I am wondering how you do it? Do you use a laptop with a cell card (Edge, etc), or get a room for the night/day, and post your images from thiere?

I am wondering how you do it? Do you use a laptop with a cell card (Edge, etc), or get a room for the night/day, and post your images from thiere?

I tend to sit at a Disney Hotel Bar, Restaurant or Lobby area. Disney offers free WiFi in these locations.

Some of my favorite places.

Whitewater Snacks (many electrical plugs are near tables)

Grand Californian Lobby

Lost Bar

Top Brass Bar

My girlfriend lives in Tustin, so that is where I am right now, I didn't take my laptop this weekend, I basically started uploading about 1GB of photos just before I leave the house, so one set of photos are being uploaded while I take another set. (Yesterday, I was at the park from 6 to 10 AM, then came back to Tustin from 10:30 to 2:30, then back to the park for the actual Red Carpet event from 3 PM on).

Oh wow, did not realize all those hot spots existed, cool ;) ... So, what kind of laptop do you carry? And what do you carry it in? Ok, I guess photo's of all your gear would be too much to ask, eh ;)?

I post often from within Disneyland using Verizon's Broadband Access (EVDO) Cellular High Speed Network.

My favorite place to work is at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, upstairs, way in the back. If you see a guy up there with an ultralight laptop typing away...it might be me. ;)

Sometimes after the Park is closed, I post from the lobby or bar of the Grand Californian using their free WiFi.

I post often from within Disneyland using Verizon's Broadband Access (EVDO) Cellular High Speed Network.

My favorite place to work is at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, upstairs, way in the back. If you see a guy up there with an ultralight laptop typing away...it might be me. ;)

Sometimes after the Park is closed, I post from the lobby or bar of the Grand Californian using their free WiFi.

What does Verizon charge for this? Do they charge by the amount of data you send?

What does Verizon charge for this? Do they charge by the amount of data you send?

Nope. It's supposed to be unlimited and it mainly is. But they say that if you're a mega bandwidth hog streaming huge videos constantly or doing web hosting or downloading lots of multi gigabite movies...they reserve the right to shut you down.

To the general public it's $79.99 per month.

For Verizon wireless cell phone customers it's $59.99 per month.

Coverage is excellent throughout most major areas (and many minor ones too) of the United States. Speeds average 700kbps with bursts up to 1mb.

If you're in an area that does not have EVDO coverage, then it automatically drops down to the NationalAccess Network, which typically gets me 80-120kbps...still twice as fast as the fasted phone modem. In all my domestic travels though, I've only ever dropped down to NationalAccess twice.

You need a special EVDO PC card for your laptop, unless you purchase one of the newer laptops that have an EVDO card built in (just like WiFi is often built in). Prices on the cards vary based on quality and length of contract. Some are as low as $49.

There are ways to by-pass the purchase of an EVDO card and use your subscription by "tethering" your laptop to another EVDO equipped device (such as an EVDO equipped cell phone or PDA) by either wire or wirelessly via Bluetooth DUN (Dial-Up-Networking). But those methods either require a hack of your Verizon device, or using one of the few devices that Verizon allows such tethering on.

No matter which way you go about getting it...in the end it's basically like having WiFi anywhere. In a park. In a moving taxi cab. Anywhere. And you don't have to worry about who's hotspot area you're in (T-Mobile, Wayport, ATT, etc) and perhaps pay many different fees or subscriptions for each one. The one price...and you're basically covered anywhere. It's an invaluable tool for Road Warriors.

Other cellular providers (such as Sprint) have their own cellular broadband networks too...sometimes using different technology. Here's Verizon's web site on their product:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/broadband/serviceoverview.jsp

Sounds cool, though I'm not sure if it's (yet) worth paying $60/mo for (I'm a Verizon wireless phone customer). Checked your link out, it's not clear what security features are available (i.e. data encryption a-la 802.11's WEP/WPA). Someday... :)

Sounds cool, though I'm not sure if it's (yet) worth paying $60/mo for (I'm a Verizon wireless phone customer). Checked your link out, it's not clear what security features are available (i.e. data encryption a-la 802.11's WEP/WPA). Someday... :)
I think a lot of people who use this service are having it paid for by work, and/or they travel a lot and are constantly on the road.

I think a lot of people who use this service are having it paid for by work, and/or they travel a lot and are constantly on the road.

I'm self employed, so it'd come out of my pocket. I would deduct some or all of it as a business expense, though.

Opus jinxed himself above when he wrote:

In all my domestic travels though, I've only ever dropped down to NationalAccess twice.

Make that 3 times! ;)

I'm in Tucson, AZ right now (where you don't want to know how hot it is) and Tucson does not have EVDO coverage...just NationalAccess. Which is kinda funny as most other areas (even some rather small towns) in Arizona do have EVDO coverage. Surprised they don't have it here yet.

Just to test NationalAccess here in Tucson...I just now disabled my WiFi (was using the hotel's WiFi in the post above) and connected to the internet with NationalAccess. The following is the clocked speed of my connection:

121.8KBits

I'm making this post via that slower NationalAccess connection. It's plenty fast for this sort of general web stuff...but I think I'll go back to WiFi right now. ;)