Wireless broadband

On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 14:39:20 GMT, "Snap Whipcrack.............." wrote in :

Depends. Which specific service and which specific products do you have in mind? We can't really help you if you keep all those details secret.

I think you are talking about cellular connections. This group is oriented toward WiFi.

Try alt.cellular.verizon (or whoever your carrier is).

Good luck.

Didn't you know? All the services are exactly the same and you just pick the cheapest one that has the cutest ringtones...

A friend of mine just signed up for the Sprint broadband. It's $60/month for just that service - he doesn't have a Sprint cell phone.

He got a pcmcia card from them, which he plugged into a special Linksys wireless router. The Sprint card provides the WAN connection, but the LAN side is just your typical wireless router. So basically, the router can go anywhere power is available. He put it in the garage, and it covers his house and a neighbor's. The speed is a lot less than cable, but a lot better than the dialup he was using. I gather it's something less than 1 mbps - maybe 750k or something in that neighborhood. He's very happy with the setup, but he doesn't exactly "challenge" the system on bandwidth demands.

Of course this operates off the Sprint cell towers. He had also looked at fixed-base wireless broadband, but just wasn't close enough to make it work.

I looked at all of them, USCellular, Verizonwireless, Unicel, Sprint etc.

Like I say, information is scarce. You don't have a clue what you are getting. No specifications, and they all want around 60 to 80 a month and you don't know if that includes cell phone service. I guess they are trying to prevent proliferation. They sure are suppressing information. It's like a 'pot luck' service.

No idea how you arrived at the guess they are suppressing information when everything you want to know is on their respective websites.

In a nut shell:

Data services (internet access) tops out at $60-$80 for unlimited data transfers. Lesser costs for fixed transfers, but overcharges if you go over the plans data transfer plan.

Theses rates apply to both your laptop tethered to you cellphone or your laptop with a data connection card.

You can have a data plan added to your cellphone's voice plan for tethering and pay the above rates. Speeds are slower than if you used a data connection card.

You can have an exclusively data connection card plan for the above rates. Connection cards start out at $40 after rebate and a term commitment.

Cingular has just added a Express Card form factor card to their PCMCIA selections. I don't know about the other carriers.

If you use your connection card SIM in a cellphone, you get charged an extremely high rate. I'm open to correction if I didn't state that correctly. I do not know the charges when you stick a cellphone SIM into a data card.

I don't know about the other carriers, but you cannot run a server of any sort with Cingular, unless you pay a very high setup fee and monthly fees for a static IP address. I seem to recall I was told there was a $2,000 set fee, but that information is also on the Cingular website - you just have to dig for it.

No one is suppressing information. All the specifications and details are available on their respective websites. Cingular is not trying to prevent proliferation, their business accounts department told me data services are a high income service for them.

In th Seattle, WA area EVDO works great - Rev. A is here and typical downliad is a little over 1m. Upload is running about 600k. Throughput is great. Both the USB and PCMCIA and Express slot cards work fine. You can use phone with broadband but not both at once (if you are talking about using phone-as-modem). Sprint tolerates VoiP and the data speeds support it. I know people using the USB on their desktop and moving it to their laptop then they hit the road. Also I use my Blackberry 8703e as a modem. It is only Rev. 0 but I connect at around 750k.

Dave

Sprint has $59.99 unlimited data for their Rev. A EVDO cards with basically no restrictions. Download is running 700k - 1.4m in the Seattle area and upload between 400 and 700k. You can also get a $99.99 business package for "always on" users. I think this would support a server. Sprint allows Phone-as-modem (I use my BB 8703e this way and download at 760k) with unlimited usage included in the $39.99 data plan.

You need to look at coverage maps for the various carriers in the areas you live/travel then pick the one you like. Phone-as-modem is good for light use or if you don't mind missing phone calls otherwise a dedicated modem is best. I like Novatel but there are others that are good. Make sure you get an unlimited plan because overage will eat you alive - just like cellular.

Dave

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 08:44:08 GMT, DTC wrote in :

It's actually pretty clear if you step through the ordering process.

Not necessarily -- it all depends on the device -- my Motorola RAZR V3xx is as fast as other HSDPA devices I've tested, including PC Cards.

Doesn't matter what device it's in -- what matters is the amount of data transferred and whatever data pricing is on that account.

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:48:23 -0700, "Brutus" wrote in :

Cingular handsets will ring when data is active, and the call can be taken, which suspends data transfer for the duration of the call, so there's no need to miss phone calls.

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:40:56 -0700, "Brutus" wrote in :

Cingular HSDAP here in the San Francisco Bay Area is roughly comparable, using a Motorola RAZR V3xx handset.

Sprints ring as well, but you can't surf AND talk at the same time - it is one or the other. If you need to check out email/surf the web while talking then you need a phone and modem.

Dave

It may, but HSPDA cover is much less US wide then EVDO. ANd EVDO REv. A is quickly being rolled out. Here in the Seattle market you can consistently download at 1+ mbps and upload at 700+ kbps. Coverage is very extensive, much more so then the Cingular/AT&T system. But I know things vary from market to market.

And this is a Sprint group. :)

Dave

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:42:47 -0700, "Brutus" wrote in :

1. That's a whole different issue than your claim about "missing" calls.
2. The Motorola RAZR V3xx can make a voice call _while_ an HSDPA data connection is active. (My earlier comment pertained to prior generation EGPRS handsets.)

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:48:57 -0700, "Brutus" wrote in :

1. You were talking about Seattle, not nationwide
2. Cingular HSDPA has good coverage of major metro areas -- see
3. Cingular EGPRS(EDGE) coverage is ubiquitous -- see

Likewise HSDPA.

My friends in that area are typically getting lower speeds than that.

Indeed.

This is actually alt.internet.wireless (which focuses mostly on Wi-Fi), not a Sprint group.