Verizon Wireless data speeds?

I am interested in Verizon's EVDO service.
I need info on individuals' experiences with this service.

Does it ever go above 500K? 750K? 1000K? How long at a time?

Has it ever been below 300K? for how long?

Has anyone actually found this service to be awesomely fast?

I'm on Satellite right now at 300 - 500K down with only 48K up. I almost
purchased the PC card for Verizon today, but balked when I saw the small
print that said "Speeds are typically between 300K and 500K."

I tired of being limited to 750MB of total download per week (Satellite does
this) per Starband's Fair Use Policy (FAP).


Any help would be appreciated.

Mike

On Thu, 1 Dec 2005 23:35:23 -0600, "Mikey43" <n0vnm@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I am interested in Verizon's EVDO service.
>I need info on individuals' experiences with this service.

I've been using the service for a little over a month and my
impression is overall favorable.

>Does it ever go above ;
>500K?
Often.

> 750K?
Often, when you have a very strong signal.

> 1000K? How long at a time?
Never in my experience. The most I've clocked the speed at in Midtown
Manhattan is about 850K.

>Has it ever been below 300K? for how long?
Yes... If the signal strength drops below 3 bars, the speed goes down
significantly. 200K is pretty average in these cases.

>Has anyone actually found this service to be awesomely fast?

For what it is, I consider the above speeds to be awesomely fast. Have
you ever used T-Moble's GPRS? By comparison, you'll kiss Verizon's
feet in Macy's window.

>I'm on Satellite right now at 300 - 500K down with only 48K up. I almost
>purchased the PC card for Verizon today, but balked when I saw the small
>print that said
>"Speeds are typically between 300K and 500K."

In average real world use, that's a very accurate claim, in my view.

>I tired of being limited to 750MB of total download per week (Satellite does
>this) per Starband's Fair Use Policy (FAP).

That would be reason enough for me to switch.

Hope this helps.

A_C

"Agent_C" <Agent-C-hates-spam@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gmc0p15ejkkonutmd6c5vj67c5pldpingu@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 1 Dec 2005 23:35:23 -0600, "Mikey43" <n0vnm@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>I am interested in Verizon's EVDO service.
>>I need info on individuals' experiences with this service.
>
> I've been using the service for a little over a month and my
> impression is overall favorable.
>
>>Does it ever go above ;
>>500K?
> Often.
>
>> 750K?
> Often, when you have a very strong signal.
>
>> 1000K? How long at a time?
> Never in my experience. The most I've clocked the speed at in Midtown
> Manhattan is about 850K.
>
>>Has it ever been below 300K? for how long?
> Yes... If the signal strength drops below 3 bars, the speed goes down
> significantly. 200K is pretty average in these cases.
>
>>Has anyone actually found this service to be awesomely fast?
>
> For what it is, I consider the above speeds to be awesomely fast. Have
> you ever used T-Moble's GPRS? By comparison, you'll kiss Verizon's
> feet in Macy's window.
>
>>I'm on Satellite right now at 300 - 500K down with only 48K up. I almost
>>purchased the PC card for Verizon today, but balked when I saw the small
>>print that said
>>"Speeds are typically between 300K and 500K."
>
> In average real world use, that's a very accurate claim, in my view.
>
>>I tired of being limited to 750MB of total download per week (Satellite
>>does
>>this) per Starband's Fair Use Policy (FAP).
>
> That would be reason enough for me to switch.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> A_C

Anyone else care to chime in? I' starting to think, "If A_C gets that
service that steady in a crowded environment like midtown Manhatten, I
should do better if I'm like 'one of 25 customers' on my rural cell tower
using data."

I'm ready to plunk down my money for a PC Card right now.

I'm hoping to get more than one response.

Mike

I have been on VZW EV-DO with a PC Card 5220 for almost year now in the Los
Angeles area and I find the service is very reliable and does average at
around 75 - 90 KB/sec download speed. That equals the range from 640 - 720
Kbit/sec. The highest speed I recorded (with the 2wire.com speed test
utility) was 986 Kbit/sec a few months ago.

The speed holds true when one is downloading stuff. The EV-DO system does
have the drawback of relatively high latency though. One can discover that
while websurfing. But the bottom line is that it connects at about 10 - 12
times standard dial-up speed and is available in an increasing number of
areas across the country now. One can still connect in non-EV-DO areas but
then the speed defaults to 1XRTT (dial-up).

Sometimes - especially during mid-mornings weekdays - the connect speed does
drop down to below 300 Kbit/sec for an hour or two, but that is not every
day. And, occasionally, the connection defaults to 1XRTT for reasons I
cannot identify (even when I am at one location) but jumps back up after a
little while by itself.

EV-DO can be likened to entry-level DSL and does not fall into the
"awesomely fast" category. But, compared to dial-up, it is indeed very fast.
Also, usage is extremely convenient. One no longer need buy one 5-buck cup
of coffee after another 5-buck cup of coffee at Starbucks, as is the case
with Wi-Fi.

I also sometimes use the AirPrime card on my normally-stand-alone desktop
computer which has a CardBus-PCI adapter. Connections achieve the same
throughput as on my laptop.

My monthly average usage is about 4 GB or so. I am on the (pricey though)
unlimited plan. The price is worth paying for my needs.

I'm looking forward to the roll-out of HSDPA and/or Wi-Max which,
reportedly, can connect 10 - 30 times faster than EV-DO.

HTH.

Manu
-----------------


"Mikey43" <n0vnm@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:127f8$438fdd20$943fbab7$1331@STARBAND.NET...
>I am interested in Verizon's EVDO service.
> I need info on individuals' experiences with this service.
>
> Does it ever go above 500K? 750K? 1000K? How long at a time?
>
> Has it ever been below 300K? for how long?
>
> Has anyone actually found this service to be awesomely fast?
>
> I'm on Satellite right now at 300 - 500K down with only 48K up. I almost
> purchased the PC card for Verizon today, but balked when I saw the small
> print that said "Speeds are typically between 300K and 500K."
>
> I tired of being limited to 750MB of total download per week (Satellite
> does this) per Starband's Fair Use Policy (FAP).
>
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Mike
>

> should do better if I'm like 'one of 25 customers' on my rural cell
> tower using data."

Rural? Is broadband actually avaiable where you are? It's only in the
large metro areas so far.

Yep. I live in a rural area and cannot get EVDO service. The 1X service
is good enough for me as a backup through my phone, but I wouldn't pay
$50/mo for it.

Take a look here:
http://www.dslreports.com/archive/myvzw.com

I travel all over the country with it (major cities) and typically see
400-600K download speeds. If the signal is weak, it'll drop to the 200's.
I upgraded from the Sierra 5220 to the Kyocera KPC650 card and it made a big
difference in signal quality and speed.

Being able to connect anywhere, unlimited, and avoid the $10 - $15/day hotel
WiFi charges is great.

There's a fellow who sells VZW EVDO out of the San Diego area who claims
crazy high speeds over 1.5Mb/s but I've never seen anything like that in the
rest of the country.

-- Paul



"Mikey43" <n0vnm@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:127f8$438fdd20$943fbab7$1331@STARBAND.NET...
>I am interested in Verizon's EVDO service.
> I need info on individuals' experiences with this service.
>
> Does it ever go above 500K? 750K? 1000K? How long at a time?
>
> Has it ever been below 300K? for how long?
>
> Has anyone actually found this service to be awesomely fast?
>
> I'm on Satellite right now at 300 - 500K down with only 48K up. I almost
> purchased the PC card for Verizon today, but balked when I saw the small
> print that said "Speeds are typically between 300K and 500K."
>
> I tired of being limited to 750MB of total download per week (Satellite
> does this) per Starband's Fair Use Policy (FAP).
>
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Mike
>