Called Alltel, they quoted the EVDO speed as

lewgard · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 16 Mar 2008 Posts: 11

"data 1x" They also told me the speed is great in my area, comparable to DSL. Do you suppose data 1x is the same as 1xRTT ?

I'm not sure who to go with...Alltel, with the data 1x and no bandwidth limit or Verizon with the Rev A and 5gb limit. I'm in a little quandry...I surf all day, do website applications, and would like to download videos for once in my life (so tired of dial-up, ugh...)

lewxam · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject:

Not familiar with "data 1x". However, 1xRTT is only about 3 times faster than dial-up.

Keep in mind that videos consume lots of bandwidth. 5GB could be reached in a hurry.

karlyn

lewgard · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 16 Mar 2008 Posts: 11

Watch YouTube videos, and perhaps even upload some videos to YouTube. I maintain 4 websites, requiring frequent uploads (not really sure how to measure this)

Yeah, I read that 1xRTT was only about 3 times faster than dial-up, which is not enough of a difference to make it woth my money. Which is why I wish I had a better idea as to how fast Alltel's Data1x really is. I think I'll call them back tomorrow and talk to someone else.

Bigdave · EVDO Addict Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 1069

Remember, Alltel refers to EVDO in QLM as "1xEVDO Digital Data" I don't think they were referring to actual 1xrtt.

As for the speeds, IMO, 1xrtt is considerably better than dialup. I remember a couple of years ago when I was able to jump from dialup (remember, although it's advertised as 56k dialup is typically around high 40's best case scenario) and I was ecstatic. Now, there's no comparison between 1xrtt and EVDO but to many folks 1xrtt is well worth the $60 a month . . . . . it was to me . . . . . . while to many others it's not.

Remember, Alltel and the others all offer a trial period to see if it works. Alltel's is 15 days, not sure about the others. If Alltel works for you (has EVDO in your area) then I'd go with their truly unlimited service but if Alltel only has 1xrtt and you have the option of going with EVDO . . . . . . if it was me I'd opt for the higher speeds of Vzw even with the 5G limit and just be careful until you get a handle on your usage since they're charging for overage now.

Good luck!

F34R · EVDO Junkie Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 168

1x Data is indeed 1xEVDO service.

I did use 1xRTT for about two months before EVDO was actually turned on in my area. I was paying $60, and was really pleased over my 24k dialup service. I regularly saw speeds of 135-140kbps compared to 24kbps on dialup. For regular internet usage, this blasts through dialup hands down. Now, if you're wanting to download gigs and gigs of data, it's going to take a while lol.

For youtube, internet surfing, light streaming pages, i.e. ESPN... 1xRTT will work very well, and you'll actually find yourself really enjoying the internet for the first time; as opposed to slugging around at a crawl like you were on dialup.

If you don't plan on doing a ton of data transfer, and have good EVDO coverage though another vendor, I would almost say it's worth it. 5GB of data isn't hard to use if you download movies, music, etc. If you just use it for updates, normal browsing, 5GB is easily maintained. EVDO will save you a lot of time as well, and heavily streamed pages will be a pleasant addition to your internet experience. Computer updates won't take as long, getting your email checked/sent, etc. will be a lot quicker, and overall internet productivity will just boot your enjoyment that much more.