We've been asked a few times how we are connecting to the Internet while on the bus. It turns out that the bus itself actually has Internet connectivity. While we haven't really asked, we believe it is actually the same service we are using in our data cards. We've been sponsored by Sprint who is providing wireless connectivity on the bus.

We have 3 EVDO Rev.A cards that are being used.  One of the cards remains in the wireless router we have on-board. It is a cool little router that you insert a PCMCIA air card in and then it serves as a mini router. The other two cards are available for anyone on the bus. The Ovation U727 is a really great one.  It's form-factor is a USB stick which has the Sprint required software already on it!  This has been very handy for times where guest presenters needed Internet access.  No lugging around a CD with bits!  It also has location services as a part of the service, which we aren't using because of our GPS receivers, but is cool and geeky nonetheless.

The Rev.A cards are great because they are the latest in EVDO technology, providing faster download and upload speeds.  It isn't ideal for uploading our video content (usually about 200MB for all the various formats), but for normal 'work' stuff it has been great!

Our coverage has been pretty great. With the exception of some spots in Montana and Wyoming, we've been connected the entire time.  There have been times where it drops to 1xRTT coverage, but for us that has been fine.  Our travel has been at interstate speeds (65-75 MPH) and we've haven't noticed any significant drops when tower switching.  It has kept us online and able to communicate to the outside world while en route to each destination.Thanks to Sprint for being our data connectivity partner!