One of the coolest things I get to do these days as part of Tech Field Day is bring friends from all countries to the United States to meet with various companies. But too often, they find themselves isolated and unable to communicate because of our odd mobile phone network. Although prepaid SIM cards are more available these days, I'm having a tough time locating a data SIM … [Read more...] about Is there no such thing as a cheap, prepaid data SIM in the USA?
WiMAX
Hands-On Review: Clear WiMAX Service (and PXU1900 USB Modem)
As I discussed previously, my search for a mobile broadband solution for Tech Field Day led me to the nascent 4G networks springing up around the world. Here in the United States, two next-generation networks offered compelling performance: Clearwire’s WiMAX service (sold by Clear and Sprint) and Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. I purchased a modem on each network and tested … [Read more...] about Hands-On Review: Clear WiMAX Service (and PXU1900 USB Modem)
4G Connectivity Options Proliferate
After years of faithful service, 3G mobile “broadband” appears to be giving up the ghost. Perhaps its new applications that demand more performance, or maybe the network is overloaded and the carriers are unable or unwilling to fix it, but 3G data service has become unusable lately. I set out to find something faster. Not Quite 4G, Really You should also read 4G: Is It Really … [Read more...] about 4G Connectivity Options Proliferate
Building a Combination 3G/4G/Wired Wi-Fi Network
The Tech Field Day events I run are hotspots of social media, but it has been hard building an Internet presence to keep up. Constantly on the move, I need a flexible network with scalability and failover (and fail-back) between 3G/4G and wired Internet. My latest design relies on CradlePoint's MBR1200 "Failover Router", which can load-balance across multiple 3G and 4G data … [Read more...] about Building a Combination 3G/4G/Wired Wi-Fi Network
4G: Is It Really A Standard If No One Cares?
Americans have terrible mobile broadband network infrastructure, yet our service providers make it sound awesome. Now that 2 of our 4 national wireless providers now offer 4G service, one might conclude that the United States is awash in mobile broadband. But neither of these supposed 4G offerings is anywhere near fast enough to meet the ITU standards for 4G, and even our 3G … [Read more...] about 4G: Is It Really A Standard If No One Cares?