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Xohm Tested Out in Baltimore: Beats EVDO, Unsurprisingly
Posted by Kit Eaton at 6:49 PM on October 1, 2008
Laptopmag went ahead and tested out Xohm WiMax goodness, now that it's live in Baltimore. They jammed an ExpressCard Xohm into a Sony Vaio laptop, and compared it to a Kyocera EVDO card running on Verizon, at a spot where both signals were strong. The conclusion? Xohm beats EVDO for speed when doing intensive downloading, such as streaming video, or large file transfers—the top download speed they found for Xohm was 3.05Mbps while EVDO managed just 1.43MBps. So far so groovy, and Laptopmag gave a few more thumbs up to the system, like how it auto-connects when you plug in the adaptor, and the daily subscription options. But this isn't much of a surprise—it's designed to be faster—and for now Xohm's coverage is severely limited, to say the least. Check out the link for the full picture. [Laptopmag]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Minotaar
Posted 8:06 PM 1/10/08
Please clarify - most people shorten "megabits per second" to "mbps" and "megabytes per second" to "mBps".
You seem to use both; and the meaning doesnt seem intuitive to what you have written.
Minotaar
Joseph
Posted 8:46 PM 1/10/08
@Joseph: OOps
Joseph
Joseph
Posted 8:45 PM 1/10/08
@SpyderMS: Not wireless, but my wire goes though at 3.5MBps
[img253.imageshack.us]
Joseph
SpyderMS
Posted 8:30 PM 1/10/08
Nice, I would definitely sign up for this if it were in Phoenix. Their "Pick 2" option is perfect, and at 3mbps it's just as fast, maybe faster, than my crap Qwest VDSL. Plus at $50 a month, it's cheaper than Sprints wireless option, and only $5 more than Qwest VDSL. There's also no contract to sign, which is unheard of except for cable. One thing I couldn't find on their site was anything about a data cap. With that trend seemingly picking up, I can't see this service not having one as well.
@Minotaar: he means mbps. Nobody has even a 1MBps connection yet...
SpyderMS
Wegmans
Posted 9:04 PM 1/10/08
Yess Baltimore gets a shout-out
Wegmans
smokeonit
Posted 9:54 PM 1/10/08
the WiMax solution should be able to deliver 6-8Mbit per account, in off-peak hours... that would be progress...!!!
smokeonit
smokeonit
Posted 9:53 PM 1/10/08
and regular DSL in Germany via ADSL2+ is 16/1Mbit (down/upload), VDSL 25/5Mbit or 50/5Mbit... even though there's slow internet plans available as well, and many areas are too far away fromt the exchange to be able to deliver the higher ADSL2+ or VDSL (FTTC) speeds... then it 1Mbit up to 6Mbit (mostly 6Mbit)...
smokeonit
smokeonit
Posted 9:51 PM 1/10/08
3Mbit (0.375Mbyte/sec) is not really fast...
3G UMTS/HSDPA in Germany is 7Mbit (0.87Mbyte/sec) in most metro areas... real 7Mbit! not advertised and then much less delivered....
smokeonit
rbf2000
Posted 10:34 PM 1/10/08
@SpyderMS: There are definitely 1+ MB/s connections out there, they just aren't wireless. FiOS offers up to 50 Mb/s (6.25 MB/s) connection speeds at its top tier.
rbf2000
TendoMentis
Posted 11:57 PM 1/10/08
@smokeonit: The technology certainly allows for it, but the issue is with backhaul. It takes a lot of fiber to offer that kind of sustained wireless bandwidth. Sprint is probably waiting to see how accepted this new technology is before investing further in upgrading the backhaul.
TendoMentis
loogee
Posted 12:14 AM 2/10/08
@SpyderMS:
Not having a contract is a mixed blessing.
Yes, you don't have to worry about being tied in, but that also means that they can raise your rate whenever they want to and you can't complain because you have no contract with them.
loogee
fontaine.nick
Posted 12:36 AM 2/10/08
[www.speedtest.net]
Good 40mb/s from gay comcast. To bad they monitor it so much or I'd have a nice little web server going here, lol.
fontaine.nick
novicestar
Posted 1:14 AM 2/10/08
What the F&#K is the internet.?
novicestar
fogmaster
Posted 2:45 AM 2/10/08
@Minotaar: I am pretty sure he means megabits not bytes.
fogmaster
Toshie
Posted 3:30 AM 2/10/08
@novicestar: It's where that 'HotAlbinoMidgetPr0n' shortcut on your desktop takes you...
Toshie
Toshie
Posted 3:27 AM 2/10/08
Is it just me or does the title pic looks like an teeny weeny laptop humping the big laptop.
Yeah, I should probably get more sleep...
Toshie
SudhamayiKangaroo
Posted 2:51 AM 2/10/08
Not bad, except for the fact that it's in Baltimore. Nothing can make this wretched hive of scum and villainy worth living in. Trust me, I've been here for 16 years. Plus, sprint probably saved money by not covering areas where your wireless device will be stolen from you before you can connect (East Baltimore).
SudhamayiKangaroo
Dakota Courtois
Posted 5:28 AM 2/10/08
I'd love it in Ogdensbur- oh hell, what am I saying, we don't even get any Sprint service where I live.
Where's the small-rural-upstate-NY love?
Dakota Courtois
FubarGuy
Posted 1:51 PM 2/10/08
@Wegmans: Word to mah homies in 21201 all the way up to 21298! Surfin' the nets hon!
FubarGuy