This is a wonderfull tool for anyone wanting free topo maps of anywhere in the US http://jdmcox.com/ it is USA Photomaps and it gives great maps that can be save and printed, all for free. Also you get free (but black and white) ariel photos of the area and if you place a waypoit on one it shows on the other. Also once maps and arieal photos are downloaded they are yours, no need to re-load like google earth. To me having this kind of tool would be extreamly helpfull in any treasure hunting or prospecting trip.

Mike

Thanks Jim. I also live in a place with zero DSL or cable. It is satelitte, dial up or wireless. If you can use a cell phone, you have high speed access. There are a few things you need to know, howver. First, only Verizon or ATT have much coverage. Both coast you about $60.00 a month and both have usage limitations. Both are caped at 5 gig a month and if you go over that, hang on to your hat. But if you go to that big box store (begins with a Cos**) you can get the modem (about the size of a cig lighter) which plugs into a USB port for free, and a rebate for the hook up. You also get a month to try it out and if you don't like it (verizon) you can cancel and have no charges. I get speeds up to 2.4 meg download and 500 kps up. Sure beats dial up.

Mike

You are more than welcome Jim. I had satellite for several years. It works ok, but is limited when you have thunder storms or other intense weather, which I know you do get. But, it is a whole lot better than dial up. If it weren't for wireless i would still be using satelitte ISP. Good luck my friend.

Mike

Just a small correction, I have verizon wireless, yep its $60 a month however its unlimited download (no cap, though that doesn't mean verizon hasn't changed for new users). Jim you said you have an external antenna, is it dish style? I've heard those can really help as compared to the usual car antenna style.


Regards,
Guz

Interesting. I have had that service for 2 years and is strictly limited at 5 gigs. After 5 gig usage, upload and download, I get charged $.05 (5 cents) a MEG or $50.00 a gig. So I monitor usage closely. Mobile Broadband Plan—5 GB Monthly Allowance

* 5 GB overage rate is $0.05/MB and 250 MB overage rate is $0.10/MB

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobi ... page=plans

http://www.mobile-broadband-reviews.com ... es-09.html

ATT is worse with charges of $.00048 a kbyte or 49 cents a meg or $480.00 a gig after 5 gig.

The details. The Fine Print

If you look closely at AT&T broadband prices & plans, you'll see this:

Additional data - $0.00048/KB
International data - $0.0195/KB

Now, I don't know about you, but last time I checked, nobody thought about things in terms of KBs. Heck, if you walked up to a regular person on the street and asked "what's a KB?", they'd probably look at you all funny. I only know because of physics class my sophomore year in college.

What's all this stuff about KB, MB & GB?

For the 'base 2' uninitiated, KB stands for Kilobyte (not to be confused with kilobit, kb). 1024 Kilobytes makes 1 Megabyte. 1024 Megabytes make 1 Gigabyte. Now, while most of us don't think in terms of Kilobytes and Megabytes, a Gigabyte is something that we can get a grasp on (it even sounds bigger).

So, to get a better grasp on how much that additional data will really hoodwink us for, let's convert that to Gigabytes.$0.00048/KB works out to be $0.49 cents per MB or...wait for it...

$503.31 for every extra Gigabyte you use.

How amazing is that? $60 for the first 5 Gigabytes, then $503.31 for every Gigabyte after that. Technically, you're paying $12 for each of the first 5 Gigabytes. An increase from $12/GB to $503.31/GB is almost a 4200% increase in price. Now, this might not strike you. Perhaps you're a visual person like myself.

Bottom line beware.

Mike

Hello Guz and welcome to the Forums!

I didn't know they made Dish antennas for Cell Phones. I have seen Yagi's that look similar to TV antennas, but no dish type. (For home installations anyway) Mine is just an automotive style magnetic mount. It has about 10db Gain, where the Yagi's have about 24 db gain.

I will have to look into the Dish antennas and see what the Gain is.

Thanks,

Jim

I'm a long time lurker on these boards. Not sure why I decided to post after 2+ years....

Jim, They do or so I've heard from a good friend. Of course this IS the lost gold mine forums so....grain of salt

MMM: We have 2 modem accounts here and they are both Unlimited! We have a web design/hosting biz and run plenty of gigs up and down the pipe. I followed your link to verizon and wish I hadn't. Don't know what to say about that but I assure you we are unlimited here. Maybe we ruined it for everyone else?

That is a great post though MMM! Very informative and a shame verizon isn't required to tell everyone that before they buy their product. And what I mean by that is the actual cost.Like that will ever happen! Ridiculous.


Thank you for the warm welcome Guys!!!


Cheers!

Guz