Slashdot Mirror

Verizon Wireless offers unlimited BroadbandAccess for $60/month if you also have a voice plan. Without a voice plan, it's $80/month.

BroadbandAccess is their name for EV-DO, i.e. average speeds of 400-700 kbps, up to 2.4 Mbps. Unfortunately, EV-DO is only available in major cities; everywhere else, you have to fall back to 1xRTT at 60-100 kbps (up to 144 kbps).

maybe not when he opened the account, but they do now, unless you have a monthly service add-on for unlimited texts, which I didn't immediately see a link for but I'm sure they offer.

Remember the national providers are NOT your only option. Theres always the little guy. Growing up in the midwest 2 of the 3 high speed options were the little guys: 1 sold high-speed DSL (obviously not interested in your case) the other sold wireless for ~$5 a month more than dialup. I could regularly get 250k/sec. Not bad for living in the middle of nowhere.

Verizon also offers wireless broadband

Do a little digging. 5 minutes of research on google popped up at least 5 ISP's that offered high-speed options you might be interested in. (and whats so bad about comcast? I picked them out of the bunch!)

Base level phones are pretty good (no idea if that link will work). Just get one of those, let the "dumb" consumers throw away their money on whatever they want, and find some other unfair market to complain about. Maybe in 3 years some Southwest Airlines of the cell industry can come in and kick ass... but where they'll get billions to build their own network, I'll leave for the reader to figure out.

Verizon Wireless does this: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/support/worryFr ee.jsp

No, it doesn't look like they have learned from it...see here.

I did have the V710, and I got my letter in the mail yesterday about it. However, I also canceled early - and paid the early termination fee. I don't know if I get anything back.

You can get your early termination fee back. Please see the settlement claim form under section C:

If you are not currently a Verizon Wireless customer, please indicate whether you paid an early termination fee to cancel your Verizon Wireless cellular service.

I suggest that you send that in as soon as you can. VZW will likely drag their feet on your refund for as long as possible.

Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.

Look at the nationwide map. It looks like most, if not all, of PA is covered with Verizon wireless high speed intnernet ($59/month+regular cell - unlimited - 400Kbps-800Kbps with 2Mbps bursting).

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/mappage.jsp?city=Pittsburgh&state=PA&i_na me=pa_pitts

It may not be WiMax, but it gets the job done.

Also, if you can find someone within line of sight who has DSL or Cable modem, you can roll your own point to point wireless network pretty easilly, even with plain old 802.11a/b/g.

uh?
yes, TO MOBILE HANDSET.
As in to the built in browser/email app/whatever.
NOT to be passed on "to PC/handheld".

Verizon wireless for $89/month:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp
(whoa, its $60 now, i guess I havent checked lately)

KDDI PacketWIN data service prices:
http://au.kddi.com/data/packetwin/ryokin/packetwin .html
Thats 0.1yen/packet (128bytes).
20megs = ~$160 in packet charges.

LOL @ JAPAN.

I won't be happy until I can hack it to boot Linux on my onboard computer and use http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/promotion/contr oller?promotionType=miniPac&action=miniStartone of these to control my coffee pot and start the microwave to reheat dinner while i'm driving home from work.

It seems like Verizon, Sprint or someone could make a boatload of money from opportunities like this. They could have a few mobile cell towers that run from generators. When a tornado, hurricane, wind storms, or whatever hit, they truck those towers in as temporary replacements.

You mean like COLTs (Cell on Light Trucks)? This seems like prior art to me:

Rapid Disaster Response - COLTs
Verizon Wireless "Cell on Light Trucks" (COLTs) can process thousands of calls every hour in the event cell sites or other key communications equipment are damaged or disabled by a community disaster. The 25,000 pound vehicle features two retractable masts, a microwave antenna to link network components, an emergency power generator and a small office. The COLT is also fully equipped with resources needed during emergencies including equipment, fuel, electrical generators, food, water and cots.

Lots of carriers charge to receive SMS.

Verizon charges a dime a message:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/t xt.jsp?action=textMessaging

Cingular charges a nickel, I believe. Their site's "under maintenance" right now, so no link.

It's probably more common to charge to receive SMS than not to.

Why sweat over WiFi when you can get wireless access anywhere in North America for $80/month?

So if you just want fact, rather than opinion... why the hell wouldn't you just check out Verizon's website on your own?

Rather than look it up for you, here's some help. Their site is http://www.verizonwireless.com/ and the streaming video is part of VCast.

Feel free to peruse the rest of the internet while you're at it.

That's not obvious. With all the miles of dark fiber in this country and "all you can eat" cell phone plans, you would hope that per byte charges would be a thing of the past. Indeed, only one of Verizon's plans are pay as you go, and Verizon sucks life. So, with a flat fee, what's the point of not letting other people use your bandwith? So you can have your $1,000 goodies to yourself? Those goodies are only valuable when they are attached to a network and the network is only valuable because other people are there.

As more devices we carry around become wifi equipped imagine if your iPod, phone, psp and camera are all enabled & communicating with each other, having them all on a common network and working to each of their strengths

I don't own any devices that don't talk to my laptop so wifi won't offer me anything new. USB and pcmcia card readers work just fine and take much less power than wifi. Still, the are all relatively useless without network access. What's the point of pictures that I can't share with my family? Even the largest music collections go stale. My laptop runs free software because that's the easiest way for me to share things with myself and my friends.

What happens when Verizon says "No More" and cuts you off? According to Verizon's TOS: Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess: NationalAccess and BroadbandAccess data sessions may be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email and individual productivity applications such as customer relationship management, sales force and field service automation). Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess is for individual use only and not for resale. Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, without limitation, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine application; or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. NationalAccess and BroadbandAccess data sessions automatically terminate after two hours of inactivity unless used with a Mobile IP-capable device. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone who uses NationalAccess or BroadbandAccess in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. We also reserve the right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement term. BroadbandAccess kilobyte usage may not appear on your bill http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controlle r?item=planFirst&action=viewPlanDetail&sortOption= priceSort&catId=409&rp

He doesn't warn you about this becuase such a stipulation does not exist in the Verizon "TOS".

that would seem like something that should have been mentioned...

I invite you to show me which lines of Verizon's customer agreement someone would have to be concerned about?

He didn't.

Also, FCC regulations may prohibit him from modifying it

Doubt it.

the phone has to be certified not to transmit at unacceptable power levels or on the wrong frequencies, and those functions are controlled by software

They're controlled by software on WiFi devices too. It's not like the device gets recertified every time Linksys releases a new firmware on their routers; (they could very easily modify their firmware to violate FCC regulations). The software for many, many devices is updated all the time. Modifications to that software could violate FCC rules, but that doesn't mean that those devices and software get recertified every single time.

Even a minor firmware change like this may require recertification, AFAIK.

Well... you don't.

Direct quote:
Your wireless phone is any device you use to receive our wireless voice or data service. It must comply with Federal Communications Commission regulations and be compatible with our network and your calling plan.

And if the contract states that you won't use Verizon's services with any phone running non-Verizon-authorized firmware, what then?

I don't know, maybe the Verizon firmware police will confiscate your phone after using their firmware-detecting machine? The customer agreement linked above has no mention of Verizon-authorized firmware. It says it only must be compatible with Verizon's network and your calling plan.

Unless they had intended to charge you for custom ringtones or something silly like that...

When you purchase a phone, it becomes your private property... they *sell* it to you, at a reduced price, and you also sign a contract tying you to the SERVICE. The phone however, is not theirs. You're allowed to modify the software on it all you want. So if these nonexistant contract stipulations existed, it's still not their phone.

I'm sympathetic that the stuff that they do charge for is often bullshit. But that doesn't mean that you should have the "right" to circumvent what you've contractually obligated yourself to follow.

There is no contractual obligations here and no circumventing of them.

It's one thing if they really did sell you the device outright, and sold you service on their networks with no stipulations about what you could do to the software running on your phone.

They did sell the device outright! The device is yours; the contract you sign for 1-2 years is in exchange for a reduced price on the phone. They allow you to do whatever you want. They *sold* you the phone. It's *yours*. The contract only locks you to their service. If you cancel the contract after the first 15 days, you keep the phone and pay the early termination fee (before 15 days, you return it and pay no fee.)

But if you don't like the terms of the contract, you don't have to accept them. If enough people felt like you, and actually did something about it and refused to do business with companies that offered shitty ToS, and told them so, there'd be a market for products that did not come with shitty ToS strings attached. I don't see anything in Verizon's ToS that's nonstandard or not to be expected from any large corporation. The problem is not with Verizon's ToS, but with the phones they sell.

It is extremely difficult/impossible to enter the nationwide wireless market without reselling, so there's not going to be some new nerd-friendly service launching.

Also, there are other choices that don't limit their phones down so much. Cingular and T-Mobile sell GSM phones without any limits on what you can do (besides the subsidy lock); if you don't like their phones, you can use any other compatible GSM device. Sprint's phones aren't nearly as limited...

Look at Speakeasy as an example of an ISP who respects what geeky customers want, or Google as a web services company that by and large does things right -- this isn't just some idealistic pipedream, it is a reality and can be for more products if we stand up and make ourselves heard, instead of being whores for the lowest-priced goods and services available, without regard to the other intangible costs.

Speakeasy fills a niche market. Otherwise, SBC and Verizon have a much larger DSL marketshare. I still don't understand what the huge attraction to Google is all about: good search engine, otherwise I don't care. If you want to stand up and make yourself heard while making up things about large corporations, you'll only make yourself look stupid. There have been and still are mobile companies that don't do this to customers. Verizon has never been the only choice.

... have to pay $60/month minimum for two-phone wireless service and 2c a minute to termine the call at a real phone.

You've met "free-as-in-speech" and "free-as-in-beer" -- now meet "free-as-in-really-expensive"! Yayyyy capitalism!!

I've got verizon's wireless broadband : http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp

Its coast2coast. T-mobile & sprint also offer wirelesss coverage (albeit slower).

My guess is that the U.S. wasn't the first either.

get rid of the cell phone entirely.

if you live in a major cell market, go to verizon wireless business (http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/ broadband/index.jsp) i've purchased the audiovox pc 5220 pcmcia card, which is compatible with the powerbook . i'm planning on using voice over ip and saying goodbye to phones that never quite have the exact functionality that i want anyway . EVDO 3g speeds are blazing fast, especially near the interstate here . for $79.99/month, you have wireless broadband "nationwide" (which remains to be seen) and you can use it as a phone as well.

Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, without limitation, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine application; or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. NationalAccess and BroadbandAccess data sessions automatically terminate after two hours of inactivity unless used with a Mobile IP-capable device. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny or terminate service, without notice, ...

I have used all of the services and have written it up. Of course you need to find out which of the services actually works where you plan to use it.

Within the US, if you happen to be in one of Verizon's 32 or so "broadband access" service areas, then Verizon's $80 per month service is the way to go. 300-500k typical download speeds, bursting to 2M bits per second. Upload speeds 100-200k. This service is technically called "EVDO" and Verizon calls it "broadbandaccess". If you are elsewhere in the US the Verizon card will get you what is technically called "1X" speeds, namely 50-70k bps download speed, bursting to 144k. Verizon calls that "nationalaccess". Verizon has a good coverage map tool that will help you figure out whether you would get the fast or slow Verizon service depending on where you are. I previously used the Nextel and Sprint and AT&T Wireless and Cingular and T-Mobile services, and if you are in a broadbandaccess (EVDO) service area, the Verizon service is definitely the way to go.

Proceeding in descending order of speeds, the next speed level within the US is "Edge". The chief Edge provider in the US was formerly AT&T Wireless, now merged into Cingular. If you are in an Edge service area (see the Cingular maps) then you can sometimes get download speeds of 100-130k bps. In other areas Cingular will be able to provide GPRS speeds of maybe one-third of Edge speeds, or around 30-50k downloads.

The next step down is Sprint's 1X service, which is the same speed as Verizon's 1X service. You get 50-70k bits per second.The T-mobile service is the next step down. It is only GPRS (30-50k) and it only works where T-Mobile GSM service can be found. Check the coverage maps and you will see that the T-Mobile GSM coverage is far less in geographic extent than Verizon or Sprint or Cingular.

Finally Nextel. They do have an unlimited data service but it is miserable slow and Nextel's coverage map is even worse than T-Mobile's.

In the networks where two speeds are available (as a function of where you are) the card will automatically shift back and forth. The Verizon card will shift between 1X and EVDO; the Cingular (former AT&T W) card will shift between GPRS and Edge. One nice thing about the Verizon connection manager is it will actually tell you which of the two protocols has been negotiated. In contrast, the AT&TW/Cingular connection manager keeps you in the dark about whether it has negotiated EDGE or GPRS speeds.

The only monthly plans I recommend are the "all you can eat" plans. For $80 per month you can get "all you can eat" from Verizon, Cingular, or Sprint, at the top speed that each network offers. (Verizon has dropped the price of its 1X service to a mere $60 per month for all you can eat as long as it is only at 1X speeds.) For me the $80 per month is well worth it because the service works while I am in taxicabs and on trains and in hotels that would otherwise gouge me for Internet access, and it works in other random locations. None of this hunting around trying to find a WiFi hot spot when I step off the airplane. There are plans with a smaller cost per month, but you don't want them because they will charge per-kilobyte. A moderate hour of web surfing could cost $100 or more in per-kilo charges. You can see right away why it is unwise to choose anything but an all-you-can-eat monthly plan.

Now as to choice of equipment. You will see all sorts of posts where people gleefully describe how they use a USB cable or bluetooth between their computer and their cell phone or Treo and then use the cell phone or Treo to connect to the Internet, and manage to get by without having to pay the full $80 per month. Life is too short for this. First, when the carrier figures out you are using a computer (like you are visiting web sites using an HTTP protocol other than WA

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp If you live in one of those markets, and you are reasonably close to a cell tower that is EV-DO enabled, you can expect 300-700kbps down or more. In major major metros I typically get 800lbps-1mbps down. I haul my laptop all over the place and people are taken aback by the fact that I have broadband access whereas they are struggling with their 802.11 cards (especially in airports). A favorite trick of mine is driving down the road (well, someone else driving), and I'm streaming live video off the web, at high resolution. It's amazing stuff. Right now most people have no clue what EV-DO is, so those of us who are keen to it and are willing to shell out $80 a month for it have pretty exclusive high speed access to the network. Once more people jump on the bandwagon, the network will become saturated and slow down i'm sure.

So I have both a Sprint Wireless card for their 3 1/2G CDMA network and a wireless card for Verizon's 3G CDMA network.

Sprint's network offers a MAXIMUM of about 150Kbit / Sec downloads so about 3x of a 56 modem, upstream you'll get 50Kbit / Sec if you're lucky. Latency is at BEST about 300msec. It's ok for surfing if you're in a bind but is painful if you have to do any telnet / ssh stuff. Remember these are the best numbers you're going to see if you're on a congested circut or get bad reception good luck.

Verizon's 3G network is great if you get on their newer broadband access network. This newer network offers 900Kbit / Sec downloads (yes I have gotten this it's amazing) and about 100Kbit sec downloads, latency is more like 200Msec and is very usable for system admin even over a VPN. HOWEVER this is only available in a few places in the US for a list see:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp

If you're in a rural area I can almost guarantee you that you won't be on Verizon's newer network. However there are exceptions, Verizon lists access to their Broadband network in Kansas City, MO but I know it also works well in Overland Park, KA.

Basically I'd think that you'd be better off with some sattelite based service unless you happen to be near a big city.

I live right outside of Boston. I travel all over the US, and sometimes to Asia and Europe. I have a Verizon xv6600 phone and an HP / Compaq NC6000 laptop (both with Bluetooth.)

In the greater Boston area I get very close to DSL / cable modem download speeds. Upload speeds are lower, but still reasonable. My VPN connection and normal web browsing work just fine. I'm not a big gamer, so I can't comment game performance.

LA and New York city are about the same as Boston. In Albany NY, it's like a 33.6 modem at best. Same with San Fran. Latency and timeouts also seem much worse in these areas.

Outside of the US, I rarely get any connection at all.

I guess what I'm getting at is that it all depends on where you live and what kind of signal you have. Maybe if you live in a "fringe" area, you can get a n external antenna to help out.

I have a Verizon account. I have actually had it for a couple of years and it has improved markedly over time.

Verizon has two classes of available service. You can use a single PC-CARD adapter that will auto-switch depending on which service is available to you. There is even another /. article on the "Stompbox" Verizon to WiFi mobile hot-stop.

If you are lucky enough to be in a Verizon EVDO "Broadband" access area, you can expect 2 Megabits "peak" downstream speed. Not sure what the peak upstream speed is. Regardless, if I have reasonable single strength, I get about 500kbit down and 80kbit up. I think it is fair to call this "DSL speed". Even though the speed is good, the latency is still a bit high at about 200-250ms.

At this point, the "Broadband" access areas currently cover about 30 cities. If you are really "out in the woods", I would be very surprised if you are in one of these areas, but you can check. This is a list of the broadband access cities:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp

If you are not in one of the "Broadband" areas with EVDO coverage, you can still use the 1xRTT service throughout most of the rest of the country. 1xRTT gives you theoretical 144kbit down. I tend to get about 60-80 kbit down and 20kbit up, so this is just a bit faster than dialup. The kicker with 1xRTT is the the latency goes up to 400-800 ms.

If you are somewhere with "digital" coverage from Verizon, then you will probably be able to get decent 1xRTT coverage.

You might want to consider borrowing a friends verizon phone and see what type of signal it sees at your house. If you see a decent "1X" digital signal, then the 1xRTT will probably work ok.

If terms of what the service looks like while using it, it is a pretty typical ISP account. You get a DHCP public IP address. I have not noted any port filtering, but have not scanned looking (it does allow me to send email thru my corporate mail server on port 25). The adapter has a tendency to go into "dormant" mode, so you can see some lags if you need to wake up an ssh connection or similar.

In terms of end-user agreements, it is also a pretty standard client type service. No servers, no permanent connections, etc.

With these limitations, I am still very happy with the service. When they first came out with what was called "Express Network" (which was the first 1xRTT rollout), the connectivity was spotty, you would have to dial-in three or four times, and moving from cell to cell was a nightmare. For the last year or so, things have gotten a lot better.

In the end, you have to decide if $80/mo is worth it. For me, being able to reboot servers from the middle of the California desert, even at dial-up speeds, is a godsend. Plus my wife loves to IM with her friends at 70 MPH (of course not while driving).

Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, without limitation, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine application; or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. NationalAccess and BroadbandAccess data sessions automatically terminate after two hours of inactivity unless used with a Mobile IP-capable device. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny or terminate service, without notice, ...

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/index.jsp "..at typical speeds of 400-700 kbps, capable of reaching speeds up to 2 Mbps." Works as advertised. When not in a broadband area works at lower "national" speed of about 100 kbps.

Verizon Wireless has 1xRTT nationwide, and 1xEV-DO in 30 markets (IIRC, they plan to offer EV-DO nationwide by the end of this year, but we'll see...). They claim "400-700 kbps, capable of reaching speeds up to 2 Mbps" for EV-DO. For $79.99 a month, you get unlimited use of both networks.

> Now I live in new jersey, get cable, and have EvDO. Now get out there and start buying EvDO, it's awesome.

I'd certainly love to give EvDO a try, but believe it or not Verizon EvDO service isn't available anywhere in Northern California (including the entire San Francisco Bay Area). It is incomprehensible to me that the only two cities in California that have the service are Los Angeles and San Diego...! What gives??

The original article had a link right to it . . .
The 5220 card runs 200 bucks with a 100 buck discount and the service is 80 a month.

I haven't found a dead spot in Austin yet and I know it is good as far down as San Marcos.

The laptop talks to the phone over the built-in bluetooth and can share the connection over the built-in WiFi card.

Whoops, wrong link and wrong numbers; try these. Verizon's National Access service is 60-80k (peak 144k) while their Broadband Access runs 400k-700k (though I think it has upload speeds around 60k).

Whoops, wrong link and wrong numbers; try these. Verizon's National Access service is 60-80k (peak 144k) while their Broadband Access runs 400k-700k (though I think it has upload speeds around 60k).

I know people who do this, on their train commutes to and from New York City. They pay $80 for Verizon's "broadband" Internet access (theoretical 256k access through a cell phone). Then they use Skype to make international conference calls with their corporate offices in India and England. The Verizon coverage drops out here and there, but otherwise the voice clarity of Skype is superior (and much cheaper) than the equivelent communication options from Verizon.

The best part is when they share their Internet access with the rest of the train, using WiFi. Then everyone gets to surf....

In an online telecom news site -- can't find the link that I've posted before because Slashdot limits my ability to read my past posts -- a Nokia official stated that they chose to not make any cellphone EVDO compatible because they saw no market for it since the "DO" stands for "data only" and the poor users would have to switch between web browsing and talking on the phone.

I've been waiting for two years for high speed cell phone web browsing, and I blame Nokia, not small screen size!

This is flat wrong. Much of their coverage is NOT analog. They've converted *all* of their native network to 1xRTT CDMA. Nearly every roaming partner they use is 1xRTT CDMA. It's at least 98% digital.

IF you can be bothered with the facts next time, consult their coverage locator.

GSM is not a larger network. There is no "best" carrier. It all depends on where you live.

Well, it depends what you want to do, but if you want just generic Internet access, Verizon's broadband access might cover you. $80 a month for unlimited access and typical speeds of 300-500 kbps. Just pop the PC card in and skip all the WiFi hassle.

Cingular Wireless will be rolling out their 3G network this year too and next year it should have HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) which will give you ~3Mbps downlink. So, I'm afraid that with those sort of speeds available and flat rate pricing it's going to be tough for DSL and some cable modem packages to compete.

Even if 3G isn't available, 2.5G cellular networks from either Sprint (1X), Verizon (1X) or Cingular (EDGE) can still give a good speed and wide area access.
Finally, if he just wants to keep up on email, get him a Blackberry or a T-Mobile Sidekick II. Those both work excellently and are handy to carry too.

Its so much more fun to complain though. I mean, after all, you have to pay $9 for a phone, whereas everyone else is paying $200 or whatever. Sucks to be you! That's terrible! How do you sleep at night suffering under such injustices? You should demand to pay just as much for your phone as everyone else. And when a salesman tries to pitch a high-priced phone to you, you should refuse to look in the display case and notice that what you want is right there.

In fact on Verizon's website on their phone list they have "PalmOne Treo 600 Smartphone No Camera" clearly listed if you are too lazy to browse. Other triband phones such as the Nokia 6015i and Samsung SCH-a650 are clearly listed.

I can understand the frustration shopping in stores for phones. Salespeople I've experenced really have NO clue what so ever. If you need specific features and you MUST shop at a store, find what you want first and ask for it by name.

In fact on Verizon's website on their phone list they have "PalmOne Treo 600 Smartphone No Camera" clearly listed if you are too lazy to browse. Other triband phones such as the Nokia 6015i and Samsung SCH-a650 are clearly listed.

I can understand the frustration shopping in stores for phones. Salespeople I've experenced really have NO clue what so ever. If you need specific features and you MUST shop at a store, find what you want first and ask for it by name.

In fact on Verizon's website on their phone list they have "PalmOne Treo 600 Smartphone No Camera" clearly listed if you are too lazy to browse. Other triband phones such as the Nokia 6015i and Samsung SCH-a650 are clearly listed.

I can understand the frustration shopping in stores for phones. Salespeople I've experenced really have NO clue what so ever. If you need specific features and you MUST shop at a store, find what you want first and ask for it by name.

https://myaccount.verizonwireless.com/vzs/customer /ecmx?action=esnChange

With Verizon you can change your ESN on the web. Here's my story, my T730C broke. I didn't get the extra insurance and there are still 4 months on my contract. Motorola's warranty wouldn't cover it either, so I ordered one off of eBay. Its a T730C but the sticker says AllTel. When I went to the Verizon store to switch it, they wouldn't do it because it wasn't a Verizon Phone. Then I went looking on the web and found this page.

Who would have thought... A trimode CDMA phone that works with another company, would also work with Verizon.

P.S. have you checked out the pricing of data services?
$79.99
Unlimited NationalAccess & BroadbandAccess for wireless data

They also have per-megabyte plans for a little less.

How is this anything special?
Sprint has a variety of aircards operating on their 1xRTT network at up to 144Kbps. Verizon has an aircard for their 1xEVDO BroadbandAccess network with download speeds of up to 2MBps (also 1xRTT compatible) and another aircard for their 1xRTT NationalAccess network. AT&T Wireless also has an EDGE aircard at up to 384Kbps (they may have a WCDMA one too...not sure) and all of our GSM carriers have GPRS cards. Anyway any carrier with GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/1xRTT/EV-DO or any other wireless data network offers aircards (American or not) and you can pick up unlocked ones up on eBay at decent prices. So why is this front page news?

How is this anything special?
Sprint has a variety of aircards operating on their 1xRTT network at up to 144Kbps. Verizon has an aircard for their 1xEVDO BroadbandAccess network with download speeds of up to 2MBps (also 1xRTT compatible) and another aircard for their 1xRTT NationalAccess network. AT&T Wireless also has an EDGE aircard at up to 384Kbps (they may have a WCDMA one too...not sure) and all of our GSM carriers have GPRS cards. Anyway any carrier with GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/1xRTT/EV-DO or any other wireless data network offers aircards (American or not) and you can pick up unlocked ones up on eBay at decent prices. So why is this front page news?

I'm a Verizon subscriber and I got curious a couple of weeks ago as to how to connect my TiPB to the 'net through my Nokia cell phone. The solution seemed to be a $50 cable and some modem scripts. Best speed would be 14.4K. This looks way better. The card pictured by the original poster is an Audiovox PC 5220 card. Here's the Verizon page for it:

Verizon Audiovox PC 5220

If the link doesn't work, I found the card by googling for "audiovox pc 5220" and scanning the list (it was on the first page of hits) for the Verizon link.

I'm a bit hazy on the availability of the service and what if any charges there are beyond the activation fee. If you follow the links to "create a wireless package" you get sidetracked into a Verizon broadband coverage map where I stopped clicking. I may call Verizon tomorrow to see if a customer service rep can clarify this.