Recently the company I work for had the need for Internet access at a job site where there were no traditional means of connection, so we decided to give Sprint’s wireless broadband a try.
For the choice of card, I opted for the USB Ovation U727. The tech support said it boasted the highest signal strength of any of the USB models due to the flip-up antenna.
We have an older Dell laptop we needed access on, so I bought a PC card USB 2.0 adapter to run the Sprint card on. I had difficulty, however, getting the card to stay connected; it just kept connecting and disconnecting through the USB.
I quickly realized that the problem was in the PC Card adapter, because the card worked fine plugged into the USB 1.1 port on the laptop. So much for trying to maintain current standards…
Once connected, I was impressed at the speed, though I couldn’t stream video very well, most of the broadband meters clocked the connection at just under 650 kbps…. not bad for broadband wireless if you asked me.
When downloading software updates from their own server, I averaged around 80 – 90 KB/sec, also faster than I had expected.
We’ll see how service fares on site, which happens to be in Crete, NE. The map shows the general area being in a ‘roaming’ zone, but we’re waiting on clarification from Sprint on that detail.
All in all, initial impressions were good, but overall opinion is pending network performance on site… will keep you posted.
