Better modems to use for mobile data to increase speed

Folks

My department uses cf29's in all our cars, our state and department have recently switched to a web-based NCIC system along with some other systems. The heart of the problem is that the cars currently use sierra wireless pinpoint modems that give us a max speed of 153.3 KBPS. Nedless to say the system is way too slow as far as loading pages ect. The modems use verizon as our service provider so I know they are in our coverage area. I am totally in the dark as far as curent mobile wireless hardware, as far as what gives the best speed for a resonable price. Can any of you folks reccomend any service providers and hardware that can boost our speed. I would like to keep the modem trunk mounted if possible.

thanks for any help

 

Well if the cf-29's are wireless ready you can just upgrade the SLED with a newer verizon EVDO rev. A card. That will give you much faster speeds (500-1000kbps) You can still use the same data plans you already have but you would need to change the ESN's on the account over to the new card ones. The only thing is the newer cards are around $500.00 I know someone that has a few of these cards (i think 7 of them) and will sell them for cheaper but they are rev.0 cards (400-700kbps)

If you are using cards that are in the PCMCIA slot you can just get newer cards rev.a or rev.0 and then again just change the esn's on the account. This way is much cheaper but the integrated SLED option is better that a PCMCIA card.




-James

 

I noticed that you have the modems trunk mounted. If you are using this then you could again just pick up newer modems and keep them in the trunk. Just search around for a Rev. A or Rev. 0 EVDO modem and then you can get much faster speeds.

 

thanks for the info. Do you know of any modems/providers that will give me somthing approaching 2-3 mbps? I am asking because one application we could use if we had the downstream spead is a remote video/camera system. I tryied the application with what we have now and it was completely unuseable.

 

You might have to wait for WiMax or 4G LTE to be rolled out. That being said the PIO of a local PD here in Toronto is trying the remote camera-thing in the next few months. It'll be a CF-30 on Telus Rev A network.

 

As for now i do not think anyone offers a 2-3 mbps wireless broadband connection.

Only wifi right now can get those speeds that i know of. Some cities around where i live have installed Wifi across there whole city and the emergency vehicles all connect to that wifi connection.


I know that here the Los Angeles Police Department here uses sprint Rev. A cards to connect the there network. I am not sure what programs they are using but they have license plate scanner camera equipped on there cars and by what i hear from a few officers that the connection is pretty fast and they can get there information up on the screen in seconds.

-James

 

george orwell would be proud..

 

Or turning over in his grave,,,,,,,,

 

What is the different between the services in US and Germany? I have 7.2MB/s at the moment. It's called HSDPA. Is this not available in US-country?

 

Well most US services offer EVDO networks which are a bit slower. I believe AT&T are using HSDPA but there speeds are 3.6mbps tops. I do not know of any carriers here that offer any faster service.

 

You'll never get the full 3.6mbps though... rev a is 3.1mbps tops and u don't get that (except for ONE time i was in vegas getting 2.991mbps)... HSDPA will get you a little more speed than EVDO reva, but HSDPA is only available in select cities, and not in rural areas (obviously becase it's GSM, which here in the US DOES NOT have anywhere NEAR the footprint that CDMA does.)

Hope that clears it up a little

 

We use Sprint with the Novatel S720 (I have a S620 in my 29) and I love them. I live in a rural area so it slows up, but when I get to my metro area where I work it picks up a lot. We're small, with only have 6 guys in patrol, so full on trunk mounted units are not the best solution for us. We can just switch out cards when we want to upgrade. Running info thru our state BCI and NCIC is just as quick as anything else (and quicker than dispatch).

Rob

 

Are there any major differences between rev 0 and rev a modems?

 

The speed of the modems is different. The rev.0 modem has a download speed of 400-700kbps with bursts up to 2.1mbps and a upload speed of 50-100 kbps with bursts up to 144kbps . The rev. A modems have a download speed of 500-1000 kbps and bursts up to 3.0mbps and a upload speed of 300-400kbps with bursts up to 1.4mbps


-James

 

If you're talking speeds-Yes. My S620 and S720 are both upgradeable to REV A via a software update (free). I don't know if they if they will make the jump to REV B.

I seem to use my WWAN cards more in rural areas than urban areas due to the availibility (or not) of wifi.

 

Really a software update can bring it to rev. A ? I thought the harware was just different. I wish all modems could just be updated to rev. A as i just picked up a internal rev. 0 card for my cf-29


-James

 

No those cards will NOT support REV B as that requires a completely different chipset... James is all edumicated on Sprint now for mysterious reasons ... I like that knowledge is freely passed down here as that makes it so i don't have to explain things twice

 

This is correct James... The origional S720's DID NOT support REVa as they came out before revA was released by sprint (which was Jan 10th 2007) and they later had a software update to make them revA and now they all come pre-loaded with revA software

BTW, how much did u end up getting that card for James?

 

Ya i have been edumicated all i can be on sprint

I have learned alot from ya and i figured i would save you a few extra minutes instead of having to repeat everything all over the place

I got it for the minimum bid and it was $89 shipped. Too bad it cannot be upgraded But for that price i can hold off until i find a good deal on a rev.a internal card.

 

On that note, I think I'll have some more fermented potato juice and ponder my navel.

 

LMAO!!