On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 18:31:25 -0700, Ant <a...@zimage.comANT> wrote:
>Hello.
>
>My small family and I have multiple desktop computers and
>laptops/notebooks (Linux/Debian stable, 2008's MacBook Pro's Mac OS X
>10.5.8, and very old Windows XP Pro. SP3) and mobile phones (an Apple
>iPhone 4S and two LG Cosmos 2). We want to get a back up fast Internet
>connection in case Time Warner Cable (TWC) goes down which does happen
>once in a while for hours and is quite annoying. Currently, we use
>dial-up Internet through Verizon's old copper phone lines on one Windows
>computer but it is too slow (3 KB/sec average even on various 56k modems
>-- it has been like this since the mid 1990s/90s)!
>
>I assume I need an USB wireless modem if needed for emergencies, but 4G
>type. iPhone 4S uses 3G. Do we connect it to these mentioned phones? How
>will that work? Are these modems backward compatible? Do we need new
>phones that we just bought earlier this year?
>
>Thank you in advance. :)
I'm not at all familiar with Apple products, so no comment on that
aspect. However, there are definitely other options. Android smart
phones have the capability to act as a wireless access point. So with
that kind of setup, you'l only need a wireless adapter for any
computer you wanted to use on the internet. It "think" they can handle
up to 5 connections. There's a "got-ya" for that kind of setup,
however. I have AT&T wireless and a Samsung Galaxy S-2 phone, and AT&T
won't let you use the "access point" option on the pohone unless you
go with the maximum data plan, $50/mo for 5 GB.
You can "tether" the phone with a usb cable to a computer with lesser
data plans, but that limits you to using only one computer with each
phone.
I think Sprint has "unlimited" data access with their plans, so look
into what's available and gives a good signal in your area. As to
4G/3G etc, it seems 4G capability includes 4G, 3G, "Edge" etc
capability as well, at least with the devices I have.