Deciding on the Best Route
One thing I've found in my experience with over-the-road types is that every-
body's situation is vastly different. Because of that, I'm not likely to come up
with a universal solution to the question of how long any Wi-Fi subscription
should be, which WISP you should subscribe to, whether you should main-
tain a dialup account, or whether you should choose to sign up with a cellu-
lar carrier for data service.
What I can do is give you as much information as possible so that, hopefully,
it'll become clear which route is the most beneficial and economical to you. I
can also get you started in your decision process.
If you're a trucker
For years upon years, I've been told by countless truckers that they don't
spend much time in truck stops. Right. All those trucks I see clogging the lots
must be mirages, merely Fig Newtons of my amalgamation. Face it; trucks stop
at truck stops. You and I might prefer to spend time elsewhere, but the last time
I checked, almost no one else wants a truck parked in their lots any longer than
it takes to unload the products necessary for them to do business.
That means a truck stop WISP will probably provide you with the best Wi-Fi
service. Still, depending on whether you haul peaches or couches, the plan
and provider best suited to you might be drastically different. For example,
are you a trucker . . .
With a dedicated route? If you haul the same freight over the same route
week after week, year after year, it's likely that you make the same stops.
Are the truck stops you frequent all in the same chain? If they are, signing
up for an annual Wi-Fi subscription can save you some money over the
long term. If your stops run the gamut of travel plaza chains, could you
alter your stops so that an annual subscription might be feasible?
Traveling far and wide? If you're never heading in the same direction
two weeks in a row, or you rarely spend three nights a week in a truck
stop of the same chain, you might consider paying for Wi-Fi by the day,
using dialup as a backup. If, however, you can plan to be in a position to
use the same WISP three or four nights a week, you can save a few bucks
by signing up for a monthly or annual plan. (I talk more about using
dialup as a backup in Chapter 8.)
Hauling over-dimensional loads? Having hauled over-dimensional
freight (think WIDE LOAD), I know how hard it can be to park within
sight of the facilities. Because that's where the access point is most
often located, you might be parked, quite often, too far away to make a
connection. If that's the case, you might want to investigate a high-speed
cell data plan. (See Chapter 7 for more information.)
Chapter 1: Taking the Wi-Fi Highway
Page 15
