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Review by DrData 
Posted: 2.5 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 438 visits, last login: 1.5 years ago
 Apopka,Orange,FL
 $59 per month (24 month contract)
 about 1 days
 "Mobile"
 "Latency around 120-150 to the gateway."
 "Great technology and great service."
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I love it!
Speed averages 1.5/400.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Sprint Mobile Broadband |
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Review by jpuckett
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 15 visits, last login: 2 years ago
Hephzibah,Richmond,GA
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Decent Coverage"
"Communication with Technical Support"
"No Caps Like Verizon Yet, Better Coverage than Most"
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I got the Mobile Broadband Service because I was an Over the Road trucker and wanted internet in the truck. Service worked better than expected in certain parts of the country. I am using a Pantech PX-500 card. I did get Broadband speeds in the cities they list. Although I was roaming a good bit I still got a connection. Overall not bad service.
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Review by visvam
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 5.8 years, 19 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
Alachua,Alachua,FL
$60 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"Stable connection, A lot less latency then satellite, Cheaper then satellite"
"Spotty Mac support"
"Great alternative to satellite internet"
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I have been using the Sprint EVDO service for the last 5 days. It is working great.
Setup for use on my Mac (MacBook Pro) was a bit difficult since Sprint does not have the best Mac support; a Windows based PC is required to activate the modem and to update the firmware. I was able to activate the modem using Parallels Desktop for Mac, but could not update its firmware. I ultimately just did the firmware update on an old Windows machine I had.
I am getting about the same, if not slightly better, download (700 - 1000 Kbps) and much better upload speeds (258 Kbps) as my satellite (I am in a fringe area). Latency is much improved; about 4x faster response then satellite. I am finally able to connect to may companies servers via VPN, use Terminal Services without the click-wait-respond sequence I have been dealing with, and browse secured (https) sites with no slowdown.
After 4+ years of dealing with the limitations of satellite internet, this is a very welcome relief. I will continue to test for the next few days, but so far the results are very good. If all goes well I am going to be throwing a bye bye satellite party this weekend.
Followup comments:  Lee325
join:2006-12-12
New Salem, MA | Good for you I to had satellite, and was very happy to have it gone. I to am a Mac user and am writing this on my Macbook. Sprint EDVO has been working better than I could have hoped for so far. Good luck with your new and better service. | |
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Review by Brisk
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 6.3 years, 771 visits, last login: 49 days ago
Colorado Springs,El Paso,CO
$59 per month (24 month contract)
"The speeds, portability, knowledgeable level 2 tech support"
"Latency (150ms+) but should improve with Rev B"
"Farewell, Qwest!"
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I walked into a Sprint store to turn in a resume and got more than I expected.
I asked for an update about EV-DO in my area and was sold when I tried it at the store, especially with a free network card after rebate. The sales guy was great too. I paid for my card which will be $4 after the $50 rebate, got home in 15 minutes and the service was ready to use. While it was up and running with my Windows 2K machine with no issues, I couldn't get my XP system to work with it. I called tech support and though it was a few minutes and transfers before I got answers, Level 2 got to the problem right away. Seems I had disabled telephony service thinking I'd never use a dial-up modem again, but this is a dial-up modem. Just a very fast one. The next day I had an old WinXP laptop set up as a gateway/bridge for my Wifi/wired network. Everything works great, and so far it seems the service is unlimited.
They do block HTTP and some other outgoing services, but strangely not FTP or Telnet. Still, I don't plan to run any servers, since shared hosting is cheap.
I get a consistent 1000 down, 800 up with only moderate drops (800/400) during peak times (5-9PM). It might not sound like much, but when all you could get before was an very unstable 1000/128 Covad DSL or a more stable 256/256 Qwest DSL, it's miles better than either.
Signal is good too, -70 to -75db inside the house and -50 to -60db out, the tower is off of a 12-story office building only a few blocks from me.
So far my only complaint is with latency and routing. I get about 150-190ms latency but I'm currently hooked up to some of the farthest data centers (Atlanta, PA and Dallas) I'm going to try to get my connection switched over to the Kansas City, KS or MO data centers.
Update: I'm using the KC link now and it's somewhat faster. No latency relief though (150-190ms)
If there are no invisible caps with this unlimited service, I'll stay more than two years.
Followup comments: jtludwig
join:2006-11-22
Colorado Springs, CO | Change your settings You can change those settings yourself...send me a msg and I can give you the instructions. | |
| | Brisk
Qwest's Spirit Of Service Inaction
join:2003-07-11
Colorado Springs, CO
clubs:
 ·Qwest.net
| Re: Change your settings Are you talking about the ##DATA thing?
I already tried that, and it seems to have worked.
Guess I needed to give it a few minutes.
I'm on KC at the moment and it's faster than ever - 1100/800.
Still no latency improvement though. 
--
FIOS: Fiber Is Our Schtick | |
| | | CMoore2004
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
| Re: Change your settings Could you explain what you did? I know how to get to the data engineering menu, just curious what settings you changed. I assume it's the IPs... Primary and secondary HA Address.
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Sprint Mobile Broadband PX-500 | Windows XP MCE SP2 | Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+ | 1.5GB RAM | ATI Mobile Radeon X600 128MB | 120GB HDD | |
| | | | | | | ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Rensselaer, IN
·Embarq
 ·Millenicom
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| said by Brisk :Are you talking about the ##DATA thing? I already tried that, and it seems to have worked. Guess I needed to give it a few minutes. I'm on KC at the moment and it's faster than ever - 1100/800. Still no latency improvement though. Unfortunately you'll just have to face the fact that the latency just isn't going to be that great. There are lucky people out there that are connected to towers that can get a little lower latency and faster speeds, but based on your review you get about exactly what I get speed wise, although I can sometimes ping out to the net as low as 130 to some sites. 150 - 190 is very typical, even for Rev A. | |
| | | | Brisk
Qwest's Spirit Of Service Inaction
join:2003-07-11
Colorado Springs, CO
clubs: | Re: Change your settings Good points, but I'll live with it until Rev B, which should improve the latency a little more.
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FIOS: Fiber Is Our Schtick | |
| | | | | ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Rensselaer, IN
·Embarq
·Millenicom
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Change your settings said by Brisk :Good points, but I'll live with it until Rev B, which should improve the latency a little more. It'll be a long time before you see Rev B, especially with Sprint, who's still got a ways to go before they get all of their Rev A upgrades complete. | |
| | | | | | 
Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23
·Embarq
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Change your settings said by ydoucare :said by Brisk :Good points, but I'll live with it until Rev B, which should improve the latency a little more. It'll be a long time before you see Rev B, especially with Sprint, who's still got a ways to go before they get all of their Rev A upgrades complete. Nah, their EVDO Revision A network is being rapidly completed (it'll be finished by the end of this fall); it's just the fact that Sprint is going to focus on WiMAX, not EVDO Revision B. Heck, no one is focusing on EVDO Revision B...
Ahh well, I"m sure that the mobile broadband account will evolve nicely into a WiMAX account in the future. | |
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Review by Bolev
UPDATED: 2.6 years ago
member for 2.9 years, 15 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
South Berwick,York,ME
$59 per month (24 month contract)
"Fast, reliable, easy, consistent"
"None"
"Wireless Broadband for Rural Areas"
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Wow! Sprint just upgraded to EVDO Rev A waaaay up here in Maine. We are about 5 miles from the nearest tower and were getting 600Kbps down, 300 Kbps up with 1 bar. Once we hooked up an external antenna - the speeds became better than DSL in our area (800Kbps down, 500 up). If you are like us and cannot get Cable or DSL, check this out before being resigned to having to use Satellite (Which is often very frustrating, slow, unreliable).
Update 3/30/2007
Plugged in the U720 into a new Kyocera KR1 Wireless router. While Kyocera doesn't 'officially' support the U720, it does work... with the following caviats:
Download speed not greater than 500kbps
Router needs to be rebooted every 2 - 3 days for some odd reason...
I'm hoping that a new firmware version will resolve both issues. The wireless range of the KR1 is good and can get signal anywhere in the house and yard.
Followup comments: 
EVDOalex
Premium
join:2006-10-05
Dallas, TX
| KR1 RK1010 Firmware announcement Kyocera will soon be announcing firmware RK1010 that provides full support for the U720/USB720 as well as the PX500/PC5750.
As with prior firmware releases, EVDOinfo.com and 3GStore.com are first to sell KR1 routers with this new firmware! ...for more info, read:
»www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/1973/64/ | |
| | Bolev
join:2006-12-19
South Berwick, ME
| Re: KR1 RK1010 Firmware announcement thanks. I Updated the firmware and the download speed increased significantly from the KR1 router. (Between 700 - 1200 kbps from speakeasy speed test)
As to the other problem I was having with disconnects after every ~ 30 MB downloaded, I switched my wireless cardconnection to be managed by windows and that solved it (I have XP SP2).
Life is good. | |
| songsearch0
join:2007-05-07
Angelus Oaks, CA
| External Antenna How did you hook up the external attenna? Just got the Pantech card for my laptop from Sprint, 1 or 2 bars most of the time, 699 download, but would like to improve with an external. The people at the local Sprint dealer said there was no way to hook up an external. | |
| | Bolev
join:2006-12-19
South Berwick, ME | Re: External Antenna I had the U720. There is an external antenna port under the built-in antenna (You need to remove the plastic cover) -boosterantenna.com had the adapter I needed. Not sure if there is an antenna port for the pantech. | |
| | | songsearch0
join:2007-05-07
Angelus Oaks, CA
| Re: External Antenna Thanx for the reply. I did some research, and there is a port on the Pantech card for an external, which I've found at 3GStore.com, and should be coming in the mail today. It's just in time; last night, for the first time, the card tried to go into roaming mode, which I assume means airtime charges? Reception is back to normal this morning, so it must have been something temporary going on with Sprint. | |
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Review by zaxe63
UPDATED: 2.7 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 61 visits, last login: 2.4 years ago
Fenton,Genesee,MI
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"Great Speed, lower latency than Sat. Easy setup, take it with you"
"Cost - but worth it you have no choice"
"If it is a choice between this and Sat. Take This!"
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I have a choice between Dialup, ISDN, Sat. and this just started in my area. Jan31,2007. I hade ISDN before this and Skyway Sat, before that, and flip flopped between ISDN and Dialup. Sprint Wireless Broadband is by far the best. So far so good I will post again if I have any problems. I have the Merlin S720 and the Kyocera KR1 router for the PC Card. Very simple to set up. My download speeds have ranged from 500kb to 1200kb uploads are a steady 450kb I had one instance of download down to 150kb on the speed test. I am very happy to do away with AT&T ISDN and telephone service, am very happy to do away with SKYWAY Sat Service. Even at 60/month and 2 year contract it is worth the cost. Still haven't tried gaming I will do so soon and update. I purchased thru EVDOinfo.com they are very cool and will help you every step of the way, much more knowledgeable then sprint or verizon, by the way verizon unlimited is not truly unlimited they have a 5gb cap per month and do not own up to it or there sales people are just to ignorant. My ratings are based on a combo of evdoinfo.com and sprint, all 5's are courtasy to evdoinfo.com Sorry I am not an employee but they are so much better to talk to than sprint was.
3-14-2007:
Well still extremely happy when I compare it to satellite, dial-up or ISDN. Been playing Battlefield, Half-life2 and C&C Generals I get about 100ms-150ms pings good enough for a very good gaming experience. I had uploads upto 400kbps at first now they are 150-200 on average do not know what happened there but still ok. Anyone know if there is a way to controll which tower you are using? I have one that is RevA and one that is Rev0 close to me.
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Review by LarryLL
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 7.9 years, 107 visits, last login: 2 years ago
Midland,Fauquier,VA
$39 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"Rev A Speeds rock, great coverage, better than satellite"
"Coverage Maps slow to update, but always in customer's favor."
"If you're on satellite and have coverage in your area - sign up NOW!"
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I was struggling with getting my Wii online (of all things) and ended up getting pointed at Sprint's site. I was stunned to see I was on the edge of a Rev A service area as I live in the sticks with no chance for DSL or cable in my lifetime. I was on HughesNet from back in the days they were a one way service called DirecPC and likely spent $2000 on hardware plus $70 a month for service. Yikes!
Signed up for Sprint online (using their SERO program to get $10 off a month) and had my Novatel Merlin S720 card in 3 days. When it arrived I plugged it into my laptop (download the latest software from their website as the CD is always out of date), fired up the Connection Manager and was online in less than an hour - the delay was for activation and card provisioning. The rep said it would take 4 hours, but took less than 30 mins.
Even without an external antenna I was getting EVDO Rev 0 signals right away. I hooked up an external antenna (and an amplifier) and get a very stable Rev A. My downloads are still on the slow side ~1Mbps (other get 1.5-2.0Mbps) and my uploads are ~500kbps. Pings average 100ms, with frequent trips into 70-80ms.
I also purchased a Linksys WRT54G3G-ST router and shared out the broadband connection to my wired and wireless clients at home. If anything, this was easier than setting it up for satellite.
Online gaming is very good (Wii and XBox Live) and I even tried a friend's VoIP without any problems. Please note that VoIP may actually be against Sprint's TOS.
Coverage maps are updated ~monthly and have recently been updated to show new towers and towers planned in next 3 months. If you get a Sprint phone signal you will be able to get online in some form, likely Rev 0 (1xRTT is pretty slow, like dialup). Large chunks of the country are still underserved and Rev A is being rolled out tower by tower, but this gets better literally every day.
I have used this service while in motion (driving 50 miles) and only lost 2 packets the entire time. This is amazing.
Compared to satellite this has been a godsend. I spend $30 a month less to get faster speeds, lower latency, service during bad weather and more reliable service over all. Cheaper *AND* better is a rare combination indeed.
Do your research, check your coverage, determine your card needs, router needs, antenna needs, placement, etc. but if you're currently a satellite customer you really stand to gain quite a bit. My dad lives on my farm and only took him a week of hearing me rave before he bought his own account. The only reason he waited that long was because I wanted to test things out beforehand. He actually gets better signal and speeds than I do. 
I mentioned SERO (their employee referral program) to get $39.99 instead of $49.99 for their unlimited service. I actually used my company's corporate contact (with his permission), but Fat Wallet and other sites list the Sprint "secret" promotion email addresses. You should be able to find this without much searching and saving $240 over the life of your contract is worth the time.
BTW, don't get the 40MB/month plan. You'll hit that limit way faster than you think and then hit their overage charges. Unlike Verizon's "unlimited" plan, Sprint is not known to have ever canceled someone's account for going over some arbitrary limit.
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Review by stretch1971
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 7.6 years, 2391 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Raleigh,Wake,NC
 Business customer
$60 per month
"COVERAGE"
"LACK OFF EVNO "A" IN MY AREA"
"GREAT SERVICE"
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I HAVE HAD MINE FOR A MONTH AND I THINK IT WORKS PRETTY GOOD. THANKS TO THE ROAMING AGREEMENTS COVERAGE IS GOOD IN NC. LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING REV A SOME DAY
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Review by joeschuh
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 9.1 years, 94 visits, last login: 55 days ago
Englewood,Montgomery,OH
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Reliable Fast Connection"
"Latency (150 ms) -- Really thats the only bad thing"
"Great for mobile people or those underserved"
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Short and Sweet:
Install goes find but I imaging inexperienced users may have problems -- of course those users have problems installing office. Wish the NDIS option to not have to use the connection manager was more obvious.
Speed is really good. Average about 1500 down and 150 up. Latency is around 150 ms
Unit also works well with the Linksys router.
As I said before -- great to mobile people, undeserved people (read LEC doesn't think it is profitable). Also a good solution for companies looking for wireless backup to WAN for remote locations.
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Review by hughv
Posted: 2.7 years ago
member for 3.2 years, 453 visits, last login: 4 days ago
Annapolis,Anne Arundel,MD
Contract price not specified.
"500/90 When nothing else was available"
"$60.00/month"
"A good solution"
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My friend lives in the woods in Lothian. MD. Cable, DSL and Satellite were all unavailable.
The Spint PCS rep actually brought a laptop to the house to demo the card, which worked well.
I bought a PCI to PCMCIA adapter for his desktop from Tiger Direct ($30.00), and we were up and running in a few minutes.
A guy who's never used You Tube or streamed Shoutcast is now in the 21st century.
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