EVDO Card Ranking - Wow, What A Difference The Right PC Card Makes
- From: Agent_C <Agent-C-hates-spam@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 10:32:46 -0400
OK, I?ve had the Verizon Mobile Broadband (EVDO) service for about 6
months now; and over that time I?ve had a chance to evaluate 3 of the
most popular PC cards.
Here?s how I rank them for reception & speed:
1) Novatel V620 ? What a surprise? I picked one up on eBay recently
for just $29 and thought I?d give it a try. It grabs the signal
*markedly* better than the others. It?s also more solidly built,
particularly the external antenna connector.
2) The Kyocera KPC650 ? Supposedly the chairman of the board and an
excellent card by any measure, but it simply isn?t as good a performer
as the V620. A couple of drawbacks on this model: a) My left hand was
always brushing up against the antenna - very annoying; b) The
external antenna connectors are very flimsy. Much too easy to break
off (which is exactly what happened to mine). Also, Kyocera service
sucks.
3) The Audiovox PC5740 - Near as I can determine, the only card
Verizon actually stocks (although they have quite a few on the web
site). Reliable and clearly the best looking of the three. Works well
if you?re in an area with good signal strength, but otherwise not. It
doesn?t have an external antenna connector, which is its biggest
drawback.
As fate would have it, the reception at my desk in downtown Manhattan
is the one and only place in New York City where I don?t get a strong
EVDO signal. The PC5740 could barely pull in National Access and
dropped the signal all day long. Anything but text only email was
impossible. The KPC650, in conjunction with the $79 booster antenna
from booster-antenna.com was a pretty good solution, but I couldn?t
get the card fixed after I broke the lead off.
I?m currently using V620 with the booster antenna and I get 4 bars on
Broadband Access. The speed measures out at a pretty consistent 400
kbps. I can?t believe how much a difference the right equipment makes?
A_C
.
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