1/31/09

How Fast is My Aircard's Internet Access?

No matter what method you use to access the Internet (whether it be dial-up, satellite, aircard, etc.), you may be wondering how fast your computer is connecting to the Internet for uploading and downloading information.

Some products easily display your Internet connection speed. Our aircard software allows us to run statistics, which shows our connection speed. For a more fun way to independently check your speed, you might want to visit Speedtest.net. To run a quick test, just visit the site.

A map of the United States will pop up on your screen, showing several locations of Internet servers. Select the one closest to you and wait for the test to be performed. You'll see graphics resembling a car dashboard, with an "odometer" that moves as your top speed is discovered. The first test checks the speed information is being downloaded, and then the test is repeated for uploading information.

A quick test of my aircard showed we were downloading information at 721 kbps. We repeated the test later and found we were connecting at 921 kbps. This is a massive increase over our dial-up, which usually connected at 28 kpbs.

Uploading speeds were approximately 228 kbps. You'll be concerned about uploading speeds only if you are planning to upload photos, music, or other large packages of data.

We recently learned the Internet was able to connect at 56 kbps as early as 1969, during its earliest inception. The aircard connection allowed us to enter the modern era.

I'm Glad I Chose an Aircard

This week's weather has me happy about my choice of an aircard as my high speed internet option. What does the weather have to do with an aircard? Let me explain.

The other night a snow and ice storm rolled through my area. My in-laws' satellite internet connection went down several times. First, it lost its connection with the satellite way above due to heavy cloud cover. Later, the signal was blocked by heavy snowfall. Finally, the satellite dish was covered with ice and quit working. My father-in-law had to go outside and thaw it out with a blow dryer. Through all of this, the aircard kept working and my internet access was not interrupted.

With an aircard, heavy clouds don't block reception because the signal is coming from a tower that is under the cloud cover. It seems like heavy snow fall could negatively affect my aircard's reception, but it didn't seem to. Finally, with an aircard there is nothing outside of the house to freeze up in bad weather. The aircard is safe and warm inside the house, unless you connect it to a booster and an external antenna to get an even better signal.