Today you can take the Internet with you when you’re going to checkout your new land listing or driving across that ranch which sounds like the “Dream Place”. Fortunately for us that work in rural areas, the telecommunications industry is hard at work putting up one cell tower after another to make high speed internet possible in more places than ever. You don’t have to be plugged into the wall at your office or at home any longer. Grab your laptop and head to the country!
There are multiple devices you can use these days to get a wireless connection out in the middle of nowhere. Here are a few: connect your Treo cell phone to your laptop; use a wireless handheld device like a Blackberry or iPhone; satelite services like DirecPC and StarBand; and PCMCIA cards for laptops from major providers like AT&T and Verizon.
Today, we’re going to show you the PCMCIA card from AT&T. We chose this one because of it’s high speed, great coverage, and ease of use. We went to an AT&T store (you can also get it online here) and after about 30 minutes we had an account, a PCMCIA card, and were out the door to give it a test run.
At the office we put in the CD that AT&T gave us and installed the software which practically ran all by itself. We restarted the laptop, put in the PCMCIA card, and were up and browsing the Internet on a high speed connection in no time. It was extremely easy!
The most important decision is which service has great coverage where you’ll be needing it. In the past I have used Verizon’s wireless card, but it won’t work on our ranch where our family spends a lot of time or at my inlaws’ farm. Since I found out it won’t work in these areas I’ve switched to AT&T. We have included the maps below to assist you in selecting a service in your coverage area. Remember that the coverage area is the most important part of which provider to go with. If you’re saving a few dollars, but your wireless Internet doesn’t work in your area then it’s not doing you much good is it? 
Don’t forget the next time you’re out looking for land and can’t seem to find that piece you want - just pull out your laptop, jump online, and select LandsofAmerica.com from your Favorities. You’re bound to find it there and you won’t have to drive back to the office to search!
2 responses so far ↓
Karen // Sep 16, 2007 at 6:06 am
Speaking for myself, I had a seriously bad experience with Cingular, and so did my daughter on the other side of the country. I doubt that being bought and changing the name from Cingular to AT&T will make much difference. Neither one of us would go back to Cingular unless they paid us very well to do so. However, I do have a laptop that needs a pcmcia card to plug into a phone jack - it already has the modem installed - so if I can get one I’ll be happy. WIFI doesn’t work where I am, I’m about 15 miles outside ‘nationwide’ coverage by any provider. But I wouldn’t switch from Verizon. Besides, they told me that if I took my Verizon c-phone to any part of the country where they didn’t provide coverage, they’d subcontract through a local tower to give me service. If that doesn’t actually happen, then someone should tell their customer service reps.
Randy // Feb 23, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Wow! The Verizon salesperson made a statement that they would actually contract with a local tower if you didn’t have service. That is pretty bold of them. (And quite frankly I would say a lie as well.) If you have had any mobile phone company service for any length of time you will have experienced bad service with all of them, unless you live in a very populated city. They are better than they used to be, but it is not nor will it ever be land-line service.
You must log in to post a comment.