Jepstone.net

I think the experiments are over. I’ve been reading in alt.cellular.verizon that the EN-MOU honeymoon is
over. I’ve got three data plans that I use to experiment with
cellular data:

• $20/month on my stepson’s phone for 8MB of EDGE data
• $40/month (+$10 for no contract) for 20MB of PCS Vision data
• $20/month for unlimited data on T-Mobile
• $0/month on my wife’s Verizon phone (I’ve been using EN-MOU for
  throughput/coverage testing)

$90 a month, hmmm…. I could get unlimited data on Verizon’s
1xRTT/1xEV-DO network or AT&T Wireless/Cingular’s EDGE network for that,
and still keep unlimited T-Zones on my T-Mobile phone. Sounds like a
no-brainer, but which to choose? T-Mobile is stuck at 40kbps, and
Sprint no longer offers their unlimited data plan ($100 a month gets you
300MB, though).

Presumably in anticipation of a larger 1xEV-DO rollout, Verizon is
offering the 1xRTT/1xEV-DO-capable AirPrime
5220 even in Rhode Island, which is as far as I know, still on
1xRTT. And it appears that you can get it working on
Mac OS X or Linux with
little effort. That looks like the best choice for me–excellent
coverage, and higher speeds in the near future. Now to move on from the
waffling stage (which will probably last another month or so unless I’m
hit with an impulsive moment or two…)

Update: Now I’m giving some thought toward AT&T Wireless’ EDGE
service. Pros:

• I’ll have a SIM I can swap into GPRS devices
• The GC82 card is free with a 2-year contract

Cons:

• The GC82 probably won’t work on my Mac, at least not without a
  hard-to-obtain
  firmware upgrade and third-party software

• I’ll be stuck at a maximum 130Kbps while 1xEV-DO users are cruising
  at 500Kbps.

Update: here’s
a note about patching pppd to get the GC82 working under Linux. It
would probably work for Mac OS X as well.