Sprint/Linksys WRT54G3GV2-ST EVDO Router
Linksys has released a new revision of their Sprint EVDO router that does improve upon the first version. Full review of the WRT54G3GV2-ST is available online.
In addition to supporting every Sprint PCMCIA card that has ever been released, with the use of a PCMCIA to ExpressCard adapter, the 3GV2 router also supports the EX720 and 597E Expresscards and it now has USB ports to support devices like the U720, U727, AirCard 595U and Compass 597.
However... aside from an ability to display great details about your EVDO connection via admin, the support for additional devices is about all thats good with this new 3GV2 router. It still uses WiFi G instead of WiFi N and still only has four 10/100 ethernet ports, and still comes from a pair of companies who are slow to release bugfixes or firmware updates.
I can ONLY recommend the new Linksys 3GV2 to those folks with OLDER Sprint PCMCIA cards like the S620/PC5740 who are not ready to upgrade to newer devices and take advantage of superior cradlepoint routers.
Just stinkin out loud.
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
I'm still not sold on this service, I still need to see it in motion as I've stated earlier, and in some remote locations where my old service has suffered.
if you mentioned it earlier, i must have missed it.
is there some sort of trial period? can you cancel and get money back?
termination fees?
RE: EVDO air card
I left Verizon at the end of my contract because of their TOS limitation on streaming video. Technically (as I remember it) just watching a 1 minute YouTube video would be a no-no with Verizon.
sally, for the record, you would have been in violation of verizon's terms of service, at that time... but that restriction is no longer in place.
verizon no longer cares what people do with their service. all contracts established after march 2008, are free to use any internet service they want, as much as they want.
there are no limits on data usage. it is unlimited.
there are however, overage charges that come into play beyond the first 5GB of data use per billing month.
in essence, verizon users can eat all they want, because they will be paying for it.
i make this clarification because you are giving people impression that verizon has restrictions that no longer exist.
RE: Sprint EVDO internet capping at 5 Gig/Mo
Its certainly not a rumor: click here to view current terms of service
in which, the relevant part says: Data Usage Limitation (Mobile Broadband Cards, USB Modems, Imbedded Modems and Phone-As-Modem): The amount of data transmitted over our network is measured in kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred; and to deny, terminate, modify, disconnect or suspend service if usage either exceeds (a.) 5GB/month in total or (b.) 300MB/month while off-network roaming. 1024 KB equal 1 MB. 1024 MB equal 1 GB.
it doesn't surprise me that there are folks who did not know this was put into place. its clear from HUNDREDS of reports on EVDOforums that sprint is/was trying to get away with something. They have only been "educating" the heaviest of users in an attempt to regain network performance.
There is not now, and is not likely to EVER be, any Sprint website that explains in full detail what the EXACT consequences are of exceeding 5GB in a month.
Ask 100 Sprint employees (including those at Director levels) and you will get 200 answers, none of which make any sense, or can be proven in writing on any Sprint website.
By the way, while Sally is having fun bashing Sprint, I should point out that they are not uniquely stupid. Verizon started it, AT&T followed next, and Sprint is merely the next to suffer from corporate lobotomization. Once Alltel is fully consumed by Verizon... the major players will have all established what could easily be called price/service fixing. (I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV)
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
...still haven't heard if you actually RV travel anywhere or even go mobile at all to substantiate these great speeds you post while actually traveling down the highway.
missed this question earlier, and wanted to answer it.
though i do spend way more time than most people behind a computer, i do get out and about the DFW metroplex on occasion and whenever i do, i take various EVDO devices, antennas, amps, repeaters and routers with me for testing purposes... simply because it is what i do. the testing often ends up being written about in various blogposts and website articles.
http://evdomaps.com/evdoalex <- that link will bring back all of my speedtest results. it doesn't look like much at first because the default google map view is very broad. zoom in on dallas and you'll see that it does cover a bit of ground, though its nothing compared to what even the most green of RVers would cover in a day's travel.
Many of those speedtests are at highway speeds of 60mph+
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
EVDO is "3G", and even a Rev-0 device will "connect", it just cannot achieve maximum Rev-A speeds because it is limited by its hardware.
That blogpost I linked to, broke down the network types and speed ranges. You've asked me the question enough times/enough ways that I've decided to quote part of the article into this forum thread:
Sprint, Verizon and Alltel are the major carriers who use CDMA technology for their cellular data service. Two types of CDMA networks are currently in use by these carriers: the “slow stuff” is called 1xRTT and is also known as NationalAccess. 1xRTT means “1 times Radio Transmission Technology” and you can learn a lot of technical detail about it at this WikiPedia entry. 1xRTT connectivity from the major US carriers is limited to a peak of 144 kbps (kilobits per second). By comparison, a dial-up connection on old phone lines in a rural area will typically provide 20-30 kbps, so 1xRTT is at best 5-6 times faster than dial-up. Weaker signal from a tower as well as network load on that tower, can both result in slower speeds. Most people will get about 50-140 kbps as they travel in 1xRTT coverage areas.
The “faster stuff” is known as EVDO which means “EVolution-Data Optimized” and you can read a lot more about the technology itself at this Wikipedia entry. EVDO coverage currently consists of two ‘revisions’ — Rev-0 and Rev-A. The main difference as far as we’re concerned is maximum speeds. Rev-0 download speeds have a theoretical maximum of 2457 kbps and upload speed is capped at 155 kbps. Rev-A downloads have a theoretical maximum of 3174 kbps and upload speed is a theoretical maximum of 1843 kbps.
While the theoretical numbers sound impressive, the reality is that most people experience 400-800 kbps down and 50-140 kbps up on a Rev-0 network, and 600-1400 kbps down and 200 - 800 up on the faster Rev-A networks. Again, keep in mind that signal to the tower, and load at the tower will affect realized speeds. That said, a good EVDO Rev-A connection feels as good as a home DSL connection to most users.
The fast EVDO coverage is generally found in the more populated areas and expanding to more rural areas each week. 1xRTT is prevalent the further away from cities that you get, and should be available across 95% or more of US major highways.
AT&T and T-Mobile are the major carriers using GSM technology and they also two types of cellular service: EDGE and HSDPA. EDGE stands for “Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution” and you can read a lot more about the technology itself at this Wikipedia entry. EDGE is also the ’slower stuff’ and has a a theoretical maximum of 237 kbps download and upload speed, but most people find that the speeds are a lot like 1xRTT at 50-140 kbps.
The “faster stuff” for GSM networks is known as HSDPA which means “High-Speed Downlink Packet Access” and you can read a lot more about the technology itself at this Wikipedia entry. HSDPA downloads have a theoretical maximum of 7372 kbps and upload speed is a theoretical maximum of 2048 kbps. While the theoretical numbers are higher than EVDO Rev-A theoretical, the reality is that HSDPA speeds are very similar to EVDO Rev-A speeds: 600 to 1400 kbps downloads and 500 to800 kbps uploads, assuming good signal to a tower.
At this time, only AT&T offers HSDPA service, and only in limited markets. While its impossible to say for sure (because AT&T isn’t publishing statistics in their press releases) HSDPA is only in about 20-30% as many places as high speed EVDO is, and HSDPA is expanding coverage area at a snail’s pace compared to EVDO.
Lastly -- Yes, I see Autonet's use of Verizon as a good sign because they have the largest deployment of true, high speed 3G /EVDO network (at least, at this time).
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
For me to go quoting rates, automatically makes me sound like i'm trying to sell you service. the rates that verizon and sprint charge for service are fairly well known and i don't believe i need to repeat them in every post.
for those still curious about rates, they are mentioned in general, in the blogpost i linked to earlier.
whether or not *i* think WPA is an important feature is not relevant. i don't tell people what security they should look for in a router. in fact, if you ask anyone who has dealt with me, my customers tell me what they have as expectations and i make recommendations based on those expectations.
i can understand your prejudice towards "salespeople" like me, and also understand that you think you know my motivation. i won't deny that i work for 3gstore and that my presence on forums does have expectations.
but you show me what other employee of a vendor like my employer has staff who are committing their personal, non-paid time on the myriad of RV forums that i participate in, with no hard sell at all. i answer questions and make observations.
i'm sorry if the observations i've made about your choice to buy an autonet router have offended you in any way. i am happy there are options at lower monthly rates, albeit with apparently tighter usage restrictions. there are certainly going to be customers for which the autonet solution may be a good fit.
but knowing what i know about the problems my support coworkers have to address, its my opinion that the autonet solution will be more problematic because of the hardware choices that have been made. these problems will cause issues immediately, and then different problems down the road.
clearly, i've taken this thread in a different direction than was intended by original post, and i am surprised i've done that here and now, because its not something i set out to do, and it isn't something i do often.
my apologies to you, and to the forum.
i'll go back to answering direct questions.
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
now that i've seen your speedtest report, its clear that the module uses verizon's network, and not sprint. to the majority of RV users, that will come as a good sign... but those speeds are still abysmal.
For instance, here are very recent verizon speedtest results using my USB727 and Cradlepoint MBR1000 EVDO router (complete with WPA2 and WiFi N):
http://www.speedtest.net/result/313329336.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/312611673.png
twice as fast as EDGE? try ten times faster. EDGE is never more than 200kbps and if you get that on EDGE, you should be dancing your happy dance.
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
Alex, are you're claiming the HARDWARE gives you these results, not the provider and your location?
it appears you need to better research carrier offerings.
rather than repeat the info here, i suggest you read this blogpost on RV.net:
http://blog.rv.net/2008/02/06/internet-access-driving-down-the-road/
Sprint's coverage was EVDO Rev-A and the Compass 597 is a Rev-A capable device that can take advantage of full Rev-A speeds.
If I'm right, (and thus far, I have seen nothing to contradict me) you could drive your RV with Autonet to EXACTLY the same spot I tested from, and the Rev-0 module/modem in your Autonet router would NEVER achieve same speeds, simply because it is incapable of doing so. Rev-0 data devices have not been sold by Sprint or Verizon for nearly TWO years now, so it is disappointing to see that Autonet may have decided to go with cheaper and slower modules/modems in their router.
While I feel thats the biggest dealbreaker, you've brought to light other issues like minimal security options, that are likely to be dealbreakers for many others.
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
Alex, you keep citing rev-0, but what are the newer revisions really giving you?
using a compass 597 usb REV-A modem in a cradlepoint CTR500, as recently as this past weekend:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/313177060.png
For more results, check out:
http://evdomaps.com/Fastest+Downloads
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
BTW, this unit is also a wi-fi set-up for multi computer use.
a comparable usb evdo modem and cellular router is all that would be needed to do the same thing, and would cost far less than the upfront charge for an autonet router.
RE: Autonet Mobile - Initial Experiences Posted
One important issue is that it uses an "embedded" module to receive cellular signals and an early test unit showed speed test results that clearly indicated the embedded module was only a Sprint "Rev-0" device, incapable of uploads faster than 120kbps, even when operated in Rev-A coverage area.
Another problem with embedded device is that as newer technologies are available, you can't simply swap out the modem/module and continue to use the same autonet router. All attempts to have autonet explain any upgrade path have resulted in comments like "you'll never need to upgrade it, its the fastest that is available"... yeah, right. so Rev-A, Rev-B, LTE and WiMax are all inferior? sounds like BS to me.
So, buyer beware. If you get the autonet router you may not get latest radio technology and you may not be able to upgrade that radio with any newer/faster technology in the future.
-- alex
Cradlepoint CTR500/MBR1000 now with "load balancing"
Cradlepoint Technologies has released new firmware for their CTR500 and MBR1000 routers that provide their first version of load balancing.
The new feature would allow a user to obtain faster speeds and more reliable connectivity by operating the router with multiple active cellular modems.
For instance, the MBR1000 can operate with:one verizon usb modem (like USB727, USB720, UM150, etc)one sprint usb modem (like 597u, u727 or u680)one alltel expresscard kpc680and the router will make available to connected users, the total bandwidth of all three active connections.
the CTR500 has one usb port and one expresscard slot, so it can only provide double the througput if operated with two active devices.
it is important to note that multiple devices from the SAME carrier is LESS likely to provide significant improvement since the devices are likely to be connected to same cell tower.
its also important to note that "load balancing" is not the same as "load aggregation" or "link aggregation".
in other words, you do not end up with one very fast/wide connection. downloading a single large file is no faster with a router load balancing 2 or 3 devices, than it would be if the router only had one active device.
easiest analogy i can come up with is to imagine hauling a double-wide mobile home down the road and wishing that the toll booth were wide enough to allow passage. its not going to happen with one lane, two lanes, or three lanes thru the toll booth, you need one wiiiiide lane.
however, load balancing does provide benefit to those who have many connections because as everyone knows, total traffic through a tollboth is always faster with two or three lanes open, rather than just one.
i hope that made as much sense to y'all as it did to me!
i'm notorious for not always making sense.
RE: Broadband Speeds and Suggested Solutions
EVDOalex thank for the link. Great info.
...I have to have the 500k for minimum latency.
your welcome.
just fyi, in my opinion, there is no correlation between throughput and latency.
ability to download more or less data per second does not ensure any "minimum" latency.
data throughput on any cellular network will vary from tower to tower, and from hour to hour on any/all towers. the pipe/bandwidth to each tower is shared by all who are connected to it.
latency is inconsistent and not under your control. the majority of the latency on any cellular data network is not between you and tower, but on network behind tower.
as it pertains to latency, it rarely matters what your signal to cell tower is. anyone interested in finding out the best latency they can get, should just drive to their nearest cell tower and compare latency against where you want to use the service.
RE: Broadband Speeds and Suggested Solutions
hey Lucky,
here's a site with THOUSANDS of speed test results for you to peruse:
http://evdomaps.com
takes a while for that front page to load, as its putting markers on a google "mashup". just relax, and wait for it to load.
RE: internet air card boosters
Remember that height is your friend when installing the antenna :)also remember that cell towers point their signal towards the ground because they are looking for people using cell phones.
height beyond that of the cell tower, is counter productive. watch your elevation.
RE: High Speed internet Connection(Sprint)
Besides the signal bars, there is a more detailed way to see how strong your signal is. RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) numbers provide a better idea of what your signal strength is. The closer the number is to zero, the better your signal strength is. Example: -65 dBm is a much better signal than -95 dBm.
Keep in mind that to get a good RSSI reading, your device should actually be moving data when the reading is taken. You might want to be doing a speedtest at http://speedtest.net and then record those speeds with the corresponding RSSI value, for your comparisons.
FYI, a good target RSSI is -80 dBm indoors. At that point, it is highly likely you are getting the full speeds that the tower you are connected to, will provide.
Most carrier's "Connection Manager" software will display RSSI by simply placing your mouse cursor over the signal bars in the connection manager software as shown in these linked photos.
http://www.evdoinfo.com/images/stories/vzvista.jpg
http://www.evdoinfo.com/images/stories/scmxp.jpg
http://www.evdoinfo.com/images/stories/Sprint_SmartView_001.jpg
http://www.evdoinfo.com/images/stories/Alltel_QLM_RSSI.gif
http://www.evdoinfo.com/images/stories/att_win_rssi.gif
Post answers to the following specific questions, and those in the business can help suggest the right gear for your situation:
what was the best signal you could find indoors, at location you want to use EVDO?at that location of best signal indoors, what were your speedtest.net results?what is best signal immediately outside and around your house?where you found best signal outdoors, what were your speedtest.net results?how far do you have to drive to find -80 signal?when you found -80 signal, what were your speedtest.net results?what's between you and that -80 signal? trees? elevation?assuming you need to mount an antenna outside your home/office, how much antenna cable will you need to attach to your evdo device? remember, the shorter the better. longer lengths may require the use of a dual-band, direct-connect, 3watt amp.
RE: Broadband Wireless Question?
I wanted to know if I need a wireless modem and a air card, to get Broadband access?. Could someone tell me everything I need to get Broadband Wireless. Thank you for all who respond.
here's a good starting point:
http://blog.rv.net/2008/02/06/internet-access-driving-down-the-road/
written by a consultant who works for 3gstore (me)
