Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphTrickey
I suspect that the module will also handle the slower sppeds, so it's probably going to be almost anywhere that you can get Cell Phone coverage, you'll be able to download. That's urban and the transportation corridors, or probably 90% of the population.
WiFi is definitely NOT ubiquitous. I don't know of anywhere outside of my house that I've been able to get WiFi, while I've been able to get EV-DO to work in 90% of the places I've been lately. The places where I couldn't get EV-DO, I couldn 't get wifi either.
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Last check in our town there are ZERO 3G services and no plans to add them anytime soon. But that was a year ago I looked into it...
Meanwhile we do have a muni wifi that works for the most part...sorta...but almost anywhere I am in town I have wifi. It costs me about $15/mo for up to three simultaneous connections.
EVDO is expensive. $60/mo for so-called unlimited plans. Of course those unlimited plans are quite limited. Data caps and use restrictions are pretty restrictive.
OTOH, wifi can exist in every home with broadband...it can be had at McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, Borders, Barnes & Noble, UPS Stores, Kinko's...etc...wifi is a value added service many small business owners can easily afford to bring in customers.
Ignoring the technical merits of one service over the other...cost is the main issue...
I am just thinking that EVDO service is an expensive addition only a small subset of cellular consumers will have...wifi is pretty common, almost everywhere...the idea is to get the device into the hands of as many consumers as possible. Better to have a more flexible wireless option...so, hopefully it will come standard with wifi and have an option to add an EVDO module.