Wireless Internet Service

Hope--I've had lots of experience with various providers but I'm not sure if you're just asking about "wireless" or also about ways of delivering the service.  In Manhattan, I use Time Warner, but it's not wireless, as I never bothered to purchase a router. My computer is attached to a cable.  Cable delivery, in my experience, is the best in terms of speed of download and upload.  In Maine, I had a receiver on my roof and a router in the house. (My computer came with a wireless card.)  This service went down so often (weather) that I changed to Verizon DSL (still using my wireless card) and this weekend I set my husband up using the same DSL router.  It's working quite well and he's some 500 feet away from the router.  (A lot depends on the range of your wireless card, so check the range as well when deciding on your service and equipment.)

I hesitated in the past to use DSL but I'm very happy with it, and I got it at a monthly discount, of 24.99 a month.  In New York, I pay $106 for Road Runner and Cable TV.  When I return in the fall, I plan to change from cable to DSL for the savings. DSL is a bit slower than cable but not so much that I won't welcome the savings. However, you can get a year's special, with Road Runner, of about $29.00 (thru Earthlink) but you lose it after a year.  I also much prefer moving my computer around and not using a cable attachment so even if you decide on cable, consider getting a wireless card and a router.  Don't forget you'll need a wireless card in your computer aside from the equipment provided by Verizon if you decide to go DSL. 

I think wireless USB cards are decent whether you go with verizon or sprint- I'm a verizon fan myself... however, the plans are expensive, and it depends on what you need it for.

For example- so many places like airports, starbucks, libraries, hotels- have free WIFI or hot zones that you can get internet access from without paying for it.

Some of the sprint plans I looked at were $70 a month, which I felt was a lot. 

If you want it for a road trip, the service interuptions may get annoying. If this is a life change that you're making, where you would frequently be on the road, what about having a blackberry or treo phone type thing to get your emails on the road when you can't use your laptop?

yes the security thing is an issue too.  I used to be a piggybacker- I won't lie.  I'd search for any router in close distance that wasn't secure, however, I quickly learned that there are some scammers out there, and you've got to be careful.

If you are using a WIFI or in a hot spot, be safe-- don't do things like shop on line (unless you get a special credit card number to use online) bank online, or put in any information like your SSN or pins, and passwords.  If it's just to check your email, and read the news, etc, as long as you change your password often you shouldn't worry.  Also, if you have a wireless router in your house, you should always give it a name, and lock it so no one has access to your information.

(although on the web, we all know nothing is really sacred)

AlwaysHope, I am typing this from my parents' house in the upper midwestern U.S. using a Macintosh "MacBook Pro" laptop with a Verizon internet access card plugged into a slot on the side.

This system is wireless and completely mobile--we used it all last summer when we were camping in the Rocky Mountain states.  It worked as we were driving down the highway (passenger use only, of course!), camped at a campsite, staying at a motel (if they don't provide WiFi), eating lunch in a park, visiting friends, etc.

Anywhere we can get a halfway decent cellphone signal, we can get internet access with this card.  For instance, we sat in our lounge chairs at a campsite at Glacier National Park and read Forest Service updates about fires in the areas we were planning to travel later that week.  We made on-line campsite reservations at state parks.  We looked at tourist information about towns down the road.  We kept in touch with family members by email (in between postcards).  It was really handy.

The speed is way faster than what we get with our HugesNet satellite internet system at home.  The Verizon access card is supposedly broadband speed, although that's not always true.  Ironically, we can't use it at home (southeastern U.S.), because we can't get a cellphone signal at our house.

We pay $48 per month for the service, although that's a discounted price.

Apparently, Sprint and AT&T also provide similar systems.   My dh says they all have good Mac support now.

otter