[mdlug] build-in G3 opinions

[Joseph C. Bender]

bob dion wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> A friend of mine is looking to purchase a netbook or laptop with 
> built-in G3. Anyone have any experience carriers or coverage they'd like 
> to pass along.?
> 
	1.  You're effectively carrier-locked the minute you get a EVDO module. 
  Sprint and Verizon generally will not activate each other's devices on 
their networks as a "native" device.

	2.  For the GSM carriers, EDGE is *terrible* for any kind of data 
throughput and HSDPA coverage is still kinda spotty, no matter what AT&T 
will tell you, and T-Mobile is so far behind on their HSDPA deployment, 
it's not even funny.
	
> Would buying an add-on card be better?
> 
	Yes.  For a few reasons.

	1.  You didn't just buy a really expensive module that's a bear to tear 
out if it goes bad or change carriers.

	2.  The externals give you a couple of different things that make life 
nice:

		A.  They generally give you an external antenna jack, so if you need 
to use an external antenna, you can.  This has come in handy a couple of 
times.  The USB modules are also nicely remoteable from the laptop.  The 
Compass 597 that I've got comes with a 2" USB extender that's got 
stiffener wires built in.  The net result is that I can plug that into 
my USB jack and pan/tilt the modem widget to get the internal antenna in 
the most optimal position.  This beats trying to get the whole laptop 
positioned *just right* so the internal module's antenna can get the 
best signal.  I also carry a little rig I made up with a USB extension 
cable and a suction cup+hook so I can slap the module on a window or 
hang it up somewhere optimal if that spot doesn't happen to be near 
where I'm using my laptop.
		
		B.  They've often also got nifty bells and whistles, like built-in GPS 
that spits out standard NMEA sentences for use with mapping programs. 
With the Sierra wireless devices, there's a string you can pass to the 
module via modprobe that'll activate the port, and it shows up as a USB 
serial port in /dev.
		
	3.  Linux support.  I've run across at least one internal laptop module 
that really didn't want to play nicely with Linux, even though it should 
have.  If you find that the external modem doesn't work right, you can 
always exchange it in the time period provided.  I've had good luck with 
the Sierra Wireless devices over the last couple of years, though I 
haven't really done anything with their newest devices.  I like my 
Compass 597 on Sprint, it's been really solid, and the built-in GPS is 
really nice.  Developing a OpenBSD driver has been a royal pain for it, 
but it works decently in Linux.


	Carrier-wise, I prefer Sprint for mobile "3G" data.  Verizon is really 
nasty about their transfer caps, and they've dragged a couple of my 
clients through some rather trying experiences trying to get their data 
plans set up properly.  AT&T isn't even on my consideration list because 
of their HSDPA coverage being marginal and the customer service hells I 
and some of my clients have endured with them.  Neither is T-Mobile, who 
doesn't even consider wireless data any sort of priority.

Hope this helps.

-JCB


-- 
Joseph C. Bender
Chief Artifex
Bendorius Consulting, LLC
Network and Telecommunications Consulting
jcbender at bendorius dot com