Thread: What is the fastest wireless data service?

Cingular has a very large EDGE overlay.

Cingular EDGE/GPRS map (12/2004):
http://www.cingular.com/download/GPR...rage_01_06.pdf

T-Mobile offers GPRS only, across its entire network.


I'm looking for Verizon, Sprint maps as we speak, but the above map is way better than the ZD one I originally posted because of its detail.

Threadjack: I am a bad speller myself, but to know the word ubiquitous but not spell it correctly seemed really wierd to me. What's up with that?
As for cingular EDGE, it is pretty widespread.. all of Florida at least!

sorry. I didn't know how to spell it, so I asked my friend mike....stupid mike

If you want high speed everywhere get mobile satellite.

Yeah lets do a cost comparison scenario.

LetsTalk.com has a Motorola V551 (EDGE and Bluetooth, and USB port, and camera) on a 1 year contract for $79 and free shipping, then a $30 mail in rebate.

MediaNet Unlimited is $24.99 month, or if you want to tether the PC legit, a unlimited Data Connect plan is $79.99 (I think you qualify for a whopping $5 discount on the data connect with voice plan 39 or higher).

Compare that with say, Mobile DataStorm which is a mere $5295 INSTALLED. And thats not even considering the cost of service, and the ugliness of the 18" wide dish on your roof.

Originally Posted by Jammer

If you want high speed everywhere get mobile satellite.

Let me clarify what I was asking.

I don't have the room nor the money for a satellite internet system. What I meant is amoung the cellular/pcs companies (Nextel, Sprint, Verizion, T-mobile, Cingular) which one offers the best high speed data option over most or all of their network.

I live in connecticut and I drive on many long trips that take me out of urban areas, where the newer high speed stuff is usually rolled out first. So, for example, Verizion's high speed option is of no use to me, becasue it's only around big cities and airports.

thanks
steve

cingular has edge in san francisco and 3g soon, but we're lucky!

tmobile doesn't have edge yet, but they have a sweet 20 dollar unlimited gprs plan

You guys havn't said anything about speed though. Are you getting Broadband out of cingular? I think in northern California, you can get Telus 1X which I believe is ~56.6K, and all of there phones of capable of it, with a $100 cable. Anyway I imagine the more mainstream companies are faster, perhaps isdn speed?

EDIT: My bad Telus is only available to the Frozen white wastelands of the North (Canada), although you can access their 1X wireless internet on Veriozon's network. Also the speed is about and I'm quoting now "40 to 60 kb/s"

Yeah we didnt say "broadband" because its not blazing fast. Even with the advancing technologies, EDGE is probably the most widespread of the bunch and is relatively fast if you use a Sony Ericcson GC83 with Data Connect plan because its taking full advantage of the maximum number of data slots, and supports data compression.

Also, the EDGE footprint is about the same size as 1xRTT, but is faster. If you count that GPRS is almost the same speed as 1xRTT, then the coverage for GPRS/EDGE is larger than 1xRTT.

Both the coverage for UMTS and EVDO are relatively small and centered around major cities.

GSM

• GPRS [2G] (115 kbps)
• EDGE [2.5G] (384 kbps)
• UMTS [3G] (2 mbps)
• HSDPA [3G+] (10 mbps Normal, 20 mbps MIMO) (In Development)

CDMA

• cdmaOne [2G] (64 kbps)
• CDMA2000 1xRTT [2.5G] (153 kbps)
• CDMA2000 1xEVDO/EVDV [3G] (3 mbps)
• CDMA2000 3x [3G+] (? mbps) (In Development)

Name / Generation / Peak Speed (Somewhat Theoretical Limits)