Waiting for the REV A phone Eh?

Antilles · EVDO Newbie Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Posts: 8

Rev A would be nice for my Mogul, but I just want my GPS.... ;_;

deparson · EVDO Junkie Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 248

Just curious, what are the drivers to wanting a Rev A phone vs. a Rev 0 phone?

For most smart phones that are not being tethered you are not going to see much difference in performance. The overhead of the phone is such that the increased 'speed' of Rev A is not likely to give you much noticeable speed difference for most tasks.

-D

ChrisM · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject:

As I mentioned in my earlier post, being able to get calls while you're surfing the web, and also, related to what you mentioned, being able to get calls while you're tethered.

If you have a REV A phone, and you can receive calls on it while tethered, you can essentially have one device for your broadband and cellphone. With bluetooth, you don't even need to plug your phone into your laptop to use broadband.

You also won't need a "Mobile BroadBand" account in addition to your phone account, and you can save money on your monthly bill, especially since Sprint insists on charging cellphone taxes on mobile broadband accounts.

Also, the latency of REV A is low enough that theoretically you could use a VOIP client on your phone, and with unlimited data, you would essentially get unlimited minutes.

deparson · EVDO Junkie Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 248

This is all the same with Rev 0 at least on the Blackberry 8703e.

Sprint only charges the taxes it is required to charge on data only plans. For my $50/month plan taxes and fees add up to $1.67.

ChrisM · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:30 pm Post subject:

So you can receive phone calls while actively using your tethered phone ? It's my understanding that only REV A supports this, but I would be glad to hear it if you can actually receive calls while actively using your connection.

Also, the latency of REV 0 is at least double that of REV A. The upload speed is at least 4 times faster with REV A. Have you tried VOIP (or skype) with a REV 0 phone?

Why do you think Sprint went to the trouble of upgrading their entire network to REV A? Because it's just as good ?

For me, the main purpose of tethering would be to login to work, and use remote desktop, which really sucks with the upload speed and latency of REV 0, but is usable with REV A. I know, I tried both for a good 6 months with Mobile Broadband.

deparson · EVDO Junkie Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 248

I agree if you are tethering a lot then A makes a big difference. But, the phones I have seen don't tether nearly as well as a data card and of course you can't tether and use the phone at the same time.

I use my data card 10+ hours a day often with VPN so tethering just would not make sense but for casual use I think it might. A dedicated data card is $50/month which is more than some are ready to pay.

-D

ChrisM · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject:

But you could use VOIP (like the Vonage USB phone) plugged into your laptop while tethered, for unlimited minutes.

I just hate the fact that all my incoming calls go to voicemail when I'm just surfing the web on my phone. This is the case with 1xRTT on my Treo 650. It's my understanding that only REV A solves this.

GSM/HSDPA phones can support simultaneous voice and data, but their latency is worse than REV 0 EVDO.

kalen43 · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 30 Apr 2007 Posts: 131

according to the sprint rep the touch is a rev a phone?!? I think the blackberry pearl will be a rev a but it doesn't release to the end of this month.

mhtyler · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 133

help this noob out. What is a spring rep, and why does he think the TOUCH is upgradeable to rev A when none of the manufacturers marketing mentions that is the case as with the mogul.

The pearl would be a nice first entry into the rev A arena.

Will these tethered phones perform similarly to PC unit in terms of bandwidth and latency??? turn the page...
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Mostly Harmless

ChrisM · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:56 pm Post subject:

I believe the Touch uses the same Qualcomm radio chipset as the Mogul, that's why folks think it'll support Rev A.

This article from WMExperts indicates it will be upgraded to Rev A at some point.

http://wmexperts.com/articles/rumors/sprint_touch_handson_impressio.html