Sprint 3G/4G Wireless "Overdrive" review

[RJM62]

In summary: Just got it, works great.

The Overdrive unit is a wireless hotspot (don't know if it can also be used as a hub) that connects up to five simultaneous Wi-Fi devices to Sprints 3G/4G network. It cost me $100.00 after rebate, and setup took about five minutes. It can be powered by its own internal battery, USB, or the included AC adapter. Everything just worked. No problems.

The actual device is smaller than it looks in the picture. It's about three inches square by about half an inch thick. Configuration options include most of what you would expect: Change the SSID, choice of encryption methods (WEP, WPA-Personal, WPA2-Personal, or none) and keys, choose preference for 4G, 3G, or only one or the other, and so forth.

The data plan is $59.95/month and includes up to 5 GB 3G / unlimited 4G. There is a two-year commitment.

They haven't rolled out 4G in my neighborhood yet, but I got consistent speeds of 2+ Mb/s down and 128 Kb/s up on 3G, at about -80 dBm. 4G is scheduled to be here some time in November. (Some neighborhoods in Manhattan have it already.)

I like the hotspot idea rather than a laptop card because you don't have to install any software on the computers. Once the device is configured, you just connect like you would to any other WiFi network.

All in all, I am pleased.

-Rich

 

[gprellwitz]

Leslie just got one too, except hers is called a Droid X.

Yeah, there are some other differences, too. The data plan is $20/month for 2GB, but no commitment, in fact it's pro-rated when you switch it during the month.

 

[RJM62]

Leslie just got one too, except hers is called a Droid X.

Yeah, there are some other differences, too. The data plan is $20/month for 2GB, but no commitment, in fact it's pro-rated when you switch it during the month.

Verizon and I had a falling out last year.

After nearly 10 years as a customer, I went waaaay over my plan limits because my goddaughter figured out that she could watch movies, download videos, and do all sorts of other things with my phone -- services that I wasn't subscribed to -- and I got a bill for about four hundred bucks.

I called them and asked what they could do, such as a retroactive upgrade. They told me they could do nothing because my plan had expired a couple of months prior. That being the case, I told them to cancel it altogether; and that's the last money they ever got out of me.

-Rich

 

[gismo]

Verizon and I had a falling out last year.

After nearly 10 years as a customer, I went waaaay over my plan limits because my goddaughter figured out that she could watch movies, download videos, and do all sorts of other things with my phone -- services that I wasn't subscribed to -- and I got a bill for about four hundred bucks.

I called them and asked what they could do, such as a retroactive upgrade. They told me they could do nothing because my plan had expired a couple of months prior. That being the case, I told them to cancel it altogether; and that's the last money they ever got out of me.

-Rich

I just had a little snafu with Verizon (the landline service provider I have in Florida). Last winter I signed up for FIOS (internet and phone) and in April I called them to activate vacation hold which stops the service and the billing for up to 9 months (a nice deal for a vacation home). But apparently they only shut off the internet leaving the phone line active and have been billing me $56 each month (paid automatically). I foolishly have been ignoring the notices they sent me each month since then showing the billing activity until the last one which I opened out of curiosity.

Fortunately with just a phone call they promised to retroactively rescind the charges back to the date I asked for vacation hold. I was expecting some sort of hassle but assuming they follow through all I'll be out is the (miniscule) interest I would have gotten on the overcharge.

I had a marginally similar experience to yours with ATT wireless a few years ago when I upgraded my cellphone to one with a web browser that I never intentionally used. The way the phone was set up by default made it so you could activate web browsing by accidentally pressing one button when working your way through the menus and every time I did that they'd tack about a dollar onto my bill. When I complained they wouldn't remove the charges (about $10) but they did disable that feature eliminating any future charges.

Given the ease of inadvertently activating the web browser I'll bet they made a few million bucks from their customers who did the same thing. Seems like there ought to be law against that.

 

[RJM62]

I just had a little snafu with Verizon (the landline service provider I have in Florida). Last winter I signed up for FIOS (internet and phone) and in April I called them to activate vacation hold which stops the service and the billing for up to 9 months (a nice deal for a vacation home). But apparently they only shut off the internet leaving the phone line active and have been billing me $56 each month (paid automatically). I foolishly have been ignoring the notices they sent me each month since then showing the billing activity until the last one which I opened out of curiosity.

Fortunately with just a phone call they promised to retroactively rescind the charges back to the date I asked for vacation hold. I was expecting some sort of hassle but assuming they follow through all I'll be out is the (miniscule) interest I would have gotten on the overcharge.

I had a marginally similar experience to yours with ATT wireless a few years ago when I upgraded my cellphone to one with a web browser that I never intentionally used. The way the phone was set up by default made it so you could activate web browsing by accidentally pressing one button when working your way through the menus and every time I did that they'd tack about a dollar onto my bill. When I complained they wouldn't remove the charges (about $10) but they did disable that feature eliminating any future charges.

Given the ease of inadvertently activating the web browser I'll bet they made a few million bucks from their customers who did the same thing. Seems like there ought to be law against that.

The phone I had from Verizon had the ability to download movies, videos, music, television, and so forth. I never bothered with any of those things, and I thought that because I didn't subscribe to them, they wouldn't work.

After Kimberly lost her phone for the third time in a week (I got it back, but only because it kept winding up in the hands of honest people), I decided to punish her by taking it away for a while. But of course, she still needed to be able to call her mom, her sister, and other relatives, so she used mine. But she also figured out that she could do all the entertainment-type things with it, and Verizon was happy to bill me through the nose for using services not included in my plan.

I couldn't very well punish Kimberly because she figured that if something worked, it must be included in my plan. And I really wasn't looking to "punish" Verizon, either. I thought a new two-year contract with a one-month retroactive upgrade would have been a fair trade for making the overage charges go away. Apparently, the rep I got connected to disagreed.

So I canceled Verizon altogether and wound up 'temporarily" getting a Boost Mobile prepaid. But I wound up liking Boost's service (and their price), so I upgraded to their BlackBerry plan. For $60.00 a month I get unlimited everything, and their coverage is at least as good as Verizon's (at least in the places I regularly travel, which would be the lower half of New York State, all of New Jersey, and parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania).

Because Boost's BlackBerry and other CDMA phones use Sprint's network, and because it seemed to be strong everywhere I go, I decided to go with Sprint for the Internet. It works everywhere I need it to, and I do like the little Overdrive box. And when they roll out 4G in my little corner of Queens (or in the part of Manhattan right across the river from me), I won't even have to worry about monthly caps. At 4G speeds, I should be able to do whatever I want over Sprint, in which case I may just cancel my cable Internet.

It's also nice, this time of the year, to plant myself in a park down by the ocean or up by the Sound for a few hours and be able to call it "work." This laptop gets about three hours on battery, which makes for a nice break from being in the office.

-Rich

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I just got VZ's version of the Mifi. Had to go with VZ due coverage out here in the MD exurbs. Dynamite little gadget. $60 monthly/ hardware "free" with 2 yr contract, don't know yet if the 5GB limit will be an issue. Only problem so far is that my blu ray player wireless dongle and the mifi's security conflict, so to stream Netflix I have to run it as an open network. But since the range is only about 30 or so feet, I don't think anyone else using boosting data off the hotspot is going to be an issue. Just have to remember to lock it before I go off the reservation.
My only choice for high-speed. Nice to be in the 21st century.

 

[RJM62]

Presently connecting over 4G from Neshaminy State Park in Pennsylvania. Three bars on the Overdrive. Tested speed: 7.02 Mbps down, 0.91 Mbps up.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

-Rich

 

[Swampfox201]

I have a friend who just got one of these. She is upset because she only gets one bar and it doesn't work. Our cell phone coverage is iffy at best. Anyone suggestions on how to make it work?

 

[RJM62]

The Overdrive device doesn't have an antenna jack, so that's out. You could, however, install an amplifier / repeater in the house if you know what direction the tower is and if the signal, though weak, is consistent.

Basically, you would install a directional antenna outside the house pointed at the cell tower, and another antenna inside the house that would broadcast the amplified signal. It's not a perfect solution, but sometimes it works.

Not very cheap, though: The parts can cost about $800.00 or so when all is said and done.

WPS Antennas ( http://www.wpsantennas.com/ ) is a good source for that sort of stuff.

-Rich

 

[Swampfox201]

Thanks Rich! I'll pass it on.

 

[mikea]

...I had a marginally similar experience to yours with ATT wireless a few years ago when I upgraded my cellphone to one with a web browser that I never intentionally used. The way the phone was set up by default made it so you could activate web browsing by accidentally pressing one button when working your way through the menus and every time I did that they'd tack about a dollar onto my bill. When I complained they wouldn't remove the charges (about $10) but they did disable that feature eliminating any future charges.

Given the ease of inadvertently activating the web browser I'll bet they made a few million bucks from their customers who did the same thing. Seems like there ought to be law against that.

Verizon has the same thing, only merely pressing the up arrow would launch the web browser and cost you $1.99 for a 1MB minimum ala carte.

A few months ago, I wrote about Verizon Wireless’s outrageous practice of selling phones whose arrow keys are preprogrammed to connect to the Web. And if you hit one accidentally, you get zapped with a $2 Internet charge, instantly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/technology/personaltech/17pogue-email.html

As I recall you still have to call to get data access turned off.

This is why you have to buy data plan with a smart phone now.

I was lucky I did that opt-out on my Cingular phone years ago.

 

[RJM62]

Thanks Rich! I'll pass it on.

You're welcome.

Once upon a time, I did quite a bit of work installing stationary EVDO in some ritzy, but rural areas that didn't have enough potential subscribers for Cable or DSL to be worthwhile for the companies. With a good directional antenna, a decent amplifier, and a relatively unobstructed path to the cell tower, I could sometimes pull better than -75dbm at 15+ miles. But it's iffy. Even trees can be a problem (in the summer, at least, when there's sap in them), and the aiming (especially using a Yagi) has to be precise, especially at long distances.

Again, a weak signal has to be consistent in order for this to work. If it sometimes drops to nothing, then it's probably not worth the effort and expense to even try.

BUT...

Sometimes you can get a markedly better signal, even using a device's built-in antenna, simply by going upstairs and positioning it by a window facing the tower. I got a lot of usable signals by doing nothing more than that, and running the air card through an EVDO router. I could then run Ethernet or WiFi off the router. The easiest way to determine this without expensive equipment is simply to walk around the house with the EVDO device in hand, and watch to see if the bars increase. There's a little lag between signal acquisition and display, so you have to be patient.

If your friend can find decent signal to the Overdrive somewhere else in the house, that may be a simple, cheap solution. Just sit the thing near a window with good signal, and then run off the WiFi, maybe using a WiFi repeater. Note that I haven't actually tried this with the Overdrive. It's just an idea.

An active or passive cell phone repeater (not the same as a WiFi repeater) by a window facing the tower with strong signal might also help. These can be had relatively cheaply and will also help her cellular voice service, if it's on the same band. I'm pretty sure all of Sprint's EVDO service uses the 1900 MHz (PCS) band. That's critical: A repeater on the wrong frequency will do nothing useful.

There's a lot less demand for stationary EVDO around here now that both Cablevision and Verizon FIOS are finally rolling out into what used to be my target market areas. I also got tired of renewing my HazMat endorsement (not to mention paying the insurance) just to carry the welding supplies for those rare jobs where I needed to weld an antenna bracket to something. So I don't do it much any more, and I'm not current on the bleeding edge of the technology. I miss it, though. It was nice work, outdoors, that usually resulted in happy customers and decent profits.

Oh, well. Such is life.

-Rich

 

[Swampfox201]

Rich,

I appreciate the information. I have DSL and love it. The problem my friend faces is she needs internet fast as she is taking online classes. Her cheapest option is to use the Internet her husband has out in their shop.

I posted her problem here http://www.maclife.com/forums/topic/117393

Problem is her husband doesn't have the time to run the cat 5 wire.

You seem to know a lot about the subject. Any other ideas on how to get the signal over to the house and avoid another subscription charge?

Thanks,
Todd

 

[RJM62]

Rich,

I appreciate the information. I have DSL and love it. The problem my friend faces is she needs internet fast as she is taking online classes. Her cheapest option is to use the Internet her husband has out in their shop.

I posted her problem here http://www.maclife.com/forums/topic/117393

Problem is her husband doesn't have the time to run the cat 5 wire.

You seem to know a lot about the subject. Any other ideas on how to get the signal over to the house and avoid another subscription charge?

Thanks,
Todd

Well, I read that other thread, and I have to say I would also lean toward running an Ethernet cable in a conduit (or using Ethernet cable rated for direct burial). You wouldn't need a router on the house side, just an Ethernet switch -- and even then only if you want to use more than one computer on the connection. Copper is the most trouble-free long-term solution.

The other option is wireless. A decent-quality, consumer-grade N router with a good antenna should be able to do 150 feet through air. If it's not making it, then it's likely that something is blocking the signal (for example, plaster walls in, or metal siding on, one of the buildings).

In that case, a simple solution might be to move the router to avoid the obstruction. For example, if there are windows facing each other in the house and in the office, placing the router by one of those windows, and the client by a facing window, might fix the problem with little or no additional expense.

Another option if the router can't be relocated is to run a wireless Access Point (AP) -- not a second router -- off the existing router's Ethernet side. Set the AP's SSID set to some other name from that of the router's, mount the AP in a location that provides a clear shot to the house, and run Ethernet between the two. If there are facing windows, just locate the AP by one of them. Otherwise, you may have to get an outdoor antenna (nothing terribly fancy if it's only 150 feet) and attach it to the AP through a hole in the wall.

Again assuming there are facing windows, the client should be able to connect easily with no special equipment, if it's located at one of those facing windows. If not, then she can associate the signal extender to the new AP in the office, and then walk over and place the extender in an sweet spot in the house.

There are dozens of WiFi signal finding programs that can help find sweet spots in situations like this. NetStumbler is a pretty decent one for Windows. Just install it on a laptop and walk around, and you can put together a good mental picture of the signal's strong and weak spots.

-Rich

 

[Swampfox201]

Thanks Rich for taking the time to answer my question. You made some great suggestions that I hadnt thought of. I agree running copper to the house is the best solution. I'll pass your information on and they can decide what to do.

Todd

 

[Areeda]

One other option that MAY work is an AV power switch like this one. I use a couple of them in the house and they are great. I set one up in my sister house also but failed to get it to work at Diana's going from the house to the hangar which is several hundred feet away.

Installation is as painless as can be and speeds are better than 100Mbps so my switches are the limiting factor right now.