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Is the merlin 720 the best card for Sprint?

 
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slowpoke
EVDO Newbie


Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:27 pm    Post subject: Is the merlin 720 the best card for Sprint? Reply with quote
That would be the question..... I am sure you all have answered this question 1000 times already but I honestly don't have that much time to read threw all the search results......

What is the current best card/laptop (slot) configuration for speed/travel...
I will be using a omnidirectional antenna (Wilson trucker) with wireless booster/amp as well....

I currently have a Merlin 620 at home with a Yagi antenna connected to a home desktop that works well... (shows you how long I have been out of it.. back then the 620 was the best)

So, the 620 was the best at one time what is the current one? Going to buy a new setup for the truck....
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Alex
Site Admin


Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
signal is single biggest factor affecting speeds.

in combination with the antenna and amp you already have, its our experience that the best sprint card for receiving signal is not the S720, but the Sierra Wireless AirCard 595 PC card.

when you're ready, we have the AC595 with service for you.

https://3gstore.com/sprint/cards.php
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MichiganTim
EVDO Heavy User


Joined: 08 Apr 2007
Posts: 102
PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alex,
What naked cars have the best signal strength w/out the attena on a sprint network?
---USB style:
---Express style:
_________________
Vista64,EX720
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Alex
Site Admin


Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
MichiganTim wrote:
Alex,
What naked cars have the best signal strength w/out the attena on a sprint network?
---USB style:
---Express style:


At first, i thought, this guy has to be joking. naked cars? wtf?
so i figured i would sarcastically reply with "anything but the delorean" Rolling Eyes

then i figured, maybe he has fat fingers like me, and meant naked carDs, as in, which device has better reception based on built in antenna.

on the chance thats what you meant, my answer is that they all are mediocre, but USB devices have the advantage of being able to operate on end of a USB cable, away from internal RF noise of a card slot in a laptop. USB cable also gives user that many more positions in which to find best signal, which can sometimes be just 2-3ft in one direction.

its hard to do the same with expresscard in a laptop slot. you have to move the whole laptop and might end up in a position with good signal, but with two hands holding laptop at just the right angle above your head, its hard to use the laptop for anything but shade. Shocked
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moejama
EVDO Newbie


Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:04 pm    Post subject: Yes, but Reply with quote
USB has the advantage of being 'outside the box' in cell cards, sound cards, and most any other device.... but


Usually that advantage is minimal and usually USB will produce more overall problem than it will produce higher clarity or speed.

That is, USB sucks and was originally and still is unreliable.

It's not USB's fault so much as the motherboard makers and the lack of complete foresight in setting standards.

I don't know why, but USB devices just randomly like to disconnect and fail, need a reboot or to be removed and plugged back in again.

I don't have a USB aircard, but USB is flawed and EVERYONE knows you should always avoid it if you can.

In a mobile situation USB is more reasonable, but if you plan to install a router with a USB card in the attic, you'd better wire a switch to reboot it also because chances are either the router or the USB card will need occasional reboots.

EVDO and cell internet in general are not mature technologies and the routers just entirely suck ... so far so good with the cards.

I use sprint, but MORE than anything and more than people here usually tell you...

you want to do a site survey and determine if Sprint is really strong enough in your area. Most people, I think, will be happier with the higher reliability but slightly slower speeds of Verizon. Verizon is just sitting pretty with it's 800 mhz and all the technology in the world isn't removing that advantage over the competition.

Hopefully google can help fix this. We owe slow cell internet speeds to the legacy support of TV and radio broadcasts as thats where a lot of the best mhz goes.


If congress wasn't retarded they would mandate DSL to all homes as they mandated the original Bell to provide telephone to all homes as part of us letting them use state land to run their wires.

When it comes down to it, those wires are on OUR land (state and federal) and we can negotiate whatever price we want for that, it's not set in stone.

It seems to me a majority of unfortunate people are using this mobile technology to get fixed broadband internet simply because corporate america refused to absorb the upgrade costs.

For the country that invented the internet, we have some pathetic broadband.
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jackrodgers
EVDO Addict


Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 1131
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm not experiencing any of those problems on my MacBook Pro using a usb modem, Sprint's U720. Perhaps the problem is using Windows and buying a cheap PC notebook?
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Bigdave
EVDO Addict


Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 1068
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
None of those problems experienced here either. Seems that I've read that the u720 and the usb720 have been by far the most popular modem with thousands sold. I wouldn't think that would be the case if the above comments were all true.

Anyway, for me and my house . . . . . we are just happy as a pig in a poke with our lil u720. Very Happy Very Happy
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Alex
Site Admin


Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Yes, but Reply with quote
moejama wrote:
I don't have a USB aircard

That's a key statement.

Without testing one for yourself, you want to lump USB EVDO modems in to a pile with all other USB devices and stereotype them as all being bad.

There's a word for that, but it escapes me at the moment.

Nonetheless, with thousands of customers who have bought USB EVDO modems for one reason or another, 3Gstore can safely say that they do not suck.
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jackrodgers
EVDO Addict


Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 1131
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
... even worse he threw in the 'everyone knows' silliness...

Now how could he know what everyone knows? Omnipotent? Guessing?
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