So, with my new Dell laptop, there’s an option to have a WWAN, or wireless WAN card, also known as wireless broadband, EVDO, etc. I didn’t order the laptop with that option, and happened to be working on a work project with Verizon Wireless, and started chatting with their engineers about it.
EVDO Rev A sounded interesting enough to me to explore – 1-3Mbps of download, and 600-1200Kbps upload – as good or better than my old Clearwire service.
The first hurdle was ordering the add on card for the Dell. Since it is “embedded”, it was supposed to have been added at the time I ordered the laptop, and Dell support said I couldn’t add it after the fact. After a little digging, I got the correct card, I believe, and installed it.
Then came activation – it was a nightmare. I was on the phone to both Dell and Verizon who didn’t know what to do or who owned what part of the activation. I eventually went to 3GStore.com and activated it through them. They were extremely helpful, and the business day after I ordered, they had activated it for me.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work very well. The software that comes with the Dell re-branded Novatel Wireless card is a Dell front end application, with Verizon’s VZAccess code being reused in the back end. All of the advanced options are completely gone.
The first issue was that even though the card was activated, it still took 2-5 tries to get it to connect. Various random errors about authentication service unavailable, wrong username or password, and a host of 900 series errors that most people familiar with this stuff will cringe when they see. 2 days wasted.
In addition, once the card actually connected, it only stayed on EVDO Rev A for about 30 seconds, then dropped to 1xRTT, which is, well, dirt slow.
After 4 hours on the phone with Verizon, and a couple with Dell, I was convinced that the card and software were flawed. I don’t really care what it is – I’m a bit surprised but not overly annoyed. In reading a lot about embedded EVDO, most of it fails in one way or another because of the finger-pointing of the manufacturer (in this case Dell) and the provider (Verizon). Dell is only making money on the card itself, and installation, and Verizon makes their money on the plan and monthly costs.
So, I went off to the Verizon store and picked up a Kyocera KPC680 express card, and everything worked flawlessly – I’m actually writing this post directly from it.
Overall, the throughput and latency are manageable, and in most cases, completely acceptable. To be able to be online from basically anywhere I frequent in the Seattle metro area is well worth it. I’ll give it about 10 days to make sure there aren’t any major issues, and then cancel my home broadband connection.
FWIW, I’m getting about 600Kbps download / 250Kbps upload here at home, and I have only one bar. If I move near a window, that goes much further up.
More info as I test it out…
steve Computers dell, evdo, evdo rev a, kpc680, kyocera, verizon
