5 MEGA bit per sec? you gotta be shitting me.

for 20 bucks, if i can get a mobile 512kbps connection, i'd buy it today!

keep us informed, i'd like to get more info on this!

 

Let me break it down for you guys and gals

okay, Sprint and Verizon have a CDMA network. The device I am proposing (and already have a prototype of) is CDMA based. Let's discuss those first.

Sprint has 153.6 kbps nationwide. You can use data cable to your phone or buy a PCMCIA card. data is expensive, starts at $40 for 20MB/month, card is $199 for the one my company developed (AirPrime PC3220).

Verizon has 153.6kbps nationwide. Verizon has deployed (network is turned on) 2.4Mbps (fast as hell) in San Diego and Washington DC. If you have an existing phone or PC Card, you will only be able to get 153.6 kbps even if in San Diego. It will require buying a new device to use this new network. The technology is called 1XEVDO CDMA but Verizon may have other marketing lingo for it. For example, they call their 153.6 kbps network "the express network" or something. Verizon has an EVDO roll out plan over the next few years that will include many metropolitan areas. People will access this network with phones, PC Cards (AirPrime PC5220 is first to market) and in my world, I hope, a USB adapter. By the way, network test is currently underway, so Verizon hasn't started the marketing campaign, but will soon. Verizon has an unlimited plan for $79/month last time I checked but with Cingular dropping their unlimited data plan to $30/month, this will put pressure on Verizon to do the same.

So my idea is you would get a USB dongle for your PC for sub $130, activate it on the Verizon network and when in major metropolitan areas, have up to 2.4MB/sec. It is a shared connection so it would be subject to loading issues just like cable modem. Any questions?

 

I should also note that a CDMA USB dongle could be marketed as a cable modem/DSL alternative for people that don't have access to cable/DSL or want mobility.

 

So as long as you're in a major metropolitan area, you can access it? Meaning, no need to go to "hot spots?"

 

right, with cellular networks, everywhere is a hot spot Just the data rates vary. If 2.4MB is available, you will get it. If you roam out of the high speed coverage area, you are still getting 153 kbps, faster than a dial up by 3X.

"hot spots" is 802.11 crap. Also referred to as "Wi Fi". It is jim dandy if you are in your driveway or Starbucks, (Starbucks will charge you a fee) but useless most everywhere else.

 

Quite a good post. I understand now... Looked up your company web site.. Partnering with Sierra Wireless.. Humm

The question I have is your company publicly listed.. Stock Price?

Cheers Amy -

 

Partnering=Acquired.

They bought us for a whole bunch of shares. 3.9M to be exact

Sierra Wireless is publically traded on the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchange. SWIR is the ticker. Gone from $5 to $12 in the last few months...past performance may not be an indication of future performance (my little disclaimer )

 

Dr. Bonz, you could use a data cable to your phone, but right now no phone that Verizon sells would support the 2.4MB speeds, they are capped at 153.6K. There will be some in the near future though. A second option is to get a second device (PC Card or USB dongle) that would be some amount extra per month and not tie up your cell phone line when using it...just like when people have two lines for their home, one is dedicated to data.

 

before anyone purchase the devices such as AirPrime PC3220 and log on to Verizon's network. Keep the following in mind:

Based on what I've heard, it can get up to 25-50 people sharing a single 2.4Mbps connection. I have not seen the actual demonstration from the 1xEV-DO technology, but I will guarantee you it is not anywhere close to the 2.4Mbps throughput.

Here are some thoughts on the average throughput:
1) 2.4Mbps is the theoretical limit of the technology given perfect environment. Inside a building? less throughput; interference? less throughput.
2) it's a shared connection, let's say (for the sake of the discussion) 20 people share a line, a 2.4Mbps pipe, under -perfect- condition, would mean about 15 -KiloByte- per second transfer rate. That's about 3 times the normal 56kb modem (given a decent line) would do.

By no mean am I saying the technology sucks, I just don't want people buying this device thinking it will give you near your home DSL/cable speed. What's special with this technology is that it is mobile; you can take it wherever you go.

Mikestro, do you know if the new cards that are coming out are compatible with the next generation of this technology, the 1xEV-DV (which supposedly has throughput of around 5Mbps?) I am pretty sure the backend system is upgradeable, but if the devices are forward compatible, it'll save us some $ getting in now w/o having to keep buying hardware in the future..

 

Mobilebudda,

your concerns are the same that people had when cable modem emerged. Is the typical cable modem connection running 15kbps?

I have used the EVDO network and I can report that it was faaast. Until you use it, it is hard to guess at throughput. 20 users doesn't mean that you have 1/20th the bandwidth. Most users go to a website, then the site loads, then they read for a while. Maybe 10% duty cycle. So with 10% duty cycle, average user is still better than 1MB/sec.

You mentioned EV-DV. No carrier (eg. Verizon or Sprint) in the world has announced plans for EV-DV, hence no modem manufacturer has a chip we can integrate to support this. Hardly a concern. Does anyone buy a PC that they think will be "future-proof" for 7-8 years?

 

point well taken. though i think you meant, 1 megabit/sec, right?

i seem to remember hearing something about the # of people/tower ratio is higher when compared to the # of households per cable switches.. regardless, i for one hope that this will work out for us!

i wonder if verizon wireless would ever offer a combo meal package where we get their voice + data with some discounts. with the upcoming cellular number mobility coming, i sure would like to shop around.

Mikestro, do you happen to know when this will be available to the SF bay area?

thanks for the info, keep us posted!

 

At one point Verizon or Sprint (can't remember which) would let you add an extra phone (household equivalent of an extra line) for $10/month and share the minutes between the two. I imagine you could add a PC card or (in the future) a dongle and it would "count" as an extra phone and there would be something like unlimited data and X number of minutes of voice for X number of dollars. Remember, the price for minutes/data only goes one direction, down. That's the beauty of technology

Verizon seems to be attacking big cities first, as they see high speed data being used by the mobile user. This means the Bay area would obviously be on the radar for Verizon. I don't have an exact date (Verizon won't tell us yet). As opposed to a carrier like Monet that debuted their EVDO network somewhere in South Dakota...Monet is going after rural areas that have no high speed access at all, hence 100% market share

And finally, all technologies are listed at their theoretical limits, it is a marketing thing. My 2GHz PC is hardly giving my QuakeIII game 100% duty cycle, it has to run my firewall and sound card and ethernet device right?

One of the coolest software apps for the car with internet access would be to mold GPS with one of the online traffic updaters. Because position location is dandy, but avoiding a huge traffic jam is priceless. Unless you live in LA, then the only way of avoiding the traffic is to stay at home.

 

Thanks

 

i tried that w/ sprintpcs and got denied. at least at this point, they won't give you a phone and a data card in a package deal. but that would make sense as more people start to see the need for both voice and data with wireless technology, eh?

since you are in the industry (i've been out of it for a while now), if you could keep us updated as far as new areas where either verizon/sprintpcs/others are opening up as "beta" markets. i am sure a lot of us would appreciate it!

thanks again!

 

Verizon launches its EVDO service in San Diego tomorrow.

I thought this would be a good day to bump this thread.

Here is an article discussing the service in today's paper...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/u...0wireless.html

 

I'm glad you bumped this thread, I had not seen it yet The Wireless data market will grow as fast as the in car PC market. one depending on the other for expansion. I was just hopping for Wireless ISDN with128k down and 56k up if you can really hit that speed My company will be all over it. I too Believe That USB will be the way to go. Truly for that kind of speed $50 - $75 a month for unlimited access is a great price. SD market is up and running? what about the res of the Country 1 - 2 years or faster? any Idea on the DFW Market?



We need to talk!!!!

 

Verizon does $20B/year in network upgrades so if they sense a market for wireless data, they will continue the roll out across the country. They won't tell us which cities are next, we asked

I'll PM you and we can talk numbers....