Verizon Aircard -- which one is best?
I have the old Verizon KPC 650 Aircard and am planning to upgrade to a Rev.
A capable card. There are 3 models on the Verizon website that will fit my
computer: 1) 5750 2) 595 3) USB 720 . Does anyone have any experience
as to which of these is the best one to upgrade to? I have an external
antenna for the 620. Will the same antenna work for the new card with the
proper adapter? As we are doing the Great Loop and are often in fringe
areas, the ability to pull in weaker signals is very important. The sales
people at Verizon are clueless.
Thanks,
Steve Schrimsher
MV Salty Turtle
Defever 44
Now in Michigan, doing the Great Loop
After 21 years and 9000 hours, our Westerbeke 12.5K generator has been
replaced with a new one.
We have a box full of spare parts available for anyone who has a similar
generator model W-33, sometimes called WMD-12.5-614.
If you have any interest, contact me.
Tom Little
Kalani, 49RPH
All three devices will accept an external antenna. However, the connector on
all is different than your KPC650, so you will need either an adapter, or a
new external antenna.
I am using the AirCard 595, with Sierra's wireless connection manager, and
have had great success. I find Sierra's connection manager software to be
far superior to Verizon's software. More responsive, less disconnects, and
more control over the advanced functions of the card itself.
If you are thinking up upgrading to a new notebook in the not too distant
future, you may want to consider the USB720. Most new notebooks now come
with ExpressCard slots, so the 595 and 5750 would not fit, and you would
need to purchase a new card. By going with the USB720 it will work with
anything that has a USB port. There is no difference is connection speeds
between the USB, PC Card, and ExpressCard devices.
For all the info you could ever want on EVDO, go to this link...
www.evdoinfo.com
They also sell EVDO devices here, through their 3GStore link, and have some
of the best prices I have found. Great support, too.
Ken Tischler
Tischler Computer Services
On 8/12/07, Steve Schrimsher steves@schrimsher.com wrote:
I have the old Verizon KPC 650 Aircard and am planning to upgrade to a
Rev.
A capable card. There are 3 models on the Verizon website that will fit
my
computer: 1) 5750 2) 595 3) USB 720 . Does anyone have any
experience
as to which of these is the best one to upgrade to? I have an external
antenna for the 620. Will the same antenna work for the new card with the
proper adapter? As we are doing the Great Loop and are often in fringe
areas, the ability to pull in weaker signals is very important. The sales
people at Verizon are clueless.
Thanks,
Steve Schrimsher
MV Salty Turtle
Defever 44
Now in Michigan, doing the Great Loop
For all the info you could ever want on EVDO, go to this link...
www.evdoinfo.com
They also sell EVDO devices here, through their 3GStore link,
and have some
of the best prices I have found. Great support, too.
I would read their articles with a fair amount of skepticism. They analyzed
a tethered phone (that they don't sell) against an air card (that they do
sell). Surprise, surprise...guess which one looks better in EVERY situation
that they wrote about? Nothing is ever so clear cut - no paper is so thin
that there isn't two sides.
I use both technologies. For most boaters, the tethered phone is a better
solution. I've written about it extensively before. The "tide" turned
about a year ago in favor of the phone. If you have extra money to burn,
the ultimate solution is to have both a tethered phone and an air card.
---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community
Biggest drawback for me with tethered phones is the inability to talk on the
phone while connected to the Internet. My business often requires that I be
on the phone with my customer while accessing his/her server via the
Internet.
Ken
On 8/12/07, Jeffrey Siegel jeff@activecaptain.com wrote:
For all the info you could ever want on EVDO, go to this link...
www.evdoinfo.com
They also sell EVDO devices here, through their 3GStore link,
and have some
of the best prices I have found. Great support, too.
I would read their articles with a fair amount of skepticism. They
analyzed
a tethered phone (that they don't sell) against an air card (that they do
sell). Surprise, surprise...guess which one looks better in EVERY
situation
that they wrote about? Nothing is ever so clear cut - no paper is so thin
that there isn't two sides.
I use both technologies. For most boaters, the tethered phone is a better
solution. I've written about it extensively before. The "tide" turned
about a year ago in favor of the phone. If you have extra money to burn,
the ultimate solution is to have both a tethered phone and an air card.
---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community
Biggest drawback for me with tethered phones is the inability
to talk on the phone while connected to the Internet.
My business often requires that I be on the phone with my
customer while accessing his/her server via the Internet.
I guess it depends on the phone. As you know, the data stream is a
completely separate connection than the voice stream. Both can happen
simultaneously.
The point you made was one of the points made on the 3GStore site. Although
there's a glimmer of truth based on older devices, it is completely
misleading given that they are talking about EVDO devices.
palminfocenter.com did a review of the Treo 700p about a year ago. In it
was the following:
The Treo 700p phone uses CDMA wireless technology (850/1900MHz). It is the
first Palm OS smartphone to support EV-DO high-speed wireless data. EV-DO
allows for data speeds around 10x faster than previous 1xRTT rates and is
backwards compatible. EV-DO also allows you to receive calls while the
Internet connection is active, as on all previous CDMA devices the phone
would not accept calls when using the data connection. Previously, incoming
calls would go straight to voicemail when browsing the web or checking
email. It also features E911 compliance with a built in A-GPS chip that is
solely used for the enhanced E911 emergency location service.
The full review is at:
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8645/palm-treo-700p-review/
As I said previously, this all changed about a year ago and is one of the
things that made the scales tilt to the side of the phone.
It's a beautiful day on the coast of Maine. I'm off to be on the water for
the rest of the day...
---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community
We purchased the USB version of the Verizon air card. It has worked very
well from Williamsburg, VA to Oswego, NY on our journey on the NY Canal
System. At home in Williamsburg I use it on my desktop. MUCH faster than
my old dialup connection. If you are happy with Verizon cell service you
will be happy with their USB air card.
Pablo
Aboard ABACUS
Schuylerville, NY
Steve, all three use essentially the same chipset. Verizon tech support
swears you will not see any significant performance differences between
them. So you may wish to choose other factors when deciding among them.
For instance, although I got the PC5750 Rev. A card because I intended it
for my HP laptop with its PCMCIA card slot, that means it can's easily
connect to an older desktop PC I have buried in the galley to run Nobeltec,
since it, of course, doesn't come with a PCMCIA slot. I seldom connect that
desktop PC to the Internet, so it's not a biggie; but if I wanted to use a
new Air Card for that, the USB version would fit both PC's.
Bob Peterson
"Lopaka Nane"
47' Lien Hwa CPMY
San Francisco
-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Steve Schrimsher
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 4:49 AM
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: T&T: Verizon Aircard -- which one is best?
I have the old Verizon KPC 650 Aircard and am planning to upgrade to a Rev.
A capable card. There are 3 models on the Verizon website that will fit my
computer: 1) 5750 2) 595 3) USB 720 . Does anyone have any experience
as to which of these is the best one to upgrade to? I have an external
antenna for the 620. Will the same antenna work for the new card with the
proper adapter? As we are doing the Great Loop and are often in fringe
areas, the ability to pull in weaker signals is very important. The sales
people at Verizon are clueless.
Thanks,
Steve Schrimsher
MV Salty Turtle
Defever 44
Now in Michigan, doing the Great Loop
Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for info on the Verizon
Aircard, especially to Ken and Jeffrey. I have ordered the 5750 card since
it is a free upgrade versus the USB card that costs $100 and their
performance is the same. I have 2 laptops that use the PC cards. I figure
that by the time I replace them to where I would need the USB card, Verizon
will be out with a new, better card that I will upgrade to then. I
appreciate Jeffrey's input concerning using a tethered phone, but I have a
need to have a separate phone for other purposes while also on line, so I
decided not to go the Treo route.
Thanks,
Steve Schrimsher
S/V SALTY TURTLE
-----Original Message-----
From: ken@tischlercomputers.com [mailto:ken@tischlercomputers.com] On Behalf
Of Ken Tischler
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:09 AM
To: steves@schrimsher.com
Cc: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: T&T: Verizon Aircard -- which one is best?
All three devices will accept an external antenna. However, the connector on
all is different than your KPC650, so you will need either an adapter, or a
new external antenna.
I am using the AirCard 595, with Sierra's wireless connection manager, and
have had great success. I find Sierra's connection manager software to be
far superior to Verizon's software. More responsive, less disconnects, and
more control over the advanced functions of the card itself.
If you are thinking up upgrading to a new notebook in the not too distant
future, you may want to consider the USB720. Most new notebooks now come
with ExpressCard slots, so the 595 and 5750 would not fit, and you would
need to purchase a new card. By going with the USB720 it will work with
anything that has a USB port. There is no difference is connection speeds
between the USB, PC Card, and ExpressCard devices.
For all the info you could ever want on EVDO, go to this link...
www.evdoinfo.com
They also sell EVDO devices here, through their 3GStore link, and have some
of the best prices I have found. Great support, too.
Ken Tischler
Tischler Computer Services
In that case, you could have 2 phones, one for your needs and one as a
modem. I noticed that phones are generally cheaper than aircards, and much
easier to play with via a cable or bluetooth to get the best possible
signal. I often put my phone on top of the boat and stay inside with the
laptop. With an aircard, you're stuck where the computer is, and it's no fun
to be outside with a laptop by a sunny day.
Bryan
I
appreciate Jeffrey's input concerning using a tethered phone, but I have a
need to have a separate phone for other purposes while also on line, so I
decided not to go the Treo route.
Thanks,
Steve Schrimsher
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S/V SALTY TURTLE
-----Original Message-----
From: ken@tischlercomputers.com [mailto:ken@tischlercomputers.com] On Behalf
Of Ken Tischler
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:09 AM
To: steves@schrimsher.com
Cc: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: T&T: Verizon Aircard -- which one is best?
All three devices will accept an external antenna. However, the connector on
all is different than your KPC650, so you will need either an adapter, or a
new external antenna.
I am using the AirCard 595, with Sierra's wireless connection manager, and
have had great success. I find Sierra's connection manager software to be
far superior to Verizon's software. More responsive, less disconnects, and
more control over the advanced functions of the card itself.
If you are thinking up upgrading to a new notebook in the not too distant
future, you may want to consider the USB720. Most new notebooks now come
with ExpressCard slots, so the 595 and 5750 would not fit, and you would
need to purchase a new card. By going with the USB720 it will work with
anything that has a USB port. There is no difference is connection speeds
between the USB, PC Card, and ExpressCard devices.
For all the info you could ever want on EVDO, go to this link...
www.evdoinfo.com
They also sell EVDO devices here, through their 3GStore link, and have some
of the best prices I have found. Great support, too.
Ken Tischler
Tischler Computer Services
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