I have recently the pleasure of being able to play around with a couple of laptops, netbooks and tablets that have had built in GSM/3G modems. However, over the past couple of years we have been given the USB 3G modem which gives nearly every person with one of these the ability to connect to the internet on the go using a laptop or netbook. I have used these previously, and have run into several issues regarding these dongles. The first and probably most important one is that they are not built to last. They have a great deal of movement when placed into the socket which gives you connection issues and a multitude of problems when moving around as they potentailly can break in two.

Looking at the alternative which I have been usindg and these are usually built into the device. They work the exact same as your mobile phone (to a point anyway) they are usually joint via a series of connectors onto the main board of the system, and usually consist of a sim card reader and a bunch of fancy electornics that allows the connection to happen and also a antenna or aerial.

These aircards are by far superior to the 3G modems, they allow you not to worry about knocking the dongle out the device, or having some form of driver or connection issue. Usuaully with an Aircard you get better signal strength and better configurability. Aircards are great for systems you want to take with you on the go, a laptop fitted to a car mount so that you can track specific taget zones when driving. Seen in Storm chasers, majority of radar data is pulled using a Aircard to download the latest radar images for specific target areas. I have used these sort of systems in the past, but instead of chaasing storms I have used them for planning routes and journeys to avoid traffic on the go. They also give you the additional entertainment value unlike what a standard sat nav unit would give you.

The biggest technical adavnce regarding these form of systems has to be the tablet computers that have been launched over the past couple of years. iPads, Kindles, Android Tabs, and a wide range of other tablet machines all now come with built in 3G modems allowing the users to take out a pay monthly internet contract or even a pay as you go tariff to allow you to connect on the go. Maximising productivity, performance and overall satisfaction.

 

Tips for the future, if you are going to invest in one of these systems get one that has been well reviewed, works well and allows you to configure it to whatever specification you want it to. Also please remember to be safe 😉