I'm throwing in the Choice towel!

Cell connectivity will provide internet anywhere you have cell signal. Throughput is not awesome in the VI, though it will do for most users. Depending on your location, you may be able to secure another provider and add a wireless access point which would give connectivity within the immediate area.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff,
I guess my question is really if there is an option other than a cell phone company, like ATT or Sprint that will give me complete portability. Put my laptop in the car and go and be online. Obviously I would have to be where there is a signal. I don't have anything against ATT, just wondering if there is something else that I don't know about.

In case you can't tell, I am a computer dummy.

AT&T has a wireless card for laptops, you do have to sign a contract. and theres no roaming icharges in VI. I have a Verizon card for my laptop here in mainland but with Verizon theres roaming in the VI and its expensive. With my wireless I can take my laptop anywhere and have internet, it even works up to 20 miles off of the east coast of the US. I know for a fact because I've used it on a boat that far out. I also have a power converter in my car and I can plug my laptop into my cigarette lighter and power it if the battery is low. Its great when traveling!

I have a sprint internal card and its great! Obviously the better the cell signal the better the connection. There are many spots where the coverage is bad..ie cane bay or deep in a valley. The higher up you go the better connection. The bigger problem i have is trying to find a shady spot so i can see the screen! Yep, ive been in the car with a towel over the computer and my head so i can see hahah

Cory

Cory,
When you were at my house and went online, that was with Sprint? Hmmm. I didn't think Sprint worked at my house. My old Sprint cell phone never did. Service must be improving.

If's a different Cory, sorry.

Juanita..its the same Cory!

We were prolly looking at google earth right? 🙂

Sprint broadband card worked fine!

Sprint Card...works fine for me on Megans!

Juanita, don't you have several rental units? Get something like broadband or innovative and you can get a wireless router and then be able to offer it to your tenants. Giving you a feature to make your apartments even easier to rent.

Good idea Betty. We have thought about it. This might be the time to do it.

I used an AT&T laptop connect card for the past 6 months, since we don't have the 3G network down here don't expect better than 56K even with full bars.

I have dial up with powernet at home (ok, don't anyone laugh at me now!) and connections kept dropping ALL weekend! I spent about an hour trying to download my emails and everytime a big file would reach the halfway point in downloading, the connection would drop.

So I think something island wide was going on, not just with Choice. But what it is, I don't have a freaking clue!

When you say you are throwing the Choice towel are you talking about Choice Communications Internet??? because i have it here in Peterborg and it works great i never have a problem.

Hi Juanita -

I use BroadbandVI in a rental condo. Wireless signal is pulled in via a small (about 8 sq inches) antennae mounted on the roof and pointed at the closest line-of-sight tower. It goes from there into a wireless router. Far better than advertised upload and download speeds. $49.95/month.

BroadbandVI also has a full-wireless option that allows you to use any signal on island that you can access - regardless of location. I used this for a month when I first arrived on island and it was a lifesaver.

Additionally, they have a service offering that combines the above two options. All the price ranges are on their home page.

BTW - I also used the Choice wireless plan for a month and access was less-than-desirable.

Jim

For the record, if you currently have DSL with Innovative, you should contact their Tech Support line about upgrading. All the "old" customer DSL service was at 512K bandwidth and Innovative is now offering 1 Mbit bandwidth. Since Innovative has been advertising the new speed for a couple of months now, I called them to ask if it was a new type of connection, like maybe cable (!!!). The response was no, it's DSL, just like what I had. When I asked why I wasn't seeing any performance improvements, the tech said I has to send an email request to tech support to get the "upgrade".

Since I've been here a couple years now, it was no surpise to me that existing customers with Innovative would be paying the same rate for half the speed, because Innovative is betting that most people don't actually test their communication speed.

The good news is that my 1 Mbit speed, while still way lower than comparably priced stateside offerings, is a nice improvement. And it only took them 2 weeks from the time I sent the email (and several follow-up emails) to get the upgrade.

Juanita, we use Broadband VI and have 4 computers running 24/7 and run our stateside company via the internet. We have had excellent service. Tech support is immediate if we have any problems.