ncbill
Premium
join:2007-01-23
Winston Salem, NC | Price is still an issue
No real technical advantage over EVDO at this point.
And EVDO can be gotten cheaper (even with a voice plan), if you know what I mean, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. |
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xenophon
join:2007-09-17
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | said by ncbill  :No real technical advantage over EVDO at this point. And EVDO can be gotten cheaper (even with a voice plan), if you know what I mean, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. EVDO RevC is more technically like WiMAX, all based on OFDM and MIMO, but probably won't happen now. EVDO Rev0/A has more technical limitations.
Yeah, you can illegally hack EVDO phones and get it connected on a laptop at price of basic service. And you can download movies/music for 'free' too wink wink.
EVDO devices have a high royalty fee to Qualcomm - consumer electronics makers don't want to deal with it. WiMAX currently has none if ever does, will likely be very small.
But WiMAX will eventually be on pretty much any device that can benefit from being connected to the Net. EVDO/HSDPA/LTE will always be mostly limited to cellphones and laptop cards with the closed model of cell-based industry where the carriers want control of what's connected. WiMAX will be more open, like WiFi. |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to ncbill
UMTS/HSDPA is a good deal for me.
I can use my cell phone as a phone, and tether +1Mbps to my laptop at the same time. Most of So-Cal is 3G, with no hints of WiMAX anytime soon. Sprint supposedly has upped their coverage by adding CDMA/EVDO sites on a lot of Nextel sites.
Sure - it costs me $50/month ($60/month normal add on for laptop connect, but I have a work discount on both Nextel and AT&T) and because its an add on, there's no contacts.
--
Canada = Hollywood North |
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xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| I've tested HSDPA and found it to be decent but not on par with EVDO yet. Will be more of a player when it hits 7.2Mbps (if ATT feeds enough backhaul to sites) and has better coverage.
ATT HSDPA is targeted to hit 170m population by end of year. Sprint/Verizon already cover over 210m pops and Sprint will hit 230m by end of the year. Sprint also roams on Alltel EVDO, which has huge coverage in some states. For phones, Sprint data costs quite a bit less.
Here is performance comparisons.. (ignore tests over 3Mbps as it's an AOL proxy problem, come on BBR, fix that)
Sprint »/archive/spcsd···cid=&p=1
VErizon
»/archive/myvzw···cid=&p=1
ATT
»/archive/mycin···cid=&p=1
For phones...
»/mspeed?domains=1
Sprint seems to be winning when it comes to data on price, coverage and performance. Too bad the customer support sucks. |
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ncbill
Premium
join:2007-01-23
Winston Salem, NC
| reply to xenophon
Aren't we still talking about _licensed_ frequencies with WiMax?
If that's the case, I wouldn't expect WiMax to be any more "open" than Clearwire or EVDO.
Though the monthly price may come down sooner than I initially thought (see next thread - Intel's pressing for a $30/month WiMax price plan)
>WiMAX will be more open, like WiFi. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to xenophon
Problem with those result archives is BBR "guesses" the domain wrong all the time. When I'm home, BBR reports my ATT 3g service is from "davico.com" (who?!). When I'm in Vegas, it reports my ATT 3G as "myvzw.com" (whoops).
It also depends on where you used ATT's 3G. In LA service is really hit and miss, seems to be about 768kbps when it's working. In Phoenix, AZ, coverage was very consistent and I saw downloads over 1500kbps regularly. |
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