Verizon wide-area broadband

[illNana]

Hey was wondering if anyone has been using this type of broadband. Its basically broadband through your cell phone carrier. So ideally you can be sitting on the beach and have broadband internet without the need for a hotspot. Sprint and Cingular offer it as well. If anyone uses it or has tried it I would appreciate your feedback. I would be using this primarily for playing poker from my apartment. The main concern I have is how often it disconnects. I play tournies and SnG's and getting disconnected during bubble time would really suck!

-IllNana

[dp13368]

Verizon's network is called EVDO (Evolution Data Only or Evolution Data Optimized )Average download speeds 400K - 700K.

Also, 1xEVDO is based on the 1xRTT standard. 1xRTT is basically available wherever cell phone coverage is and can give you 2-3 times dialup speed (both Verizon and Sprint offer this). Typical speed is 60 - 100K upload and download speeds.

Verizon Coverage Map: http://www.evdoinfo.com/EVDO/Info/EV...on_2005011127/


More info: http://www.evdoinfo.com

[BvlyHls90210]

I also wanted to ask about this, specifically if it works while in the car (not while driving, but it would be cool).

[Ray Zee]

it works pretty much anywhere your cell phone will pick up a digital signal. so if you get bars on your cell phone the card works.

[rabbitlover]

You don't actually use your cell phone with this do you?

It's a network card that loads in the laptop and picks up the signal, right?

How does speed compare with DSL?

Thanks

[Dennisa]

about 1/2 as fast as dsl. No phone needed.

Dennisa

[MicroBob]

I've had this for a few months and love it.

Yes, you can play poker from the beach or your car or wherever.


you get the 'broadband-access' in the major and some mid-major markets.

But if you're on a highway between big cities then you are just running off the cell-phone signal and the speed is only going to be better than dial-up (and sometimes might have interruptions...but not too badly, pretty much the same as a cell-phone call getting dropped I suspect).


The Broadband Access is pretty good imo if you are in a market that has it.


you also have to purchase a card which is going to run $150-$200 or so I think.

I also have cell-phone service through Verizon which means I pay less for the broadband-access.

It's just a card in your computer, not a phone. but you are assigned a phone # for this. So I do essentially have 2 phone numbers.
I just pay both my cell-phone and my broadband-access on the same bill each month.


I think this type of coverage is an especially good idea if you do any amount of traveling at all as more and more airports and hotels are charging $10/day for wireless-internet.

[SamIAm]

Do you guys have Verizon cell, too? Is the $60/mo price only if you're a cell customer?
-Sam

[Ray Zee]

sam its 10 or 20 more a month instead of the 60 if you dont have a verizon cell phone. since its a cell # and uses the same cell stuff, any time you get a signal on your cell phone the card should also pick one up and be usable. i haven t as of yet had a discconnection or any kind of interuption. where as with my dial up it never works continuously. in cities it is very fast and in the country still way faster than dial up.
i just leave the card in my laptop and go wherever i want and get on the web in seconds with no searching for anything or waiting for dial tones.

[ottsville]

I jsut ried this for my home and got too weak of a signal to get coverage.

[ QUOTE ]
you also have to purchase a card which is going to run $150-$200 or so I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I recall correctly it was $99 and then there was a $50 rebate. Also specials/rebates seem to change regularly, so check several times with them.