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The Mac EVDO Card Shootout
tuaw.com — TUAW blogger tests a couple of high-speed mobile internet options (EVDO cards) from several carriers. Let's watch the fun!
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- starkruzr, on 12/04/2007, -0/+13I wonder if these things will ever be cheap enough to actually use if you're not a big business.
- diversionmary, on 12/04/2007, -0/+7I get some of my EVDO cards for $50 for the hardware, $60 mth for unlimited 1.5Mbps+. If it's your only internet option, I think that's pretty affordable.
- toetagger, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Who has the 60/mo unlimited? Sounds good... also...what speed? Do they have Express34?
- jcostom, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Verizon's rack rate is $60/mo for "unlimited" (read 5GB/mo), EVDO speeds. After my company's discounts, the bill is $44/mo. And yes, ExpressCard/34 options are available. Can't stand vzw as a mobile phone provider, but their data is pretty good and mostly not annoying.
- diversionmary, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Sprint does, my rep is Craig Schaffer 18008496299. My cards come preconfigured and ready to rock. The speeds vary throughout California, but they are generally >1.5MBps. They do have an expresscard option but it is more expensive than the pcmcia card. Research the usb options if you need, the one that I support is a u720n or something, and it's awful.
What is nice is that if one of my users goes to an area where they are roaming, that is covered for the same price.
- toetagger, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Who has the 60/mo unlimited? Sounds good... also...what speed? Do they have Express34?
- brundlefly76, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2The other thing about Sprint besides the unlimited cap is that they dont restrict what apps you can use - you can use streaming video, for example, which was verboten on Verizon - but I dont know how Verizons recent announcement about any device any app applies. Also for infrequent use you are way better off costwise getting a tetherable EVDO phone like the Sprint Blackberry 8830.
I agree though if I used this all the time I would rather go with the card that isnt a pain in the ass to use.
I dont think ATT has very significant coverage for this compared to the other two.
I wonder what city he tested in that makes a big difference.- toetagger, on 12/04/2007, -0/+3Los Angeles
- diversionmary, on 12/04/2007, -0/+7I get some of my EVDO cards for $50 for the hardware, $60 mth for unlimited 1.5Mbps+. If it's your only internet option, I think that's pretty affordable.
- mrshermanoaks, on 12/04/2007, -0/+7Glad to see Mac users being supported with these cards, even if the setup support is mediocre. Once they get working, you tend to forget what a pain it was to get installed.
- popfrogs, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Just a note here I wanted to throw in near the top...
One of my clients has a Macbook Pro. We had hell with the AT&T card until we found some expensive german software that's designed for this card and many others. It would never get the top speeds in MacOSX until we installed it. I imagine whoever tested these cards could have benefited greatly from those expensive drivers+connection software. http://www.novamedia.de sells it. If you have a Macbook Pro and one of these cards, you MUST get this software. Not a plug, just helping out.- popfrogs, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Caveat: if you're running Leopard, the OptionGT is supported natively. Anything else requires the software.
- popfrogs, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Just a note here I wanted to throw in near the top...
- thenumber8, on 12/04/2007, -1/+7Google Wireless can't come fast enough
- davidhildreth, on 12/04/2007, -3/+12I love how they use EVDO as a buzz word for 3G. AT&T's network is not EVDO, it's HSDPA which they obviously weren't in range of when they ran their bandwidth tests.
Buried for not doing some simple homework.- streak, on 12/04/2007, -1/+4This "shootout" appears to be more of an ambush, intended to make AT&T look bad by not performing a controlled comparison.
Ever tried to use EVDO in Europe, by the way?- rdoger6424, on 12/04/2007, -0/+4I can't get signal for some reason :p
- TokenUser, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Yep, that article lost ALL credibility when they said AT&T and EVDO in the same breath.
- bradleyland, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1What you say is true in fact, but the test unwittingly illustrates the problem with AT&T's wireless broadband offerings: coverage. When I had a Blackjack, I used to tether with my MacBook via Bluetooth PAN and get 1.1-1.3 mbps when I was in West Palm Beach. However, when I returned home to Vero Beach, I'd get 80-100 kbps. All the potential in the world won't help you if you can't deliver it to your customers.
- streak, on 12/04/2007, -1/+4This "shootout" appears to be more of an ambush, intended to make AT&T look bad by not performing a controlled comparison.
- sporg, on 12/04/2007, -15/+3I wish this article was about people shooting Macs and then stomping on them with combat boots.
- MrMacMan, on 12/04/2007, -2/+2really?
This article is in the apple section... - toetagger, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1Whatsa matta little boy, daddy still touching you? Grow up retard...
- MrMacMan, on 12/04/2007, -2/+2really?
- tnoy, on 12/04/2007, -1/+2Its a shame Apple doesnt offer an option to have the Macbook Pro with built-in EVDO like Lenovo does with some of the T series laptops. I can see that being a big plus for some business users.
- SteveMax, on 12/04/2007, -0/+4And a big minus globally. EVDO is only offered in a handful of countries, mostly in North America and a few other countries like a small part of Brazil; if they designed their laptops with an onboard EVDO radio, people from (say) Italy would have to pay extra for a feature they'll never use. It's better to let people chose whatever they want (or need, or can have), EVDO, HSUPA, HSDPA, Edge, GPRS, CSD, smoke signals...
- mcquitty, on 12/04/2007, -1/+1I enjoy my Sprint 720.. Works great on both the PC and MacBook Pro...
Also, if you happen to get a discount plan, Sprint offers the service for $50/month vs $60.. of course, I just expense it anyway.. - codewater, on 12/04/2007, -0/+4I have been thinking of getting a 3G connection for my Macbook. I live in Sweden and the best three choices so far is Tele2, Tre and Telenor. All of them offer 0,3 mbits/sec with almost 100% coverage of the country, 3,2mbits/sec in all half-big cities and 7,2mbits/sec in major cities and are currently expanding coverage of higher speeds quite fast. The cost is about the same as well; around 22 USD/month unlimited plan and they all work with Mac.
- SteveMax, on 12/04/2007, -0/+2Damn it, the world is unfair! You get hot Swedish blondes AND cheap mobile Internets?! I pay way more than 22 dollars per month for 4 Mbps cable :(
- YF19AVF, on 12/04/2007, -1/+3If he was having trouble with the AT&T card he should have called support to help with the issue. I had to call them once before and they fixed my issue like it was nothing. I live in LA and I get about 1.6 mb/s with my expresscard. Granted I am using it in a PC and not a Mac, but still. This isn't a fair test. Buried for inaccuracy.
- dashjackson, on 12/04/2007, -1/+2Reading about the troubles this guy had installing the sprint card, and reading the comments about sprint customer service is pretty frustrating for me. I'm one of the admins for the portion of the sprint network that provides cdma/evdo net access. My teammates and I work very hard to try to make sure that the network is fast, responsive, secure and reliable, and I believe that we do just that. We've managed to (barely) stay ahead of the of the ever increasing demand for high speed wireless access by consistently improving network performance throughout the past year. And to see all that work shot in the foot because of a painful install or poor customer service, it really bugs me.
- mike17032, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Ya well sprints customer service policies blow. I was a support rep for Sprint DSL. Nothing like being forced to try and sell people calling for tech support things. We were required to make a sales offer on every single call, talk about putting profit ahead of the customer. I refused to do it, and was fired for it. I told them I had signed on to be a tech, not a salesman.
I am sure you yourself care about doing a good job, but as a company sprint is only after money and puts that ahead of its customers (not that any of the other Telcos are different). They also ***** all over their employees to do it. Remember the scene in Office Space when the boss came around and said "ummm ya, we are gonna need ya to come in on saturday"? Ya that happened more than a few times, because it was cheaper to force us to work overtime than to hire the help they needed.- ChillyWilly5280, on 12/05/2007, -0/+1When I called Sprint, the first tech couldn't get it through his head that I was NOT running Windoze. He finally got so frustrated he hung up on me, after 8 minutes on hold waiting for him to try and learn OS X's networking setup. Luckily I got a female tech the second time who fixed my issue by resetting the IOTA without a second thought. So my experience with Sprint customer service is 50/50 so far.
- mike17032, on 12/04/2007, -0/+1Ya well sprints customer service policies blow. I was a support rep for Sprint DSL. Nothing like being forced to try and sell people calling for tech support things. We were required to make a sales offer on every single call, talk about putting profit ahead of the customer. I refused to do it, and was fired for it. I told them I had signed on to be a tech, not a salesman.
- gemmakicn, on 12/04/2007, -1/+2I find it kinda funny how people go on about AT&T isn't EVDO its hspda! While i'm concious of the difference, and know there is significance to that fact, 90% of people don't really care. Both are 3.5G phone technologies that provide half decent data connections to the internet.
Its an interesting review, points some interesting questions about AT&T's ability to provide a 3G network for all its data plans. Personally i'll stick with my phone as a slow modem for emergencies because its good for that and i don't need to bring extra hardware, but were i back in the freelance business i would definitely be tempted by one of these cards. - ChillyWilly5280, on 12/05/2007, -0/+1I recommend staying away from Sprint. I have the Sierra Wireless 595, and while the card may be ok, and Sprint's coverage is pretty good, the app that interfaces the card to my PowerBook (Sierra Wireless Watcher Lite) is abysmal. I NEVER had a kernel panic until I started using it 4 months ago. Now I've had three KP's. And as little as there is to the GUI, it often renders incorrectly. If I could go back I would choose Verizon.
- lolo2007, on 03/08/2008, -0/+0I have been thinking of getting a 3G connection for my Macbook. I live in Sweden and the best three choices so far is Tele2, Tre and Telenor. All of them offer 0,3 mbits/sec with almost 100% coverage of the country, 3,2mbits/sec in all half-big cities and 7,2mbits/sec in major cities and are currently expanding coverage of higher speeds quite fast. The cost is about the same as well; around 22 USD/month unlimited plan and they all work with Mac.
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