›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Cellular internet

ninjarabbininjarabbi
edited September 2008 in Technology
I live out in the middle of nowhere and am planning to get cellular Internet. Has anyone on here ever used it? Can it with router, or can we have multiple dongles and use them at the same time? Does it lag very bad during gaming? Cellular Internet is the only viable alternate to dial-up since satellite is so expensive and laggy. Any input would be highly appreciated.

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    How is your cell signal there? Is it 3g?
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    It's not 3g but the tower is pretty close to my house so we get a good signal.
  • AprecheApreche
    It's not 3g but the tower is pretty close to my house so we get a good signal.
    Well, if it's not 3g, it won't be that great. However, it will be better than dial-up. Even then, I don't know if it would be worth paying for. Cellular Internet can easily cost way more than a cable modem, for significantly less performance. If it's your only option, and you don't mind paying the crazy price, might as well go for it. Personally, I'd just move.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    edited September 2008
    It's not 3g but the tower is pretty close to my house so we get a good signal.
    Well, if it's not 3g, it won't be that great. However, it will be better than dial-up. Even then, I don't know if it would be worth paying for. Cellular Internet can easily cost way more than a cable modem, for significantly less performance. If it's your only option, and you don't mind paying the crazy price, might as well go for it. Personally, I'd just move.
    A friend of my Dad's just got cellular Internet and said his speed was about 1 meg. It doesn't cost that much per month, only about $60, considering we can pay for less land line service and just use skype or vonage. I also can't move for a year or two because I am still in high school.
    Post edited by ninjarabbi on
  • AprecheApreche
    A friend of my Dad's just got cellular Internet and said his speed was about 1 meg. It doesn't cost that much per month, only about $60, considering we can pay for less land line service and just use skype or vonage. I also cant move for a year or to of years because I am still in high school.
    See, that's a ripoff because my cable Internet is $50 a month, and is way way faster. Also, even though the bandwidth is good, the latency is terrible. You can't play Counter-Strike or anything on there. If you try to stream live video or audio there will be a huge delay, that includes Skype or Vonage. Still it will be better than what you've got. If you've only got two years left here, the cellular will probably be better than the dial-up, so you might as well go for it if it's your only option.

    One other possible option to look into is getting some copper from the phone company. You can get a T1 from the phone company pretty much anywhere there are phone lines. The problem is that it is wicked crazy expensive. However, you can get some wireless equipment and share it with all the neighbors. If you have enough neighbors living close enough to chip-in, it could be worth it.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    I don't think it iw very likely that the phone lines are getting replaced with new ones anytime soon. There aren't enough people on my road to give the phone company to replace them with ones with copper wiring.
    f you try to stream live video or audio there will be a huge delay, that includes Skype or Vonage.
    Really? I thought that since it was the same network as cell phones then audio streaming would be decent.
    You can't play Counter-Strike or anything on there.
    At all, or is it just a little choppy. Would Xbox live or anything else like that work?
  • AprecheApreche
    edited September 2008
    Really? I thought that since it was the same network as cell phones then audio streaming would be decent.
    Data and voice are routed differently, even though some of the physical technology is shared. Skype goes over the data network, it's separate.
    At all, or is it just a little choppy. Would Xbox live or anything else like that work?
    It's not a matter of choppiness, it's a matter of delay. You might be able to get 1 million bits in one second. The problem is that the other servers are so far away, it takes awhile for a bit to get from point A to point B. So let's say you want to download a movie. You click the movie download link. You wait a little bit, and then it starts coming in pretty fast.

    The problem is that little bit of waiting makes a huge difference in a real-time game. If you try to play counter-strike, or any other real-time game, you'll have a very very high ping. So when you look at a guy, that's actually where he was awhile ago. It will be unplayable. If you want to play something like Carcassonne on XBL, it will be ok because it isn't real-time. It will just take a tiny extra bit of waiting before their move gets to you.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    Really? I thought that since it was the same network as cell phones then audio streaming would be decent.
    Data and voice are routed differently, even though some of the physical technology is shared. Skype goes over the data network, it's separate.
    At all, or is it just a little choppy. Would Xbox live or anything else like that work?
    It's not a matter of choppiness, it's a matter of delay. You might be able to get 1 million bits in one second. The problem is that the other servers are so far away, it takes awhile for a bit to get from point A to point B. So let's say you want to download a movie. You click the movie download link. You wait a little bit, and then it starts coming in pretty fast.

    The problem is that little bit of waiting makes a huge difference in a real-time game. If you try to play counter-strike, or any other real-time game, you'll have a very very high ping. So when you look at a guy, that's actually where he was awhile ago. It will be unplayable. If you want to play something like Carcassonne on XBL, it will be ok because it isn't real-time. It will just take a tiny extra bit of waiting before their move gets to you.
    Actually, I was under the exact same impression until I had to use my phone for a few weeks while the cable was out. I already had unlimited internet and a data cord, so I downloaded some software and used it as a modem. (I have a Treo by the way, and I have Alltel as a carrier, so take this as you will.) When I connected, I was able to set one of two modes, normal, or low-latency. The normal connection was about 1 meg, with about a 200-250 ping. The low-latency however was about 512kbps, with a ping of only about 80. I was actually able to play some Team Fortress on it.

    Anyway, this is with a specific carrier and phone, and also, I have an EVDO connection with my phone, dunno if it's the same there, though I assume it is.
  • AprecheApreche
    Anyway, this is with a specific carrier and phone, and also, I have an EVDO connection with my phone, dunno if it's the same there, though I assume it is.
    No, EV-DO is 3g.
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    Anyway, this is with a specific carrier and phone, and also, I have an EVDO connection with my phone, dunno if it's the same there, though I assume it is.
    No, EV-DO is 3g.
    Oh, well don't I feel stupid. I guess you can disregard that, unless NinjaRabbi was also mistaken.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    unless NinjaRabbi was also mistaken.
    Actually I think I was. Alltel is the carrier I plan on using, so there may be 3g available in my area (hopefully).
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    edited September 2008
    unless NinjaRabbi was also mistaken.
    Actually I think I was. Alltel is the carrier I plan on using, so there may be 3g available in my area (hopefully).
    Pretty much anywhere I can get signal, I get EV-DO, and I live in a small town in south Alabama. Like, population, 3,000.

    If you know anyone with a smart phone that can use EV-DO, you can find out that way. They don't even have to have the plan, just a phone that shows when they have the signal. My Treo has a little block up top that says either 1x or EV. Hopefully this helps.

    Also, and this is just a theory, but most alltel phones show a block with D or A, for digital and analog. I have also seen them say 1x and 2x. I think this may also be where you can get EV-DO, or at least it is in my experience.

    Edit: After reading this, it looks as though my theory was incorrect.
    Post edited by Vhdblood on
Sign In or Register to comment.