The first bites of 3G wireless are pretty tasty
 
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Remember how you felt when you graduated from dial-up to broadband for Internet access from home? The pure joy of cruising the Internet, watching streaming video and downloading e-mail at speeds that made it feel like you were using your office's T-1 line?
Now you can get a similar feeling in the world of wireless wide-area connectivity. Imagine going from the painfully slow world of 14.4K bit/sec connections to a world that approaches (and often surpasses) 56K bit/sec dial-up.
We got those feelings testing Verizon Wireless' 1XRTT network (Verizon calls it Express Network) with the Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 on a notebook PC (the card also works with Pocket PCs that accept PC cards).
Verizon Wireless says you can achieve average data rates of 40K to 60K bit/sec on the new Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 1XRTT network, with data burst rates of up to 144K bit/sec. We discovered this was the case - we felt like we were using our 56K bit/sec dial-up modem.
Verizon Wireless has also included client software from Fourelle Systems, which accelerates content from Verizon's mobile portal. Fourelle's Venturi accelerator boxes sit on the edge of Verizon's network to increase data rates to users. It worked pretty well, although we had some cases where we were getting cached Web pages instead of live content, and we had to clear the cache from our Web browser to get the new content.
With the Venturi accelerator client running, we achieved data rate throughputs that almost reached broadband levels. During one test (at 9 p.m. EST, so traffic was light), we achieved averages of about 400K bit/sec with the accelerator active (see graphic, below).
Verizon Wireless launched Express Network at the end of January, and it operates in the Silicon Valley area and parts of the Northeast. Our tests took place outside of Worcester, Mass., within range of the 1X network.
If you are not within 1X range, you can dial out on the CDMA IS-95 network, which is designed to give data rates of 14.4K bit/sec. However, with the Venturi accelerator software running on that network, we achieved averages of about 142K bit/sec, which is still better than the old way of doing things. Turning off the accelerator and running on the CDMA network reminded us of how slow it is for data - our average was 9.8K bit/sec.
The card doubles as a cell phone, as you can insert a headset jack (compatible with 2.5mm jacks) into the PC card and make voice calls. A downside - the dialing software's phone book feature was not included in the current version. We hope they also allow integration with other personal information manager software, Outlook or Notes to access phone numbers more easily.
Verizon has delivered when it comes to data speeds, but the speeds will cost you. The card costs $300 and an additional $30 per month on most of Verizon's calling plans for Express Network usage. The minutes are deducted from your phone's plan, so having enough minutes is important.
The software lets you specify how long to remain inactive before the modem disconnects, saving some minutes. Verizon says it will also likely have per-byte billing (as opposed to charging by minutes) for companies that need longer connectivity periods but only transfer small amounts of data traffic.
But if you've been waiting for faster network speeds and complete mobility, this is a giant leap toward the world of 3G.
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