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CDMA2000 1x for Home Internet Access?
Clueless User asks: "Due to the lack of any wire based broadband solution in my area, I have been looking at using a CDMA2000 1x 3G wireless solution for Internet access. Verizon is offering an unlimited access solution over their cell network, and with a cell tower within visible distance of my home this seems almost feasible. Does anyone have any real life experience with CDMA2000 for home Internet access? (ie. gaming, P2P, large downloads, etc.) The only other option available is Satellite, but the high latency takes it off my list." This question basically boils down to which high latency solution has the least performance hit. Could you squeeze a faster-than-modem pipe thru such a link and have it be more cost effective than using a modem?
Hello,
:-)
I live on the other side of the pond, so no CDMA here, but GPRS instead.
I've been using a GPRS phone (4+1 - more or less 40Kbit to receive, 9.6 on transmit) to give connectivity to my brother, since the house he's in has no telephone lines, and GPRS, although being the most expensive thing you can imagine (around 7/megabyte) is often offered free for whole seasons (unlimited traffic for 30 days at some 10, renewable).
It's not incredibly reliable (the house is in a godforsaken area) but heck it works. MSN messenger and a few downloads go just fine if You take into account that it's costing you nothing. But DO get a download manager because you're guaranteed to be disconnected before you can get that 30MB download finished.
Still have to figure out why there is a 700-800ms latency (heck satellite is 250), maybe it's been artificially introduced to discourage voip
Basically, my experience is:
OK: Web surfing, Instant messaging, email
Don'ts: P2P sharing, realtime games.
Just my 0.02
Vacuum cleaners suck. Kings rule.
From their Terms of Service
A coworker has gotten that service (I presume you mean verizon wireless expressnet), as he is about to lose his dedicated ISDN connection to our intranet. The speeds are rarely above 30kbps, and the latency makes it very difficult to do things like editing files. I haven't seen it, but the latency sounds about like my Sprint Broadband Direct (though I commonly get downstream 1Mbps and upstream 256mbps). You can use it pretty well for email, streaming audio (low rate), IM, and other such latency-insensitive apps.
However, when it's the only game in town....
if customer.bandwith_usage > SOME_PIDDELING_SMALL_AMOUNT then
customer.throttle_down_bandwith(TDD);
customer.add_random_crap_to_bill("$"+random(50));
customer.disconnect(EVERY_HOUR);
end if
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Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Verizon's unlimited plans are $99/month I believe, and peak at 144 kbits/sec. Note that this is a shared channel - You're more likely to be about the equivalent of a 56k modem on average.
It does have the advantage that you can take it with you though. But for home access it's Not There Yet by ANY means.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Why not go with one of the "shotgun" modem approaches where you aggregate a couple of phone lines for more bandwidth. Hell, for the price of the cell solution, many areas offer ISDN or IDSL, both of which are FAR superior to going with a cell network.
(People slag ISDN all the time, but having had no other option for years, I had no problem with it other than price.)
Or you could find your nearest neighbor and do a line-of-site network share with them.
LauFu http://www.everythinggeek.com