Fastest data-celluar network currently?

[ricksfiona]

I am looking to find the fastest data-cellular network for work issues. Basically I want to use access a database in realtime quickly for technicians in the field. Mostly for synchronization/billing/scheduling request.

The main issue is having the vendor offer a CF card for Internet access and it being reaonably priced around $20 - $30/month.

Anyone know anything about this or am I dreaming?

[ADBrown]

I am looking to find the fastest data-cellular network for work issues. Basically I want to use access a database in realtime quickly for technicians in the field. Mostly for synchronization/billing/scheduling request.

The main issue is having the vendor offer a CF card for Internet access and it being reaonably priced around $20 - $30/month.

Anyone know anything about this or am I dreaming?

At that price, and nationwide, your only options are T-Mobile GPRS and Cingular EDGE. T-Mobile's GPRS is dog slow, 3.7 KB/second. Cingular's EDGE is a lot faster, around 20 KB/second, but their $20 data plan is only officially approved for cell phones. You'd need to sign up a bunch of phones, pull the SIMs, and stick them in the CF cards.

[ricksfiona]

Yes, I use T-Mobile's data service. It's SLOOOOW, but very reliable. Too slow for my business purposes.

I was looking around at CF GPRS cards and didn't see any that are EDGE compatible. Know of any?

Dang, those cards are expensive!

[ADBrown]

Yes, I use T-Mobile's data service. It's SLOOOOW, but very reliable. Too slow for my business purposes.

I was looking around at CF GPRS cards and didn't see any that are EDGE compatible. Know of any?

Now that you mention it, no.

Upon a second reading, I gather that you really only need one setup, that you're not trying to deploy a bunch of these? You might consider buying a standalone cell phone like the Nokia 6230, using Cingular's $20 phone data plan, and tethering via Bluetooth. It would be a little slower than a true aircard, but not that much. The other option would be an EDGE PC Card and PC Card sleeve for your iPaq.

[ADBrown]

Upon a third reading, I realize I was right the first time, and you are trying to deploy a bunch of these. (Smacks self.) I know I shouldn't post when low on sleep. Anyway, you may still want to consider the Bluetooth tethering option, and the iPaq-with-sleeve option. The only other way you're going to get good data speeds is with something like a Sprint based PocketPC phone. They have a good data network, about as fast as Cingular's EDGE, and you can get fairly cheap unlimited data. The price of entry is steep, though.

[Cybrid]

Look into Verizon....hopefully they have the coverage you need.

Reasons:
1xRTT is faster than EDGE
EVDO is the upcoming 1xRTT based standard and promises about 300Kbps. This is a simple software implementation. Cheaper to install.
Cingular's UMTS is not going to beat EVDO in speed and is a hardware implementation. Costly to do.
If it costs a company to implement something....they raise rates... who pays the rates?

[ADBrown]

Look into Verizon....hopefully they have the coverage you need.

Reasons:
1xRTT is faster than EDGE
EVDO is the upcoming 1xRTT based standard and promises about 300Kbps. This is a simple software implementation. Cheaper to install.
Cingular's UMTS is not going to beat EVDO in speed and is a hardware implementation. Costly to do.
If it costs a company to implement something....they raise rates... who pays the rates?


A couple of problems with that. One, Verizon doesn't offer or permit any CF options. Two, their cheapest data plan is $80.

By the by, 1xRTT is about the same speed as EDGE, possibly a little slower. Not faster. And EVDO isn't software based, it requires a hardware upgrade just like most any other new wireless standard.

[Cybrid]

A couple of problems with that. One, Verizon doesn't offer or permit any CF options. Two, their cheapest data plan is $80.

By the by, 1xRTT is about the same speed as EDGE, possibly a little slower. Not faster. And EVDO isn't software based, it requires a hardware upgrade just like most any other new wireless standard. Sorry, 1xRTT is faster than GPRS. I typed that wrong.
Yes, There are no CF cards supported....Sprint's 1x card "the Growell/Yiso" is the only 1x compatible PPC CF solution. However tethering is still an option also so is PCMCIA jackets. Unpleasant as that may sound.

Being in Canada, I have Telus' (Verizon subsidiary ) data plan and as such figured there would be equivalent plan structures....

As for the EVDO vs. EDGE software vs. hardware implementation..... I have it on good authority. EVDO will not require a "monkey " to climb a cell tower whereas EDGE will.
I will follow that up with googled evidence when I'm not on my Telus cellular connection ;)

The EVDO network, dubbed by Telstra as Mobile Broadband, is an upgrade to
the existing CDMA 1xRTT service .. EVDO is a data-only network, with users
continuing to use the wide-ranging CDMA network for voice. Telstra is also
promising a "seamless hand over" between EVDO and the existing CDMA 1xRTT
data network, which is scheduled to have the same 98 per cent of population
coverage as CDMA by the end of the year.

Telstra had spent around $50 million upgrading its CDMA network to the EVDO
standard. "We can get quite substantial coverage around the country for a
couple of times that," Telstra director of mobile sales and solutions
Murray Bergin said.

To convert to EVDO, older CDMA base stations needed card and software
upgrades, while newer ones required just software, Mr Bergin said. "One of
the reasons EVDO is so attractive to us is that it is a very low-cost
option for us," he said. The EVDO standard has a theoretical peak data rate
of 2.4Mbps, with real world speeds averaging between 300kbps and 600kbps,
according to Telstra.
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/link/2004-November/059260.html

[ADBrown]

Sorry, 1xRTT is faster than GPRS. I typed that wrong.

No problem.

As for the EVDO vs. EDGE software vs. hardware implementation..... I have it on good authority. EVDO will not require a "monkey " to climb a cell tower whereas EDGE will.


Ah, now I get it. I thought you were saying that it was a software upgrade on the client end, rather than a network thing. My bad.

[Cybrid]

Sorry, 1xRTT is faster than GPRS. I typed that wrong.

No problem.

As for the EVDO vs. EDGE software vs. hardware implementation..... I have it on good authority. EVDO will not require a "monkey " to climb a cell tower whereas EDGE will.


Ah, now I get it. I thought you were saying that it was a software upgrade on the client end, rather than a network thing. My bad.

For all I know it could be just as easy to do on the client end, I'd have to ask....Most likely though it would be an upgrade the client never gets similar to the wm2003 to wm2003se upgrade unavailabilty issues with many of the vendors....

[ADBrown]

It's definitely not a software upgrade on the client end. There, at least, you definitely need new hardware.

[Menneisyys]

I was looking around at CF GPRS cards and didn't see any that are EDGE compatible. Know of any?

Dang, those cards are expensive!

There're no EDGE-capable CF cards. All CF-based GPRS/GSM solutions use the same chipset, and it only supports Class 10 GPRS, not EDGE.

As the others have recommended, get a separate EDGE-enabled BT phone - for example, the Nokia 6230.

[thunderck]

On the BT side of things, both Sprint and Verizon have BT phones and Sprints data connections for me are consistently 100 kbs. Sprint will be going to a mid-road of 144 kbs on their way to full EVDO with Verizon is at in many markets, between 15-20.

The main issue is having the vendor offer a CF card for Internet access and it being reaonably priced around $20 - $30/month.


that is wanting your cake and eating it to. :?