Stop doing this.

From satellite to LTE for rural Internet access: Part 2

In Part 1, I discussed the shortcomings of WildBlue satellite Internet, and my plan for switching to Verizon Wireless 4G LTE upon deployment in my area.

Activation

The Pantech UML290 LTE USB modem arrived by two-day FedEx (no direct signature required) on schedule August 17, the day before LTE was scheduled to go live in my area. In fact, I had already heard reports that LTE was up and running, so I proceeded with activation on the 17th.

In the shipping box was a box containing the modem, with a USB extension cord and a driver CD. A SIM card was also included.

The instructions directed me to call a toll-free number to activate the modem. I did so, and entered the new mobile number associated with the modem, but I was flummoxed when the phone system asked for a password. My Verizon Wireless website password didn’t work. I stayed on the line for a human, who again asked me for my password. I asked for a hint (for example, they often suggest using your mother’s maiden name when setting up the password). She demurred. I verified my identity with my Social Security number, and she asked me for a new password. I gave her one, and she rejected it because it was more than 5 characters in length.

That would have been a useful hint, lady.

From satellite to LTE for rural Internet access: Part 1

The starting point

The Spousal Unit and I moved to a 20-acre rural property near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, about four and a half years ago. There’s no cable or DSL service at our home, nor is the local wireless ISP an option, due to obscuration by terrain and foliage.

Consequently, our Internet access has been provided by WildBlue satellite Internet, which I consider a method of last resort. I’ll provide the numbers below, but satellite Internet access is slow, high-latency, expensive, and unreliable in bad weather. It also has low monthly data caps. These factors limit our ability to use the modern Internet:

• Low speed: Slow downloads, no Netflix or other video streaming.
• High latency (due to the travel time of light to and from geostationary orbit): No gaming, no voice or video conferencing (Skype, Facetime).
• Small data caps: No Netflix or other video streaming, no digital software distribution (Steam, TechNet), no offsite backups. Care must be taken with podcasts, MP3 purchases, software updates, etc., to avoid exceeding the cap.

Thank goodness for Virgin Mobile's lousy coverage

Maximum PC reports that Virgin Mobile secretly caps "unlimited" data plans:

Subscribers to the $40 per month Unlimited Broadband2Go plan who exceed the industry standard 5GB cap will receive notice that their bandwidth will be significantly diminished for the remainder of the billing period.

Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I obtained just such a device, but returned it due to a lack of coverage at my house. Since the whole point of the purchase was to have unlimited broadband, instead of my paltry 7.5 GB/month WildBlue satellite Internet plan, I'm glad that it didn't work out.

Virgin got some great press from David Pogue based entirely on the "unlimited" aspect of the plan. He's remarked upon the backpedaling, but I'm sure Virgin has still seen a huge net benefit from the coverage.

Most galling is this statement in Virgin's press release:

Keep in mind, 5GB is A LOT of data. To give you an idea, it’s about 250 hours of web browsing or over 500,000(!) emails*. So this change shouldn’t affect you unless you’re a heavy downloader/streamer/etc.

Yes, it's "A LOT" of data if this is 1998, and we do 1998 things with our Internet, like read email(!) and surf(!) the web(!). But what if we want to do 2011 things? Well, 5 GB/month will get you less than two Netflix movies at highest quality, or about half of a major-release game download from Steam. An operating system update for your iThing will eat through half a week's worth of your allowance. Windows 7 installation media from TechNet? Two weeks' worth, sir. Grateful Dead shows? You could get one a week, if you don't want to use your connection for anything else.

It's 2011. Digital delivery of software and HD video is here now. Stop quoting bandwidth in "emails", "web pages", and "screen-resolution photos", and recognize it.

Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200: A “review”

This morning I was finally able to pick up my Virgin Mobile MiFi wireless access point at the FedEx Ground facility in Hunker.  My success was not due to any competency on FedEx’s part, but rather to good luck and helpful staff in Hunker.  I arrived at the FedEx Ground facility just after they “opened” at 8:00 am.  It’s clearly not a place where they intend to serve many customers in person:  You have to speak through an intercom so they can let you through the gate, and you enter through an office which has no counter or receptionist.  But a helpful guy met me there, and quickly discovered (surprise, surprise) that they had not received the instructions to hold the package for me.  He ran off to the trucks, and was able to remove the package from the truck before it left for the day.  I appreciated the effort, and the driver was actually happy that I came in.  The package was the only one for my area, so I saved the driver about 30 minutes by picking it up.  So kudos to the local staff, but the overall FedEx Ground customer service and internal procedures and communication still seem to be completely screwed up.

I ordered the MiFi with the hope of replacing my horrible WildBlue satellite Internet access with the 3G access the MiFi provides.  After an appointment in Pittsburgh, I hurried home to try it out.  The timing seemed perfect: since it was raining, my WildBlue Internet connection was, in its typical fashion, non-functional.

The device is very small (like a few credit cards stacked together).  I charged it up and turned it on.  It created a new wireless network that I could see in my laptop’s list of networks, and I connected to it easily using the credentials listed on a sticker on the MiFi.  I continued through the activation process, and once it became necessary for the MiFi to contact the mothership, it started to become apparent that the Sprint 3G signal strength here is poor.  The activation eventually completed, but I haven’t really been able to browse the web, and the MiFi status page shows that it’s “Connected,” but usually with 0 or 1 bars of signal strength.

So it looks like it’ll be going back to Virgin Mobile soon, and I’ll continue to be stuck with satellite Internet service.  When we moved here 3.5 years ago, I had to switch from Sprint to Verizon for cell phone service due to a lack of signal at our house.  I was hoping that the coverage had improved since then, and the online maps showed 3G service here, but I guess that’s not the case.