internet access

I admit it - I am completely spoiled. For the last three years I have had access to the internet anywhere, anytime. My iPhone, which is always with me, can be used at any time to check the weather, the traffic, read and write email, check my calendar, add to my calendar, surf the web...

The times when I could not access the internet were very few - on a plane, on the train when it goes underground, and a few isolated places that had no signal.

Yesterday, I was on the train I used to take when I worked downtown, and it turns out that there is now a great signal even underground. Apparently the CTA has added access points to its underground tunnels.

I waited (patiently? well, not so much) till the end of April to purchase the 3G iPad because I felt that the internet access would make it more useful. And sure enough, even though I work at home and no longer commute everyday, within a few weeks I found myself signing up for a wireless account. I started with the $15 account, but in less than a day I had come close to exceeding the 250M limit. So I switched to the $30 account with unlimited access.

So now I am spending $60 a month for the privilege of being online with both my phone and my iPad anywhere and anytime. When I stop and think about it, that seems pretty bad.

But it doesn't even stop there - there's also wireless access accounts. I had a Boingo account on my laptop when I traveled, which was $7.95 a month. And as I mentioned in my last post, I just found out that you need a different account for a mobile device, another $7.95. And of course, that's just for when you are somewhere that has a Boingo access point.

My flight last week was on Airtran, which is now offering wireless access on the flight. I tried it on the flight to Atlanta on May 20 which was free. But on the way back on the 24th, the free promotion was over and it would have cost $4.95 for the flight (any flight up to 1.5 hours, prices get higher for longer flights). They also have monthly subscriptions, $39.95 a month.

So just how many accounts would someone need to be online all the time, on an iPhone, iPad and laptop?

iPhone - $30/month unlimited access over 3G networks
iPad - another $30
laptop - let's say a Boingo account - $7.95/month takes care of airports, $39.95 for gogoinflight, which covers a number of airlines. Not sure if there are other inflight services yet.

We're up to 108/month. I saved us $8 by not also getting a Boingo account for mobile devices; if you have it for the laptop and you have 3G on the mobile devices that should be enough! After all, have to save money somewhere...

Oh, and let's not forget the internet at home - my current service is another $30/month in a package deal (internet, phone, cable). So we're at $138. And actually, with taxes and other add ons that $30/month comes closer to $40 somehow, so let's make it $148.

So by my calculation, I'm saving $48/month at the moment because I've decided that for now, it's enough to have the 3G access in the airport and skip internet on a flight. After all, shouldn't there be some small amount of time when you are just off the grid?