Wireless Internet Everywhere

The whole idea of this came about when my brother asked me a question. He asked me if I could make it so he could have wireless internet everywhere he went. So I thought about it logically and did a lot of research which I have compiled here. Not only turns out that you can but that are many solutions available. The first thing I thought of is if I could use my cell phone in order to have wireless everywhere I went. This turns out to be the best solution I found and can be the cheapest. So before I continue further I will explain why I myself did not end up doing this (yet).

I did all the research and found a number of affordable solutions the problem came about by the data plans of my mobile phone carrier. Here are a few of the prices for common cell phone companies as of the time of writing this. These are based on the data plans and prices it gave me for my zip code. Some places may be more or less then this.

Cell Phone Company	Data Plan Price	Data Limit	Adapter Cost
Verizon Wireless	$40.00 - $60.00	50 MB - 5 GB	$50 - $100 - USB
T-Mobile	$40.00 - $50.00	Unlimited	$150 – laptop card
AT&T	$20.00 - $60.00	5 MB – 5 GB	$150-$200 - USB
Alltel	$10.00 - $70.00	Unlimited	$100 - $220 - USB
Cricket	$40.00	Unlimited	$110 - USB

Price vs limit is the biggest problem with all the data plans. Cricket looked possible but the terms say if you use over 5GB a month they may limit your wireless data limit. Alltel would be great only $10 a month to add to an existing plan but I dont have alltel so after signup/plans costs it would be atleast $50 - $60. If wireless data prices do not bother you then these solutions may be of great help to you.

The first solution that I found uses the cellphone and a usb cable and its a do it yourself. This one looks quite interesting and probably works really great, however there is a downside. Price and time required to complete, as well as obtaining required parts. Here is a picture of the finished product.

This one the trick is getting the right kind of router and it requires some programming experience. You will need to be able to modify a form of linux called OpenWrt. The page with all the instructions on making this one can be found here http://devices.natetrue.com/mobileap/ This solution was made by Nathan True. The estimated time required would be 2 hours to a day. Depending on amounts of programming/circuitry required which may vary depending on what you get.

The next solution was made by Tor Ammundson. This one does look very nice and does not require your cell phone to work. The downside is time required to make it and the cost. It can cost anywhere from $300-$400 not including wireless plans costs. If you love the do it yourself approach and are willing to spend the price this is the solution for you! Here is a picture of the inside

Here is the finished product without the antenna attached or power cord. Next to that is it mounted in his car. Requires adding an antenna to the roof and connecting it to your cars cigarette lighter.

Depending on supplies required this can be a pretty good priced one but for me the cost was $400+ so I decided against it. It would take atleast 2 hours to about 6 hours depending on programming and testing required. It is called a stompbox and can be found here http://www.stompboxnetworks.com/index.html or in make:zine Volume 3.

It does give a good example of what you can do with wireless anywhere like mounting it in your car. For me I was going to put mine in a backpack to have wireless anywhere I am. Lol that is the more geeky approach but I would enjoy it. ^_^

Now for the best priced and lowest work required solution I found. This one all you do is purchase it and plug in your cellphones usb broadband modem. It is called Cradlepoint and I found out about them from someone on amazon's askville by the username of serendipity. This solution is very cost effective and requires no work other then plugging a usb broadband modem in. It comes with its own rechargable battery source so it can be powered anywhere you go.

Here is a picture of one that costs $170 through them and is sold by amazon as well.

Can be found using the following link to amazon: Cradlepoint Travel Router CTR-500

They also have one with 3 antennas for increased range. This one costs $240 and can also be found through amazon here: Cradlepoint MBR1000

There are a few cheaper ones like for $130 sold through amazon. These are all as simple as plugging in the cellphones usb broadband modem into the usb port on the back or side. The one with 3 antennas also has 4 ethernet ports on the back for wired connections. Their homepage can be found here: http://www.cradlepointsolutions.com/ and you can find them on amazon by searching for cradlepoint.

I hope my research here can be of some use to any of you out there who want wireless internet (wi-fi) anywhere you go. You can have wireless in a moving car, when you walk, or anywhere with how mobile they all are. So what could you connect through it? Just about anything wireless you have from your laptop, to an iphone/ipod touch, to your game systems like psp/nintendo ds, even your game systems like ps3, wii, or xbox 360. The possibilities are endless as long as the wireless plans terms do not restrict usage. One I briefly read forbids P2P usage the main reason I can think of is bandwidth. P2P requires a lot of internet bandwidth usage and would slow down other peoples cell phone internet so they just forbid them. Also read terms carefully because ones like cricket said if you use to much internet over 5 GB they may limit your plan. So unlimited may have a catch if you read the fine print.

So there are the main 3 wireless internet anywhere solutions I have found. There are more out there I am sure and if I come across any other good ones I may include them here in the future. If you have any suggestions, other solutions, comments or just want to say hello feel free to contact me at any of these emails Research@Tiamat-Studios.net, Suggestions@Tiamat-Studios.net, or Support@Tiamat-Studios.net. If your uncertain which to use just send it to Support@Tiamat-Studios.net. Thank you for reading this and I hope it helps you! ^_^

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