Pay-As-You-Go Cellular Broadband
Posted by Yardena Arar | Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:09 PM PT
If you're the type of occasional business traveler who could use almost-everywhere broadband Internet access--but not often enough to justify paying $60 or $80 a month for it, Verizon Wireless is now offering an attractive sounding alternative.
The company this week
announced that owners of Dell, HP, and Lenovo notebooks with integrated
EVDO adapters can now purchase 24-hour access to Verizon Wireless's EVDO network for $15.
This is the first daily session pricing I've seen for cellular broadband data access. Up to now, the only way you could use Verizon's EVDO-powered BroadbandAccess service (which typically moves data at 300 kb to 500 kbps) was to purchase a monthly subscription--$60 if you also have a qualified Verizon Wireless voice plan, $80 if you don't.
True, you only need to use the service four to six days a month to match what you'd spend for unlimited monthly access (depending on whether you also use Verizon's voice service). But many people, including myself, only travel occasionally and wouldn't use the service at all for months on end. Being able to buy high-speed access by the day (the way I now do in hotel rooms when I travel on business) makes EVDO-enabled notebooks a much better investment.
Verizon Wireless says the following notebooks have integrated EVDO and will support session pricing:
* Dell Latitude D620 and Latitude D820, Dell Precision M65
*
Lenovo Thinkpad Z60,
T60 and X60 Notebooks
* HP Compaq
nc6140 and nc6320 Notebook PCs
According to Verizon's news release, you can sign up for one-day access (as well as subscriptions) directly from the notebook. I don't own an EVDO-equipped laptop, but this offer certainly would encourage me to consider one.
$60 (or$80) a month versus $15 A DAY?? I realize that things can cost more when there is a convenience factor involved, but this is just plain stupid!
Add to that the need to buy a specific range of computers to even use this overpriced rip-off and it just goes beyond the bounds of reason.
Any tech-savvy person who would even lightly recommend this must be getting kickbacks...or wants to.
For that price, you might as well check out T-Mobile's options. $50/mo if you don't have a voice plan. $20 if you do. And the same prices for their edge network which is their broadband network. Not as fast as verizon but faster than dialup.
EVDO is orders of magnitude faster than EDGE -- I know, I have an EDGE phone. You can't compare. And yeah, $15 a day is pricey--I did the math in my posting. But the point is that this is for people who maybe will want it six or 10 days a year, scattered over 12 months. Given the choice of $150 for the 10 days over 12 months versus $960, I'll take the day passes. Obviously, true frequent flyers will do better on the monthly plan.
It's also for people who don't want to have to hunt down hotspots--they know they will have service in almost any major metropolitan area. Again, as I said in my post, I'm used to paying $10-$15 a day for broadband in a hotel room when I travel on business. With this option, I'm not confined to the room. For certain infrequent travelers, such as myself, this is an appealing alternative.
Some hotels offer free high speed internet. That is what I look for, or check out a free wifi hotspot finder. Having internet everywhere isn't critical for me so I just try to find somewhere free to use it.
This would be great in a pinch. There must be some kind of EVDo Pc card to enable your laptop. Anyone know ??
Regarding IBM Lenovo T60:
Can this built-in and pre-configured Verizon WAN EVDO service used OUTSIDE the US?
Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. - can this built-in feature used in these places to get broadband wireless access or this is restricted to US and Verizon?
Maybe with a small hardware/software modification?
Thanks.
I'm confused---does this mean that Verizon won't offer the same option if you buy one of their PCMCIA cards?
I have looked into this fairly extensively, and have spoken to several Verizon reps, some of whom contradict each other. But here is what I believe to be correct: This daily fee plan is NOT available if you buy and use a PCMCIA card. It is confined to imbedded EVDO cards only offered on some notebooks by the three manufacturers identified in the post. It will NOT work outside Verizon's network (e.g., in Europe). It will work at EVDO speeds only in EVDO areas; otherwise, it will drop down to the slower "1x" speed Verizon offers elsewhere in their digital coverage areas that are outside EVDO coverage.
More info-- Dell charges $179 for their integrated EVDO card if you buy it at the time you buy your computer; otherwise, the price is $259. It is a mini-card form factor that has the model number 5700 at Dell. I don't know about HP's or Lenova's pricing for their respective mini-cards or other hardware solution. By contrast, Verizon will sell you a PCMCIA card for virtually nothing, after rebate/discounts, with a 2-year plan. So factor these costs when you do the math to see if the $15 per day fee is right for you.
Last post from me: Bear in mind that a faster EVDO upgrade has been announced (grudgingly, it seems, just to keep up with Sprint) by Verizon, that will have somewhat faster download speeds, and significantly faster upload speeds. It is known as EVDO Rev. 1 (existing standard is EVDO Rel. 0, I think). I believe the imbedded EVDO cards are NOT Rev. 1 compliant, nor are all or most of PCMCIA EVDO cards in existence today. 2007 will probably be the year Rev. 1 is rolled out in any significant market areas. Users will be buying new hardware to take advantage of the faster speeds. Consider that cost as well, as you do the math.