Minor Glitch
Written on January 22, 2009 by Katherine W. Prawl
OK, the antenna, data card and modem are working fine, but the mid-sized 12-volt inverter we’ve got can’t handle the laptop and the modem at the same time if the laptop’s battery is low, so we need another solution. We’ll be stopping in Amarillo tomorrow, and maybe we can find a bigger one there at the RV store. We won’t be getting the water pump fixed at this shop as I’d originally planned since we’ll be there over the weekend (maybe Monday if we stay that long), but the store ought to be open. Right now I’m charging the laptop’s battery off of our UPS, but the “no power” beeping is driving me crazy. It’s not worth running the generator, but I’m still testing the reception (I tell myself) so need to stay online as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the data speed is pretty good. I haven’t had any trouble logging into Second Life, which is one of the more demanding applications I’ll be using. It’s still worrisome to think about running over our 5 GB/month limit since after that the charges really add up quickly, so I’m trying to use RV park WiFi as much as possible. But it’s very cool to be able to attend meetings while Phil drives. So far I’m still favorably impressed with Verizon’s service.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 am
Kat,
Glad to hear for the most part all is going well with the setup. As far as the 5GB cap I am a fairly heavy user, but narrowly miss it each month. You have a great idea in using various available WI-FI when available as this will help you keep the bandwidth down to a manageable level. That has worked for me on many occasions. in many of my numerous programs that require updating I set them manually so I can use WI-FI hotspots when available for those updates that sometimes can be rather large in size. Using an occasional WI-FI hotspot is a good thing and helps keep the worry down a bit too lol.Keep up the great updates! be safe….
Tony
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:24 am
Thanks, Tony! And thanks again for the great ideas and for pointing me to the 3G Store. The guy I talked to there obviously is one of your fans, too. I’ve enjoyed your ebook and tips as well. It’s really gratifying to know you’re reading my blog, too. Maybe we’ll run into you in California this summer. Happy trails!