Verizon free EVDO trial for 30 days, no commits

[alee]

I've been paying the $15/day for the pay-per-use EVDO trials on my X60. Last night I went to activate the EVDO card for another day's worth of use, and did not see the option for pay-per-use. Instead they're offering a free month of use.

For some unspecified time, it looks like Verizon is offering 30-day no-commitment trials of BroadbandAccess EVDO. You do need to give them a credit card number but nothing is charged (used for some sort of verification purpose).

All I did was hit Connect on VZAccess Manager, and I was taken to the screen.

A nice freebie while it lasts. Not sure if everyone is getting the same offer, or if they flagged my card for the offer since I use EVDO on and off but don't have a contract. Thought I'd pass this on.

[Kyocera]

How is it working for you, connectivity wise?

[alee]

How is it working for you, connectivity wise?

Fantastic. The maturity of EVDO is readily apparent on Verizon. While it's not going to compare to a cable modem, latency is fairly low, and regular surfing is very smooth. Never caught myself waiting for something... just very fluid surfing. VPN'd into work without an issue, used it heavily for 3 hrs at the car dealership waiting for some service, and felt perfectly connected. I have also spent some time as a passenger in a taxi and have been able to maintain a steady connection even in a moving vehicle.

While I plan on sticking with Cingular for my cell phone (GSM has its advantages), Verizon may get my dollars for EVDO access if I find myself using it on a regular basis over the next 30 days of trials. I realize that Cingular has their own 3G wireles solution, but early reports are the maturity isn't quite there (plenty to read there on howardforums.com). Verizon's 3G is getting top marks for outright speed and reliability.

[hrdc69]

The trouble with Verizon is that apparently they want you to sign up for a 2 year contract at $59 a month. It would be nicer if they offered it as a service you can take off or on at will like the mobile web, Vcast etc. Now maybe I got a rep at Verizon who told me the wrong info, but from everything I read you have to sign a contract to get the monthly data service even if you are under contract for a cell phone.

[alee]

The trouble with Verizon is that apparently they want you to sign up for a 2 year contract at $59 a month. It would be nicer if they offered it as a service you can take off or on at will like the mobile web, Vcast etc. Now maybe I got a rep at Verizon who told me the wrong info, but from everything I read you have to sign a contract to get the monthly data service even if you are under contract for a cell phone.

No that price sounds about right. $59/mo with 2 yrs contract, or $59/mo for 1 yr with a pre-existing voice contract the last time I saw it. Or $79.99/mo for their unlimited 1 yr contract with no existing voice contract.

Up until the free trial, I was paying $15 for a day of access. The a la carte adds up quickly though when you start using it regularly. I'd say it's an easy business case to expense $15 a few times a month to maintain an infrastructure in the middle of nowhere.

My guess is a la carte is ultimately what I'll stay with, although admittedly after using EVDO on a regular basis the last few days, I will certainly miss that luxury.

[Andy]

The trouble with Verizon is that apparently they want you to sign up for a 2 year contract at $59 a month. It would be nicer if they offered it as a service you can take off or on at will like the mobile web, Vcast etc. Now maybe I got a rep at Verizon who told me the wrong info, but from everything I read you have to sign a contract to get the monthly data service even if you are under contract for a cell phone.

No that price sounds about right. $59/mo with 2 yrs contract, or $59/mo for 1 yr with a pre-existing voice contract the last time I saw it. Or $79.99/mo for their unlimited 1 yr contract with no existing voice contract.

Up until the free trial, I was paying $15 for a day of access. The a la carte adds up quickly though when you start using it regularly. I'd say it's an easy business case to expense $15 a few times a month to maintain an infrastructure in the middle of nowhere.

My guess is a la carte is ultimately what I'll stay with, although admittedly after using EVDO on a regular basis the last few days, I will certainly miss that luxury.

Just be aware that when Verizon advertizes "unlimited broadband", what they mean is "severely limited broadband access which will be irrevocably terminated without warning if we decide you've used too much." It happened to me, and to lots of others -- see http://www.evdoforums.com for horror stories. Verizon won't tell you how much usage is OK. Their terms of service state that you can do Web browsing (whatever that means exactly) and email, and you can use a VPN into a corporate network but only for certain purposes.

Your Verizon rep will almost certainly not know about and even deny this limitation and will promise you that your usage is unlimited. Don't believe it!

Andy

[jsteele]

The maturity of EVDO is readily apparent on Verizon.

I can attest to this. I've been a user of Verizon EVDO (5250 card) in South Florida for about a year. The speed has always been good --- in the 500-700kb range --- but getting a connection in my area (SW Miami) has been a bit spotty, often requiring a half dozen redials. Just lately this seems to have improved and connections now seem to occur first time, almost every time and usually in seconds.

Overall I'm pleased with the service --- and thus far haven't run afoul of the dreaded "limited unlimited" service contraints