Field Test: Mobile Internet

investmenttool.com technology journal

Daniel and I took a road trip a few weeks ago. On Saturday night, we loaded into my truck and headed off to the East Coast. Normally these trips can be kind of boring. After about four hours or so, Daniel and I get bored talking to each other. This time, we found a way to pass the time, the mobile Internet.

As part of my Sprint PCS handset upgrade, I purchased the $60 kit that allows the phone to be used as an Internet modem. The kit is essentially a connection and some software the operating system.

About an hour into our journey, we logged on. We stopped the first time to avoid driver's distraction. The connection was slow as expected, but 14.4 K is enough to read the news, send around some email and do a little chatting with our friends.

To avoid high extra charges, the phone was set to drop its connection if we left the Sprint PCS network. This network is pretty solid with few dead areas along our route to New York (Interstate 80).

The connection often froze up when we switched cells, sometimes requiring a renewed connection. As Daniel described it, the access was incredibly slow, but it beats counting tractor-trailers.

On the trip back, there was a fierce, cold rainstorm. The connection quality degraded to the point where we both gave up on it.

I can't wait to try one of the high-speed services that are on the horizon.

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Shmuel Protter
investmenttool.com

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