Baseline Magazine - April 2008

WIRELESS
Mobile Broadband Options

AT&T Sprint

T-Mobile

Verizon

Number of metro areas covered

Technology used

Built-in laptop modems available

Laptop data plan monthly cost

180

EDGE, HSDPA

220

EV-DO (A and O)

N/A

EDGE

HP, Dell, Lenovo

HP, Dell, Sony

Mobile Broadband Connect $60

180

EV-DO

HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba Portege

Data Connect $20-$60

5MB to 5GB; Unlimited for

Usage limits iPhone users only

No. of PC Card modems 4 from $50 to $100

Abbreviations:

EV-DO – Evolution Data Optimized. It comes in two different versions, Revision O (slower) and A. EDGE -- Enhanced Data for Global Evolution

HSDPA – High Speed Download Packet Access

None

Total Internet for Data Cards $50

Broadband Access $60

Unlimited

6 from $50 to $100

Unlimited

Only on eBay

Unlimited

4 from free to $150

BASELINE APRIL 2008

58

3 Use your PDA or smart phone for your broadband connection.

If all else fails, you can use your phone’s broadband radio and either a Bluetooth or cabled connection to link your laptop to the Internet. However, this isn’t as simple as it sounds.

Some carriers try their best to discourage you from doing this and make you purchase a different kind of data plan that meters your monthly megabytes. There is a software program called PDA.net ( www.junefabrics.com) that will let you work around this for some Windows Mobile and Palm models.

As for the carriers, Verizon does the best job of partnering with laptop vendors and offers the simplest plan, but its network is the slowest of the four major players. T-Mobile wants you to buy a phone and connect that way, but it offers a real bargain when it comes to using both Wi-Fi and mobile broadband connections.

AT&T sells three plans, one that offers barely any data usage (only 5MB a month), another that is still somewhat stingy at 5GB a month and an unlimited plan for iPhone users only.

broadband and figure out which plan makes the most sense for you:

BUY A NEW LAPTOP FROM DELL OR HP with the optional high-speed modem card included if you’re going to make mobile broadband your computing lifestyle. If you already own a newer laptop, check to see if a broadband modem card is available for your wireless carrier.

NOT USING A WINDOWS LAPTOP? Then you’re better off getting one of the plans that allow you to connect your PDA or smart phone to your laptop. Or you can buy the Sierra PC 5220 PC Card modem (if your laptop has a PC Card slot), since it works with both Mac OS and Linux. Mac users can also try the Kyocera KPC650 card.

UPDATE YOUR PHONE’S ROAMING LIST. Carriers that use multiple high-speed broadband networks like AT&T and Sprint don’t make it easy for you. If you use your phone for data access, it may still be connecting on the slower network. You need to update the preferred roaming list (PRL).

As the carriers continue to build out faster networks, consider doing a PRL update every couple of months. If you

need help doing this on your phone,
call your carrier’s customer service.
COVERAGE MAPS. Check out
Evdomaps.com for coverage compari-
sons of Verizon and Sprint networks.
They claim to give you actual speeds
experienced by users, but take this
advice with a few grains of salt.

T-MOBILE ISSUES. T-Mobile seems to be moving away from supporting laptop users. Once upon a time, the carrier offered and supported the Sony Ericsson GC79 PC Card, but now the only place to buy that card is on eBay. The company is investing in the higher-speed HSDPA network in Europe and will eventually get around to upgrading its U.S. networks.

On its Web site, T-Mobile offers four smart phones that support mobile broadband, and if you use its network, those phones are worth considering. If you still need Wi-Fi coverage, take a look at T-Mobile’s unlimited Internet access on mobile broadband and at any of their Wi-Fi hot spots around the world at no additional charge.