Are the mobile "broadband" cards any good?

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Comparing the mobile Broadband cards to DSL/Cable or Dial-up

Many authors prefer to be mobile on their laptops and have expressed an interest in the mobile broadband cards being offered by Verizon and Sprint. Here are the observations of one author about his own experiences.

How does mobile broadband compare with other access services?

I am using Verizon and have been very satisfied. It doesn't give you true broadband speed (so "broadband card" is really a misnomer), but it is pretty fast, certainly compared to dial-up. On download, it is 20 times faster than dial-up. On upload, it is 10 times faster than dial-up. But compared to "real" direct connect broadband, the card has 1/5 the speed of "real broadband" upload and 1/2 the speed of "real broadband" download.

There are several ways to test your actual broadband results by attempting to access servers around the world. I recommend that you go to http://speedtest.net and check your own results. Here is another tester location which some people prefer: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ .

Check using the server in Dallas, TX or Plano, Tx., because this is a matter of distance and you want to check your results from approximately where our server is located. You can check doing access to other cities as well.

My results, you can see here ( tested here from where I am to a server in New York):



Notice the data says:

Upload speed: 870 kb/sec (but my average is about 900 kb/sec)
Download speed: 462 kb/sec

Compared to Broadband DSL or Cable, there is no real comparison. Compared to Dial-up, the card is amazing. Here is how to look at it:

First, lets do definitions.

"Download" is how fast things come into your computer. This how fast you can see a webpage, such as this Answers page (or like viewing your book online or accessing your WriteandShow authoring panel), or how fast you can view a video or how quickly you can download a file (like an mp3).

"Upload" is how fast you can transfer things (send) up to a remote server, like sending (uploading) a file to the WriteandShow file manager or an image to Photobucket, or uploading (sending) a video to Youtube. Every time you click "Save" in your WriteandShow author's panel, those changes or additions are done at your "upload" speed.

Download average for North American broadband services is about 4500 kb/sec
Upload average for North American broadband services is about: 900 kb/sec

Speed for dial-up about 45 kb/sec (I don't have data distinctions between upload and download).

Conclusion: The "broadband card" shows

Compared to "Real broadband:"

- download, card is about 1/5 (20 percent) as fast as real broadband.
- upload, card about 1/2 (50) percent as fast as real broadband.

Compared to "dial-up:"
- download, card is about 20 times faster.
- upload, card is about 10 times faster.

Is that satisfactory?

For me, yes it is. Even if it is slower (considerably) on download from real broadband, it is still very adequate for me. And it is comparable enough on upload that I am very happy. Most important is that it is about twenty times faster than the fastest dial up on upload and ten times faster on download, which will average about 50 kb/sec. There is nothing better than being mobile and the cards will let you have access from virtually all over the United States (except some rural areas) and Verizon works now in many cities in Canada. Sure, you can use wi-fi hookups in some locations (like coffee shops and hotels and schools), but with the card you can work in the park or at any restaurant or anyone else's home. The broadband card gives you amazing freedom and it is being used every day with WriteandShow with wonderful results.