USB EV-DO Rev. A modem reviewed
Those folks at SlashGear have gotten their hands on one of the first EV-DO Rev. A USB modems out there and have published a review of the littlest high speed modem. It looks like the Sprint U720 USB modem is a little bigger than I would have expected but it’s great to see a USB modem for the next generation of EV-DO being released. SlashGear got the new Sprint modem working on a Mac too which is good news for all the fanboys out there. I have to admit I am surprised that the observed speeds of the U720 were lower than those I regularly get with my Verizon PC Card modem even though my service is not Rev. A. yet. The U720 review reports speeds of "512Kbp/s downstream and 312Kb/s upstream" which is far below the capabilities of the Rev. A standard. The Sprint U720 opens new possibilities for UMPC owners without a PC Card slot and it’s cool to see these USB devices appear in the real world.
UPDATE: SlashGear tested the Rev. A modem in a market where Rev. A has not been deployed so that is the reason for the low bandwidth they report. The reported speeds are still far lower than the first generation EV-DO I get with my PC Card. I wonder if that’s a trade-off in these super small modems with tiny antennas compared to the PC Card big brothers?
Probably a USB power issue, not enough juice out of the 5V .5 amp USB supply to reach the highest peak RF power for the highest perormance.
When I tether my Samsung ZX20 (HSDPA) phone via USB not only does it not charge the battery but the phone will actually run down the battery.
I can’t believe the size of the antenna would be the bottleneck, but I don’t live in a market with any EV-DO, so I can only look and dream while tethered to my various coffee houses.
I remember when the quality of the espresso determined my patronage.
I just received my U720. I’m running it on my Q1 Pentium without the Y cable. My highest speedtest so far showed a 2130 kbps down with 643 kbps up. The lowest numbers I got were 1540 kbps down with 451 kbps up.
Location: North Orange County, CA
Picture of speedtest result:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97501007@N00/320200755/
Richard
I have used the U720 and it’s speeds are incredible! I know where you can get great pricing and try one risk free for 30 days. Interested? Still unsure? Drop me a line.
imhoffjs@sprint.com