Thunk Different.

If you are a business professional, or just want to rock that mac 24/7. You will need a verizon wireless card, or a usb card. I’d go for the USB port antenna even if the urge to use your mac book pro port is tempting, it’s best left for other ideas - USB 2.0, SATA, SETI communication, etc.

So with Verizon you do get a kick ass network, you really do. I’m sure some of you heard about the 700 Mhz bandwidth deal going on that Verizon pretty much cleaned house in, but that is a ways off, for now they still have the bets US coverage for wireless broadband, and the only really quality hook up for mac.

So what do you get and how do you get it?

1. Contract? Yes. 1 or two years with a $175.00 cancellation fee minus $5.00 off for every month you are on the plan

2. Activation? Yes. Even if you have a Verizon cell phone, the fee is usually $35.00

3. Monthly Cost? $59.00 plus taxes. Sure, there is a small megabyte plan, but that defeats the purpose unless you are a granny/gramps that just needs to check email, doesn’t watch you tube, uses quicktime, itunes, or a comparable torrent service.

4. What are the limitations?

What most people want to know is, “What Does 5 Gigabytes Get Me?”

To help answer the question, here are some examples of what typical ‘downloads’ eat up in bandwidth:

* number of times you have to do to get to 5 gigabytes.

From these charts, its obvious that the activities which consume the most bandwidth involve music and video downloads. We know that not even the most avid music or video fan is not likely to spend time every day of every month searching, reviewing and buying music or videos … unless you happen to be 13 to 21 years old?

We would be remiss to forget about major software updates for your computer. They don’t happen daily, but could easily be over 100 MB and have been known to happen a couple times a month.

For the majority of account holders, 166 MB of bandwidth is hard to consume *each and every day* and you should not have to worry about exceeding 5 gigabytes in a month. Verizon and Sprint sell their broadband wireless as a solution for people on the move like business professionals who fly across the country on a regular basis. For these people, the wireless service is secondary to the broadband they have at home or office.

5. So I should I get a USB swivel stick? Yes, HP has a good one that seems to be out of stock almost everywhere but ebay. Head to ebay for all your USB swivel sticks needs.

6. Can I get a hack for this and just tether my phone? Sure! It’s tricky and not guaranteed, but in all this digital, adventure is half the fun right? Here is a link for such Grey practices.

Special thanks to evdoinfo.com, 3gstore, for the info

References:

Which phones work with macs?

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=42646

Verizon Wireless loves mac users

http://www.gearlog.com/2007/04/verizon_wireless_loves_mac_use.php

Mac Hack

http://homepage.mac.com/jrc/contrib/mobile_office/

2g/3g/evdo/evdo rev a/b/wifi/wibro/wimax explained with plan details & more!

http://wireless-internet-access-provider.com/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Wireless Internet Access Provider dot Com Shows How To Convert Your Cell Phone Into a Wireless DSL Modem. We all have a cell phone or pocket pc. Many of us have an EVDO Wireless Internet Broadband equipped cell handset from Sprint or Verizon. But nobody seems to realize that their cell phone can easily double as a wireless internet cell modem.

http://wireless-internet-access-provider.com shows how to quickly convert your cell phone or pocket pc into a cellular modem for your Mac or Windows XP PC. The process does not require an engineering degree but will take about 60 minutes. Once the modifications are complete, switching from cell phone to EVDO wireless internet modem takes seconds each time.

Since there are hundreds of cell phone and pocket pc models available today. http://wireless-internet-access-provider.com has enlisted the help of http://evdo-coverage.com to isolate the modem drivers for the most popular cell phone handsets available today. The list is quite comprehensive although not unabridged.

Mobile office workers will find three key components to getting online with their laptop and cell phone. First a driver is needed to tell your computer that the cell phone is now a modem. Second, a modem emulator is needed to tell your cell phone that it is a modem as well. Then with the third component, a way to connect the two: bluetooth or a usb cable, all you need to do is create a new dial up connection shortcut from the network control panel.