Autonet Wifi for your car?? Worth the $199??

Cartastic · 08-31-2009, 12:52 PM

I'm thinking about getting the in car router from Autonetmobile.com ... but I'm not really sure...
Best I can tell... the main difference between it and other devices like it, is that it supposedly features some sort of special technology built specifically for your car.... or for use while the car is moving.

Has anyone out there actually tried this thing out? A friend of mine has the Mifi product from Sprint and it definitely does not work seemlesly while the car is moving.

Is it worth the $199 ?

Any advice would be great!!!

Sonicxtacy02 · 08-31-2009, 01:35 PM

will you really need to serve more than 1 wifi device in the car at a time?

soundman98 · 08-31-2009, 04:44 PM

i can see the appeal to bussinesses/commuters that are constantly on the move, but for someone like myself, where maybe only me and my passenger are going to be using the computer, and maybe occaisonally go online, the cost is just not justifiable ($200 for the box, and I think plans start at somewhere around $30-40/mo.) for as little as i use the internet-- there are enough wifi hot spots in my area, i pull over and use my wifi card to get access-- and that was only $45 with no monthly subscriptions.

i realize this is not the perfect setup, but it works (i prefer to not always be connected). another option, is if you have a internet enabled phone, is to teather your phone to the computer. the internet plans for phones are about the same cost, but without the $200 extra box, and you will still have internet when you are away from your car, but have cell service.

csfile · 08-31-2009, 06:02 PM

For me, I wouldn't be using the internet in the car enough to justify that kind of cost since I don't run any web-based programs. But, as soundman suggested, phone tethering is what I would go with. That way, I would have a multi-functional device for the same price.

2k1Toaster · 08-31-2009, 06:57 PM

Well, my cell phone does the same thing... And it isn't a unitasker. The whole point of a cell network is to manage tower hopping without dropping the connection. It is done anyways. So basically you can turn on data on the cell phone, wifi on the phone, and internet share it. it broadcasts and acts like an adhoc network that anything can access. if you did need more than 1, then just connect a simple router in extended range mode or whatever it is so it just rebroadcasts the wifi signal from the phone but can connect more than one point. Definately not worth $200 + plan just for that. At least with data on your phone, you can take it and use it anywhere and use it standalone on the phone.

nitehawk · 08-31-2009, 07:19 PM

By the same token, you can pick up a bluetooth dongle for your computer and tether your phone that way. BT dongles have come down considerably in price too, about $25 or so at best buy/wallmart/whatever.

The thing that gets really annoying though is that most data plans, be they through a phone or with an "aircard" are limited to so many megs/gigs per month. I just cant justify spending $50 ish per month to be limited on how much I can download.

2k1Toaster · 08-31-2009, 07:29 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

By the same token, you can pick up a bluetooth dongle for your computer and tether your phone that way. BT dongles have come down considerably in price too, about $25 or so at best buy/wallmart/whatever.

The thing that gets really annoying though is that most data plans, be they through a phone or with an "aircard" are limited to so many megs/gigs per month. I just cant justify spending $50 ish per month to be limited on how much I can download.

It's an unlimited plan that is limited to 2Gb/mo which doesnt make anysense... But I've gone over that, and all you do is call AT&T, and they give you more. They dont charge you more afterwards, they just make sure everything is alright I suppose. Sometimes they ask if I am tethering my phone (but in dumb-man lingo) and all you have to say is "no". There is no way to check if the data is being used by the phone or being passed to another device. On their end it is just transfered between phone and tower, they know nothing more. And my pseudo-unlimited plan and unlimited text (dont know if there is a limit on those though

) is only $39.99 a month. So $30/mo for data, $10/mo for texting. Not too shabby. It was even cheaper before since I was grandfathered into the old pre-At&T reswitch pre-Cingular switch AT&T plan for something like $25/mo unlimited. But then my mom added another line and fell for the trap of "upgrading" my plan to the new one for more but had more texts blah blah blah. Oh well. Still worth it.

An example being when I drove out to the baltimore meet, I stayed in 3 hotels along the way. Each one I booked through priceline by tethering my phone. $30/night for a $70/night Fairfield/Marriot and $70/night for a $215CDN/night full Marriot. So by saving a few hundred dollars, I paid for my data plan for the rest of the year.

Bugbyte · 09-01-2009, 09:14 AM

Tethering/BT/WiFi with a phone is the way to go. The main disadvantage of the Autonet WiFi is that it stays in your car and you pay separately for it. Those are pretty big disadvantages when you consider that you can do the same thing with a phone and the phone can go with you. Only disadvantage is the phone can only handle one PC at a time.

I used my phone's WiFi to connect to my Mom's laptop at a Marriott where they wanted $11.99 a day for internet. Saved almost $24 over two days and again, the phone went with me when we left the room.

So...IF you need to connect MORE THAN ONE laptop to the internet while on the go AND you spend a lot of time in your car THEN the Autonet MIGHT be the product for you.

But given those restrictions, don't expect them to stay in business that long.

Cartastic · 09-02-2009, 02:34 PM

Bugbyte kind of hit it on the head .. I do want ot be able to connect more than one device and primarily I would be using while commuting and on road trips.

I actually did try to do the tethering trick .. and you guys are right .. in hotels and stuff it's totally the way to go... but I tried using my laptop from the passanger seat while the car was moving and it was SUPER frustrating.

Streaming music would definitely not work and every time I tried to transfer a medium sized document ... it would lose connection and I would have to try to resend it.

I am mainly concerned with being able to use it in the car while in motion.

I also have the unlimited data from ATT that I am already paying for beacause I have a Blackberry and they force you to have the unlimited plan.... which I am planning on getting rid of soon because my cell bill is $180 per month .. $99 for unlimited calling, $39 for date, $10 for GPS, $10 for texting and taxes...

I also found this CNET review ... peep it out...

http://cnettv.cnet.com/autonet-mobil...-50074938.html

nitehawk · 09-02-2009, 07:17 PM

Wow, $180 for unlimited calling and data?

Do you have Cricket in your area? If you do, I would DEFFINANTLY look into it. $45 per month for unlimited calling and texting. And their data plans aren't particularly expensive either. The biggest problem is their only offered in very very few areas at the moment.

2k1Toaster · 09-03-2009, 12:18 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

Wow, $180 for unlimited calling and data?

Do you have Cricket in your area? If you do, I would DEFFINANTLY look into it. $45 per month for unlimited calling and texting. And their data plans aren't particularly expensive either. The biggest problem is their only offered in very very few areas at the moment.

If you are paying $180, you're being royally screwed.

We now pay $175 + tax for 4 phones all with unlimited minutes, all with unlimited text, all with unlimited MMS, 2 with the international phone plan since we call Canada all the time and 2 phones with unlimited data with rollover. And this is on AT&T.

And cricket may be cheap and a good choice if you stay in your town. But keep in mind that Cricket is CDMA based and really just piggybacks on Verizon's network which isnt very good either. And being CDMA it will work in very few places outside the US, and unless you buy an East Asian version phone with a R-UIM card slot, you are pretty much screwed when traveling or wanting to just switch phones on the fly.

nitehawk · 09-03-2009, 12:45 AM

Actualy, I have to disagree with teh verizon network comment. In my house, we have several different cell phone providers (I have verizon, my wife has a sprint, my parents have a t-mobile) and of the 3, my phone is the only phone that continuously has coverage. Second best is the Sprint phone, and the t-mobile phone drops ever single chance it gets.

2k1Toaster · 09-03-2009, 01:14 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

Actualy, I have to disagree with teh verizon network comment. In my house, we have several different cell phone providers (I have verizon, my wife has a sprint, my parents have a t-mobile) and of the 3, my phone is the only phone that continuously has coverage. Second best is the Sprint phone, and the t-mobile phone drops ever single chance it gets.

of those 3, yeah Verizon wins. TMobile is really the worst of them all. Their coverage is spotty everywhere except along interstates in the US. If you look at their coverage map, the good spots are all within a mile of an interstate, and everywhere else is "good" which is really bad, and then no coverage.

AT&T has the largest coverage area and I consistently get more bars than any of my friends with other carriers no matter where I am. Even when in the boonies, I can get 1 or 2 bars, when others have no reception at all. And living in the mountains, I get coverage through the mountain passes, ontop of mountains, everywhere. I have been ontop of the continental divide with 4 bars at the Monarch Ski Resort. Hiking in the back country in the woods, still get coverage. I don't know what they do, but it seems to work. And my mom has a Sprint/Nextel phone from work along with her AT&T phone, and the Sprint one drops out and loses coverage in various places through the city. Maybe it isn't so bad in areas that are more flat? But here AT&T rains supreme and again, there is the international compatibility that CDMA devices just can't do.

Oh and if I didn't mention it, I used to sell cell phones too

So I had access to the real coverage maps vs. marketing maps, and know the inner workings of most of them. (Not Cricket or Nextel but all the other major US carriers)

nitehawk · 09-03-2009, 01:29 AM

Lol, When I went over the continental devide while moving from SLC Utah to Laramie Wy, I got 3 bars.

And T-Mobile doesn't even have that great of reception on the interstates... My uncle ALSO uses T-Mobile (he's a long distance trucker) and every time I try to talk to him, I cant understand a damn thing he says.

Anyways... I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can avoid an ongoing debate about which cell provider to go with...

2k1Toaster · 09-03-2009, 01:45 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

Lol, When I went over the continental devide while moving from SLC Utah to Laramie Wy, I got 3 bars.

Yeah on the ground level, I mean on the TOP of the mountain!

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

And T-Mobile doesn't even have that great of reception on the interstates... My uncle ALSO uses T-Mobile (he's a long distance trucker) and every time I try to talk to him, I cant understand a damn thing he says.

, well I never recommended them and was going based on their maps. If you can get a hold of one of their real coverage maps, then overlay it on a map of the US interstate system, it lines up exactly! It is pretty funny.

Quote: Originally Posted by nitehawk

Anyways... I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can avoid an ongoing debate about which cell provider to go with...

Okie dokie, I just had nothing better to do, and figured with some sale experience in cell phones it was worth mentioning. Average Joe wont notice the difference anyways. Considering less than 10% of americans actually ever leave the country, for 90% of the people they could care less what provider they are on or what compatibility problems they have going from a proprietary us based system (CDMA) to an internationally accepted standard (GSM).

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