Broadband wireless access is essential for placing those last minute bids on NameJet.
[Editor’s note: this is the first in a new series on Domain Name Wire that features non-domain gear — both hardware and software — that’s helpful to domainers. We’ve added a “Domainer Gear” category so you can see all of the articles in this series as they’re published.]
I’m currently in a taxi in Chicago on my way to 2008 GeoDomain Expo. One of the biggest pains of traveling is connectivity, including finding safe (and hopefully free) wifi connections. But I don’t have to deal with that anymore now that I use mobile broadband service from Sprint. I can connect to the internet at fast speeds almost wherever I am — even in this taxicab.
If you haven’t tried mobile broadband yet, now may be the time. I think in a few years people won’t give a damn about wifi hotspots; we’ll all connect via our mobile network.
My laptop came pre-installed with a Sprint modem. It works just like wifi, except you don’t have to find a hotspot (it goes through the cellular network) and it’s much more secure than hooking up to “coffee-shop-wifi” network. I generally get 1 MB downstream connections and 300-500k upstream.
At $60 a month, mobile broadband isn’t cheap but the cost is easy to justify. For example, I figure I paid for my monthly access in just a week when I was at the TRAFFIC show in Orlando a couple months ago. Access in the conference center was free, but in-room internet cost $10 a day. I really wanted to go back to my room to work on stories, so I would have ended up paying $10 each day to connect (and felt guilty about it). If you travel more than a few days a month, the money you save on hotel broadband easily justifies the cost of this service.
But it’s the convenience and productivity improvements that really sells mobile broadband. When I show up 15 minutes early to a meeting in town I just open up my laptop and connect. That’s 15 minutes I would have spent pecking at my Treo’s keyboard. Or worse, doing nothing. When my flight home from the Orlando TRAFFIC show was delayed, I just opened up my laptop and started working.
When it comes to domaining, an always-on connection is even more important. Just ask Lonnie.
Joe says
Are we back in 1997 or something. Is this some lame, alternate reality Gizmodo. Who cares about your laptop and broadband connection. Stupidest thing I have seen written in a long time.
Andrew says
Hey, thanks Joe! I appreciate it.
But I should correct your “stupidest thing I have seen written”. I think it’s your comment.
Ricardo says
I was glad to read your opinion of the sprint program.
I use a different service (they are always following me) and I found their service “good to better”.
Like you pointed out, it is much safer to use a private service compared to hotspots.
Thanks for mentioning your experience.
Josh says
Ya, I have Sprint, but they decided to change my signed contract and cap my internet. Ya, I know, I should have seen that coming. The truth is, if we are all going to go completely wireless, the wireless companies need to stop be stingy with the bandwidth. Their make-believe world of network congestion just simply doesn’t exist on these types of networks. But then, I can still alter my phone to connect to the network which isn’t subject to the caps (as long as not activated as phone as modem).