I'm sure there are other forums that I could get an intelligent rundown on the possibilities for a mobile web connection on my laptop, but you geo-gurus have always had the skinny on this type of thing and with the diversity in this group I figured I'd ask here first.
I've got a work laptop with a wireless card in it which is fine when I'm on the road and connected into a hotspot at a motel, library, or any of the countless other places that provide wireless high speed and I connect thru my personal isp... and I've got a Nextel/Sprint work cell phone. Now I think there is a way to use my cell as a modem, but who would be my isp in that senario? Would I have to hook up thru earthlink dial-up(my personal only 20hrs/mo free) or what? Then I've seen these USB cards that look promising also. Do you have to sign up for additional mobile service and who would I need to connect to isp-wise? My personal(earthlink) or my company's isp, or the card provider eg.Sprint?
I would like to be able to use my laptop from the field to send & recieve email and access the internet, all work-related, of course! Well,... maybe the occaisonal geo-search or Jeep-porn query too!!
TIA for any enlightenment you might be able to provide! -JB

JB - I have looked into this for work purposes as I have staff that travel. From what I understand, you can get a USB card (or one that fits an actual port on the side of the laptop - don't know the formal name for that), then pay about $60 a month for a data fee. That would go through a phone company like verizon, etc. Second option is to 'tether' via USB to your phone, which I guess would need to have data enabled on your account. That would cost extra also.

I think in either case, you would not use your own ISP - I am not the expert, but that is how I understand it works.

Here's a link to get you started:
http://b2b.vzw.com/broadband/bbapccard.html

I looked into it a few years ago. The choices are to get a special pc card which plugs in to the laptop and directly gets data from a cell phone company. If the cell phone company supports high speed links then these can access it. Note high speed via cell phone companies isn't as fast as home high speed. These average 70-135 kilobits per second. Cost at that time was $60+ a month, with data limits. If you don't have an empty pc card slot then an equivalent device can be got with a usb port. These are what geomuse described.

The last option is to actually use your cell phone. For this to your cell phone has to be able to access data directly. The easy way to see if your cell phone can handle data is if it is web-enabled. The phone also has to have a data connection so that you can hook it to the laptop. I had a Nokia phone which had proprietary connection which required as special cable from Nokia. I currently have a Motorola phone which has a standard USB connection. Either of these could be used to access the data. This method isn't as fast as a dedicated pc card but costs about the same.

The cell phone company is your ISP in all cases, and the cost normally have a data limit above which you pay even more money.

Yeah, what he said.....

This is not zackly what you are looking for but may work in a tight. Be on the lookout for a policeman parked in a shopping center or in front of a store. If it is early in the morning or near dusk, you may see the glow of a laptop. This is an indication that there may be an accessable wifi site nearby. It worked for me when I needed to get something back to the office and I was some distance away from the motel. You may want to invest $10 in a wifi detector.