f13.net

After buying a laptop, I'm now looking at getting a USB internet stick.  I know nothing about them, so I have a few questions.  What type of stick should I be looking for?  Is there a way to use it without signing a contract, like a pay month by month sort of thing (I'm in Canada if that helps)?  What kind of speeds are we looking at?  Is it slower, faster, the same as regular internet service?  Would I be able to do any type of online gaming with it, like playing WoW?  

Thanks.

They are pretty much all the same - your carrier will likely provide a perfectly good one.

You probably wouldn't want to - I don't know about Canada specifically but in most regions pay per Mb is extortionate.

Pretty slow - but not dial up slow. Both bandwidth and latency are a factor of the network more than anything else.

Slower.

Theoretically. You can probably play WoW on dial up just fine. You will have issues with intermittent connection if the signal is iffy. Canada is big - I imagine you have regions with poor reception. Also some networks have problems with latency - you'd need to hunt around for reviews on the specific networks you are considering.

Bonus answer : Don't try international roaming unless you hate having money.

Way, way too expensive in Canada. Unless someone else is paying the bill for you, ferget it. Basically ok for downloading your email and not much else.

(And stupidly, these things are most useful if you're travelling. But if you're outside Canada, you have to pay roaming fees!)

Cricket offers a by-the-month USB 3G dongle flat-rate, not sure whose network they use or if it is available in Canada.  For gaming it's going to depend on a lot of factors, when the connection is good it's going to be a little better than an analog modem (50-80ms delays), when it isn't it's going to be way too bursty (high throughput for 1 second out of every 3-10).

--Dave

We tried the Rogers USB stick at some remote facilities for my workplace and they worked like shit.  Very inconstant, essentially mirrored the shitty cellphone reception they got in those areas.  I have also spoken to residents who tried using them as an alternative to dial-up and they were not satisfied with their performance.

I wouldn't be using it out in the middle of nowhere, mostly just when I stay in other cities.  I'm going to Edmonton next week and a couple of cities in Southern Ontario and Alberta in the next few months. 

These hotels/houses don't have internet? Or are you staying in the middle of the woods (i.e. It's a waste of time and money to get such a stick).

I'm in the military, and most of the bases don't have free wifi in the barracks.

We use both Bell and Rogers USB internet sticks for the field guys at work and I wouldn't do anything with them other than basic web browsing.

Would it be at least useful to access my games on Steam?  Not multiplayer, just to access the single player games I have.

For that, you can just stick it in Offline Mode and never need to have it connected.

Maybe it's where you people are, but my Rogers stick has been phenomenal. I've torrented files at 700Kb/s, though I won't disagree with the exorbitant fees they charge you if you go over your cap.

Look at it this way, in relation to a home connection, you're paying about 2-3x as much for the connection, even though it's just connecting to the cellular network. Really, you're better off tethering because cell phone bandwidth packages are marginally better.