EVDO Unlimited Data plan: "The Solution" for rural areas?

Currently I live in a rural area in central Alberta where there is no available high speed internet other than satellite internet. Our provider is currently Xplornet and we pay them a whopping $100 per month plan which is just plain brutal because the latency almost unbearable (good download speeds but regular surfing would actually be faster on dialup).

So - is EVDO the answer?

At the home we can connect EVDO (I'm always on it with my PDA). So if I get a PC Air Card & sign up for Telus' $100 unlimited data plan - I figure this would be an ideal alternative to our current satellite internet provider.

The concern I have is the plan really unlimited? Ex- can you use it like you would a regular DSL line (downloading music, torrents, etc) ? And what are the latency & typical download speeds for EVDO?

Thanks in advance, your advice & opinion is appreciated.

Its probably your best choice. However, EVDO does suffer with latency issues at times.

And I suspect you'll soon be cut-off if you use it to download torrents.....

From what I have read while spending time on these forums.

If you want to download, stream, pursue without limitations, phone carriers are not a great idea. Get a real ISP, not a telecom service provider.

Another type of Internet that is getting popular and that I have myself, is Wireless Internet. I have it myself. If possible, you may want to see if Xplorenet has that option, since they do down here.

As fast as DSL with extremely good latency and I have had no problems (beyond the transmitter getting pushed down by ice) with it. I play World of Warcraft with approximately 60 to 120ms pings, very acceptable.

in central alberta, a wireless aircard from TELUS will provide you with 450-800 mbps download stream (~ 50-100k/s). Coverage is pretty well everywhere, but you will notice poor reception in Caroline, Delburne, Didsbury, and Sundre that may require you to get an antenna/booster. other than that, i have many clients with aircards for high speed access.

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Originally Posted by skullan

If you want to download, stream, pursue without limitations, phone carriers are not a great idea. Get a real ISP, not a telecom service provider.

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Whatever. If you Provide Internet Service, you are an Internet Service Provider.

The face and definition of people who sell bandwidth is constantly evolving. In 1994 I paid $30 a month for 30 hours of dialup on Cadvision. (Shaw sold cable TV only, and TELUS sold POTS.)

My friend had his Cadvision account *cancelled* because he used his Mom's email address: back then you were provided One email address per account and it was against the TOS for other people to use it. (You were supposed to pay for extra addresses.) They would actually read your email to see if it was you writing it. It was totally friggin retarded.

Fast forward to 2008, TELUS sells Unlimited Bandwidth so long as you don't abuse it by going on the internet. Wait what? Nobody really knows what Abuse is but it's clear that the policy is retarded. If it was fair or reasonable to declare one electron to be abusive and another to be "non-abusive", they would spell it out in the TOS. As it is, they have to make the TOS totally ambiguous to hide their policy makers' Down Syndrome. Dear ISPs: If your network is so fragile that I can't do standard activities on the internet, don't call it Unlimited. And if you call it Unlimited, don't limit it.

TELUS and Cadvision (which was ironically subsumed by TELUS) are both examples of weak dinosaur companies trying (and failing) to cling to old paradigms. Yes in 1994 you could make a fortune charging $10 a month for a POP3 email address, but not anymore. Cadvision found this out the hard way.

And until 2007 you could make a killing charging $25 a month for 4 MB of traffic, but not anymore. Sorry Darren, the asteroid has struck earth and you are going extinct. There should be a Far Side cartoon about this.

To the OP, get a TELUS Unlimited EV-DO account and a matching router. They have great ones at www.cradlepoint.com. If TELUS hassles you about your activities online, you simply pay $5 a month extra for VPN service (for no friggin reason FTW) and then maybe $5 or $10 a month to a VPN provider. That will cause all your internet traffic to be encrypted, and therefore totally invisible to TELUS.

(If you are using VPN service and TELUS hassles you about anything other than bandwidth, you can call the RCMP.)

Do you hear that Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. 3-5 years from now, bandwidth will be utterly ubiquitous and practically free, and TELUS will be beating down your door with LTE modems that have built-in BitTorrent clients. In the meantime, you have to bite your tongue and be creative.

http://movieimage.tripod.com/matrix/matrix35.jpg

Wirelessly posted (HTC S640: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; Smartphone; 240x320) Opera 8.65 [en])

We could discuss what unlimited should or should not be, however it's the telecom's network and if you don't want to risk getting removed from it, you are not going to use it like your ISP.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1335548

The fellow was using 300 to 500megs a day. Not small, but certainly not Gigs.

At least with an ISP, you know their purpose. You can be as forward looking as you want, won't make a difference if the Telecoms decide you are using too much data.

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Originally Posted by skullan

it's the telecom's network and if you don't want to risk getting removed from it, you are not going to use it like your ISP.

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it is your ISP. If not, what is it?

If the OP wants to know, I'm at 1.7 gigs for my first month. No torrents, no VOIP, no streaming, no remote desktop. Not even YouTube. Only web surfing, RSS, email, and podcasts. (My new laptop has an 80-gig HDD: I'm at 70 with no music.) And I've only used the TELUS connection in coffeeshops and the library so far; at home I still have a Shaw connection.

I haven't intentionally or unintentionally abused the connection; I probably haven't even put 10% of my traffic through it. There's a reason that wireline ISPs set the cap at 50GB or 100GB -- everything on the internet is high-bandwidth now.

If I have to be pondering my cumulative usage every time I start iTunes or my email program, I definitely do *not* have an unlimited internet connection.

To the OP, get a TELUS Unlimited EV-DO account and a matching router. They have great ones at www.cradlepoint.com. If TELUS hassles you about your activities online, you simply pay $5 a month extra for VPN service (for no friggin reason FTW) and then maybe $5 or $10 a month to a VPN provider. That will cause all your internet traffic to be encrypted, and therefore totally invisible to TELUS. - w4lker

To the OP,

I agree with the above. I worked at a resort during the summer and the only high speed access available was Xplornet, and you know all the troubles with it like the practically hourly bandwidth governor that very easy to hit and slow your speeds to a halt and the ridiculous latency.

Depending on what plan you have (if you're on the $15 unlimited data plan for your PDA I wouldn't want you to change it) on your PDA (e.g. $25 4MB, $40 8MB etc) try upgrading to a larger plan (I think you can still get the 1GB plan for PDAs) and tether it with your laptop/computer for a bit to see how you like the performance. Afterwards, downgrade your plan back to what you originally had and if you like it go out and get a separate EVDO card and accompanying router and get on the unlimited plan because I think it would be far superior to what Xplornet is offering you. I had many headaches with that service during the summer and if EVDO was available we would've taken that route in a second over satellite. My .02.

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Originally Posted by w4lker

There's a reason that wireline ISPs set the cap at 50GB or 100GB -- everything on the internet is high-bandwidth now.

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Rogers Home internet service now has a cap of only 2GB on Ultra-lite, 25GB on Lite, and 60GB on Express. Also Rogers portable has 10GB basic, 30GB regular.

Bell also has WiMax unplugged with a 10GB limit. They still impose a 4GB limit on the old cheaper plan. God knows how low their other home services will go, now that they've dropped their PC Card plan from unlimited* to a measly 250MB for $100/month lol.


Seems limits are dropping (not rising) across the board because of heavy bandwidth usage. I am very surpised that Rogers will even allow 5GB on wireless!

^
What I don't understand is that Rogers doesn't charge you anything if you exceed the limit, as shown here . Does this mean Rogers will simply spank you and tell you not to do it again if you exceed your quota?

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Originally Posted by tphill

^
What I don't understand is that Rogers doesn't charge you anything if you exceed the limit, as shown here . Does this mean Rogers will simply spank you and tell you not to do it again if you exceed your quota?

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That's what I like about Rogers..
But this is probably a precursor to something they have planned.

One day, without notice, they will have that overage charge at $5/mb.

I am in central-east Alberta. I know the PAIN of xplornet satellite well, I tried to provide support for people who have it and it's TERRIBLE. The latency is exactly the problem, yes.
If you want to be worry free with your downloading of music, etc then try to get xplornet wireless. This is NOT satellite, it's a radio thing that shoots to your nearest access point, if you tell me what town you're near I can probably tell you if you're in luck or not. This requires a clear line of sight.
I use EVDO at home (as the only possible option too) and it's GREAT. I get Rev-A speeds and great latency. I have an aircard plugged into a Kyocera aircard router, which then is plugged directly into my Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and I use wireless to 2 different laptops. I surf, play world of warcraft, etc and usually use about 4-5GB a month. Never heard a complaint.
I would be wary of downloading torrents this way. DON"T expect an unlimited connection. It's unlimited when not used for the VOIP torrents streaming etc.
I thank the gods that I'm not on dialup or satellite though. MUCH better. And it's $75 for unlimited, don't let them make you pay the $25 extra for US roaming if you don't need it.
To answer your question, EVDO IS the answer.

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Originally Posted by drfoo

I am in central-east Alberta. I know the PAIN of xplornet satellite well, I tried to provide support for people who have it and it's TERRIBLE. The latency is exactly the problem, yes.
If you want to be worry free with your downloading of music, etc then try to get xplornet wireless. This is NOT satellite, it's a radio thing that shoots to your nearest access point, if you tell me what town you're near I can probably tell you if you're in luck or not. This requires a clear line of sight.
I use EVDO at home (as the only possible option too) and it's GREAT. I get Rev-A speeds and great latency. I have an aircard plugged into a Kyocera aircard router, which then is plugged directly into my Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and I use wireless to 2 different laptops. I surf, play world of warcraft, etc and usually use about 4-5GB a month. Never heard a complaint.
I would be wary of downloading torrents this way. DON"T expect an unlimited connection. It's unlimited when not used for the VOIP torrents streaming etc.
I thank the gods that I'm not on dialup or satellite though. MUCH better. And it's $75 for unlimited, don't let them make you pay the $25 extra for US roaming if you don't need it.
To answer your question, EVDO IS the answer.

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<3 this reply.

:2thumbs:

what's your WoW latency with the aircard?

Going back to wireless, it's awesome. I had reservations, but they were unfounded and it is fast. In regards to Satellite, horrible for gaming or apps that require a constant low-latency connection.