It’s been a while since I’ve written on the Kyocera KR1 and Verizon’s Wireless Data service. Today I put together a podcast on mobile internet, and thought I’d also post further on my experiences.

It’s been a little over 6 months of “Full-Timing” in my Airstream. During that time I’ve gotten a ton of use out of Verizon’s Wireless Data network, and my KR1. Both have done extremely well!

During my travels I’ve found myself without appropriate network coverage less than 2 weeks total. What does that mean? That means less than 14 days out of 6 months I haven’t had Verizon coverage, or a roaming partner’s coverage, that allowed me access to a wireless data network. So, 1/12th of my travel time I had issues with Verizon’s coverage for data. Put another way, 91% of my time on the road I was able to use my Verizon card. I’m not complaining at all. ;)

While using the card, it was almost always running out of the KR1. The one outstanding glitch with the KR1 came when I updated the firmware on the system many months ago, and found myself with a dead KR1. Once the replacement arrived I’ve had smooth sailing.

Has everything been perfect with the equipment? Pretty much, yes! Has everything been perfect with the network coverage? Are you kidding me? No, not at all. But what do you expect. Running off of a “digital cellular network” is going to have issues. If there are no towers, there will be no service. Not all the towers have been converted to high speed network. Often I found myself getting between 100 & 200 Kbps. Not super fast, but better than dial up.

Now the big question….Would I change anything today if I could? Sure, if someone gave me a satellite setup I’d start using it. But if I had to choose between satellite and my current setup today, I’d still pick what I have. Why? Price first off. Secondly, while satellite download speeds can beat my wireless card, satellite upload speeds aren’t much better. With that in mind, the gains do not out weigh the costs (for me at least).