I got grandfathered into that unlimited plan. That's why I never gave up my california number when I moved to Idaho. But They put 4G service out here so I signed on to the everything data plan which is unlimited data on the phone itself. I signed on to the mobile hotspot so I can tether 5 PCs to it at once. I've used my phone as a modem 24/7 downloading several gigs of data on both plans not to mention playing a silly online game and sprint never complained about it.

For you Verizon users though they just changed their policy with data. They are going to charge by the usage now and do away with the unlimited data plans so beware of that. That's been in the news in the last 10 days.

 

[James912]

Its cool and all, but a bit on the slow side. I If u have a router that doesn't reach as far as u want, go here->http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-WIFI-Antenna-Reception-Booster/, and if that dont work, go to newegg.com, or tigerdirect.com and get either a better router, access point, or antenna. Antennaes are great. They'll reach far enough for ya. Another tip, if your using your isp's rental modem and router, go to one of the sites mentioned and buy your own. It'll be much faster. Just make sure u cal your isp and tell them your mac address and then install it and then take the rental junk back to them and they'll take it off your bill. One thing i hate about smart phones, is the network adapter they have in them. You only get max 65 megs if you connect to wifi. Thats like wireless g. I bought a trendnet TEW-690AP Wireless AP/Bridge. Wireless, i connect at 144mbps. Im still working on gettin it up to 450 where its supposed to be. Ive been so busy working, and building computers, and upgrading my own.

 

[Dan]

Unfortunately when ever I Google for a tutorial for you they want to tell a guy to install some program. You can manually clean out that windows 7 and make it run really good. As fast as the Ubuntu me thinks. This link sorta say's what I mean but a guy can definitely mess things up here big time if they don't know what they are doing. How to Clean the Registry Manually | An Waray Blogger

I would recommend every bloatware spam program they stuck from the factory you are not using to consider uninstalling. After that perhaps use a program like Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download it takes it about an hour to do a full scan. For best odds run it in safe mode.

I just remembered something else VERY IMPORTANT TO SAY if you are on a new distro of Windows even 7 it will try to update Windows in the back ground and you may not even know it is happening at the time. It's times like these that a Windows OS will run very sluggish especially at the internet browser. Sometimes with a Windows OS it is just good to walk away from it and let it run when this happens.


When Ubuntu updates you can set it to go automatically or manually. You will notice that computer OS is never sluggish like the other during this process. That's the way it has been for me anyway.

Ahh, I do have windows set up to notify not just update. Some of their BS stuff, they will sneak in, on ya calling what ever update they are dumping on you as "important".

I can not find the drop-down menu you mentioned?

Having trouble getting java to run. So switched to google chrome. Comes with it but get disabled.

Really liking Ubuntu though. A bit of under the hood work but over all, a great OS

 

[Dan]

James, I always wanted to make the pringel's (sp) can one! Might try the soup can one just for laughs and to see if I can.

Every one is right! They will charge you a huge amount of cash for data overages!

Timing was great yesterday. Cable went out and had only the cell phone connection. Was really cool to have back up!

 

[Goat Herder]

Here you go Dan. I am showing off Ha Ha . This is a screen shot showing where for what the console and command line is. Where to find it .

I am using a Compiz cube type of thing. These are just a set of three D type wall papers that compimented my graphics to play with. Nothing too special.
http://www.google.com/#pq=change pi...gc.r_pw.&fp=97eede9ed711c932&biw=1096&bih=572

I kinda like the extra desk top spaces they do come in very handy.

I got Windows running in a cage on Virtual Box OSE inside of the Linux OS. This lap top has a dual core CPU and about 8 Gigs of ram. I can multi task two even three OS's at once so to speak. I got windows on this one really just for Net Flix and anything Proprietary.

 

[Goat Herder]

I played with Ekiga and the OSE box today almost got it to work in my Ubuntu 11.04 OS HeHe It would not register for some reason with this set up hence I can share a screen shot with out giving the whole world my phone number. I also found out that Skype under Ubuntu is prolly way better than M.J.

Then I needed to simply stop playing with it and go work on ''repair'' my old work truck and do the rest of my choirs lol

Its fun enough to me play with and figure out than whats on T.V. after work these days. Reading this forum learns me somth'un new. 2 1/2 hours of commercials. That's no way to message the ol ''noggen'' brain. They would have me thinking I need the latest pharmacological snake oil or some silly stuff. ''I am immune to that sorta thing''

I had a Verizon phone about 7 years ago and hooked it up to my lap top I was repairing satellite receivers at the time. I ran my own phone naively. Got a 75 dollars added to my phone bill for just 10 minutes of use. Have not tried it since...

Hearing it has got so much cheaper lately is great news!

 

[Dan]

Sorry for not responding until now Goatster. I wanted to really look at what you were saying about Ubuntu. Been working night and day, (thank you God) and just have not had a chance to really give it the time I want to yet.

Just an update on the PDAnet thing. Is working purty awesome. I am right now at work sitting in the parking lot. One big bummer is it won't connect to "secure web sites" with the free version. I can get here but can not find a single web site including my email that it will connect to. (Other then their regester page, snork. $23 bucks or some thing for a life time membership) Which I am going to get. Is just so dang handy to have and aside from the membership fee, is free mobile internet.

My temp night gig is a subcontract thing where I pretty much wait to deliver electronics to techs at fast food places undergoing upgrades. There are 5 of us here at $20 an hr. But must be worth it to them.

But my point is is cool to be able to goof around here on the forum rather then sitting around staring at my watch. There is free wifi here next to the airport but PDAnet is actually faster.

I am finding Ubuntu has a rougher time hooking up even at home's wifi. But I really have not worked at it to see if some thing could be done to make it better.

 

[Goat Herder]

I have a friend his wifi works good with U . Unfortunately I have had a recent go around with weaker wifi connection myself. Its been a bummer

 

[James912]

Yup. I hate how companies make products i.e: A trendnet Wireless N Access point 450mbps. 3x 2 dbi antennas, twice the range. Bs. I have one that is just that. 450mbps. I dont even get over 150 standing in front of the ap. Its range sucks. It covers like 2ft diamerter barely. I have the router in my shop with is seperated from the house by a breeze way. In the house by the sliding glass door i cannot keep a connection with that access point which is only 20ft away. A Belkin wireless N router holds a connection way better and a slightly better range and it has an internal antennae.

 

[Goat Herder]

Here is my latest Picasso. I just spent time doing a hay-nus work around to fix my wifi connection on my lappy. While I am a big fan of Ubuntu the wifi reception well was hoping they could have done something to fix it by now?

Everything is truly awesome except the wifi

 

[Goat Herder]

I just look for cool screen wall papers throughout here Google Custom Search

Sometimes I find something with lots of detail. I try to down load the biggest resolution. This set is two super imposed picts set to a transparent cube. I think this is a way better creation than my last one.

 

[rustycase]

My only link is WiFi, so it's frequently spotty... Oh well.
rc

 

[Dan]

You are quite mad Goat. Bonkers, insane and mad. I respect that.

 

[Goat Herder]

You are quite mad Goat. Bonkers, insane and mad. I respect that.

Well reading forums on wifi scrips made my eyes glaze over heavy more than a few times. After trying lots of stuff. What I did in the end was install Wicd and its grand meta-package then ran it side by side with the network manager that Ubuntu automatically installs..

I set my driver in Wicd to my Rainlink driver in its panel menu interface. Pretty easy. Then added it to the start up menu and my panel bar at the top of the screen..It has a re-pinging feature too it. They both seam to be borrowing something from each other and will not work right alone?

Dunno for sure what it is? The stock net work program hooks up first then the Wicd one. I have to enter my WPA key into both of them. They seam to be getting along great!! Since its working I am just gonna leave it alone until I can learn more. Right now its a dun deal and as strong of a signal as I have ever seen on any comp's Wifi card!

I don't think I will ever network this lappy with my alternatives I got laying around. USB sticks Memory Cards and Hot Swappers. I think the two programs might conflict? I got around 400 foot from the wireless router today that's when it became unstable but still worked fairly nicely considering.

Once a blue moon I have to reboot the comp. Then the Wifi works perfect again. So far its been about every eight hours or so.

Have to give it a couple of weeks and another Hotel trip out of town but I can definitely live with this at the moment. My lappy's built in Wifi card is relativity new,''driver architecture'' Older get ups might be working great?

I will report back in a few weeks. Right now I am very pleased. I am Typing in the dark at the back of my yard about 150 foot away right now enjoying the summer night's breeze. Darn thing is working flawlessly..


Yes Dan that is funny i do feel like a mad man figuring out some of this stuff but knowledge is a way to make money. Or at least I keep telling myself that. I build computers on the side sometimes. I should'a found something else to do lol lol lol

I got a old friend that got me into computers about ten years ago. He got me into computer video home alarm surveillance. I got to do a couple jobs and install a nice one at home for myself.

I got him back! Got him into this M.B. hobby and returned the favor payed him back good too Snicker Snork

 

[James912]

Saturday, we had a small storm but it was fierce. It knocked the power out on my block. I was on my desktop(i was thinkin' about switch to my laptop) when the power went out. The power hasn't gone completely out like that in 10 years at my house. I came back on my computer about 5pm that day and had just got a internet connection thru my phone working and the power came back on. It had taken me like 30 minutes to get the network thru my phone to my laptop, cuz i forgot to turn on the mobile hotspot. lol Thru wireless internet on my lappy, i get 144 max, even though its wireless n. Supposed to get up to 450 but these companies lie. Trendnet is the biggest lie of the all. 450mbps, bull. But 144 is good enough. Cant keep an internet connection in my house. My computer is seperated from the house by a breezeway. The signals from my router, and ap can barely penetrate the 2 stone block walls. I have to sit right by the sliding glass door to keep a signal. And even then its low. We don't have a network outlet in the house. So, i'll have to either use powerline or run lan cable. My house was built in 1976. Good ol' house. It creaks alot. lol

 

[rustycase]

I'm a Luddite compared to you fellows!
Dan's speed test got me 0.22/1.06 lol crawling along... lucky to be connected!

As James did in house, I was using the Belkin wifi usb adapter, but for everything. I have now upgraded to this Alfa usb adapter with a directional ant.

Amazon.com: Alfa 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g USB Wireless WiFi Network Adapter With Original Alfa Screw-On Swivel 9dBi Rubber Antenna: Electronics

For $0 monthly I'm doing well.

lol This is far superior than when I first accomplished links using my packet modem on the 2mtr band ! ...which was amazing after spending nights d/l'ing on the computer at 1200 baud and getting $450 phone bills, years back. that was ok when I was working...

I've tried a number of the cantennas and parabolic reflectors but didn't get one to perform btr than the alfa. Probably next for me is to fab a tower or mast and get my network adapter up at 50ft or so...

GO Community Wireless! Rah Rah !!!

...great reading abt U guys blazing along out there!
rc

 

[James912]

Rusty, if you have cable and your using your isp's crappy end of life modem, take it back to them and get them to take it off your bill and buy this. With this, you'll get the exact bandwidth your signed up for.
Newegg.com - MOTOROLA SB6120 Cable Modem SURFboard eXtreme 160Mbps in DOCSIS mode and 195Mbps in EuroDOCSIS mode Ethernet Port DOCSIS 3.0

 

[rustycase]

Tnx James...

there is NO signature...

got NO budget! lol
rc


lol little cobbled together china bike is more than I can afford!
gonna float a loan this morning to get me another gallon of mix gas...

 

[Dan]

This is funny, my first PC was a dumpster destined gift from my docs office. It had a toggle switch for an on/off. I read half of the book "Modems for Dummies" before realizing it was just a card ya put in a PC to get online. Before I even got online and the first time I saw "Windows 95" light up on the screen, I was afraid to touch the keyboard thinking I would accidentally launch missiles or some thing. The cell phone in my pocket has more computing power and memory then that poor thing did.

The yr before this, I would watch the Japanese biz report every morning at 3am. They kept saying how this American thing was bad. Carol has a "Money guy" So I suggested she ask him about this product as an investment. He told her new stuff would soon replace it and was not a good investment. It was freakin Microsoft! LOL

(I should go egg his house)

 

[Goat Herder]

Rustycase this is the best Antenna ever as far as I am concerned. Antenna: 24dBi Long-Distance Grid Parabolic Directional. WiFi / wireless. Alfa Network

The secrete is to use these active repeater cables keep your coax cable to just a very short pigtail '''Wifi USB adapter right at the Antenna'''. Then the DB gain is phenomenal. Long coax cable debilitates gain from the Antenna big time. You simply put the very short coax cable where the Antenna is and where the output of the USB adapter goes.... ''12 inch coax cable''.. max length

USB 2.0 Active Repeater Extension Cable: 5 meters / 16-ft: Chain up to 25 meters / 80 ft

I have used up to 4 of these active repeater cables chained together. Signal and speed was peachy.

Do not get the longer repeater cables they are a total waste of money.

The three best Wifi USB adapters are ... from my experience

(1) http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-158/Alfa-AWUS036NH-2000mW-1000mW/Detail.bok This one is best for Wireless N.

This one is not as good with B/G in my opinion. I don't think it is Ubuntu friendly? It does N superbly!!!

(2) RealTek 1000mW USB WiFi Adapter: Very Long Range, w/ RP-SMA Jack & 5dBi Antenna

This one I am pretty sure is the same model as one of my old ones.
It rocks with B/G mode in my opinion. Does only B/G It is Ubuntu friendly. How ever the last few distro's of Ubuntu have been weaker signal than Windows with out some kind of work around which has been a bummer..

(3) Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW USB Wireless WiFi Adapter + Antenna. Long-Range This one is Ubuntu friendly it works better with Wifi N in my experience. May or may not need a work around? Work awesome in N mode at a friends house with Ubuntu. Have not played with it enough to say for sure with Ubuntu. The second one I listed is my all time favorite for B/G mode. This adapter does N pretty nicely a very close second to the first one I listed. .


Instructions here back up what I am saying about the USB repeaters and Coax.
All of these Wifi ditties work with native drivers that come with windows and Ubuntu. Save the first one ''ubuntu'' Windows has always worked consistently with all of these in my own studies.

I found with the second adapter that I listed the software that comes with it is great I can adjust the tx power etc in windows. If there are other apps in your area on the same channel. It may prove to work even better if you put your router on a abstract channel from the surrounding ones if they are competing on the same channel well....




Antenna Cables: Use USB Cable as alternative (if possible) for More Gain

I have set up one of these get ups in the country side between two buildings it was amazing. This sorta thing opens up possibilities especially in N mode. Ways to back up home alarm systems etc.