Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:40:33 -0500
From: Maclyn
Subject: Internet access in the country
I am writing this because I found an internet access alternative this year with which I have been very pleased. I dial up through my mobile phone, and get much faster service than the pitifully slow land line dial-up.
My mobile phone service is through Alltel, and in a desperate moment, I called them to ask if there was any sort of internet access available through them. There is, and there are two options for it. One is to purchase an aircard, which I did, and which worked great in my laptop, everywhere except at my home in the country. So Alltel let me return that and sent me a cable so I could attach my phone via a USB port. It has worked great. I have been using this method since April of this year.
My computers are a couple of years old, and are not Bluetooth capable. If a phone is Bluetooth capable and the computer is as well, no cable is necessary. I helped a friend set his up and it is simple.
The cost for me is $25 a month, because I have a voice plan with Alltel that meets the qualifications for it. The cost without a qualifying plan is $59 per month, with the aircard or phone.
Once I was sure this worked for me, I stopped my land line service and started using the mobile phone for everything. I like Alltel because of the My Circle feature which allows me to call 10 numbers without using my anytime minutes, so I rarely use all my anytime minutes during a month.
(The internet access is unrestricted use).
I know this sounds a little like an Alltel ad, but I just really am pleased. I will say that when I call them, I can get a very knowledgeable person, or a very unknowledgeable person, so I have learned to just keep looking for someone who knows.
Also, I recommend calling or going through the website. I have discovered that most Alltel stores (like the new one in Siler) are just authorized dealers, so if you have a problem, they are not often able to really help (like with returns!).
This has worked for me, has not failed me at all, it is way faster than dial-up. Also, I just have a regular old Motorola phone, not a smart phone or Blackberry or anything like that.
It is difficult to find this stuff online. There are aircards for sale on the website, under phones, but you really have to call them to find the alternatives. 800-alltel1 is the number.
It was a frustrating effort to find this, but I am very pleased, or probably more relieved than pleased.
Good luck to everyone seeking faster internet access in rural Chatham.
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If you are still lucky enough to have this service, I have some advice. I had the very same setup and liked it as much as you do. Problem- when the battery in the cell phone I was using started to go, I called and asked if I could switch the service to an identical phone we already had and keep the same plan. The answer was yes. That was not true. They ‘switched’ service to the other phone and for more money/mo. they charged the internet usage to my cell minutes. That service was grandfathered in. They ‘could’ not retrieve it no matter who I talked to. The correct solution would have been to upgrade the phone. Yes, it would have meant a new contract. But it would not have changed the cost of the service. I now have an aircard that only works when tethered to my computer. It costs $60/ mo and doesn’t work as well. I am unhappy with Verizon and have sent a complaint to the FCC.