[EVDOguy]

Hello,
We run http://www.EVDOinfo.com & http://www.EVDOforums.com, and I can tell you a few things about the terminated users and bandwidth hogs.
1) It isn't right what Verizon is doing.
2) It is blown way out of proportion.
3) There are 100,000s of users (maybe more) and maybe 25 - 35 people got canceled. These people were not "just downloading a song from iTunes", they were streaming Slingboxes and doing many other heavy bandwidth intensive activities.
4) If all the "bandwidth hogs" jump over to Sprit - what do you think will happen to their network performance?
We have many pages comparing Verizon & Sprint on our web sites, from strictly a Mac point of view, Verizon supports Macs and Sprint does not. Currently, Verizon is outselling Sprint by a factor of 5 to 1 (this is based on our sales). We have sold cards to 1000s of Mac users I know of 5 that got canceled.
- Mike

[recording]

The other point is that you can have EVDO on a "smartphone" - in my case a Palm Treo 700P - and tether your computer to it. Then you don't need that modem on your laptop, and you have access on your Treo as well. To me that's a better deal even if you do decide to contribute the extra $15 tethering fee over the $45 you've already paid for having it on your phone.
Oh, and you need a program called USB Modem to tether a Mac to a Treo 700P. I just used it over the weekend on a trip to San Francisco, and it really is the shizzle. My connection is over the USB port, but apparently you an also use Bluetooth if your laptop has it. I found this to be faster and more consistent than wi-fi, since you're invariably not close enough to the hotel's wireless G transmitter - to say nothing of the $15/day fee these friggin hotels often charge for access.
I suspect that the reason Verizon imposes these limitations is simply that they don't have enough bandwidth for people to use the service as a replacement for regular broadband access.

[feefer]

Quote:

---

1) It isn't right what Verizon is doing.
2) It is blown way out of proportion.
3) There are 100,000s of users (maybe more) and maybe 25 - 35 people got canceled. These people were not "just downloading a song from iTunes", they were streaming Slingboxes and doing many other heavy bandwidth intensive activities.
4) If all the "bandwidth hogs" jump over to Sprit - what do you think will happen to their network performance?
We have many pages comparing Verizon & Sprint on our web sites, from strictly a Mac point of view, Verizon supports Macs and Sprint does not. Currently, Verizon is outselling Sprint by a factor of 5 to 1 (this is based on our sales). We have sold cards to 1000s of Mac users I know of 5 that got canceled.
- Mike

---

Hi Mike,
You're right with comment #1. What they're doing IS wrong.
But to be clear, what Verizon is doing wrong is selling the service under false pretenses: advertising it as "unlimited use", when their terms of service clearly state many "limits", most of which are of interest to potential users ("no streaming apps, can't use the serve as your sole means of connecting to the net", etc).
It's morally, ethically (and possibly legally) wrong for them to use the term "unlimited" in advertising when in fact a long list of limits exist which are NOT on the contract the user signs. This is an issue for the FTC, IMO.
As far as saying the issue is blown out of proportion, that thread I linked to above on EVDOinfo.com is AWFULLY long, with many reports from users who got "the letter", including many who reported NOT using Slingboxes, heavy YouTube use, not donwloading via P2P, etc. (word is they use an unofficial 5GB per month limit as a threshold to define a "hog"). How do you know the number of people Verizon has sent "the letter" to? If Verizon is willing to lie in their ads, their credibility on number of users they've booted is a bit suspect....
I personally dislike that I cannot use my card for certain activities (dare I watch a QuickTime video for a product I'm considering buying for my business?), knowing I'm clearly violating Verizon's Terms Of Service for doing so, and might get "yanked" as a result. So if a certain use is allowed by Verizon (e.g. using iTunes), then they should take the clause out. It's that simple.
Verizon could easily list bandwidth usage limits per month, and leave it at that. What they're doing currently is customer-hostile, and Sprint doesn't do it. Why is Verizon talking out of both sides of their mouth? If you want to limit "bandwidth hogs" (and I barely push 1.0GB per month, just in case anyone's wondering), then Verizon should place limits in their contract and remove the "unlimited" verbiage from their advertisements.
It's as simple as that: you don't need to be a lawyer to get it. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
As far as Sprint outselling Verizon 5 to 1, as a current Verizon user that is NOT good news at all.... My service bogs down during peak hours already (see above), as VZW seems quite willing to over-sell the product while letting the user experience erode for all.
Sprint doesn't support Mac? Maybe not if you call and ask for help with stuff like Network Prefs settings, but I've done that with Verizon, too, and it went nowhere fast (I was told by many employees that they didn't support Mac: I had to tell them that they did). Sprint service and equipment works with Macs, although the user will have to know how to figure this out on their own.
No matter: as an Internet guy, I'm used to researching tech details on the net, and even know better than to call 1-800 support numbers for large companies like Verizon and Sprint. That's how I found evdoinfo.com, in the first place... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Chris

[Jay56]

Sprint adding the Merlin EX720 by Novatel Wireless (Sprint's first EV-DO Revision A capable ExpressCard™. By late February, the EX720 will be available in Sprint sales channels including retail stores and at www.sprint.com and will support both Windows and Macintosh OS.

See
marketwatch.com Sprint ''Powers Up'' Largest Mobile Broadband Network