D.I.Y.

MOBILE

USING A HIGH-SPEED

WIRELESS CARD

Would you sacrifice a few meals each month for wireless networking away from home? By Brian Jepson

Photography by Brian Jepson

Back when I was still tethering my computers to a router, I pulled out a really long 10Base T cable whenever I wanted to use my laptop in the living room. Around the same time that I started sniffing around catalogs for Wi-Fi equipment, I discovered that Verizon Wireless was offering CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data). It was cheap — $40 a month for unlimited data; but it was slow — 19.2Kbps (kilobits per second).

It wasn’t long before I gave in and spent the money on a home Wi-Fi network. But I kept the CDPD because it offered internet access any-

where I could get a cellular signal. It’s been years since Verizon Wireless offered CDPD, and I’ve graduated to faster experiences: first GPRS, then EDGE, and now something called 1xRTT/1xEV-DO (all described below).

Cellular Data
Services
Here’s a rundown of
all the data services
I’ve tested and who
offers them. I’ve used

For EV-DO, I use Verizon Wireless Broadband with the Audiovox PC5220 PC Card.

Make: 127