I work at a company that is in the oil fields throughout the Midwest. I have been running a test program using the Cingular Air cards deploying them to users in those fields (laptops) and managers. I have one in my laptop. I also purchased a PCI adapter for PCMCIA cards to go in a desktop system for a site with too few people to justify the cost of a frame connection. I have had no issues with the cards so far. They install easy and work in most locations. They are just like a cell telephone and need the signal to operate. I have found and confirmed that even if you have signal and are able to connect to the Cingular infrastructure that a weaker signal will have a slower connection. I live in the Atlanta area and the connections I have had are very fast so I can't complain. Also not all areas are covered with the data capabilities in the towers but they are working on that. I also implemented VPN connections via the card. It uses your existing VPN client if you have one set up and so far I have had no complaints. I have been happy with the ability to be driving down the road and be able to stop and connect back into the network to troubleshoot issues. On the other hand it is also an additional tether that allows you to be work accessible so sometimes that sucks. We have had two types of service plans. One is $70+fees/tax with unlimited usage and they give you the card (yea right). The other is $35+fees/tax but is limited to 20mb transfer per month and then charges you for data past that point. Needless to say we only have a few of those and now only obtain the unlimited. I have about 40 of these in use right now looking to have around 300 when all said and done.
Hope this helps.
-Joe
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I work at a company that is in the oil fields throughout the Midwest. I have been running a test program using the Cingular Air cards deploying them to users in those fields (laptops) and managers. I have one in my laptop. I also purchased a PCI adapter for PCMCIA cards to go in a desktop system for a site with too few people to justify the cost of a frame connection. I have had no issues with the cards so far. They install easy and work in most locations. They are just like a cell telephone and need the signal to operate. I have found and confirmed that even if you have signal and are able to connect to the Cingular infrastructure that a weaker signal will have a slower connection. I live in the Atlanta area and the connections I have had are very fast so I can't complain. Also not all areas are covered with the data capabilities in the towers but they are working on that. I also implemented VPN connections via the card. It uses your existing VPN client if you have one set up and so far I have had no complaints. I have been happy with the ability to be driving down the road and be able to stop and connect back into the network to troubleshoot issues. On the other hand it is also an additional tether that allows you to be work accessible so sometimes that sucks. We have had two types of service plans. One is $70+fees/tax with unlimited usage and they give you the card (yea right). The other is $35+fees/tax but is limited to 20mb transfer per month and then charges you for data past that point. Needless to say we only have a few of those and now only obtain the unlimited. I have about 40 of these in use right now looking to have around 300 when all said and done. Hope this helps. -Joe