Just got a bonus from Verizon

[TheForce]

Not sure what to make of this but I got a phone call the other day from a Verizon rep who wanted to thank me for my business this past year.

Said she wanted to GIVE me one months free service as a credit on my monthly bill for all my phones and laptop Broadband service.

I agreed and we finished. About 15 minutes later she called back and said she forgot to tell me I would also be receiving a free broadband EVDP Verizon wireless modem for my laptop. Said it plugs into the USB port. I tried to explain to her that I had a Dell and the EVDO service was built in, no cards and no USB modem to replace. She said she was required to send it to me and if I wanted to use it I could. Confused????

So to day I get this modem. It is their latest technology using the new 1.5 Mbps speed service, just like I have in my Dell.

Does anyone here have one of these? What can I do with it? I assume I'd have to subscribe it to another service which is $$ monthly. Can it be portable, in that I could use it with any laptop or computer with a USB port?

 

[Poke]

WOW! Thats Cool..

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Don, EVDO is an internet connection using a cellular type service. It is pretty kewl as you can cruise down the interstate in your car while surfing the internet at better than dialup. Actually a slow broadband speed..

It is not as fast as your home connection.

It will cost you an extra $59+/month for the service.

If you travel a lot it is worth it. Otherwise, forget it!!

If you have a rocking area with great EVDO access, there are routers that are made for EVDO accesss cards if you want to replace your cable connection.

But for the most part, they are a lot slower. But a great improvement on mobile access.

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Also, I believe Verizon's money back guarantee is 30 days.

Read the fine print so you don't get stuck with the EVDO card and a $59 monthly charge for 2 years.

 

[TheForce]

Thanks Ron, but I knew all that. I have three account phone lines with EVDO data service now.

Treo 700W for wife
XV6700 for me
Dell laptop with built in EVDO (A) which is generally faster than typical DSL and about 4x as fast as the original EVDO spec. Here at the office I get average 1 Mbs download with 756 upload. But in some areas like Las Vegas, Miami, NY, and parts of Jacksonville (Home) it has jumped to 2.4 Mbs download. While I was in the hospital just 2 miles from the house the Laptop was doing 2.4 Mbs download. Still not as fast as cable here but Certainly adequate to watch 3 live video streams 2 security cameras + sling box in separate windows at the same time. The cell phones are still on the first version of EVDO and generally get at best 600kbs download with average at 350. Good enough for surfing web and sling video with tiny picture screen.

My main concern was what to do with this new portable modem. If I add another data line, as you said I could be paying $59 a month plus taxes and I'd rarely use it. Plus, I doubt the USB modem has the quality of my built in EVDO as the antenna is more restricted. The antenna on the built in one runs the perimeter of the screen and has notibly longer and steadier range than my former PCMCIA card. I have one of those too in the drawer. When I bought the Dell it obsoleted the PCMCIA Verizon card.

I would not replace my cable since it is a commercial account and is guaranteed minimum speed for a premium price. I need that for the sometimes emergency uploads I need to do which average 80 mb per file.

 

[Van]

Funny, I never would have thought 5 years ago that I would some day be calling 1.5mbps a slow connection.

 

[Stargazer]

We switched from Verizon to Fibernet and then back to Verizon again. Verizon later gave us $25 credit for switching back over by surprize.