‘Rev A’ for cell phones is all it’s cracked up to be

A couple of months ago, the local branch of Sprint/Nextel threw a big party to launch an upgraded version of its EVDO Revision A wireless Internet service.

While the shindig was heavily attended by the local technology community, frankly, most folks were there because they knew that Sprint/Nextel always puts on a good party. After all, jaded techies are promised revolutionary technological improvements on at least a daily basis. As such, no one really believed that EVDO Revision A was going to be that big of a deal.

Well, we were wrong. Rev A, as most geeks call it, promises speeds of 1.8 mbps upstream and 3.1 mbps downstream. But the fact of the matter is that we really don't care about these numbers because performance proves the point. With Rev A, you really have a hard time believing you're using technology that has evolved from cell phones. Sure, a hardwired connection to a cable modem (that's not overused by your neighbors) might perform better, but the convenience of Rev A outweighs the nominal performance drag for most folks.

What is EVDO and how does it work? First, don't confuse EVDO (evolution data optimized or evolution data only)with wireless Ethernet, based on the 802.11 standard, which is in homes, businesses, and public hotspots. Rather, EVDO can be thought of as a wireless cell phone modem. Provided as a PCMCIA or USB interface, the EVDO device plugs into your laptop and lets you access the Web from anywhere you have digital cell phone reception.

Because it is based on digital cell technology, EVDO is inherently more secure than 802.11 and doesn't require you to set up any security precautions on your own. It's basically plug and play. Once installed, you don't need to adjust your settings, regardless of where you are.

This type of technology wasn't really usable until 2003 or so, and even then, the speeds weren't great. "Faster than dial-up" was the best you could say about it.

When EVDO Rev 0 hit the market a couple of years ago, it was markedly improved, but still a little short of wired connections such as DSL or cable modem. Rev A, however is the real deal. Furthermore, future versions of EVDO, cleverly called Rev B and Rev C, promise even faster speeds.

Locally, both Sprint/Nextel and Verizon Wireless tout their Rev A offerings. This Web site evdomaps.com provides user reports of their experiences across the country, including from Hawaii. Both vendors also have their own coverage maps on their respective Web sites, at www.sprintpcs.com and www.verizon-wireless.com.