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Verizon Broadband EV-DO Comes to the Mac

First some background on wireless data and 3G networks courtesy of 80211b News:

Cell carriers are pretty far behind on 3G, but Verizon’s early deployment may give it an edge — I mean, a competitive advantage: While GSM operators struggle with GPRS (10 to 50 Kbps) and are rapidly trying to get EDGE fully deployed (100 Kbps), Sprint is staying the course with 1xRTT (50 to 70 Kbps), and T-Mobile and Nextel don’t seem to be in the running for anything more interesting.
Verizon Wireless’s early 3G deployment (1xEvDO, 300 to 500 Kbps) in San Diego and Washington, D.C., may pay off…(All speeds more or less real world, not the advertised ones.)

According to the Apple Airport Blog:

Apple posted a link to a 200K download that allows Mac users access to Verizon Wireless’s high-speed 1xEV-DO cellular data network available in just two cities (200Kbps to 1Mbps down) as well as the 1xRTT service available nationwide (about 50-70K down, slower up). The software supports the PC 5220 card under Mac OS X. Cell data is an increasingly popular way for mobile workers to remain connected. The Verizon service costs $80 per month for unlimited 1xEV-DO and $50 per month for unlimited 1xRTT. The EV-DO service will spread more widely by year’s end. Verizon Wireless will spend $1 billion over the next 12 months to expand the offering.

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First some background on wireless data and 3G networks courtesy of 80211b News:

Cell carriers are pretty far behind on 3G, but Verizon’s early deployment may give it an edge — I mean, a competitive advantage: While GSM operators struggle with GPRS (10 to 50 Kbps) and are rapidly trying to get EDGE fully deployed (100 Kbps), Sprint is staying the course with 1xRTT (50 to 70 Kbps), and T-Mobile and Nextel don’t seem to be in the running for anything more interesting.
Verizon Wireless’s early 3G deployment (1xEvDO, 300 to 500 Kbps) in San Diego and Washington, D.C., may pay off…(All speeds more or less real world, not the advertised ones.)

According to the Apple Airport Blog:

Apple posted a link to a 200K download that allows Mac users access to Verizon Wireless’s high-speed 1xEV-DO cellular data network available in just two cities (200Kbps to 1Mbps down) as well as the 1xRTT service available nationwide (about 50-70K down, slower up). The software supports the PC 5220 card under Mac OS X. Cell data is an increasingly popular way for mobile workers to remain connected. The Verizon service costs $80 per month for unlimited 1xEV-DO and $50 per month for unlimited 1xRTT. The EV-DO service will spread more widely by year’s end. Verizon Wireless will spend $1 billion over the next 12 months to expand the offering.

Brian Jepson writes:

It works pretty well, but it did lock my machine up once. John Bellardo’s open source driver hasn’t locked my machine up in quite a while–his latest release has been pretty stable.
I just did a clean install and installed the Apple driver, but I haven’t tested it yet. I’m wondering if there were some residual bits of John’s driver when I tested the Apple driver earlier.

Readers in Sand Diego or D.C. with Mac experience with Verizon EV-DO should post their results in the comments below.

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.