EVDO... What a Godsend!

Jager · EVDO Newbie Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 4

Operating via dial-up when the rest of the world has moved on to broadband... well, it just sucks. Especially when the best speed you can ever get - on a good day, if you hold your head just right - is 32K. 28K is normal. You very quickly learn to adapt. No webcasts. No RSS feeds. Flash is painful. And streaming anything is a laughable joke.

I work in DC, but live 50 miles west in the rural community of Warrenton. I'm too far out for DSL. The local cable company wants $8K to run from the road up my 1/4 mile-long driveway. And the (FIOS) fiber access point down at the road has remained dormant for 18 months, ever since they put it in, with no word from Verizon on when they might be doing anything with it. Satellite is available, but with its high latency, low bandwidth limit, and unreasonable utilization cap, I've never considered that much of a solution.

I was getting sick of the soup and sandwiches down at the local Panera Bread (free WiFi).

Last week I stumbled across a mention (finally!) of a Mac-compatible broadband express card. In researching it, I discovered that the Verizon EVDO Rev A service area included my house - at least according to their map. There's a Verizon store just a few blocks from where I work and I excitedly thought I might walk down during lunch and talk to them. But that same research led me to this site as well, and given the quality of the information it contained, I decided to go ahead and just order one from the 3G Store, along with the required 2-year service plan. A nice Fed Ex gentleman delivered my new V740 the next day.

All I can say is... wow! I am simply blown away! After dealing with dial-up for more years than I care to remember, having EVDO is like suddenly walking from darkness into light. Being suddenly able to download tens of megabytes very quickly - like normal people - while sitting on my living room couch is SO cool!

I've refrained from buying one of the new Apple Mac Pro's simply because I've not had a reasonable way to update software (unlike my MacBook Pro, which I can take to a WiFi spot). Now I can even consider getting that.

Anyway, I'd like to thank this site and the many posters here who have made this such a uniquely important repository of EVDO wisdom and knowledge.

This stuff rocks!

Jeff

wb2qbq · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:28 pm Post subject:

Jeff, great story. Glad that you finally were able to join the broadband world.
I had the same feeling after researching on the web and reading this site. I quickly decided that the 3G Store was going to get my business too and have never been sorry. There is a ton of great info here.
Enjoy your high speed,
Bob S
Sprint S720, KR-1 router and a big Very Happy

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Bob S

Michael · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:22 am Post subject:

Hello,

There are many other thread for chit-chat and Verizon bashing. We started this "Success Forum", so people investigating EVDO can see that it really does work Smile

I have removed the other posts that were recently added to this thread - since they had nothing to do with the topic.
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jon8105 · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 148

Glad to hear you had success Jeff, hopefully today, once I try out my AC595 and Omni antenna, I will also be successful in obtaining EVDO!! I am determined to make it work, because I too hate using dial-up!!

Llama · EVDO Junkie Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 186

Hey jeff, we must be practically neighbors. I live in mailing address Midland, but actually just down the road from Warrenton itself.

I came across EVDO aftger whining in the Wii boards that it wouldn't work on the DirecWay setup I have been forced to use the past 8 years since leaving the 'burbs. I was stunned to get so much better service and actually pay less.

Within a few days of my signup I got my dad to ditch his satellite setup (he lives on my farm). I pass a few others with DirecWay and have been tempted to pull in and talk to them about EVDO; it really has been amazing.
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--Larry

jon8105 · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 148

Compared to satellite, EVDO offers better and in my opinion more reliable speeds, lower latency, lower monthly payments and is usually (but not always) cheaper to start up.

magicjimmy · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject:

Something to keep in mind....

As new users come online with the service on your particular tower, you will notice more prime time slowdown.

Just something to think about when you are "converting" sat users.
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Nevermind...

CrunchDude · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject: Re: EVDO... What a Godsend!

mjhampstead · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:59 pm Post subject:

Hiya

I tested the SprintAircard in rural Jackson County Michigan, near I-94, last September.

After three different modems, I never even reach twice dialup speeds and had frequent disconnects. So that ended that.

Verizon wireless told me to expect even poorer performance in my area. So, I did not test the Verizon aircard.

BUT, what works, and works well is the AllTel usb Data Axcess plan at $25.00 per month, unlimited. Downloads range from 600 to 800 kbs. Yeah for me!
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mjh

jackrodgers · EVDO Addict Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 1131

Michael · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: EVDO... What a Godsend!

bferster · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

I live in a few miles north of Warrenton and am planning to dump my Hughes net for EVDO. You still like it?

Bill

Llama · EVDO Junkie Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 186

Peterfield · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 117

bferster · EVDO Newbie Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

Have you had any luck using Skype and video converencing? It worked so poorly at on satellite that I couldn't use it.

-Bill