VERIZON UPS THE ANTE WITH EvDO WIRELESS CARD

By Hassen Fawaz-DHL Enterprises, Inc.

Thinkpads.com Reporter

Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

It’s now official. You can finally cut your DSL line and kiss it goodbye forever in favor of a truly un-tethered broadband wireless connection if you’re lucky enough to live in an area where Verizon Wireless recently launched their speedy EvDO 3G wireless data service.  Don’t be surprised soon if the Verizon guy changes his tune from “Can You Hear Me Now?” to “Try To Catch Me Now!”

I had the opportunity to recently get my hands on the Audiovox 5220 Broadband Wireless PC Card that Verizon Wireless is marketing in conjunction with what can be  probably considered the fastest wireless internet service available today, (aside from limited range wireless Hot Spots). Verizon initially launched the service in five major cities across the USA in the second half of 2004, and recently launched the service in several new major markets (currently totaling 31 major markets), as well as in several major airports. What sets this service apart from the others in the market is simply download speeds. And boy is it fast!

Most laptop users today can rely on a handful of technologies and systems to access the internet while away from a hard wired or 802.11b wireless connections. Absent the presence of a WiFi 802.11b hotspot network, you would have to use GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) the data offspring of a GSM type cellular network such as those offered by T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless or Cingular Wireless. Your other choice for national coverage would be the CDMA based 2.5G (not quite 3G or 3^rd Generation Wireless.) 1xRTT services as they are recognized in technical jargon, are currently both offered by both Sprint and Verizon Wireless (both US CDMA carriers). If you’re lucky, you can chug along with any one of these carriers at an average download speed of about 56Kbps, the same rated speed as a normal dial-up line. While this speed is fine for casual surfing and email downloads, it hardly matches the speed and satisfaction of a WiFi or hard wired broadband connection.
 

EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution), was introduced last year by the now all but defunct AT&T Wireless (AT&T Wireless was recently purchased by Cingular Wireless and being consolidated to become the nations largest wireless carrier with over 48 million customers) which promised data speeds that would average about 160Kbps, with peaks reaching 300-400Kbps. This furthered the promise of wireless data download speeds that would provide near broadband experience, but didn’t quite make it that fast. It did however provide a much faster and smoother wireless experience than 1xRTT or GPRS.