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id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
3 edits | Chrysler's In-Car Wi-Fi Ready To Roll Aug. 25
It's nothing that anyone cannot accomplish by installing one of these in their ride, and its hundreds of dollars cheaper. The dlink will likely work with your existing cell phone plan, or at the very least, an upgrade to your cellular plan might be required.
The cards that insert into the router are free or nearly free with a cell plan.
It's just plain stupid and an uneeded extra expense to have a separate cell subscription just for your car, when nearly everyone already has a cell phone plan. | |
Mce Saint
join:2007-10-03
Saint Louis, MO
 ·AT&T Midwest
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| It's hard to imagine that this will be anything more than gimmick.
I can accomplish the same thing with a Sprint U727 USB aircard (which is EV-DO rev. A), a Cradlepoint CTR-350 (about the size of a cigarette pack), and a power converter. Total inital outlay of about $300 ($150 for the aircard with 2 year contract; $125 for the Cradlepoint; about $25 for the power converter).
Chrysler is merely all of that in one integrated "package" . . . yet that package ends up being "locked" in the car. Internet service that's locked in your car (or 100ft. of it) or locked in your house - what's the difference? People who want their internet to be *truly* mobile - it goes with me everywhere types - won't find this a very satisfying solution.
True, the Sprint plan has a higher recurring cost of $60 per month versus $25 to $35 per month of the Chrysler plan, but, again, I can use my Sprint U727 (and Cradlepoint) places a Chrysler car cannot go (e.g., inside a hotel room or conference center). Having to run out of my hotel room to my car to "look up" the nearest restaurant isn't much of a "service."
One wonders too . . . how happy will Chrysler wi-fi customers be when they wander into those areas with poor cell reception or - where reception is not an issue - the area is not yet covered by EV-DO rev. A? | |
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