[Fwd: [HSMM-technical:1857] Re: Verizon to offer wireless broadband]

Robert E. Seastrom rs at seastrom.com
Fri Jan 9 09:03:59 CST 2004


I was part of the Verizon EVDO trial.  We were routinely getting in
excess of 400 Kbps per laptop downloading, with a dozen laptops in the
same room doing simultaneous downloads (we were looking for back-end
capacity issues in the system).

Biggest problem with EVDO at the present time is that the favored card
manufacturer has been bought out by Sierra Wireless, who is a bunch of
idiots when it comes to releasing specs for talking to the cards, so
no drivers (yet) for Mac, Linux, or anything other than Windoze.

                                        ---Rob


Alex Fraser <beatnic at comcast.net> writes:

> An interesting discussion on the new broadband wireless systems now
> being deployed. This is forwarded from the ARRL HSMM working group
> list. Are any local hams (DC area) using this new service?
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: 	[HSMM-technical:1857] Re: Verizon to offer wireless broadband
> Date: 	Thu, 08 Jan 2004 22:16:35 -0600
> From: 	Gerry Creager N5JXS <gerry.creager at tamu.edu>
> Reply-To: 	hsmm-technical at arrl.org
> Organization: 	Texas A&M University -- AATLT
> To: 	HSMM Technology <hsmm-technical at reflector.arrl.org>
> 
> 
> 
> As far as I'm concerned, go ahead and forward it.  The other reviewer
> is Kurt, WB5BBW, who is our real expert in these cards now.  Please
> mention him favorably.
> 
> 
> 73, gerry
> 
> Alex Fraser wrote:
> > Go Gerry!
> >    What great information. I have felt for a while that a role hams
> > can play in our society is that of impartial knowledgeable reviewers
> > and evaluators of new technology. We have the trust of the people to
> > perform this role  based on our history (We will lose this trust if
> > we babble on about CW).
> 
> >    How can we show this review to the highest number of hams? We can
> > spin it to show how easy it would be to connect a 802.11 ad hoc lan
> > to this system for instant area internet access (like field day) and
> > there by feed two birds from the same feeder (I don't like to kill
> > birds with stones).
> 
> >    May I forward this review to a couple of ham lists I am on, in
> > particular to my local club and to AMRAD's TACO list?
> 
> >    And as an after thought I must mention that WWI (Woodbridge
> > Wireless Inc.) my local club shares our main repeater site with a
> > Ricochet Network installation (Metricom R.I.P.). Do you think the
> > new owners have a chance in hell of revitalising their service? See
> > http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1809980,00.html
> > <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%7E33%7E1809980,00.html>
> > for latest info.  I really would like to have this local  system
> > dumped in Amateur radios lap.  Their local site is 6 panel antennas
> > on a hough water tower with concrete enclosed cable and huge steel
> > equipment boxes, we could run some cat 5 into our co located
> > repeater hut for an instant WAN.  I'm not too proud to accept
> > corporate charity.
> 
> > Gerry Creager N5JXS wrote:
> 
> >
> 
> >> Er... Old news.  Sprint's 1xRTT implementation is currently
> >> outperforming Verizon's in all the markets I've tried it in.  I now
> >> travel with a 1xRTT card for the laptop, so I can at least retrieve
> >> e-mail (albeit somewhat slowly) wherever I go.
> 
> >>
> >> 1xRTT is CDMA-2000, and the predecessor to 1xEVDO, which should
> >> jump from the current 80k (real numbers vice the 150k marketting
> >> hype) to between 256k and 512k.
> 
> >>
> >> I've not been able to lay hands on any EDGE (GSM) hardware to test
> >> so far, but reports say, AT&T aside, it's slower than 1xEVDO but
> >> faster than 1xRTT.
> 
> >>
> >> There remain some issues with bad handoffs and dropped calls, but
> >> it's interestingly enough not as bad in this digital realm as my
> >> digital cellphone is.  I'll be talking on the phone and beating on
> >> the computer, the cell call will terminate abnormally, and the
> >> computer's just goin' on.
> 
> >>
> >> If you ever see n5jxs-8 on the APRS Internet side, that's almost
> >> always me, running 1xRTT.
> 
> >>
> >> FWIW, we've tested both Sprint and Verizon for an ambulance
> >> research project.  We implemented both systems for
> >> failover/redundancy in our system, as a stack of 4 effectively
> >> channel-bonded modems for each service, in a Linux PC-104A stack.
> >> We use power dividers and amps to make sure our ambulances have
> >> enough oomph to make it to the tower.  The amps we use do
> >> incorporate circuitry for automatic power control.
> 
> >>
> >> gerry
> >>
> >> KC5QCN wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Verizon to roll out wireless broadband
> >>>
> >>> http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-01-08-verizon_x.htm
> >>> ----------------------------------
> 
> >>>
> >>> January 8, 2004
> >>>
> >>> Wireless broadband network on horizon
> >>>
> >>> By Andrew Backover, USA TODAY
> >>>
> >>> Broadband on the go will get a lot closer to reality Thursday when
> >>> the USA's No. 1 phone and wireless carrier details plans to build
> >>> the first national wireless network that's truly broadband.
> 
> >>>
> >>> While popular "Wi-Fi hot spots" offer public wireless broadband in
> >>> coffee shops and airports, this service would make a laptop as
> >>> mobile as a cell phone.
> 
> >>>
> >>> The first phase of the build-out, which will take 18 months to two
> >>> years, will begin by summer, says Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who
> >>> will discuss the plan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
> >>> Vegas. He did not identify the first cities for the high-speed
> >>> wireless service but says, "We will hit the major markets as soon
> >>> as we (can). Whenever we've said we would roll something out
> >>> nationwide, we did it pretty quick."
> 
> >>>
> >>> Verizon has tested the $80-a-month service, not including a
> >>> required PC card ($150 after rebate), in Washington, D.C., and San
> >>> Diego. Seidenberg says demand is so strong that it's time to
> >>> expand. Mostly for use with laptops and PDAs, the service is
> >>> data-only and can't be used for voice. It is geared to business
> >>> users but is expected eventually to reach consumers.
> 
> >>>
> >>> Verizon's plan is a big step for the wireless industry, which for
> >>> years has promised broadband networks but delayed them because of
> >>> cost and lack of demand.
> 
> >>>
> >>> "This tells me there is demand within the business market," says
> >>> Legg Mason wireless analyst Craig Mallitz. "It's creating a true
> >>> mobile office."
> 
> >>>
> >>> But Blaik Kirby of consultants Adventis still wonders how much
> >>> work people will do in a cab: "Most places you would want to use a
> >>> high-speed connection are indoors (and) likely to be covered by
> >>> Wi-Fi."
> 
> >>>
> >>> Most current wireless services, including Verizon's primary
> >>> offering, equal or slightly exceed the speed of a dial-up
> >>> modem. That's good enough for e-mail, trading photos and limited
> >>> Web access but not for big downloads. "Think of the capacity that
> >>> you now will have instantly at your disposal," Seidenberg says.
> 
> >>>
> >>> Among nationwide services, AT&T Wireless' Edge network is fastest,
> >>> at about three times a dial-up modem. AT&T plans broadband trials
> >>> in four markets in 2005. Sprint PCS' Vision for phones equals
> >>> dial-up speeds; its laptop service is twice that. But Sprint
> >>> broadband might not come until 2006.
> 
> >>>
> >>> Find this article at:
> >>> http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-01-08-verizon_x.htm
> 
> >>
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Gerry Creager -- gerry.creager at tamu.edu
> Network Engineering -- AATLT, Texas A&M University	
> Cell: 979.229.5301 Office: 979.458.4020 FAX: 979.847.8578
> Page: 979.228.0173
> Office: 903A Eller Bldg, TAMU, College Station, TX 77843
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>----<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> ........ Alex Fraser  N3DER .........
> ......... beatnic at comcast.net .......
> [~]_>^</\-[~]_>^</\-[~]_>^</\-[~]_>^<
> 
> 
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