Which Verizon USB modem?

Lanhavoc · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 10

Hey guys! I'm an EVDO noob, but otherwise technically proficient. I'm an IT Technician who has had the misfortune of living on the fringes of.. well basically everything. It seems that Verizon (and only Verizon, so far) has finally extended EVDO out to my neck of the woods.

This brings me to the question.. which of Verizon's USB modems do you guys recommend? I'm expecting 2-3 bars at most out of the box, from what I've determined testing with Verizon phones etc, although actual results may vary. Going outside always yields a lot better signal at my home, so an external antenna may also be in order.

My main concerns are signal strength and connection quality. Money isn't an issue, I just want the best connection.. whether it means buying a cheap modem, or one with lots of features that I'll never use :)

My setup will be an entirely stationary desktop PC near an outside wall. Should I consider buying a EVDO router as well? From what I've read it seems like this would allow me to position the modem in a more prime area for reception. Ethernet would be preferred, but from what I've seen so far there may not be much choice in the matter as of yet :P

Any insights/recommendations for modem, router, antenna, or anything else relevant would be greatly appreciated! I'm hoping once I have all the information I can just pop over to the 3gstore and get everything I need. Anything to save me from having to deal with the ravenous salespeople at the Verizon place ;)

Alex · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

i always love when someone asks for opinions, since i have such an abundance of them, and can't help but want to share! Shocked

OK. for the record, i hate the 595U, and won't be stopping anytime soon, no matter how many people say "mine works great".

there were millions of people who loved their ford explorers until they all started rolling over themselves.

that the 595U's battery can die in 80mins and leave you with an unusable device until you recharge the battery, just doesn't thrill me.

then there is the UM150. we wrote about that device, here.

while it DOES have a cool feature wherein you can see what it reports to have as signal level via flashing lights on its shell... when i held it in my hand, extended its old-school antenna, and flipped down the USB connector, the look, feel and build quality reminded me of a toddler's toy cell phone!

will the UM150 do the job? yes. just as the PX500/PC5750 (made by same company) does their job. but the build quality is cheap, and i don't often buy the cheap stuff.

so, that leaves us with the USB720 and USB727. both are Rev-A devices. in fact, all four USB modems are Rev-A spec, so they have the capability to move the same speed: 3.1mbs theoretical max.

the USB720 has been around for over a year (it first came out as U720 on sprint) and thousands have been sold. The Top 3 and 5 of the top 8 highest recorded verizon speeds on EVDOmaps belong to a USB720.

the USB720 is larger than the USB727, but if both were to remain attached to an EVDO router like the CTR350 for most of its life, i doubt anyone would care about that little bit of extra size.

the USB727 has a nice loop-design flip up antenna, as well as a slot for MicroSD cards. If you routinely use MicroSD cards and EVDO, i can see how the USB727 is an excellent choice. for those that don't use MicroSD cards, thats simply not a useful feature since it offers no benefit to the main reason you buy an EVDO modem -- wireless internet connectivity.

Now, if i am going to level the playing field by using a high gain antenna attached to my USB modem, then the choice between the USB720 and USB727 really is a toss up. if my device were not always going to be stuck in a router, i'd probably lean towards the smaller USB727. if i planned on leaving the device attached to my CTR350/PHS300 all the time, i'd probably save my money and get a USB720

speaking of money, the USB720 is $50 after a $50 mail in rebate, on a 2yr plan from 3gstore.com -- the USB727 is $70 after the same rebate, on the same 2yr plan -- and at that price, 3Gstore's USB727 is $80 cheaper than verizon stores sell it for.

bottom line: (now that you've read this far) USB720 if you plan on leaving it stuck in a router, and USB727 if you aren't.

you can order either USB720 or USB727 from 3gstore.com

Lanhavoc · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 10

Awesome response, exactly the information I was looking for :) It looks like I'll be going with the USB720 since I plan on making it a permanent setup.

I'll decide on a router/antenna tomorrow and go ahead and order it all together. I can't wait to call Wildblue and tell them where to stick it :) My contract is up with them so the timing is perfect, I just hope my EVDO signal will turn out to be at least halfway decent.

Thanks so much for the info, it's been a big help!

toughguy99 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 13

What a great post. I'm in the same boat as Lanhavoc.

Alex, what about all these others choices I see at 3gstore? What about Franklin, Pantech, Kyocera, Merlin, Novatel, Sierra? I realize some of these don't work with Verizon (at least, there's no verizon service plan option at 3gstore for some of these so I assume that means they're not compatible), so those models would be ruled out... but there *are* others that have Verizon service plans as options.

Are all the remaining options PCMCIA or ExpressCard cards? And finally, is there any reason to choose PCMCIA/ExpressCard over USB (or vice-versa) if you're only ever going to use this in a laptop computer?

Thank you,
tough guy (who's not really tough but likes to think he might be some day)

Alex · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:19 am Post subject:

Oh my. more requests for my opinion. Wink

For Sprint, there is that POS 595U i'd never buy, and then the U727 (which is the same device as USB727) and then the CDU680 (which only works on Sprint, not verizon).

We wrote up reviews on both the U727 and CDU680 that are worth reading.

For mac users, the choice is a no-brainer: its the CDU680.

For windows users, either device is great for use with a router, but for travelers i lean towards the CDU680 because it can swivel up and out of the way.

As for your question about PCMCIA vs. USB... our opinion is that PCMCIA is a dying form factor... like an 8-track tape or floppy disk.

The last dozen or so devices released by sprint and verizon combined, have all been USB or ExpressCards.

If you buy a PCMCIA card today, and during the course of your contract your laptop with PCMCIA slot dies, its highly likely you will not be able to find a decent/new laptop with a PCMCIA slot.

toughguy99 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 13

Thanks, Alex. I'm definitely going to buy from 3gstore now Very Happy

Alex · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:19 pm Post subject:

toughguy99 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 13

The SAR rating on the USB727 is 1.14W/kg as shown at evdoinfo.com. But I can't find the SAR rating for the USB720. Alex, do you know what it is or where I could find it?

thanks,
tough guy

Alex · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:35 pm Post subject:

toughguy99 · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 13

Alex · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject:

its OK, you made it clear on the other topic.

Lanhavoc · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 10

Ok call me cautious, but I borrowed a USB720 from a friend of a friend, just to test it out on my computer before I shell out the bucks and sign a contract. Good experience so far, -83 dbm and 3 bars using the Y-Cable extender.

I do have some concerns though.. I tried downloading large files from several different sites as a test, and I get decent speeds in bursts, but it fluctuates between 40k/sec and 80k/sec constantly. Another thing I noticed is that like every 10-15 seconds, the download drops to 0kb/s before picking back up again. In the VZAccess Manager this "drop" coincides with the send/receive arrows disappearing from the status bar (bottom right, to the left of the session duration).

Is this normal? If not, does anyone have any idea what is causing this? Any help would be appreciated.. thanks! :)

TigerFX · EVDO User Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 36

You might want to try moving around with the modem a bit to see if better reception fixes the problem.

I know that we have some issues with our USB720 dropping the connection once or twice a day that I think is related to poor cell reception.

Joezilla · Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:19 pm Post subject:

So if I am traveling the country with my fifth wheel trailer and my wife wants to do internet while I am driving, I need the USB 720 and the CradlePoint 300 modem, right? Along with Verizon service of course. What antenna is recommended for this combination?

By the way, I'll be using a MacBook Pro running Leopard, but that should not matter since I'll be connecting using Airport wifi.

Joezilla

Alex · Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: