March 10, 2004
Wireless to Idaho
Well, I travelled to Idaho recently and on the way there tested out where I could pick up a free, wireless Internet connection. I was surprised to find that the Flying J truck stops offer wireless service for the low low cost of $2.00 for a one hour subscription. There are several of these truck stops along 80 in Nevada.
I had to try it out of course and found the connection very slow but I was able to get my mail. I tried to share my connection with my fellow traveler but the service was clever enough not to let us do that. As soon as I ended my session -- after 10 minutes, so we could log in on the other laptop using the same subscription -- my subscription was over. No logging back in allowed. What a rip!
Even better than paying for service was using connections we picked up along the way. The best one was along a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere. Well except for the farm houses we passed every three or four miles. Turns out one of those farmhouses had a darn strong signal and we were able to get to the Internet for several minutes as we screamed down that highway in our diesel truck. We fit right in, no one would suspect we were Internet rustlers!
Picked up another wireless connection in the mountains with no signs of civilization in sight. That was odd. Wondered if maybe one of the cars we were passing had a PC Connection card that we were joining in on. But we'll never know.
On the way home, we stopped in at Starbucks and signed up for their pay-as-you-go service which is $6.00 each time you sign on which makes it kind of pricey if you just want to do email but a fine price if you're going to hang out for awhile. [I forget how many minutes you get for $6.00 but it seemed like plenty to me so "plenty" is all I stored in my overstuffed brain.] We had something we needed to mail to our pal, Linda at Infopeople, so $6 was a small price to pay to make Linda's life easier. :)
At any rate, it was fun to see how easy it is to borrow the Internet. Turns out it can be quite easy. Of course you have to be able to leave your computer 'on' while you're driving so that means getting an adapter so you can plug it into the lighter. But those are cheap. You can pick one up at Costco. And it's crucial to have a partner. I don't recommend shopping for wireless connections alone -- while driving.
Posted by Lori at 1:16 PM | Permalink